Awesome local tavern with friendly staff and delicious eats! I stopped in on a weekday for lunch and was immediately greeted by the bartender who was also the waitress for the whole place. Despite her being the only person up front, she warmly welcomed everyone and the service was great. I met a friend of mine who was craving wings so she ordered some hot wings and I got the Turkey Brie sandwich, which had turkey, brie cheese, apples and cranberry mayo on ciabatta bread with a side salad. The sandwich was delicious and piled high with turkey. My friend loved her wings too. Overall, the food was great as was the service. Definitely recommend! read more

The Black Bear Inn - Turkey Brie sandwich with side salad - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

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After finally trying the Beef on Weck sandwich from the recommendation from a friend I was really glad I had. I ordered this as takeout and just had to take a couple of bites in the car before going home to try it nice and warm. This kind of sandwich is hard to find. A special roll needs to be used for this called a kimmelweck roll. A kimmelweck (or kummelweck) roll is a crunchy, Kaiser-type bread roll topped with coarse salt and aromatic caraway seeds, primarily known for defining the Buffalo, New York, "beef on weck" sandwich. Originating from 19th-century German immigrant traditions, they are usually filled with roast beef and soaked in au jus. The sandwich was loaded with juicy flavorful roast beef. The bun had caraway seeds and coarse salt all over the top of it which complimented the beef deliciously. It also had a horseradish sauce on the sandwich, so good. It was served with tasty fries and two little cups of au jus. I would definitely order this again. read more

The Black Bear Inn - Beef on Weck on the special kimmelweck roll which has caraway seeds and coarse salt over the top of it. Great! - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

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Great friendly service, attentive and patient. Beef on Weick rivels any thing in Buffalo. great to see an Albany area establishment offer the Beef on Weick read more

Stopped here on our way to Cooperstown for wings. I've eaten a lot wings in different places and these are in my top five. I had the smoked wings and others in my party had fried wings. Everyone agreed they were awesome! Amy took good care of us and recommended her favorite sauce which was a hit. This is a great neighborhood sports bar and I'll definitely come back if I'm in the area. read more

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

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. read more

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

Great food! Burgers, sandwiches, wings, even food for a vegetarian. Excellent food! Came here with our kids and it was a bar atmosphere but server and chef were awesome. read more

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. read more

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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. read more

The Black Bear Inn - Bear Claw Fries - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

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

Had a very good experience here with my mom and girlfriend. We heard the wings were solid and so we came bye for a beer, some wings and killer straight pretzels. Everything was very good, and the bartender Mike gave excellent service which we really appreciated. The Garlic Parm wings were good not great but I really enjoyed their Thai Peanut Wings and one of the spicy-ish wings but I forget the name. 4 stars for the food and a 5th star for the great service! read more

I came here with a group of fellow friends for one of our tavern nights, and had a pretty good time. It isn't a tiny bar, but the way the tables are arranged inside makes it somewhat difficult for large groups to gather together. The high tables are permanently bolted to the wall, so extending table space means butting up lower, round tables. It worked, but it wasn't ideal. It was a loud scene that night. The Yankees were fighting for their playoff lives (though they eventually lost the game... aww) and an NFL game was also on. It was somewhat quiet when we got there around 7PM but by 9PM it was hopping. It was a bit too loud for my tastes, but I am a turning into an old curmudgeon. We sampled a lot of their appetizer food, most of which was quite good. Several standouts were "Cowboy bites" (corn, jalapeno, bacon, cream cheese fritters) and "bacon bombs" (jalapenos, cream cheese, and cheddar wrapped in bacon). At least five flavors of wings were ordered, though the most unusual and yet remarkable that I tried were the Thai peanut wings. Heavy and gloppy with peanut butter, they were still cooked perfectly and I love peanut butter so I found them a refreshing change to the typical Buffalo style. The raspberry bourbon wing sauce was a bit of a let down, though, as it was a bit too mild for me. Their medium Buffalo sauce was as authentic as any I have had. Their smoked wings were a different style and I didn't really dig them, but others around me did. Beyond that, we had several other interesting things like their fried green tomatoes topped with an abundance of pimento cheese and bacon. Very salty, very yummy, and much better than the traditional preparation. Some expressed that here was too much cheese... but I say bring it on! Their spicy cheese curds were a tasty variation of a cheese stick, but they were not spicy at all. The eggplant fries were a surprise delight, and their crinkle shape allowed to get nice and crispy, though sadly I wouldn't file them under the "healthy" column. The prices seemed reasonable, and the food came out relatively fast though by the end when the place was jammed up things slowed down. I can see the appeal of this friendly pub, and were I in the area I would be inclined to come back. read more

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. read more

The Black Bear Inn - Enjoying some playoff football and beer. These Chicken Tenders are the bomb! - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

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

Mostly bar biz, I heard about the place on the news. It was way too loud, took away from the ambiance. Bartender/waitress was very nice, but it took 20 minutes to wait for her to come back to take our order! The food was cold, the fries would have been great if they were hot, the burger bun ice cold, onion rings and burger was Luke warm. Nachos could have been hotter. Burger and cowboy Ruben were tasty, just wish it was hotter! I saw the chef on spectrum news and he was very proud of his food. I'm sure he would not be happy with this! read more

Really good wings! Unpretentious making it even better to eat and drink there waiting for the boys to finish basketball at the nearby dome or just to hang out. read more

My wife and I dig this place! The fact that the kitchen smokes their brisket and wings is absolutely incredible! The drinks are delicious. My girl M. behind the bar hooks us up when we go! Always a fun time read more

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

First of all uncle Mike rocks! The restaurant at this place has a menu so creative and so unlike many I've seen in large cities such as New York San Francisco even London the food is excellent! The drinks are large and well-made. But this is definitely a place to go for dinner you will not be disappointed! read more

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! read more

The Black Bear Inn - Pulled pork Mac & Cheese - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

RECOMMENDED On December 24th, my brother, Guy, and my lovely and very intelligent young attorney niece, Nicole, chose The Black Bear Inn to enjoy a very good lunch and a very putrid Jets/Pats game. My treat. I want to cure a misconception about this casual sports bar in Watervliet. It is not a "dive". We entered the pub immediately after it opened and it was very clean and attractively organized, with no trace of urine or stale beer. Mike, the very pleasant owner approached and inquired about our choice of football game which he then put on on the one of many large screen TVs which are affixed both behind the attractive bar and the perimeter of the pub. As an aside, I might add that The Black Bear has an excellent sounding jukebox with a wide selection of songs. Mike made me a delicious Dirty Vodka Martini and my brother and I ordered lunch prior to Nicole's arrival. I chose a Cheddar Burger with Fries and Guy chose the same, only with American Cheese. The Burger/Fry platters, if you choose to create your own, start at an insane $6.99, with very nominal 50 cents or a dollar charges for toppings like cheese, bacon, ect. My fresh tasting burger was complex tasting, minerally and delicious. It also arrived a perfect medium as requested. The fries tasted great as well. My brother agreed with my assessment. Nicole arrived about a half hour later and she enjoyed a delicious Blackened Chicken Sandwich. My beloved Jets, as expected, proved that they still eternally suck so we left at halftime. Nevertheless, our great lunch at The Black Bear Inn lifted our spirits considerably. The Black Bear Inn is a great place for a bite, a football game or some drinks. I recommend that you try it. read more

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I've been here once, when a friend's musical trio played, and ordered from them a few times. Every single time, it's been spot on. When I went in person, I just had the wings, as it was pretty late, but they were perfect. Moist, flavorful, and yet nice and crisped out on the outside, which for me is a dealmaker with wings. Chicken skin not crisped skeeves me out. For delivery, I've tried a few things. All time favorites? The turkey bacon has been a home run every single time: mounds of fresh, real turkey (not the processed stuff), thick slabs of crispy glazed bacon, and cheese, with other accompaniments on the side (but gosh who needs them with whats already there?!) The side of chipotle mayo is to die for. The waffle fries are crisp and salty (no small feat on a delivery), I've had them alone, and I've had them as the Bear Claw fries, killer both times. The chicken nuggets were about what you'd expect, but still good if that's what you're jonesing from. This has become a go-to, and the only drawback is that I want to try so much more on the menu, but the above items are so good I keep going back to them. read more

Pulled pork Mac and cheese is phenomenal! Quick and attentive staff too. I ordered mine without scallions but my boyfriend ordered with and the waitress caught that both were missing scallions and offered to bring my boyfriend a cup of them. We got our drinks in no time and our food came out surprisingly fast too. The table behind us seems to have a volume control problem, but that's no fault of the owners. read more

The Black Bear Inn - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

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

Atmosphere was friendly. Didn't like the fries as they were over cooked, to dark and the fried green tomatoes well it was more pimento cheese than tomatoes the bacon was between brunt/raw ( cooked to fast, burned but still raw). The wings were okay. Return Not!! read more

This is a quaint little place, perfect for grabbing some drinks and lunch. The wings are nice and crispy and packed with flavor, the sandwiches are delightful, and the service is quick and friendly. Love this place. read more

Always good beer selections on tap here. Food can be good depending on what chef is there the day you go. I think the one guy likes to experiment with food and gets bored with the menu. Speaking of the menu they are changing it (taking a long while) and don't have a lot of things listed on it. They remodeled over 6 months ago and still need to add some trim work and a mirror to the ladies room, if they do so. One of my favorites here would be the taco salad. I decided on having a burger that was a special; a buffalo burger with blue cheese. It was scrumptious in flavor and cooked medium to my liking but was lacking something. I would say it should have came with bacon and to top it off lettuce and tomato. With it I ordered eggplant fries which you don't see at too many places and theirs is very good. read more

Seen this restaurant on TV and decided to try out the Buffalo chicken mac n cheese as it was featured on the news. I WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED!!!! It was just noodles and melted cheese on top. The Buffalo chicken was breaded chicken patties cut up with Buffalo sauce. HORRIBLE!!!! The cheese sauce wasn't even visible and the noodles tasted like the water it was boiled in during the cooking process. The bartender was nice and friendly which was a bonus but the food wasn't good at all. read more

Went to the Black Bear Inn yesterday with my sister to watch a World Cup game. Requested the game be put on, Mike let us pick which TV to play it on. Ordered the Cajun parm wings, delicious. Nice, crispy and perfect flavor!! Service, food and drinks were wonderful, I will definitely come back again! Thanks Mike! read more

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

Went on a Monday night and was quiet, seemed quieter than usual but it is in a quiet area. Ordered roast beef sandwich. $10 read more

The Black Bear Inn - Sports Bars Near Me - Watervliet, New York

To err is human, to love is simply divine. Beginning with no errors, when you first walk in to the Black Bear Inn, you are greeted with the roaring sounds of faithful good locals that are genuinely happy to be in each other's company. A deep sea of smiles and eager bar maids are plainly seen on the surface. However, taking a glimpse into its depth proved worth the effort as I noticed the wide variety of cocktails adorning the trim of the bar, an electronic dart board for the brave and competitive, and a span of televisions broadcasting your favorite pastime. I have eaten my fair share of grubbery, enough to be qualified to tell you the truth about its form. The food here transcends comfort; it is an emotional moment to bite into a burger that is so very fresh and so very juicy. The Black Bear Inn burgers will give you those 'feels'. The diverse variety of Mac and Cheese boasted at the Black Bear Inn is deserving of full exploration... simply oozing with a golden yellow thickness that I personally have found to be unmatched. A clean, friendly, attentive staff rounds out this five star review of a local watering hole that just might be the next best thing you've ever tasted. Jolly good show, my hat's off to you, simply divine. read more

Best bar/restaurant I have been to. The owners take bar food and turn them into an amazing dishes ripe with flavor and experience. My go-to plate is the burnt end brisket fries. A real culinary take on loaded fries. Aside from the food, the bartenders are absolutely amazing mixologists. No mixed drink I have had there has been disappointing. The Long Island iced teas are perfect. I plan on goi g back as soon as they open back up. read more

Such a fantastic, hidden away little gem of a bar. I might be rushing into things with five stars, but I don't really care. My friends and I love some pub trivia. We suck at it. We don't really care, though, because it is just way super fun. But for some reason, there aren't a ton of places in Albany that have trivia on Wednesdays. Washington Tavern used to, but they moved it to either Mondays or Tuesdays, which simply would not work for us. So I found a rather short list of places nearby that would be holding trivia. Enter Black Bear Inn. None of my group of friends had ever heard of it, and we entertained ourselves by circling Watervliet trying to find it. We figured it would be a dive, but it surprisingly was not. It was quite an inviting little sports bar, actually! With a whole menu of food that seriously looked fantastic, and was cheap to boot. They have lots and lots of flat-screen TVs for those of you who go to sports bars to watch the sports, and a fair amount of tables and stools at the bar. The service was so nice! Our food took much longer than expected, and our server came over to apologize, before we had even said anything! And she totally went above and beyond, giving us a free round to compensate for the wait. It was so sweet, and really made me like this place even more. Then trivia started, and it was actually a lot of fun. Great variety of questions. And the other teams were surprisingly not obnoxious. I get the feeling that a lot of them were regulars, but we all just had a good time playing. Did we win? Hell to the nah! In a tragic all-or-nothing whammy final round, we lost it all. But hey, at least we didn't end with negative points. Bottom line: Black Bear Inn rocks my pretty little ruffled socks off. The end. read more

Five stars because this is the best bar food I've had in the area. I went with two friends last night for dinner and ordered a Turkey Rachael with eggplant fries. An easy winner compared to other turkey reuben type sandwiches I've had in the area - the pumpernickel had an awesome flavor and was grilled and buttered so well it threatened to soak through. I sampled my boyfriend's burger and was very impressed; the bun was toasted and buttered and we got three different kinds of fries, all of which were wonderful. The eggplant fries were surprisingly light and went down easy. Asked for a to-go box and ate all my leftovers while still sitting at the table. The server was also the bartender and kept us watered and beered just fine. read more

I came here with nervous after reading some reviews about the place smelling like a misting sewer, but was relieved - that must have been a temporary problem they had because the atmosphere was very nice and no bad smells!! Our waitress, who was also working the bar, was very pleasant and attentive despite it being just being the being of the lunch rush. The ONLY reason I give this a 4 star and not a 5 is because I went with my boyfriend and and friend and the burgers they ordered - the Barn Burger and the Fried Meatball Burger - were both out. Which was a BUMMER. But other than that, the food was amazing and cooked perfectly! I got the Bacon Swiss burger (ahhhhh I forgot their awesome name for it...another thing I love about the place...their creativity!) while my boyfriend and friend got the Grizzly Burger - both I must highly recommend! On a final note, don't pass up a chance to try eggplant fries! SO MUCH YUMMINESS TO BE HAD THERE!! read more

I have to say, I rather enjoy Black Bear. Its got the atmosphere of a sports bar/almost karaoke bar with the juke box that inevitably will be crowded with wildly entertaining drunks singing their cares away to some pat benatar, elton john or maybe some journey. They have a decent selection of draft beers, and bar tending service is pretty quick. I usually get a bite to eat as well - normally partaking in one of their burger selections. I have had a few of their burgers, and all the selections I have had have been quite tasty. So whether you go in for some bites, a few drinks, or just to people watch (and sometimes this can be the best part!) you will have a decent time here. read more

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

My son and I stopped in this week and we now have somewhere we really love! Driven past for years but finally stopped in. My son ordered the grizzly burger and I the french dip. This was the BEST French dip sandwich I've EVER had! My son's burger was equally as good. Both dinners came out perfect!!! Great beer selection too. Cannot wait to go back... Update I still love this place BUT the French Dip the last 2 have made me not wanting to order it again. The last 2 times I've gotten them they were LOUSY. Very very dry grey meat not nearly hot and with cold mushrooms. Yeah I love this place BUT I ain't ordering this any more. Everything else is great. Guess I'm getting a burger next time. read more