This was my first time at the River Street Festival. Parking, as usual in these places, was…read moreterrible, and we looped around for quite a while until we found a spot to squeeze in. There were definitely a wide range of different artisan crafts and goodies! Ranging from homemade soaps and scents to special meat scrubs, we got to try out a plethora of novel things! Sadly, we missed the Farmer's market, but there's always next year! Also, awesome tact to have the Yelp booth supply us with a charging station. Loved it!

It was great to see a stage set up for music, and all the great vendors…read more The only problem I had was I couldn't find the farmers market!

Buckingham Lake/Pond (depending on what site you check) is in the middle of a quiet suburban area…read morein Albany. There's a path around it to stretch your legs and/or those of your canine companions - circle it twice and you've walked 1 mile. The playground area makes this a popular neighborhood destination. The fountains were active today (it's a warm day in February with some ice cover), but the ducks were.

Very pretty walk in the middle of stately housing. Even when walking through a mist it's ok since…read moreit's mostly shaded. Half mile around.

Ah, good old Wolf Road, always evolving. I don't get back home too often, but I seem to always see…read morenew businesses popping uphere. Chain burger joints seem to be the new craze on this strip. Luckily some of the oldies like JT Maxie's, Denooyer Chevy and others are still around! Most people don't realize this busy Capital Region road used to all be farmland a mere 60 YEARS ago. My mom grew up in the South Colonie area, it has got to be wild to have experienced how much this has changed. I think there MAY be one private residence left on this road. I was looking through an old book on Wolf Road while I was home in the 518. It's by Naylor, Platt and Platt, I imagine the Colonie Town Library would have a copy. I was skimming the book and found out that a country club once stood where Colonie Center is. I lived in Albany 30+ years and it's amazing how much that mall has evolved, it's now quite nice for this region. I remember the Herman's sporting good store on Wolf Road, that moved to Colonie Center and is now long gone. I miss the days when we had Papa Gino's across from the mall! I remember driving by Jerry's Bike Shop and Cranberry Bog often as a kid, hard to believe these spots are no longer there. Platt's Deli was another popular Wolf Road institution, that was replaced by Bucca di Beppo (if I remember correctly). It's amazing how many businesses have come and gone over even just the last 20 years. 2012 brought us Trader Joe's, which has horrible parking nation wide and even in Smalbany too! I'm not quite sure why they placed this popular store in such a congested area! The traffic on Wolf Road is to be avoided at Xmas, but after living in Los Angeles, I now snicker when my friends complain about this thoroughfare.

Wolf Road, a popular restaurant strip in Albany is by far a major strip of road that anytime I head…read moreup to Albany, I always end up taking. Whether it's to get to Colonie Center at one end of the road to the Albany-Shaker Rd intersection (leading to Albany International Airport), there's no stopping at what's always going on in this strip of land. I always have enjoyed heading into Colonie Center, but sometimes stop at McDonalds down the road, or if I'm in a real pickle I'll stop into Hooters (on a whim), but I always find something I'm after on Wolf Rd. There's no stopping the businesses here. You have plenty of hotel/motels here, and several banks have locations down this strip. The only trouble is all the traffic lights which ties up traffic too often. There's a few gas stations along the route, but I'm amazed at what's there already. I'd hate to demonize Wolf Rd because there's so much I can get to when I'm there, it's sometimes necessary to say "avoid it" because of the traffic lights and heavy traffic. It's all city traffic here, stop-and-go all-the-time; sometimes the average tourist hates but will encounter when coming down this road for the umptisquat time. IHOP is always a family favorite - especially with it's former gabled-roof charm, but if it isn't for Colonie Center and the airport (because exits 3 and 4 of the Northway really never hit home for helping me get to the airport) , I never thought I'd go past or use this road ever again. When traveling this strip, you have to know what you want and be willing to accept just what you get even if it's farther than you'd want to travel to get to the outer areas. Full-time locals of both Albany and Colonie, might have better viewpoints of most of the other locations, but when you travel, you have to be select, and selection is definitely a lot of what this area is like. I have headed into more businesses than you can imagine - all on Wolf Rd both as a tourist,and a semi-local, and each time I'm amazed at what I didn't know the last time I came, and I'm always in for more knowledge the next times I come through, thereby replacing other notions of what I didn't know about before.

This wine was amazing and so was Bailee, the wonderful person behind the desk. I have never had a…read moresparkling wine that wasn't ridiculously sweet and off a grocery store shelf, so I hadn't ever given it the respect it deserves. Bailee told us that it was a dry, sparkling red, that this would sound strange, but we would know what she was talking about after trying it. The wine was barely sweet at all and it was very refreshing. It tasted like a nice red wine mixed with champagne, in a good way. I am so impressed with this wine and this winery that I can't wait to go back for another glass. This was an awesome experience and great way to kick off 2019! Thank you, Yelp! Cheers & SYOY, Michelle

From the owner: Local wine from local grapes.The Chelois is as sparkling as the Yelp Elite Squad. Plus we kinda…read morehave a thing for red.

Great mural located in Troy New York. It has a great positive message behind it which I really…read morelike. It's right next to another mural and both are nice to see

Italian restaurant in downtown Troy. Friendly staff in a cozy classic cucina. The food was very…read moregood and I say that as someone whom just returned from living/working in Italy the past two years. I will be back next time I visit my son whom lives a block around the corner.

Our first time at LoPorto's...it was an exceptional dining experience! It is a cozy restaurant and…read morereservations are a must. Our friends dined on escargot and seafood Fra Diavolo. My husband and I shared the clams casino, he dined on Veal Saltimbocca and I enjoyed their Veal Sorsese. Our meals were outstanding! Their portions are generous. The food is perfectly seasoned. Our friends absolutely enjoyed their meals. Our veal was nice and tender and the vegetables were so terrific I could picture their recipe belonging to their Nona and passed down to them. My husband truly appreciated that they allowed him to have the potatoes and vegetables with his veal. The staff are friendly and make sure everyone is enjoying their meals and drinks. A lovely, lovely meal!

We were in the neighborhood.... Honest. We were a bit hungry, too. DeFazio's, one of the region's…read morepremiere pizza parlors was only a few blocks away. I haven't been to this original location on 4th St. in Troy for a few years. The family operation is nearly 100 years old. Remarkably, it's very much as I remember it. A tiny place with three tables. Some of the seating looks like repurposed church pews. The youthful staff, friendly as always. They were running into some delays as orders came pouring in just before dinnertime. They'd have to check to see if they could fit our order for a big pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and peppers. They squeezed us in! Since the wait would be between 20-30 minutes we kept ourselves busy by checking out the desserts in the self serve refrigerator. I picked out a slice of "hangover" (alcohol) cake and I devoured it before our meal arrived. It was so delicious and naughty fun to eat our dessert before the meal. The pizza was fantastic when it arrived. I prefer crisp crusts-- this one was not-- but it was awesome just the same. My friend and I were so hungry that we consumed half of the pie before I realized that we hadn't photographed our delicious pizza. The remaining half was boxed and taken home to be enjoyed for a couple more days. The staff was so ready. They came to our table with the box and we settled up our bill. A lot to be said for tradition and quality. I've also visited DeFazio's in Albany, but I have yet to visit the relatively new restaurant up the block. Thanks, DeFazio's, for another great meal.

Family business, neighborhood ambiance, fabulous pizza, fresh ingredients, and the most authentic…read morepizza I've had! Great sizes, reasonable prices, and absolutely amazing!

The City of Albany is going to be a test review to see if it posts. Since yesterday my photos have…read morenot been posting on Yelp. The last app update was four days ago. I'm very sad. As for my state capital I think it's beautiful. I've never been unhappy with our state government. As a low income senior citizen I don't pay taxes in my state. I feel our governor always works well with my City of New York. There you go! I'm a fan and if you live here you may be a fan too!

If you like parking tickets and school zone violations this is a great city to add some tax to your…read morealready unbelievable amount of taxes due. Come to visit the capital and get a 50 dollar parking ticket when the sign says free parking after 3pm. Why not drive around and explore the city. Feel free to drive through one of the 20 ,20mph, school zones with speed cameras. Summer when school isn't in session, doesn't matter, they still are school zones. O by the way the deliberately obscure the former blinking zone lights so you are not aware of the school zone. Have another 50 dollar ticker for the thrill. I'll avoid this run down dump like the covid vax going forward.

I wanted to see Moby and made my way down to Lark after 2pm. I wasn't sure what to expect or how it…read morewould be made as Moby is know for electronic music. But it was amazing. Moby is kind of a dork and would say after every song "thank you, thank you very much" intoning almost none of the soul contained in the music. Soul there was, Moby is near genius in the color of sound. Grabbing a rhythm and riding it out, exploring it from angles and giving it dimension. The band was amazing, violin, vocals huge drums and keyboard made the future of music. The crowd started a little stiff but everybody was dancing by the end. Wrapped and surrounded by an incredible sound system all of the tens of thousands of people who were there on an amazing September day were having a good time. I'm usually kind staunch about my personal space and I had to throw that right out the window. It was friendly however and Albany cool was in full display. Except for the dude right in front of me. I don't know what the hell he was on but was totally out of control. Going from Maori warrior to cheetah in the grass dance moves. He was spasmodic and epileptic and we tried to crowd surf him away. But he wouldn't go. He was directly channeling music into movement and that was scary. Larkfest is a highlight of Albany.

Not sure on details about when this event happens, but i was fortunate enough to be in Albany…read moreduring Lark Fest. Live bands, vendors, food and a packed street in front of the park. A lot of fun for a Saturday afternoon.