I was in Albany for my doctoral hooding ceremony and subsequent graduation, when I was left…read morewondering where to take my family for dinner afterwards. I was promised that Grappa 72 would exceed my expectations. As an Italian-American AND a foodie, it's hard to wow me at an Italian venue. I can honestly say that this place was all that I was promised and more. What we ordered to share: crispy arancini (special app that day), eggplant parm, fried calamari. I am a red sauce snob, and all three of these delivered on presentation, quality, and overall flavor. Entrees we ordered included: halibut (entree special and my choice), pappardelle loaded with shrimp and chicken (also a special), pork osso bucco (stole the show!). We ended with individual desserts, and their Italian cheesecake was smooth and creamy. Service was reflective of high-end dining, yet the check for six people was moderate to affordable. Considering the quality, quantity, and overall experience, this is a place I need to get back to. Now I need to find an excuse to be in the Capitol Region so I can go back!

My boyfriend, his family, and I arrived at Grappa '72 to celebrate my boyfriend's graduation from…read moremed school! Our hostess was just the sweetest. She had lots of recommendations for what drinks and dishes to order, and she was really attentive towards our party. When we sat at our table, we helped ourselves to the fresh table bread and tapenade while we decided what to order. I decided to get the seafood special, which was a grilled branzino served with blistered green beans and wild rice. While the dish tasted a bit too oily for my liking, there was LOTS of food that came with this dish - enough for me to pack as a lunch the next day! What was also memorable about this experience was the live music playing at front. This is a very nice Italian resto for special occasions and date nights.

$300 to eat on a plastic tablecloth on Valentine's Day, not even a candle on the table. I'm…read moreembarrassed I suggested the spot to my date. The experience felt stingy and rushed. I'm sad because I loved this spot and I'm disappointed the quality has gone down so drastically. Portions were very small and the food didn't taste special or interesting. The octopus came out room temp and had been sitting out. Entres lukewarm. The drinks were by far the best part of the meal and it took half an hour to get them. Service was all over the place but they get a pass because it's Valentine's Day. Do yourself a favor and try Rosanna's instead.

RESERVATION ONLY * WOW! What an amazing meal! Best carbonara I've ever had. Husband ate all of his…read morevodka pasta with chicken. High quality ingredients. Lovely glasses of wine. Service was great. You can tell the people working here take care of their space. Someone was always cleaning. Tiramisu was light and flavorful. What a great gem in Albany.

Came here with coworkers for a business dinner, and from the outside you'd never expect how great…read moreit is inside. The restaurant itself is smaller and broken up into different rooms, which actually makes for a really nice, more intimate dining experience. The service was top notch. The staff and our waitress were incredibly attentive very professional and always right there when you needed something without being overbearing. As for the food, everything we had was excellent. I ordered the duck, and having it prepared in different ways including as a sausage was honestly amazing. The eggplant appetizer was on another level, and the grilled octopus was cooked perfectly and full of flavor. I also had an espresso martini, which was made really well. To top it all off, the pistachio cake for dessert was the perfect finish. Overall, this place is truly top notch great food, great service, and a great experience all around. Definitely worth checking out.

Truly a hidden gem in a rough part of the neighborhood, we were looking for places to eat since we…read morewere from out of town and I am so glad I stumbled upon this place. Our server Evan was fantastic very friendly. The food was amazing!! My bf had the ravioli special which he loved. I had the pomodoro. If I was ever in the area again I would 1000% stop there again

Excellent food and service! Lindsay was our server, she was great! very busy but she was there to…read moretake care of us. will ho again for sure!

Favorite restaurant in world. Please get the chicken Frangelico! It's the best dish on the menuread more

Wow! I've wanted to try Rosanna's for some time now and I regret waiting so long. This is like one…read moreof those local best kept secret spots. I was able to book a reservation online for the same day. Of note, when you have the option of Main Floor or First Floor & Bar, just realize the Main Floor is up a flight of stairs. I'm not sure if there is a separate entrance but my wife was on crutches and she managed to get up the first three into the restaurant from outside but I don't think dining on the main floor would have been an option for us. Our server, Mike, was awesome and full of energy and enthusiasm. He offered suggestions and answered questions about details of the dishes. We were pleasantly surprised with how many menu items were marked v - vegan and v* - can be prepared vegan. This is great for us because it's another place in Albany that we will be able to go out to dinner with friends and everyone will be able.to find something to enjoy. The fried Artichokes are a must if you're looking for a starter. We were eyeing up the Fennel salad or vegan Caesar salad but opted to move on to main entrees. On this night they were out of the Gnocchi Cacio-Pepe which personally, I am not a gnocchi fan to start and Mike told us they were substituting a buccatini pasta instead... this had my attention! I went for his suggestion and chose the Arrabbiata instead which was delicious. My wife enjoyed her Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto. We skipped dessert for this evening but there were vegan Gelato and cookie options for dessert as well. From start to finish it was such an enjoyable experience in this cozy corner restaurant which offers outdoor dining in the summer in the heart of Albany. We will totally be back with friends for another delicious meal at Rosanna's, the hidden gem in downtown Albany!

I haven't been to Rosanna's since it opened originally, and it has since changed hands, and so did…read morethe menu items. The cuisine was Italian inspired, and heavy on vegan and gluten free option, which is a great find locally, if you're looking for that. We were sat upstairs and I enjoy the ambiance here. I will note that the chairs are uncomfortable, which does not make a cozy dining experience. The cocktail menu was really great, a lot of gin options which is right up my alley. I had the Corpse Reviver and a glass of wine, both were great. We started with the shrimp balls, which sounded intriguing. They ended up being delightful, almost like loose crab cakes. The flavors were great and I loved the pesto. For my entree, I opted for the lemon mushroom tagliatelle. The pasta was very fresh and chewy, loved that. I enjoyed the combination of lemon and mushroom on the dish, but there were so many different mushrooms of all different textures, that some bites were more enjoyable than others. The snapper puttanesca was gorgeous as well. Overall it was a good meal, but I might have liked it a little more before the change. Definitely a great option if you are looking for dietary restrictions.

Dinner at Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse. Greeted by a friendly hostess and shown to a booth, Our…read morewaitress soon appeared to take our drink orders - 2 ice water with lemons-and then we took a look at the menu. It's actually a fairly brief menu which I prefer. Appetizers : New England clam chowder for herself and a shrimp cocktail with 4 very large shrimp for myself. Entrees : A ravioli dish for my wife and a NY strip steak - medium rare of course for me. Both meals were 1st rate. Our waitress was friendly and attentive, almost too attentive probably due to my movie star good looks and charming personality. We passed on dessert and asked for the check. $98 and change. While the food was good we've had equally as good food at other places for less money, $120 with tip. I doubt we will be back.

We ate here twice, it was that good! My friend and I were in town for an event and wanted a nice…read moredinner. He's Italian so we decided to come here. So glad we did! The reviews were decent here and I'm glad we tried it out. We made a reservation on Saturday, the first night we were in town. The restaurant was lovely with caricatures of some famous people on the walls. It was very spacious and comfortable. We were sat at a booth and had a very good waitress. We first ordered the calamari. It was delicious!! For me, it was the first time I had this dish prepared "properly" because the calamari was tender and lightly breaded. So good. My friend said it should never be rubbery or chewy (the way I've mostly had it). For my dinner, I ordered the linguine with clam sauce. I asked her which was the better option, and she said most people order it with the white sauce, so I did. And I'm glad I did, although I know I would've probably liked the red sauce too. It was very good. The clams were perfect and the pasta had chopped clams too. It was so good. One of my Italian favorites and it was perfect. My friend raved about his Veal Marsala. I also had a glass of house Pino Grigio which was lovely. The next day we came back and had dinner again here on Sunday, after the conference. All he wanted was the calamari for his dinner, and he shared it with me. I had a taste for some traditional pasta so I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. I loved it and shared some of it with him because those meatballs were yuge!! And so very tasty. His Italian self said they were made very well. Yum!! With our meals I forgot to mention that we were also served warm Italian bread with butter. Perfect accompaniment. After dinner I wanted something sweet but not too heavy and I enjoyed the berries. It was perfect after my filling pasta dinner. This restaurant is very good, food is delicious and the waitstaff is welcoming and attentive. We even walked around and toured all the interesting artwork in the restaurant before we left the last night. I wish to be able to come back here again soon! Thank you for this charming dining experience.

Sometimes it's the smallest details that make a difference. I was lucky enough to have a chance to…read moremeet my girlfriend for lunch and even more good luck to be served by Gjon, a self proclaimed new waiter. It was a busy day for both of us so we didn't have much time and only had some appetizers, but the service and the food was excellent as always. The real difference was made when we had leftovers, a large meatball with red sauce, which Gjon beautifully wrapped for us and wrote the date on the top and what was inside. A nice little touch. When I got into my truck, I put the leftovers on the dashboard. I completely forgot about them until the first sharp turn when they slid across the dash and landed upside down on two canvas prints I had just picked up. I gasped and pulled over immediately to see the damage. To my delight, there was no damage or spillage whatsoever because our new waiter had done such a great job wrapping up the food that nothing spilled. Thank you Gjon, you made both our days.

We had never been here so decided to give it a try. The food was wonderful!…read moreI had rigatoni in marinara sauce with meatballs. This was a large portion. My wife had a balsamic wrap. Also large. The pasta dish was great. Perfectly prepared. The wrap was outstanding and loaded with delectable contents. Lastly, we had a chocolate mousse chocolate cake which was sinfully fantastic! The service was very very friendly- but- very very slow. The restaurant was not overly busy because we arrived fairly early. We highly recommend this restaurant but expect to spend some time there unless this visit was unusual.

This is a nice Italian restaurant that is several steps above Olive Garden. Reservations aren't…read morerequired but I can certainly see why they are recommended, and they were more than kind to us in allowing us to shift ours when our babysitter was delayed. We were seated in the back of the main room which was cold (the A/C was cranking due to the heatwave outside), loud (from people, not music). The side room was lit more invitingly and I think I would want to be there. I heard Frank Sinatra on the radio when we walked in, but within 30 minutes the place was packed and it turned into a raucous environment. We started off with garden salads with their homemade tomato basil dressing. It sounded fantastic but I quickly discovered it was loaded... absolutely loaded... with red onions. My wife bravely ate hers and the pile of onions kept growing on the side of her plate. I couldn't eat mine because of them so they took it away. They offered to remake it sans onions but I decided to hold out for my entree. My wife thought it was overdressed, but for a chopped salad such as it was I think it was fine. My veal Marsala was excellent. Every restaurant does theirs differently and here it wasn't too sweet or too garlicky. The bread on the table was crustier than an old pirate which made it difficult to eat with the table oil dip provided. However, it was perfect for sopping up the veal's sauce. My wife had Chicken Sorrento and the portion was absolutely humungous with a slick cheese shield on the top. She felt bad that my portion of veal was much smaller in comparison, but I had the last laugh as I thought her dish was just average. It all came down to the red sauce: every place tastes different and here it tasted a bit more like stewed tomatoes. (FYI: no place makes it as good as my grandmother). I am glad I ordered a non-red sauce dish, though my side of penne with only light sauce (per my request) was decent. Their dessert menu was nice but uninspiring. That's okay, as we were mostly full. Prices were fair for a white table cloth Italian restaurant, though not inexpensive. That being said, I much prefer the place in Loudonville which has more interesting entrees and comparable prices.

Simply outstanding! Amazing Eggplant Parmigiana. Truly wonderful chicken francese - best I ever…read morehad. Bread is fresh and warm and plentiful. The waitstaff was exceptionally attentive without being overbearing. The bartender is a master drink maker. I strongly recommend that you get a reservation as the restaurant is extremely busy - a testament to how good it is - or you not get seated. One caution- the restaurant is rather noisy and the tables are fairly close so be prepared to potentially get friendly with the guests at the next table

Service at bat was great and attentive Richie was awesome. Good recommendations and the drink was…read moreyummy. I had the homemade mozz sticks. So good and the raz sauce was perfect. I had the francese too and ing so good so much chicken and tons of sauce and pasta. Great flavor. Nice and lemony and creamy. Fresh bread. With and I opted for veggie soup. Delish Great spot to chat with locals too

I didn't love the hot turkey sandwich with gravy. It was a lot of bread. It was deli turkey and…read morethere was no side of cranberry which I think should be standard. I opted for the side of mashed potatoes and gravy instead of fries. The mashed potatoes were cold but they corrected that quickly. The service was fantastic. My dinner mates got a hot meatball torpedo, which looked really good and he said it was really good. The other got a white pizza which was also good! A busy local staple, it was buzzing! We had chicken wings as an appetizer and they're always great here!

The food is always amazing....We usually do not make it past the nacho platter however I am so…read morehappy to see a half portion on the menu now...still enough to share with the table! Also gave us the opportunity to try other dishes. My eggplant wrap was perhaps the BEST sandwich I have ever eaten! Fabulous service and atmosphere as well. One of our favorite places :)

In for the night after a great meal at Lanie's Cafe on Albany Shaker rd. . I started with an…read moreappetizer of calamari with marinara sauce - they really need to start offering that with cocktail sauce as an option-, and repeating what she said on our wedding night, my wife exclaimed " that's huge." even after sharing with her I needed a box to take the rest home. My wife ordered Veal Parmesan with a side of spaghetti while I went with the prime rib sandwich. I managed to finish my meal, but the serving was so large that she had to take hers home in a box. The hostess was kind enough to seat us at a table so I could have my back to a wall saying only that we need to be out of there in 90 minutes because it was reserved. We sat down ate , paid our bill and left in almost exactly an hour. Olive Garden could learn a thing or two from this place as the food was nice and hot and neither the hostess nor the waitress ever argued with me, even Lanie herself, stopped by to check on us. It was nice to see her as it's been quite a few years since I've been in there. How about that? I actually sat down and had a meal at a restaurant with no complaints.With a decaf iced tea for my wife and a glass of ice water with lemon for me the bill came to $80 and change, because everyone was so nice and accommodating I put a $100 bill on the table and left, we will return.