Quite awful service for pretty bad food. I came here on a Tuesday night for my friend's 21st birthday. She didn't want a big crazy event, she just wanted to go out and order her first legal drink and enjoy good food and company. When we arrived we were seated immediately. We started by placing our drink orders. Of course, when my friend ordered her drink the waitress ID'd her. No problem there, but when I mentioned it was her 21st the waitress said briskly "We don't do that here". No, "oh wow, happy birthday, but sorry we don't have any promotions like that!" or anything. It came off rude and inconsiderate. As she glanced at my friend's ID, which was obviously a government issued state ID, she denied serving my friend because it still said "21 and under" in addition to it expiring on that exact day we were out... Really? She ended up going and asking the manager and came back saying how this is a law and she doesn't want to get arrested. ...We are going to get you arrested for serving my friend one drink ON HER 21ST BIRTHDAY?! That is just absurd. I could understand if it was the day before she turned 21 or something but it was obvious that she was of legal age! Wow. The idea that they didn't serve her for that reason is ridiculous, but that's not why I found the service to be awful. If it's really a law, fine, I can't blame them for that as crazy as the law is, but you could at least be courteous and say "I'm really sorry, but we just can't serve her. Can we get you one of our other non alcoholic drinks?", but instead "I don't want to get arrested" came off super bitchy. I wanted to leave but my other friends decided they wanted to stay. I ended up ordering their Southwest Scorcher Burger with onion rings. This was probably one of the worst burgers I have ever had. I ordered it to be cooked medium - half of it was well done, half of it was rare...? It was one of the chewiest burgers I have ever had and the least flavorful as well. It was supposed to come with chipotle mayo and homemade salsa, but there was no sign of the mayo and there was maybe a half teaspoon of the salsa? The only thing I could taste, before I drowned it in ketchup, were the jalapenos. Either way, I should have had them take it back but I was hungry. The only redeeming part were the onions rings which were probably originally prepackaged and frozen. Overall, my friends enjoyed there meals, which is the only reason I am giving this place two stars instead of one. The waitress was rude and the food was awful. Maybe there are some redeeming foods from here, but based on what I ordered this will be the last BBQ place I would choose to visit in Albany. read more

Smokey Bones - Southwest Scorcher Burger - Barbeque Near Me - Colonie, New York

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Went on a whim with the husband after not going in years and it was much better than I remembered. I always forget they exist because there is only one in the area. Exterior reminds me of something you'd see in Lake George, it's got the log cabin feel, which translates to the interior as well. There are cushy leather couches in the waiting area, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. The bar area is huge with plenty of tvs. For food, we ordered chicken nachos, and I had a build your own burger. The nachos were good, chips stayed nice and sturdy to hold the generous toppings (although I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken itself, it lacked seasoning and flavor). My burger was very good, cooked perfectly, nice and juicy, I just couldn't finish it. The fries were crispy and good, but they could've filled the plate up with more of them. Husband ordered chicken tenders and fries, which appeared pretty standard. The bill was a little bit more than I would have expected for what we got (I think just under $50), but there were a couple of beers in there so that definitely adds up. I do like how they have a rewards program as well. I can definitely see myself returning at some point to try some other options when I'm in the mood for dependable chain fare. read more

Very good food and service. Came in for dinner by myself, sat at the bar and ordered their smoked wings for an appetizer, followed by their Pulled Pork plate with sides of broccoli and mash. The wings were excellent and the pork, although a little dry, was still very good. I tried a little bit of each sauce they had out on the bar but enjoyed the pork the chipotle BBQ the most. Resolved the dry issue immediately. The Bartender was very friendly and he recommended the smoked wings, which was a good call. The food came out quickly and hot. Only in town for a couple more days but definitely plan to be back next time I'm around. read more

Smokey Bones - Get the smoked wings... Theyre as tasty as they look! - Barbeque Near Me - Colonie, New York

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This place is a good spot to grab some drinks with friends. They have really good frozen margaritas. The wings are OK- Nothing special. I had a salmon salad which was really good and my boyfriend got a burger and he said he liked it. Overall it's a pretty chill place. Wasn't busy on a Friday night when we arrived. read more

Just went for the first time ever today. Place looks nice upon entry and hostess was friendly. Things went south shortly after the waitress returned with our drinks as she would spill one of them all over the table and onto my arm and leg. Thankfully I had slid over to be further away from the aisle just seconds before that otherwise I would've been totally soaked. While the waitress did apologize and state ''this is why I shouldn't work when i'm exhausted'', no discount or complimentary desert was offered to offset the inconvenience and stickiness of the surroundings I dealt with for the duration of the meal. I'm not one to look for any handouts or to play the role of cheap opportunist, so I didn't ask for anything or ask to speak to a supervisor in hopes of getting anything out of the mishap. It's just that I happen to be a manager in a customer service business and making sure to go beyond a simple 'sorry' when a big mistake takes place is a common practice for my staff and I. Food was absolutely amazing however. Baby back ribs and bbq chicken that I ordered was something out of a food fantasy. My family loved their food as well. Easily could've been a 5 star rating based on everything else but a sticky leg and arm w/o any minor compensation when the final bill was shown left me with something I didn't have at any time while actually eating there,, a bad taste in my mouth... read more

The wings here are my favorite! Great flavor, done well. Most of the food is terrific - the beer can chicken wasn't for me. I like that the staff created some of their own drinks that are found on the menu - the two I've had were really good. As a rewards member, they always have coupons, deals, etc, which is great! The atmosphere is a lot of fun as well. read more

Happen to pop in to smokey Bones on Saturday sense they were one of the few restaurants in the area of Colonie center that didn't have one hour wait times. We were seated within 15 minutes which was awesome. Got our drinks relatively quickly. And then waited an hour and 10 minutes for our actual entrees. Unfortunately the food just wasn't what I remember it being. It cost us $115 for 2 adults with 2 kids and that was after having things removed because they weren't correct. For that amount of money we can pretty much go anywhere and have a great meal so needless to say we won't be back. Now we know why smokey bones didn't have the same wait times as its neighboring restaurants. read more

Was told there was no discount for Hilton guests, only went there because I saw the flyer in my hotel room. Poor management. read more

Smokey Bones - Hmmm 10% off - Barbeque Near Me - Colonie, New York

I was at your restaurant and I see that you are not having your employees wearing masks. That's not good and I will not go back there.

Great food, I had the pulled pork sandwich and a side of baked beans. The beans are great and they have little chunks of pulled pork in them, literally delicious. The sauces were good, my favorites were the ones in the red & green squirt tubes (can't remember the exact names but they were GOOD.) Service was great. Our server Tyler was very friendly. Kept checking up on us, was very helpful overall and had some nice conversation with us. I would definitely come to this spot again. Worth it read more

Better than I thought it would be. A step up from Crapplebees. I ordered the chicken sandwich with broccoli (oh Albany county, with your calorie counts on the menus.. ) and other than the bacon being obviously not very fresh, it was very good. Hubs was satisfied with his burger and fries. Various BBQ sauces on the table is a nice touch. They play music videos, too, which apparently still exist, along with whatever important sports are happening that evening. Apparently they have beer pong on Tuesdays. The beer selection isn't bad, either. read more

I used to go to Smokey bones frequently when I lived in the area a few years ago. Since moving, I visit every 6 months with family and each experience has been worse than the last. Six months ago I went with a large party about 10 with kids and my niece (7 year old) spilled a drink. Staff didn't even come over to check what the noise was and when the waiter made eye contact he waited until we were done cleaning and then brought us more napkins. Last night, I went with a party of 7. First we ordered drinks with Buffalo Trace, after making the order the waitress came back to inform us there was no Buffalo Trace. After placing our order for dinner she came back and informed us there was no brisket. 5/7 people at the table ordered brisket and had to change their orders. While eating I noticed a dead fly in my food. The waitress apologized, but didn't offer much other than more food (without flies hopefully). We watched the waitress bring the plate to who we assumed was the manager. He was sitting at the bar a majority of the night watching sports until the table across from us also sent their food back. We got our bill and the food with the fly was still on the bill. The waitress came back and we informed her we would not be paying for food that had a fly in it and she lied and said she already took it off the bill. We then watched her approach the manager again with our bill in hand. She came back a few minutes later and apologized and said she fixed the bill. When we were leaving a person in my party stayed to speak to the manager as he never approached our table or apologized. The manager claimed he didn't know what happened at our table. He also stated that he did not know they were out of brisket. Clueless or pretending he wasn't to blame for the mistakes made, either way I will not be returning the next time I'm in town. read more

It smelled like a urinal when we walked in the door. We went on Monday night football. My bf said this place was always packed when he used to come here years ago. A lot seemed to have changed as it was pretty dead. A few groups of guys at the bar and maybe a table or two full but that was it. The server was nice, but he didn't seem like he wanted to be there and he was pretty slow to come around. We ordered the sampler platter as an appetizer, it came with 4 chicken strips, 4 egg roll thingys and "fire fries". Have no idea where that name came from since the fries weren't even slightly spicy, and it couldn't be referring to the temperature as these tasted like they had been either reheated or were sittng under a heat lamp for a good few hours. It's like the chef thought we wouldn't be able to tell they were old fries since they put so much cheese and crap on top of them. The chicken strips tasted better than they looked, and they looked like they had been sitting for a few hours under a heat lamp as well. Perhaps keeping the fries company? The egg roll things were ok, not my preference but not terrible. For dinner, I ordered the Cobb salad. If you've ever ordered a Cobb salad before, you know that they generally come with romaine or iceberg lettuce, not mixed greens. That may not seem like that big of a deal for them to put in the wrong lettuce, but for me it is, and if i knew it would come that way, I wouldn't have ordered it. The chicken in the salad was good. I guess I can't complain about the presentation too much since it is just bar food, but would it have been too much for them to actually cut up the items in the salad? It had whole strips of mediocre bacon, a whole hardboiled egg that had one half-assed slice through it, and the chicken, although good, was piled on like the lettuce was bread, and this was a sandwich rather than a salad. Bf gt a combo plate of ribs and pork. I didn't taste it but it looked pretty bad and my bf was disappointed. The atmosphere was kinda fun, I could see this place having potential. But it really seemed to be just like a typical, crappy chain. This is just a comment to "Willie W." Your wife's a hater because you admittedly and obviuosly had a thing for your significantly younger waitress? Nice. Your wife's a lucky woman. read more

We decided to go here on a whim and I'm so glad we did. We got the smoked chicken wings for our appetizer. All I can say is they were the best wings I ever had. Lunch we had combo plates to try everything. The pulled pork and beans were out of this world. The chicken was a little dry but nothing that bbq sauce couldn't fix. The ribs were fall off the bone and the smoked sausage was on point. Dessert... get the donuts. Just do it. Tons of beers to pick from. Everyone was so nice and helpful there. read more

Awful! Only upside was a good server, but the manager was walking around and was really creepy. 1. My salad arrived frozen. yes, the cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes were FROZEN. Gross. 2. We had a nacho appetizer. got that with the Chicken Chili added. There were 2 small bites of chicken for the whole plate. that was $3? 3. the Brisket was AWFUL. like overcooked high school cafeteria meat. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! read more

Food is ok, water tastes like they didn't fully rinse the soap out when cleaning. Every. Single. Time. Staff generally doesn't seem to enjoy working there. Can't speak for nightlife, I've only been there for lunch. read more

Haven't been here since around the time it opened 12 years ago. Not sure why but I decided to give them a try- especially after they mailed me a coupon! Bribery can be an effective strategy, I guess! I got a to-go order or their St. Louis ribs, beans and slaw. It was packaged nicely and given to me by a friendly hostess. I got home and noticed they never gave me the slaw. Too bad. Shows they need to train the staff to check the orders before giving them to customer! I called simply to bring it to their attention. The manager said he'd happily drop it off at my house- but he didn't get off work for three more hours. His humor fell flat, but he was trying. Regardless, the ribs were juicy, flavorful and fall off the bone delicious! The baked beans seemed undercooked and too sweet.Funny, I read a review here on Yelp that also commented on how sweet the beans were. I'd go back but maybe not get sides. I wouldn't want them to forget again! read more

Server was perfect! BBQ quality was pre-packaged and not what we had in mind. Smoked wings are good, but not enough for our return.

Only thing decent was the service,drinks, and pretzels. Fries were soggy and dry. Potato wedges were burned to a crisp. Fried pickles were soggy and half of them were doughy and not cooked. Got 3 pulled pork sandwiches and pork nachos and they were all dry. Nachos were stale and cheese was cold and hard. Dirty kitchen etiquette. Overpriced food. Go somewhere else. read more

Came in about 6pm and didn't leave im until about 8:30pm, not because I was taking my time there. When walking in, it looks very plain, run down and not the cleanest. Heavy dust over every window sill, half the ceiling tiles were missing, stained or broken. Looked like an old Ground Round restaurant, just with newer chairs. Upon not seeing the waiter for drinks after 15 minutes, I had to go up to the front desk myself and request to be seen. The food looked like a 4th grader made it on giant, heavy plates they found in their grandmothers basement. I had to sit on the floor and wait for a table because there was only seating for about 5 people up front (in a big restaurant). Food was mediocre, lacked flavor, presentation and quality (found a hair in my food). The only thing good about eating here is leaving. Some of the to-go boxes were also made upside down and would not close. By the way, the bathroom floor was covered in urine, leaking from the toilet (it was not water). read more

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alexa was wonderful! she's the best bartender ever she's always so nice and friendly and makes such good drinks. she's so on her game always even when the bar is packed i know I can expect efficient service from her. I went Wednesday night and she wasn't there and I was disappointed. This girl should have a full time position! read more

The St. Louis ribs were oversalted and inedible. I will not visit whenever I'm in town. read more

Three of us went to Smokey Bones last week, Sept 27th. It was a busy Friday night around 7 PM, we were informed by the hostess that there would be a 25 minute wait. We noticed that there were probably 25-30 people waiting to be seated. After a half hour wait I asked the hostess why we could not be seated since there were 6 empty and clean booths. She said that they were seating people in order. That clearly wasn't happening. I then sought out the manager who informed me the the kitchen "was slammed" and that is why no one was being seated. Very strange! Why wouldn't they seat us, allow us to have a drink and look over the menu? That would be customary in every other casual dining restaurant that I have visited. We were finally seated after 45 minutes, the service was good and so was the food. I am perplexed as to why this restaurant elects not to seat diners when there are plenty of booths vacant and ready for seating. read more

I had never been to a Smokey Bones chain before this one, so I naively asked for a table that wasn't in the section with the TVs. I didn't know that they don't have any sections without TVs. The restaurant has decent food and good service. My date and I made the mistake of ordering the chicken nachos as well as entrees, though. We took home doggie bags. Both of which my date ate, to my disappointment. I got the barbeque pulled pork sandwich. It was delicious but I just couldn't bear to finish it after those nachos. I was saving it for a tasty meal the next day. He apologized, which almost makes it all better. read more

Holy hell- the waitress was the only saving grace- literally the ceiling was falling down and no one gave a F, except Maddie, she's an angel. read more

Decent for a chain restaurant - food is not so bad. Don't get the steamed broccoli if you're trying to actually eat healthy. They do have Angry Orchard though so that's excellent! read more

This restaurant is not a place to go if you have disabilities. They leave you standing while they walk around saying they will be right with you. Don't ask for table,they don't know the difference between a table and booth. When I walked when they first greeted me, I asked for a table for obvious reasons. They instead ran back and forth from kitchen to the back room. Then came back,cleaned a booth and showed me to that booth. I asked again for a table,said they thought a booth is what I asked for. I re-stated I asked for a table. They asked "how about a high top?" I walked out! They don't know how to treat people with disabilities,,so they treat them like you are asking for the moon. read more

Came in tonight for wing night, we were very skeptical of coming back because our first experience here. Our bartender (don't remember his name, had a mustache and longer hair) was not attentive or personable. It didn't seem very busy yet we had to bother him to get drinks as he was standing at the end of bar conversations with coworkers. It really turned us off from coming back as it was our first time in. Tonight we decided to give it another shot and we didn't regret it. Our bartender (Bre i think) was amazing. Very knowledgeable about food and drinks. It was very nice to hear about her adventures and feel welcomed in after such a bad experience. We will be back to see her!! read more

I was craving some bbq and decided to try this place through door dash. After reading reviews I decided on the baby back ribs with beans and mac and cheese. I also ordered the cornbread and donuts. I anxiously awaited the arrival of my goodies, only to be disappointed. Where to begin? First, I only recieved beans... no mac. But I will say the beans were pretty good. The ribs were also pretty good. Next...the cornbread. It was disgusting. I had to through it out. It was doughy and tasteless. It was supposed to come with honey butter, but I recieved nothing. It tasted like it was microwaved. The edges were that chewy almost impossible to breakthrough when you microwave something... you know what I'm taking about. Save your money. Lastly, the donuts. I read several reviews and they did not disappoint! These are delicious! Go here just for the donuts...although I was disappointed I didn't get any of the dipping sauces that are supposed to accompany them. Bottom line... not impressed. I guess I will stick with Dinosaur. read more

We have gone here multiple times over the past couple of years and now with the pandemic, we have gotten take out several times. The staff is always extremely friendly and attentive. The food is always fresh and delicious at a good price. If you are looking for barbecue I would definitely suggest you try this restaurant. read more

Shit. That is the word which best describes this BBQ. Nothing I tried here was particularly good. Their BBQ sauces weren't impressive at all. Everything about my experiences here has looked, felt, and tasted half-assed at best. I would put the food quality at or below the stuff they served in my high school's cafeteria. How anyone can go here for BBQ when there are actually real (and good) BBQ places in the area is beyond my ability to comprehend. The only redeeming quality is that the waitress I had was nice and reliable. Beyond that, I can't think of any other positive traits to discuss. read more

The food is not bad, but the ability of the staff to get an order correct is poor. We ordered takeout 4 times (love the pretzel bones) in the past 6 months and three of the four times we had an entree missing. We never order more than 4 meals at a time, so it isn't like we overload them with requests. If you are ordering take out, make sure you check your package before you leave to make sure everything is there. Otherwise, staff may be rude to you (insinuate you are mistaken and that the items were in fact in your bag) when you come back to complain about the missing items. Management handled our complaint fine, but three out of four failures to complete an order means we will not be using this location for takeout again anytime soon. read more

Terrible service. Kicked out due to waiting list even though it was completely empty. *Crickets*

Ordered Grubhub delivery and the only thing correct were the burger and pulled pork. All add ons and sides were incorrect, some of which were an extra charge so we paid for items not received. Very disappointing. read more

I was super excited bringing my girlfriend here for all you can eat taco night. Just to find out it takes a good chunk of time to get your one taco after the first three. We got here at 10 it's 1130 and we've had 4 tacos. Also each of the four tacos have been different in the sense that we asked for no salsa then one came out with salsa the next one came with no guacamole. read more

Surprisingly good. I'm not a BBQ snob..but I figured how good could a chain joint be? the four of us enjoyed our time here..all satisfied. Its a fairly attractive HUGE restaurant. Menu is extensive--way too many choices. Our young server was full of enthusiasm..called us "guys" 6-7 times. very prompt in bringing out drinks., entrees... re-fills etc. Two of us had bottles of beer....my wife had a wine..I opted for a diet coke. All priced right..no rip-offs. three of us had the salmon dinner(eating healthy!) alongside firegrilled corn and broccoli . I had the brisket of beef dinner....delicious sauce on top...along with beans and coleslaw. hearty portion and very good tasting. Very tender. Food is a little on the pricey side but honestly...we all licked our platters clean. a damn good option for texas style grub in the Capital region. read more

Great service, good food, fun atmosphere, nice beer menu, however, very odd music mix for a BBQ restaurant. read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Colonie, New York

I went there twice this week. Some businesses should stay clear away from meals they are not good at. on 4/4/18 I ordered the chicken wings. They were meaty and flavorful but seemed soaked in a funny oil and no bleu cheese?? With the Sam Adams beer battered fish, the fish I ordered missed the mark by a mile. Although flaky, it lacked the taste of fish and I wondered if I was eating sushi. The tarter sauce was good. The steak I ordered Thursday 4/5/18, was a little too rare, there was no medium. It was tasty but a wee too hard to cut. The broccoli was excellent but cool. The potatoes were good but almost cold. The fire corn was interesting and tasty but cold. The salad was crispy, the onion rings delicious. They were the only warm item I had after the 5 minutes drive back to the office. They were also 7 minutes late on bringing out a meal I ordered 2 hours earlier. I think I'll go back to 99 steakhouse. read more

This was the worst alleged BBQ we've ever had the misfortune to eat. We ordered to take out, and found both the brisket and chicken sandwiches inedible. Both were smothered in melted cheese which is not how real BBQ is done. Terrible. read more

Brianna is the best!! Excellent service - complete professional. She will take care of all your BBQ needs.