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.

Used to like going to this bar but will never go there again after the owner pulled the plug on bad…read morebunny's halftime performance, saying "We're not listening to this shit!" and refusing to put it back on. the bar was packed and many patrons left. absolutely weird behavior.

This is a wonderful sports bar, pool table, juke box, cozy and fun! All the games are on at this…read morebar, 7 or 8 TVs. Packed during football season

if there was a 10/5 i would put that. service, speed, time, blah blah blah was excellent. indoor…read moreand outdoor seating was awesome, tho picked indoor since it was cooler inside. tabletops have cool patterns on most of them. staff wasn't uptight like some restaurants. this is the thing that makes it that good. the prices were also very accurate/reasonable, whatever you want to say, and the menu had a lot of variety. add more kanye west, yo school spirit is probably the best song on the college dropout album please never become a corporate restaurant

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.

Let's start with the service! I believe my server's name was Sophie and she was excellent. The food…read morecame out hot and fresh, and the cosmoquila was delightful. The Sriracha Maple Boneless Wings were the star of the show. It wasn't spicy but the flavor was so good. The Haig's burger was juicy and delicious. The cauliflower was great, but I wish it had a little more sauce. Overall, it was a very good recommendation!

We absolutely loved Haig's, the bar was great and our bartender was amazing, very personable and…read morehelpful. I mentioned to my partner some places don't have good blue cheese or ranch and he overheard and grabbed a sample of both so I could try and make a decision. The ranch wasn't good but top 3 best blue cheese dressing I have ever had! I got the Buffalo wings and they were amazing. Overall would highly recommend for a chill place, food is much better here than seasons next door but completely different vibe.

Got food from this location 11 years ago when I was a patient at Albany Med, as we all know…read moreHospital food stinks. Was out in Albany for a procedure and after not eating since midnight the night before I was starving. This restaurant is conveniently located to the medical center (across the street) and can be accessed by using the breezeway/ bridges that connect outlying buildings to hospital without having to go out in the cold. This place is generally packed but was quiet when we went. The food is consistently good and this visit was no exception. What made the experience top notch was the wait staff that came by to make sure we had everything and that food was prepared to our liking. She was warm and friendly and truly was an asset to this restaurant. Recovery Room has specials each week and we were lucky to make it for the Burger special. Highly recommend to those close by or those visiting Albany Med.

I ordered a sirloin steak dinner, and what came out was a beef patty slightly bigger and no thicker…read morethan your typical hamburger!! I was stunned because it cost $24!! At the time, I was tired and didn't feel like sending it back. This was two nights ago, August 17th. It will be a while before I go back, and I will NEVER order the steak again, if I do.

So much fun here and they make good drinks and snacks too- we stay there all night sometimes…read moreplaying games

I'm new to the area. My friends invited me. We loved it. Highly recommend. Great atmosphere. There…read morewere many of us and they treated us all courteous. The food was great!

Lynn's is an awesome, locally-owned business. The owner is well-known in the community and the 99¢…read morewings every Wednesday just can't be beat

Started going there fairly regularly as a Friday night no brainer place to grab food, listen to…read moredecent music and watch stupid people doing things on TV. Bartenders are great. The food is decent. The cockroaches are everywhere. Haven't been back since I saw one climb up and over the top of the bar in broad daylight. Sorry. It's true.

This is an awesome venue for before a show at the Albany Arena. The staff went above and beyond to…read moremake sure our group had what we needed. There are multiple seating areas and bars. It gets very busy closer to the event. So go early to relax and enjoy a burger and a drink before the show. We also enjoyed stopping in after the show for a drink and some snacks. The staff was so nice and glad that we came in with stories of the show.

Situated in the MVP arena complex on a night of a major event. TSO Show. Understaffed and untrained…read moreservers. Spoke to the alleged owner and he caved terribly. No Guiness. NO Stella NO BUD LIGHT !?!? OWNER CLEARLY IS IN THE WRONG BUSINESS!! Besides that. Food cooked horribly overdone. Disgusting. Ordered the only burger med rare. Got well done. Fried pickles with battered fried off. Mac and cheese bites dry and out of a Sysco bag Chicken Quesidllas dry and inedible. Poor kids working tried to do their best but the "Owner" is an idiot.

Called them back and asked if i could get at minimum a tip refund, the manger took my information…read moredown and never got back to me. $21 for plain watery mac n cheese is an absolute scam I HIGHLY recommend going somewhere else theres plenty of better spots along the street!!!

Food is awful, service staff is pissy, ambiance is basically eating at a noisy Nascar race. Only…read moredeserves one star because the beer was cold.

This was the most immaculate burger of my existence. I got the California burger. 10/10 service as…read morewell. Everyone is super sweet and let me keep my outside drink B). Good vibes.

Came in for dinner on a Monday evening, sort of off season. There were only a couple of others in…read morerestaurant, and we were seated promptly. There are dart boards and shuffleboard table, which were not in use. Our server was attentive and friendly, as were other staff we interacted with. Beer menu is extensive as you would imagine from the name, and they also have a separate cocktail menu (but we did try). Food was very good. I had The Cask. As long as you like goat cheese, you should like this sandwich. I loved it. Other meals included the pulled pork sandwich and Reuben. All were good. The order of garlic and rosemary fries are very crispy - good for snack or just pair with some beers. Overall, decent place and service. I would return!