Classic local "dive" bar with that old neighborhood feel. A place for low key drinks with friends.read more

Great place! One of my regular places. Reminds me of one of my college bars back in the mid 1990s…read morewhen I was in school. Kelsey is a fantastic bartender. Love when she is here.

This is a mall bar. The room, is cozy. They have a good choice of drinks. Good service. I will come…read moreback

10/10 bar. Very nice. Would recommend. Guy rules. Asked for a shot and he gave me one. Ambiance is…read morelovely.

I was on the hunt for a Garbage Plate in my new home of the Capital Region; this is the only place…read moreI could find one on the menu...and I looked all over. I spent way too much time toiling with the prospect of not being impressed by a plate 200+ miles from Rochester. In my head, I said to myself, there are plates in Rochester that don't even impress; why should I give the time of day to someone so far removed? It took me over two years to finally pull trig. In retrospect, I am kicking myself. Portions aside, the plate here is absolutely fantastic, like wtf. The meat sauce seems to keep the obligatory warmth of nutmeg and cinnamon, but has a delicate spice that absolutely delights in its own way. The mac salad lights up my tongue with the zest of celery and the home fries give me the crunch that I deserve. The burgers are the greasy vessel that I have come to expect, but offer much more cohesion than a typical plate. I am barely exaggerating when I say this might be Top 2 plates of my lifetime. Couple that with an awesome atmosphere and an amazing happy hour and you've got gold. Thank you guys for scratching my itch.

Loved this spot. I can't lie they didn't pay as much attention to us cause we weren't like regulars…read morewhen we went on a weekday but the staff is incredible so kind and amazing but def wish we felt more welcome hahah. i loved how they theme the menu different foods from spots around NY. we had the rochester garbage plate and the mozz sticks with raspberry melba sauce. loved it! drinks were interesting my whisky sour was pink??

Dive bar-- bartender is nice. Don't expect much -- no drafts- nothing fancy. Bartender did have a…read morefew specialty cocktails to offer- pineapple upside down cake drink if you like sweet drinks. Pool darts and a golf game.

used to live right around the corner from this bar. Always enjoyed myself when we went here…read more Decent prices, great staff (this was back in 2010 or so). If it's anything like it was back then, worth checking out now.

Loved this Irish pub down the street from our hotel. There was live music on Friday night outside…read moreand the patio was packed! We were exhausted from the drive up and just wanted good food. The owner sat our large party very quickly and we were warned the kitchen was backed up but happy to wait. Our server was kind and apologetic about the wait, but we knew what to expect. When our food came out I was so happy - delicious Irish pub food. You can tell it's not pulled from a freezer and freshly prepared. Shoot us Californians find ourselves back in Albany, we will definitely return.

McGeary's is a very lived in pub that can get pretty loud. (I had finished my meal before the band…read morestarted, which would have really cranked up the noise level.) The server asked me several questions about my gin martini to make certain the bartender got it right (just a dry martini with a twist). It ended up being very, very wrong. The best part were the fries that accompanied my Turkey Rachel. Otherwise, the sandwich was thin and greasy and lackluster.

Dive bar for sure, but $11 wings every day... and they were great? Count me in…read more My friend hosted a football viewing party here and I came for the wings, beer and friends. The place is pretty small, extremely dated, but it is also a homey little place with great service. Everything was cheap and the beer was cold and the food was cooked fresh to order in a small kitchen in the back. When I arrived, I saw a plate of wings on the bar and I couldn't order them fast enough. The wings were fantastic. Super crispy, simple franks medium wing sauce, and nice and moist inside. They were also large, great sized wings. Did I mention $11? Worth checking out if you're into this sort of thing. Fair warning, it's a bikini bar so plan accordingly, and bring extra for tips.

Friendly service, good atmosphere, pool tables and darts to play, food is good. Nice and chill placeread more

The new pool table inside the place is very nice. Great dive bar for large groups or parties..read more

It has everything I want in a bar: cheap and strong drinks, a pool table, a kickass jukebox, and…read morepeople who won't talk to you. The name is exactly what my first impression of the bar was before entering. Yet, when you're stuck in Albany bored and sober as hell, there's no reason to pass up a place based on its shady appearance or the fight in progress right outside the door. It made me realize that this is what all the faux dives in NYC wished they were. You end up here for one (or all) of the reasons as outlined in Iffy's motto: Drink. Fight. Fuck. It is a place for people who hate the college bars. Pool sharks rule the billiards table- the brightest part of this dimly-lit establishment- and will most likely kick your butt in the game as skillfully as they can break your face outside of it. It's a haven for people who just want to mind their own business and get away from the world, or themselves. It attracts the most diverse demographic of miserable souls, mental states, and deviants in every social class that exists in the capital of our Empire State. One of my favorite regulars is a woman with Tourette's, who isn't afraid to say exactly what I think all the time, to pretty much everyone who comes within one foot of her:"If you get in my way, I will FUCK YOU UP!" It's technically Iffy's II, as this is a rusty phoenix of its original location that was torn down for parking an indefinite number of years ago. No one seems to know how old this bar is. The only thing you need to know is that the nicest person in there is the bartender, who is armed with a smile and enthusiasm to get you wasted on $3 beers and $5 cocktails so strong that anyone caught drinking them here is immediately associated with addiction of some kind. This is a joint I will definitely return to when I'm in town. If it's not to get completely trashed, it will be to get my dad lotto. Did I mention they have a lotto machine? Maybe I'll come back to drown my sorrows in more hard liquor when I find out I didn't hit the Mega Millions jackpot.

I stayed one night at the Renaissance because I was overnighting in Albany and it looked close to…read moreCity Beer Hall which looked good on Yelp. Well that's a confusing sentence. I walked the half block from my hotel room and saw the lighted sign on the building drawing be to City Beer Hall. The bar is old school wood, long tables, and people generally having a good time. I was alone so chose the bar for sitting because that is more convenient for me and the wait staff. The beer menu was long with a few regionals new to me. Too many sours though for my taste, but those are popular now. I am not going to talk about the beers available because those will surely change by the time you read this. I ordered a beer and checked out the food menu. There were some good looking items on the menu, I really wanted a good pizza after my earlier airport pizza debacle, but a whole pizza was too much for one guy. I discussed the food choices with my friendly bartender and settled on the chicken nuggets and a side of fries. The nuggets are hard breaded from thighs and pretty good. The fries were crispy, well seasoned, and overly abundant. Overall the meal was great! It was Thursday night and they had a trivia-like game that was related to Family Feud so I played that. Might have stayed a little later than I should have but the beer was good. I was looking at the beer refrigerator and saw Fiddlehead IPA and asked my bartender about it. He was not really keen on it but that is the best beer they had there, but that is one really good beer. Later I notice that was the beer they were giving you if you ordered the $8 beer and a shot, which is an excellent value! There was some kind of drama this night. There was a lady who first tried to order Jager Bombs for her table and the bartender told her sorry we don't do those so she ordered Tito's shots instead. Well this ended about how you would expect with her losing a credit card and blaming everyone in sight for her problems. The bartender and manager were S-tier professionals managing her and keeping the food and beer flowing to the rest of us. Guys, thank you for your service! If you are in downtown Albany and you are hungry or thirsty hit up the City Beer Hall.

I was staying at the Renaissance down the street for a conference at the Albany Capital Center. I…read moreneeded a quick dinner before I went to do more work in my room. The City Beer Hall fits the bill. Located on Howard Street, the City Beer Hall has the local hangout vibe for professionals in town like me and locals wanting a beer and a pizza and fun times. The building at one point housed the city's old telephone company, and now is a cool pizza bar joint with a speakeasy that wasn't open when I went. The large room that houses the bar and long communal tables with high ceilings and large windows is like a Biergarten that is works great for happy hours and evening hangouts. Pizza wise, I was pleased with their Hot Honey Pizza that balances sweet, savory, and spicy flavors between its delicious crust, pepperoni, creamy ricotta, tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil, and a lovely drizzle of hot honey. I enjoyed the pizza with a Ommegang Blueberry Falls that was a "Blueberry Kolsch" whose crisp and slightly sweet flavors balanced well against the spicy and savory I was noshing. The only downside was I found the service behind the bar to be a bit slow and distracting from conversations with other customers. I felt I was forgotten until I finally flagged for the check. But overall, the City Beer Hall was a solid experience highlighted by their hot honey pizza.

Boyfriend and I were in Albany NY for one night - he wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory, but the…read morewait is apparently typically long on a weekend night (I have no idea - never been there!) so we decided not to chance it, and uber'ed from our hotel to this restaurant, hoping it would be good. I'll be honest - my heart sank as we got there, I almost cried. The neighborhood is *sketch*. The outside of the restaurant didn't look like much - but I felt better once we got in. Beautifully decorated with great lighting, lounge-style atmosphere. Great Latin music. We sat on the bar side as it was less busy. Beautiful bar with lots of options! Bartender made us **amazing** margaritas... omg were they strong! Loved it! Since we had never been there before, we played it safe. First we went with a fried calamari appetizer - not the best, but not bad - but then it's not typically something you'd order at a Mexican food restaurant. Boyfriend had the street steak tacos as main - hold the cheese as he forgot his lactaid, lol - and I had the steak quesadilla. Delicious! We loved it. The steak was especially well seasoned, not overcooked and sides were yummy. We ended the evening with churros - definitely homemade and on par with the ones we love at El Mirador in NH. Boyfriend even took his life in his hands and had some of the ice cream, couldn't resist - it was that good! Overall, as Boyfriend put it - this is absolutely a hidden gem type of spot - service was spectacular, food was delicious and we would totally return! (**Seated next to us were two young women on an obvious first date - girl #1 showed up, then girl #2 showed up a few minutes later with a big bouquet of flowers... what a nice touch! We just wanted to put it out in the universe - we hope you guys make it, you were super cute :)**)

L' Roca was good. Food was tasty. Atmosphere is very nice. Service was a little slow at times. I…read morewasn't in a rush, but arrived hungry at lunchtime on a Saturday. I was warmly greeted, seated, and given a menu and then it took some time, well after I was ready, to be visited to place my order. No biggie, but I was ready and it wasn't busy, with guests at 1 other table. When I finished my meal, I waited again. Not a huge problem but a lot of side work was being done vs providing service. I let server know I was all set and he acknowledged then continued to make drinks for kitchen staff. I had ordered lemonade but after checking, it looked like they were out, so he offered the juice (without explaining). Food was very tasty. Lunch was $37 before tip, for 3 tacos meal, 3 empanadas app, and the fruit drink.

The Ax thrower instructor I was excellent. Fun time. Order the pretzel bites. Easy parking. Great…read morelocation.

I mean, I expected booze-infused ice cream would be good, but it wound up being a thousand times…read morebetter than I even thought. I got the chocolate peppermint patty flavor from their current winter menu, and it was simply fantastic: smooth, flavorful ice cream on its own, with enough of an alcohol kick to make it bar-worthy. Server Chris was incredibly nice and helpful, and the space is open and inviting. Didn't throw any hatchets, because my hands were entirely occupied shoving ice cream in my mouth, but maybe next time.