Visited Albany on the way back from a wedding in Vermont and needed a good hearty meal after a long weekend of fun! No reservation, and a smaller restaurant we tried on a whim and were offered two seats at the bar promptly and decided to stick around. Immediately upon entering Nicole's, the atmosphere takes you to a small Italian restaurant scene depicted in many a movie. Dimly lit, but not dark, fragrances of perfume overpowered by garlic, tomato, and all the fresh seasonings and herbs in their dishes, and many many happy customers with big plates of pasta, bread, and red wine on the table. After receiving our app of fried artichokes, which came with a wonderful dipping sauce, and a side order of meatballs that melted in our mouths, but were not soft, or squishy we decided we did only needed one meal after a long day of travel. One of my go-tos when trying a new to me Italian spot is always the clam sauce, and this one hit it out of the park. I highly recommend Nicole's, and looking forward to returning again in August for my next visit to the area. read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Linguine Clam Sauce - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

A really perfect experience. The ambiance of Nicole's is romantic, intimate but not too crowded. Perfect for date night or girls night out. Highly recommend starting with the short rib and burrata flatbread. The pear martini is a very refreshing sipper cocktail. For my entree I had the chicken Marsala which was prepared wonderfully, great balance of sauce and mushrooms over the chicken and pasta. Enough to bring some home without being a huge portion for no reason. Highly recommend a visit here! read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

Amazing food and atmosphere. The service is top notch. Such a great date spot, very intimate. The best espresso martini and dirty martini I've ever had. Dev recommend. read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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We had a lovely Sunday dinner at Nicole's. Our table for four was nestled in the corner of the dining room with a large banquette. We did not have alcohol during the meal and I was happy the server offered a selection of Harneys tea. The complimentary bread butter and oil was a nice starter. The server brought one basket gluten and one gluten free. We also ordered jumbo shrimp coctail .The ceasar and house salads we ordered were all to our liking. My entree was a large carafe of housemade pasta and two giant meatballs. The dish was prepared well, al dente pasta and juicy meatballs. The photo is the takeaway dish which provided me another entitr meal. I would suggest sharing the pasta and meatballs. read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Pasta meatballs - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

Wonderful ambience with a dining room in the back with fireplace!! Very cozy! The Linguine with little neck clams in a white wine fumé sauce was excellent! The short ribs fell off the bones in a rich red sauce, caramelized onions, tomatoes and Romano cheese! Excellent!! read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Short Rib Ragu Served with caramelized onions, tomatoes, pappardelle pasta , and short ribs so tender that Melted in your mouth! - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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Tried the Chicken Frangelico and it was not appetizing whatsoever. I had the rest of my table try it and everyone was grossed out. Table next to us weren't fans either. Do people actually love this dish? I was told it's just sweet, but not too orangey. That was false. The owner said "if we take it off the menu, people would go crazy, but I wouldn't order it". On the other hand, the calamari was delicious. Happy my wife has chicken parm leftovers for my lunch tomorrow! read more

My wife and I arrived and were promptly seated. Our waiter came by to introduce himself and provided us with menus. We ordered the fried calamari as an appetizer. From the first bite to the last, the calamari were delectable. As an entree, my wife ordered the vegetarian platter - spaghetti squash, eggplant meatless meatballs, and Italian broccoli. My wife requested that the broccoli be separate so only the eggplant and squash came in the marinara. I ordered the veal parmigiana and spaghetti. Simply stated, both meals were excellent. As a desert, my wife and I split a fresh fruit crisp. We both ordered regular coffee. Cappuccino did not appear on the menu. Our coffee was, hot, bold, and very flavorful. The crisp was delicious. Takeaways 1. Make reservations 2. Parking is adequate 3. Very little room near the entrance door 4. Service is excellent 5. Excellent appetizer/entree portions to price 6. Saratoga or Pellegrino served in 16 or 32 oz. 7. Definitely $$$ but worth every penny I will be returning when in the area! read more

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I recommend Nicole's Restaurant to anyone who is looking for delicious food and great portions. Food: the food was tasty, well made, and the portions were great. From the flat bread to the pastas, they all were delicious. Although, the chicken parm did not really impress. It was a bit bland and ordinary. But everything else was great. Service: I give the service over all a 3/5. The only reason is because when we first came in, we waited in-front of the door for over 5 minutes with no one to greet us, give us directions to wait or sit, the both bar tenders who saw us standing there, just ignored us. And we were pretty visible, lol, it was 2 adults and 2 children. At one point we had to ask the bartender if we wait there or do we go sit, and he answered to wait. Finally someone came and asked us if we had a reservation (we didn't) and was nice enough to accommodate. The waitress was very polite and friendly 5/5 for her. Ambiance: cozy, warm, private, and great for families. I recommend Nicole's....but be prepared to be ignored at first, no worries, it is worth it in the end. Lol. read more

Food is always exceptional as is the diverse and ever-evolving menu. Among the best in the area for sure. Service is hit or miss, but when lacking often due to busy days/times. Four star (only) review relates solely to the bar and very inconsistent quality/taste of the venues own specialty drinks (e.g., red sangria, blueberry cosmo, etc.) which at times are beyond delicious while at other times sour or unpalatable. The lack of consistency makes ordering a random event (perhaps not worth the price of admission). The multiple dining rooms also makes for a lotto-like experience as some are cozy and intimate (i.e., spacious and quiet) while the main dining/bar area is very loud and somewhat cramped. Overall, this is still a local favorite that will always be on our revolving "go-to" list simply because the kitchen and chef(s) are amazing! read more

Went to Nicole's for a rehearsal dinner last night and it was excellent! Unfortunately didn't get many photos! I had the grilled salmon which was some of the best salmon I've ever had! Loved the dressing on the salmon. My fiancé had the chicken parmiagiana which was excellent as well. For dessert we had the cannolis which were excellent. It was such a great spot, intimate and cozy for this event. It would be a great date night or small party location. The servers and staff were amazing and incredibly kind. Such a great experience! We're from out of town but will suggest this to our family in the capital region! read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Mini Cannoli - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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I SOOOO wanted to love this place. No hospitality whatsoever. Offered bread. Never came. Watched the bartender yawn 5x and stopped counting. Clams casino delivered and he stared at me like I was supposed to say something so he could drop it down. Never ordered dinner because I felt OLIVE GARDEN trains their staff better. Shame. read more

I was recently treated to a birthday dinner at Nicole's by a friend. Every single bite we had was delicious! I highly recommend the fried artichokes with lemon caper aioli, very lightly coated and fried and scrumptious! From bread and cocktails, to desserts, the food was amazing! The waitstaff were excellent and fun and the atmosphere was happy and chill. I will be back again soon! Thanks to all for a wonderful birthday dinner! read more

Everything was excellent , the food , the service and off street parking. Computer confirmed reservations and reminders

The best. Great people, great food and a wonderful atmosphere. Always fast and friendly.

When looking for a new place to have dinner, I stumbled across Nicole's. Upon walking in my first impression was that the restaurant has a very small but welcoming vibe to it. The dining room is tight but the decor and artwork are that of an excellent Italian restaurant that Billy Joel could sing about. The food fits the look. I got the crispy chicken and broccoli and Samantha got the short rib ragu. Both were excellent and large portions. I would absolutely go back to get either one again. In fact, immediately after trying our food we agreed that we would definitely be returning. Our waitress was friendly and gave good recommendations, but there were very long waits for everything. We planned on being there for an hour and ended up being there for two just due to the wait times. I will say that they were very apologetic and even though we didn't complain, they offered us free cannolis. This leads me to believe that the wait isn't typically so bad. Overall, I loved the place and plan on returning soon. I would definitely recommend it! P.S. Samantha did not get a lemonade so I can't comment on theirs. read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Their most affordable bottle of wine. - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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I was here once before and loved everything. good food, service, and very enjoyable. I am not a huge yelp person tho but I wanted to share my thoughts on my latest experience, I was pleased with my food as usual but when I arrived the host that greeted my wife and I took 10 minutes to get over to the host stand and couldn't help but look bothered by us being there. She was very rude while she sat us down and seemed disinterested in everything, the host was Gia and I don't remember her being there before but I almost don't want to go back because I felt so unwelcome. Other than that food and service was amazing read more

We came here to celebrate our wedding anniversary as they were the catering company. The interior and service is still great. Our waiter did a great job being on top of getting us our food and drinks. However this time, the food wasn't quite as spot on as we've typically seen. I'm not sure if it was a bad night however the potatoes that came with my steak was so oily it was near inedible. I took a box home for the steak and left the potatoes behind. A bit disappointing, I'm hoping it was an off night for them. read more

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Sat at the bar because we didn't have reservations. Michael was our bartender and we couldn't have had a better dinner. Appetizer, shrimp and scallop scampi and shared a key lime pie for desert. Wine and sangria. Awesome all around. read more

Nicole's is a great spot. Everyone is kind, helpful, and you can tell they love their job. The drinks crafted very well and delicious. It's the same story with the food. It is classic dishes made from fresh, high quality ingredients with generous portions. What's not to love? read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Paper plane - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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Fantastic food. Really nice patio setting and friendly service. We will definitely be back

- good for catering - everything was ready on time and packaged - they did not include plates and utensils - sausage and peppers got rave reviews it was the first to go - penne a la vodka got reviews - 'small' dishes are quite large - chicken fingers got rave reviews read more

I am so happy with my whole experience at Nicoles! My friend and I both got dark espresso martinis- I love how they gave us the options of light or dark espresso martinis. We has Caesar salad to start which was a large portion and was so good. We were also given bread with three different types of toppings. Our entrees were also so yummy. The portion sizes were HUGE and we were happy that we got to bring left overs home. Excited to go back again! read more

We made our first visit to Nicole's on Sat 1/06/2024 5:15pm. After visiting the Schuyler Mansion's Twelfth Night celebration we decide to go to nearby Nicole's on Delaware Ave in Albany, NY. It was quiet when we first arrived but quickly filled up with many diners & the big party upstairs. Nicole's is larger than it appears. A 10 seat bar with about a dozen table in the adjoining dining room. There is also a cosy dining area with a fireplace through a doorway on the first floor. The reserved party room upstairs holds 25-35 people. Plenty of wait staff on deck. We sat at the bar where we were greeted by Katie V. We ordered a Glenlivet neat ($13) & a house pinot grigio ($10) while we looked over the menu. Katie told us the specials. She was very busy as the restaurant was filling up quickly. Reservations are a must on Fri & Sat. She was quickly & deftly making many fancy cocktails & pouring wines for the bar, both dining rooms, & the party upstairs. A true professional and kept up an entertaining banter with patrons & staff. We shared three appetizers from the specials menu. The unique crispy artichokes hearts w/ an aioli dip ($10) was a perfectly prepared & served. My bride had the Italian onion soup ($10) - Fontina | Mozzarella | Short Rib | Italian Bread | Thyme Rosemary- deep rich flavor & piping hot. I had the Gnudi & veal ($18) - Gnudi are gnocchi made w/ ricotta cheese, not pasta, served w/ the braised short ribs. Another unique, & excellent dish. Check out their inspired menu. No room for desserts but they all looked sized for sharing. A friendly neighborhood restaurant with flair and a loyal clientele. Thank you to Katie V. for excellent & entertaining service. Nice trick with the cocktail shaker. LOL. Dinners range from $19 for pappardelle & meatballs to $38 for Zuppa di Pesce. Monday: 5pm-9pm, Tue: closed, Wed-Thu 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-10pm, Sun 4-9pm. Plenty of parking in their side lot & some on the street parking. A great first experience. Highly recommended. Thank you again to Katie V & a big thanks to the kitchen staff - a great job tonight. We certainly will be back frequently in the future. Nicola & Liz, Albany, NY USA read more

We have been going to this restaurant for over 30 years. I have never been disappointed the quality the service value the atmosphere. I love everything about Nicole's. I recommend you try if you haven't !!! may a business thrive for many years to come. They deserve it.‍ read more

I'm Italian and hard for me to eat out. This place is good. I went for a work meeting and we enjoyed apps and dinner. I had chicken parm with angel hair. It was good. Portion sizes are good. read more

Delicious food, generous portions and speedy service. All the food tasted fresh and house made. Calamari had good flavor and was lightly fried--not overly so. The complimentary bread and accompanying herb butter and tapenade was incredible. They offered extra bread to use up all the butter which was nice. Delicious salad and very large portions. The chicken parm was so tasty as well. I'd definitely return in a heartbeat to this cute little place. read more

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We had a great brunch here over Valentine's Day weekend! We walked in without a reservation at 11:30 a.m. and were seated right away. The dining room was bustling and cozy and the service was great. They even had roses on each table, which was a surprising and welcome touch. My husband and I each got hot coffee and bloody marys and were very happy with both. The food was excellent, both in presentation and flavor. We ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes, a side of biscuits with smoked chicken gravy, and breakfast sausage. Truth be told, I've eaten an inordinate number of lemon ricotta pancakes in recent weeks, and can say that these were certainly among the best. The lemon curd that came on top of the pancakes was wonderfully tart and elevated the dish, especially in combination with the blueberry compote. My husband raved about the smoked chicken gravy on the biscuits and was incredibly pleased with the Sindoni breakfast sausage. It's worth noting that the portions were very generous, especially for the price. We will definitely be back and can't wait to try their dinner menu. read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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Absolutely delicious. Service was fantastic! Highly recommend. We had several dishes, chicken Parmesan and spaghetti and meatballs. They were all spectacular. read more

Review for their brunch: Nicole's serves such delicious brunch items. I ordered the lobster benedict and it was cooked to perfection. The lobster was tender, the hollandaise sauce was the perfect amount, and the biscuit was soft but crisp. They also have a basket full of warm pastries which I highly recommend to share. Service is friendly. There is a nice outdoor patio area as well in the back of the restaurant. read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Lobster Benedict - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

The food was amazing and the service was delightful. The expresso martini was one of the best I have had. The special of Italian rockafella ouster so tasty. read more

Went here for brunch on Sunday and I was easily able to make reservations online a few days before. We were seated immediately upon arrival and the waitress let us look over the menu, which was provided via a QR code. I ordered the Iced Cafe Nicole, a boozy coffee drink, and my boyfriend ordered an unsweetened iced tea. The Iced Cafe Nicole was absolutely delicious! It was perfectly strong both coffee and booze-wise. For food, we started with the biscuits and gravy. They were served warm and they were flaky and delicious. The gravy was good but nothing exceptional. We really liked the honey butter that was served with them too. For our entrees, I ordered the carrot cake pancakes and my boyfriend ordered the chicken and waffles. The pancakes were the star of the show! The carrot cake flavor was perfectly on point and we loved the cream cheese icing. The chicken and waffles were nothing spectacular. As a self-proclaimed chicken and waffles connoisseur, I wouldn't recommend them due to the fact that the hazelnut crusted chicken was a chicken cutlet and was not the typical piece of fried chicken. The waffle was also very soft and spongy and not cooked to our liking. In my opinion, waffles should be soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. We did, however, enjoy the frangelico-orange sauce it was served with. Overall, their brunch menu was great. It has a ton of good options, including their brunch cocktails and even desserts too. Our server was extremely friendly and attentive as was every staff member we interacted with. Definitely recommend! read more

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Phenomenal food and service. The ambiance was very old school romance. I would definitely eat here again read more

Birthday Brunch! Nicole's came highly recommended and I was so excited to check it out. We were seated upstairs and it was so cute. It was a perfect match for my friends birthday. It was SO her style. We ordered drinks, enjoying our time. The service was terribly lacking. Drinks took a long time. Food took a long time. Drinks were forgotten. Two out of three of us were served while the third of us was seemingly forgotten. 10 minutes later, her dish was brought to her with no explanation on the wait. The drinks were okay. The apps were decent. We liked the cheese curds and melba, the biscuits and gravy were ok but the chicken gravy was definitely different than I was expecting. For our meals, we order the lobster benedict, chicken and waffles, and the roasted squash bowl. I enjoyed the lobster benedict enough, the benedict itself was tasty, needed a touch more hollandaise. The hash brown was pretty boring and dry, also needed hollandaise, lol. My friend had the chicken and waffles and she said it was good, but not what she expected. It definitely did not look as expected, it didn't say it was boneless on the menu. These two dishes came together to the table. After 10 (very long) minutes, our third meal was brought out, the roasted squash bowl. We were annoyed but we weren't trying to let it ruin the day. Unfortunately, she didn't like her meal at all and felt the salmon tasted funny. She didn't touch it. The server removed her full plate with no questions, which was a bit awkward for us. We opted to not get any more drinks and ask for our bill, mistake. The bill took quite a while. Ultimately we did get the squash bowl removed from the bill after mentioning it so I suppose that's a plus. However that doesn't really help the critically poor service we received for this "birthday brunch". This place was recommended, and I booked the reservation. I feel I made the wrong decision taking my friend here for her birthday. read more

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Finally made it here! Sweet little intimate, Italian spot. Our waitress E was amazing, she stared us towards some of the best dishes. Bartender made the perfect martini for me, which isn't easy I'm picky. We will definitely return! read more

Not a bad restaurant, with only a few misses. We were there as a group of 14, which allowed us to order all of the appetizers off the menu. The winner? Polenta fries. The losers? Calamari and clams. Nothing was bade, Calamari and clams were just tougher than normal. I would happily get any of the other appetizers again though. For the entree, I chose the Seared Sea Bass, and my wife choice the Fillet. I found the sea bass very unpleasant in both taste and texture, and had it wrapped up, after a few bites. My wife ate it the next day, and said it wasn't the best, but "not bad". As you can see from the photo, it doesn't look very seared, and it's breaded, both of which are strange, when it comes to seared sea bass. The flourless chocolate cake was like eating a chocolate truffle, delicious. Overall, the excellent appetizers, decent cesar salad, and good dessert, made up for the lousy entree. I wouldn't come back here if I was paying, but it's a great place to go on someone else's dime! read more

Nicole's Restaurant - Seared Sea Bass - Italian Near Me - Albany, New York

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The food and service are excellent. I had the zuppa de pesce which I found to be one of the best I recall having. Their Brie appetizer was also very nice. read more

Food and service are always excellent here! They also do an amazing job of catering events. I have eaten at the restaurant many times and never been disappointed in anything I ordered. read more

Nicole's restaurant serves the best brunch in all of Albany, change my mind! I wanted to plan brunch with a few friends and had seen one of my other friends post about Nicole's on their Instagram story. I knew that Sunday brunch was going to be very busy so I reserved a table ahead of time. Even so, the staff was very accommodating when we ended up having a plus one that came the day of. I got the shakshuka and was blown away by the flavor and the textures- the crispy toast topped with oozing egg yolk, melted cheese, and piping hot tomato was amazing. We also got lemon ricotta pancakes for the table which were extremely flavorful with a punch of lemon curd on top and fresh berries to balance out the tartness. My friend also got the s'more's coffee boozy drink which was, to be honest, quite a lot, but it's definitely one of those things that you would regret if you didn't try. It was such a great experience, and until I find another restaurant that beats it I will continue to say that this is my favorite brunch spot in the area! read more

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My family and I came in from out of town on a Friday night. We couldn't find a restaurant with availability, so we stumbled upon Nicole's. The four of us sat at the bar and Katie the bar tender was also our waitress. Really, she was so much more. She was absolutely fantastic, we talked to her for the entirety of our meal. She is super outgoing and very knowledgeable about everything drinks. Katie and the hostess (Meghan i believe was her name) recommend the Grilled Salmon and the Short Rib Ragu. We also got the Chicken Marsala and the Penne Alla Vodka with shrimp. The Short Rib Ragu was amazing, probably the best thing on the menu. The grilled salmon and chicken Marsala were also amazing. The penne was nothing special. Since we got shrimp, the sauce was fishy which was expected, so if you don't like fishy flavors I don't recommend the shrimp. The desserts were also great. The best was either the key-lime pie (not super limey) or the warm berry tart with vanilla ice cream. The creme brûlée was nothing special. Overall the experience was great and I would recommend this place to anyone in the Albany area. If Katie is working I highly recommend sitting at the bar. read more

I needed to host a last minute pasta dinner for 26 teenagers and I called the day before and Nicole's went above and beyond to help me come up with a menu and have everything ready ! The service was amazing and the food was delicious! When ordering, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough food and even with them coming back for 2nds and 3rds there was plenty! It was a huge hit and I will absolutely use them for any further catering events! read more