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    The Black Bear Inn

    4.3 (65 reviews)
    ModerateSports Bars, Pubs
    Open 12:00 pm - 1:00 am (Next day)

    The Black Bear Inn Photos

    Business Info

    THE BLACK BEAR INN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Juke Box
    Live music
    Casual
    Moderate noise

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    Recommended Reviews - The Black Bear Inn

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    Egg plant fries
    Corie Y.

    If Black Bear Inn isn't on your radar for some of the best wings and bar food in this area, I advise you to head there as soon as possible. This little divey bar is pushing out amazing house made apps and wings. The apps we had tonight were the cowboy bites, eggplant fries and waffle fries. The cowboy bites are amazing little balls packed with a cheesy, creamy, spicy filling. The eggplant fries are my go to appetizer here, house made and the perfect appetizer, if there is a fried veggie on the menu I will usually get it and these are the best I've had. The fries were great too! You really can't go wrong with the appetizers. And also the beer, they have a pretty decent selection. The star of the show: wing sampler. We got garlic parm, medium, sweet heat and the best of them all, zesty tequila. They were perfect, crispy, juicy, tender. They are insanely consistent, I have been coming here for years and have never left unimpressed with the wings. The sauces are also perfect. The house made blue cheese is chunky and crave worthy. They have always been in my top 5 wings. We also got the Reuben mac and cheese. I loved the creamy sharp cheddar and the big chunks of meat instead of slices. They have great mac and cheese and I really want to try the French onion version. Don't come here counting your calories, but like seriously get here ASAP.

    Cowboy bites
    Loretta H.

    I wanted some wings and didn't want to go to the nearby pizza take out. Its not that those are bad, but it seemed like a nice night for another choice. Black Bear Inn is a nearby neighborhood sports bar that has food. Not uncommon for many sports bars. It is just that, a bright bar with multiple TVs all tuned to a playoff football game. We sat at the bar since the one table available had no chairs with it. Chairs had moved to allow more people to sit together. New to this venue, we went with 2 appetizers and an order of wings. Fried portabellos are a great take on fried mushrooms. Portabellos are very flavorful, crisp and was delightful. Bacon bombs are the bomb. Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and cheddar, smoked with crisp bacon, all comes together to be delicious with a lovely smokey finish. Wings were also good. We ordered medium not knowing how hot their hot was. The medium was quite respectible with just enough heat after you swallow the bits of chicken. Its a nice neighborhood bar with lots of enthusiastic patrons enjoying the games, the food and the multiple choices of beers on tap.

    Bear Claw Fries
    Hunter C.

    It's been a while since my last review due to unseen circumstances, but I'm back. To start, I ventured to The Black Bear Inn as I was in the mood for some good bar food. With this in mind, I ordered medium wings and chicken nachos as an appetizer. The wings were all-around solid. They were small, but were crispy and juicy. On the other hand, the chicken nachos were disappointing. To untangle, the chicken was dry and the cheese had no flavor. Also, the order of nachos was very small. After this, I moved on to the entree. I ordered a burger with bacon and a fried egg with bear claw fries on the side. The burger was extremely juicy and flavorful, but the problem was that the fried egg was way too runny and it ruined the bun. When you put a fried egg on a burger it needs to be over hard so it doesn't leak everywhere. Alternatively, the bear claw fries were excellent. They were hot, crispy, and tasty. Broadly speaking, the Black Bear Inn has solid food, but there's room for improvement.

    Enjoying some playoff football and beer. These Chicken Tenders are the bomb!
    Joel M.

    The Black Bear Inn is a no frills, local watering hole. While there you will most likely encounter some folks who spend LOTS of time at this bar. They specialize in beer and foods that you would expect to find at a pub. The most awesome part is that they make honest attempts at being creative and preparing food from scratch. They aren't opening up bags of frozen foods and throwing them in a deep fryer. They deserve huge props for this. I absolutely love that they are up to date in terms of the beer universe. They have nifty digital screens which show their current offerings. They are hooked up to Untapped so when you check in a beer your name pops up on the screen. I guess I am a big nerd but I always find that fun! Black Bear is famous for wings and they have lots of creative sauces. They don't make my top 3 but they are very good. The Thai Peanut Sauce is a must try! They have some killer appetizers that are very unique. The bacon bombs and cowboy bites are super tasty. The fried green tomato was a miss when I tried it. The tomato was too thick and not cooked all the way through. The dish itself is very creative and a nod to Charleston, SC. At a recent visit I ordered chicken tenders. They were huge, hand battered and cooked perfectly. There was a bit too much black pepper and a bit more salt was needed but I still loved them. They also make fresh cut fries which are excellent. Clearly the kitchen goes the extra mile at BB and they are doing their best to be creative. It should definitely be on your list of places to catch a football game or hang with friends for a pint and some grub.

    Pulled pork Mac & Cheese
    Stitch M.

    OMG this dish is amazing!! Pulled Pork MAC & Cheese!!! You HAVE to order this! The staff is great and the drinks are amazing! We were greeted the moment we walked in and the service has been spectacular! Quick drinks and even faster food!

    View from the Door

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    10 months ago

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    3 months ago

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    4 months ago

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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great food at a great price. Fries were crispy and flavorful. waitress was friendly and took time to recommend food items

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    2 years ago

    Great food and service! Feels like a hidden gem to me. Cozy little place on the main drag through Watervliet.

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    1 year ago

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    6 years ago

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    Tim D.

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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Excellent. Delicious burgers. Delicious barbecue sauce. Reasonable prices. Good place to grab a comfort food bite.

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The bartender Felisha, AMAZING!! Recommended surfsides, smart gal. And pretty and funny

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    7 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Manager was cool and fixed any issues with my order when I wasn't happy give this place a shot

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    7 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Great atmosphere, good drinks and awesome food. Sometimes they have special events going on. I like to follow their Facebook page.

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    5 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    2 years ago

    the Black Bear inn have the best Wings in the 518 area code The Black Bear Inn is the number one bar In the 518 area

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    8 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Business owner information

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    Tim D.

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    16 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Best Food & Best Beer in the capital region. Joe and Tim are the best.

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    13 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Great bar with awesome people and Wednesdays they have karaoke night which is always a good time

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - The Black Bear Inn

    Review Highlights - The Black Bear Inn

    their creativity!) while my boyfriend and friend got the Grizzly Burger - both I must highly recommend!

    Mentioned in 4 reviews

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    The Ruck

    The Ruck

    3.8(300 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $$

    Overall a good experience! The Ruck has a great beer selection and a convenient beer menu that also…read moregives untapped ratings which was a helpful addition. The drinks came out quickly after we ordered them. The food took a decent amount longer. While we did wait 30 minutes for our food when it wasn't very busy , when it did come out it was hot and delicious. Flavorful wings, yummy disco fries/tots and some of the most well seasoned onion rings I've ever had. The atmosphere of the restaurant is classic pub food bar place but was well cleaned. Other than having to wait a little longer than usual for our food it was a great experience. We were so excited to eat by the time it came I did forget to take a photo of the food but it was all portioned well and well seasoned.

    My first visit to The Ruck was enjoyable. I went by myself. I was actually trying to find the…read moreRensselaer County Clerk's Office. People kept telling me, " It's across the street from The Ruck. You know, The Ruck?" That was no help to me. I was unfamiliar with this tavern. To think that it's more famous than the county offices sparked my curiosity. So after I took care of my paperwork with the county I stopped in at The Ruck. I would describe it as a business and dive bar that makes craft beers. I made it in for lunch on a weekday. I took a seat at the bar. I was surprised to see the menu was quite extensive. There was a nice selection of soups. I ordered a cup of Greens and Beans along with 5 oz. of Fat Orange Cat Brew Chonky . I liked the beer. The soup was quite good, too. The man seated next to me was eating wings. He was raving about them. He said they were the best in town. I'll have to try them next time. Service is very good. The bartender was a good guy. Very nice and helpful. He said that on football game nights the bar is packed with Bills fans. Sounds like a lot of fun.

    Photos
    The Ruck
    The Ruck - Buffalo Garlic Parmesan

    Buffalo Garlic Parmesan

    The Ruck

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    The West Side Sports Bar & Grill

    The West Side Sports Bar & Grill

    4.0(113 reviews)
    24.5 mi
    $$

    Lately, I feel like all restaurants have been tasting the same. The same old frozen food that is…read moresupplied from the same vendor. This is not the case here - all of the food we had was made in house, and you could taste the difference. The beer battered fries had a thin flaky coating that made them irresistible. The buffalo calamari was cooked perfectly, piled up, and topped with blue cheese crumbles and green onion. Don't even get us started on the boneless wings... also, the ranch and blue cheese dip were out of this world. Guess what? HOME MADE. We came here to watch a Sabres game, since we heard there were a ton of TVs to watch the games. And we ended up being surprised with a fantastic dinner and great service. What a great night.

    Stopped in for a late dinner. The place definitely has a sports bar vibe…read more I opted for the Calamari (West Side Original Recipe!) which as flour dusted calamari, scallion, cherry peppers, balsamic glaze reduction, parmesan cheese for $18. Honestly, they had a ton of potential, but they didn't deliver. The calamari was soggy instead of crispy. The balance of other items was pretty off. It looked pretty, but didn't taste good. The calamari was bitter in addition to being soggy. The balsamic glaze added a sweetness, but it wasn't offset by enough salty/spicy. It was served with a tomato sauce that didn't go well with the toppings. It was an odd dish. If it wasn't so late, I might have actually sent it back (which I do probably once every 10 years). Fresher, crispy and less bitter calamari might have been enough to fix the balance. My dinner companion had a sandwich with a bun, lettuce, apple slice, fried chicken, cheese, and bacon. I think it might have been a special. It was ok. It came with Saratoga chips, which is why we picked the restaurant. We wanted to get Saratoga chips in Saratoga. Unfortunately, they were hard and cold and bland. Lots of TVs. Service was meh. I felt like they were put out for serving us. There's a good bar vibe. If I were to eat there again, I would go for beer and wings.

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    The West Side Sports Bar & Grill
    The West Side Sports Bar & Grill
    The West Side Sports Bar & Grill - Best wings in Saratoga

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    Best wings in Saratoga

    The Black Bear Inn - sportsbars - Updated June 2026

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