Staff is nice and the menu is large, but food is nothing to write home about. I had a decent breakfast here once but was disappointed by a recent dinner. The breaded chicken in my Panini was tough and very overdone. My husband had a Caesar chicken salad and said the chicken was hard and lettuce wilted. The prices are reasonable, but I guess you get what you pay for! Don't think I'll be coming here again. There are much better diner options in the area. read more

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My plate was bit empty, I guess these prices really affected them. There was nobody in the diner at that time, it was a Friday afternoon. Service was okay, the wraps we had were Yumm.", really fresh stuff was used. Crunchy cold lettuce. Great Ambiance. read more

The Gateway Diner - Athenian Wrap, Summer wrap - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

I went to the Gateway this morning for a simple breakfast. Waitress was nice and professional. I sat at the counter. The food was good. As I finished my meal, an off-duty staff member came into the diner with her Shih Tzu puppy. She sat 2 chairs from me at the counter and actually put the dog right onto the same counter I was eating at. The other waitresses all came up to hold and pet the dog, taking selfie's etc. And, I directly witnessed them returning to the floor to touch peoples plates, glasses and silverwear after touching the dog without washing their hands. One waitress used hand sanitizer after I said something but most certainly would not have if I had remained silent. They saw I was upset and started calling it a 'service dog'. The staff said they were not allowed to ask for paperwork to prove it. Service dog my ass. It was a puppy, too young to have been trained as a service dog of any kind. It was not wearing the identifying harness that service dogs wear. Service dogs are not supposed to be approached by strangers because they are working dogs. AND service dogs certainly belong on the floor in a restaurant and not ON THE SAME COUNTER CUSTOMERS EAT THEIR FOOD AT. I left a $5 tip for an $8 meal because my waitress did not participate with the puppy. I won't EVER be back. They'll be lucky if I don't report this to the health department. read more

The Gateway Diner - Recreation of my experience not an actual photo from my visit - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

We, my husband and I, have been there all hours on all days. The food has always been great. We are working our way through the menu and it is considerable. Yes, we have our favorites for the times we don't want to think too much. London Broil, reuben sandwich, any breakfast combination with bacon or any meat. The staff goes above and beyond making you comfortable and we'll taken care of. Heck, I even love the music most of the time. I am Not a bot, just a woman with a healthy appetite. read more

Enormous menu, generous portions, very comfortable, tvs that work. Doggy bags are freely available. Social spot with many activities open to public. FUN. Good time. Fine staff. Tasty food. Damned near Perfect American RESTAURANT. read more

Gateway is one of those diners I do not frequent often. I just told my waitress Felicity, that I recall coming here 8 years ago. The menu is gigantic. The food is decent, but not 'hand made'. This is a typical Greek diner fix. Hostess, as has been said, is hanging back-counter, laughing excessively and waved diners off with her hand. The service from my view is always great, just cleared the table! Particularly the wraps, Chicken Parm, BLTs and desserts are excellent here. Sides more or less suck and are not worth much. Nice inside: sit at comfy and very spacious booths. Kitchen is slow. Waitress polite. Rebel review: 4 read more

The Gateway Diner - Chicken and Noodle soup @ Gateway Diner - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

Gateway Diner is an urban Albany diner serving, breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee anytime. Service was quick, efficient with breakfast arriving in record time. No matter what time of day expectations will be satisfied with this Albeny community mainstay! read more

The gateway special was amazing the waitress was so nice and the vibe was amazing they came super quickly with the food read more

The Gateway Diner - The Gateway Special was amazing the white stuff is butter - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

There is something special about an old school diner that makes me feel all warm and happy. Today was our first time at Gateway and I definitely got that feeling. As soon as we entered we were greeted by a lovely hostess and were seated promptly. The place is massive with probably one of the biggest parking lots I've seen for a diner. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly and made sure we were satisfied with our meals. We got there late morning so I still opted for breakfast and my husband got a salad. Both of us were happy with our choices and there is no way anyone would complain about the portion sizes. The prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is lively. Definitely a good option if you happen to be driving down Central Avenue and need to nosh. read more

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My waiter served me a salad with brown lettuce. I placed my plate at the edge of the table and made eye contact with him- then he tried to avoid me. I actually had to get up and walk my plate to him at the counter. Not an apology at all. Ordered the corned beef and cabbage....absolutely no seasoning/flavor. Too many other diners around for giving it a third try. read more

Solid all around diner. Super friendly and attentive staff. Food is always out quick and hot. One of the best homemade corned beef hash plates in town. Dependable going on 20 years. read more

Friend and I visited the diner for a quick lunch after doing some shopping. Friends burger (she said) was delicious. My wrap on the other hand was just ok. She had fries which she said were great. I did not opt for them. No pickles accompanied either dish. Bummer. Wrap just did not feature the buffalo sauce or blue cheese dressing on fried chicken. Chicken did appear to have some savory flavor, but buffalo was not apparent. Blue cheese was spotty. Have had better at other places. May be the chef was having an off day. read more

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After a long day of ice fishing on Lake George, Lucy and I were in need of comfort food. What better place than the Gateway Diner. Although we got "skunked" on the ice, that was not on the menu (good thing or she might have forced me to eat some). Anyway, we both opted for turkey dinners, w soup, drink, and dessert. Comes with stuffing, cranberry sauce and choice of potato or daily vegetable. The turkey and fries were both smothered in delicious gravy, the soup (lentil for Lucy, chicken pastene for me) were both excellent, and the rice pudding was delicious. I've been to many diners in the tri-city area and, IMHO, the Gateway Diner's turkey dinner is the best of the best. Generous portions, good quality, and reasonable. About the only thing missing was a cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the rice pudding (and I'm sure that I could've gotten one if I asked). Lucy and I both agreed 5 star. read more

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The server Denise was the highlight of our experience!! such a kind woman and very helpful.

I have been a regular customer here for many years. But in the last few months, service has become very bad. Went here for dinner today. No one came over to the table for 25 minutes. Service was extremely slow. My hamburger roll was as hard as a rock. The french fries were good, as always, but not hot. I specifically asked for no coleslaw (am allergic). Coleslaw was on my plate. Long wait for the check. Long wait at the checkout. I guess it is time for me to try some of the other diners in the area. And I hope that they are better staffed than the Gateway. read more

Always good for breakfast but I could do without Fox News on every huge television. Who wants to watch hate while they're trying to enjoy a meal? I never watch it obviously and was taken aback by the constant hateful rhetoric. Yikes. Turn the channel to something family friendly or literally anything else. read more

They don't stay open as long as they used to but it's our "go to" place when we crave old fashioned comfort food.

DONT EAT HERE! If I could I would leave 0 stars! Was given raw chicken for one meal. The other meal also had chicken and it had gone bad as well as the sauce, smelt terrible. Ketchup had mold in it. To many things on a menu to try and keep up with all the ingredients. I ended up getting sick from the chicken, so do yourself a favor and don't eat here read more

I decided to try a diner in Albany NY. That was my first mistake. The diner was empty and dingy. I ordered the Chicken and biscuits. It came with a salad. I asked for french dressing. They don't have french dressing. Never been to a diner that didn't have french. The salad was fine, but no bread, rolls or even a cracker. The chicken and biscuits were tasteless at best. The biscuits were hard. It looked like they poured cream of chicken soup over sone week old biscuits. I took a few bites and pushed it aside. Waitress came and asked if I was finished. Got my check paid and left. I would not recommend this restaurant. I'm trying to be as positive as possible. read more

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Gateway was my second choice this morning after an unsuccessful stop at another tiny local joint. I've passed by many times and never stopped. I was greeted immediately by a hostess and directed to my seat at the counter. The place was clean and easy to navigate. The counter was a bit uncomfortable with swing-out seats that are a little tight for a larger guy like myself, especially when someone sits in the other chair. Another waitress advised me that my waitress would be right over and a minute or so later she arrived. Within another minute I had my coffee and orange juice in front of me and my Gateway Homemade Corned Beef Hash with two over-easy eggs with Rye toast was off to the kitchen. As for the breakfast, it was quite under whelming. I have found the most common issue with greasy spoons is the lack in their use of salt and pepper. I cannot remember the last time I had to ADD salt or pepper to corned beef hash, let alone have to do it twice. Overall, I'd say the best part of my meal was the coffee, orange juice, and rye toast. Oh... Except, I asked for a large orange juice (16oz), was given a medium (12oz), and yet still charged for the large. Total time from entry to exit was 20 minutes. I give 4 stars for service, 2 stars for food... hence 3 stars total. read more

The food, the atmosphere and especially our server was excellent. Our server was fun with a great personality. I have no idea why this diner would not be at least a four star. Ignore the negative and give it a try. read more

I went to the Gateway diner to celebrate Mother's day with my significant other and her daughter's families. It's a good sized place with ample parking and a cool interior. We had a pretty good sized party so were in a room with 2 other pretty good sized parties. Our drink order was taken after about 15 minutes, with our food order taken ~20 minutes later. I had a bloody mary and it was pretty solid with a lot of horseradish which is how I like them. The food took a while to get to the table. I completely understand how busy a Mother's Day meal can be. I will say that there was a larger party next to us that arrived after we did. They were served and finished / left as we were getting our food. A couple folks at the table were bummed that their coffee was not refreshed over the 2 hours or so we were there. That being said, the food was really good. I ordered the homemade corn beef hash with over medium eggs, the eggs were cooked well and the hash super tasty. read more

At lunch while traveling, I got the fish sandwich. My wife got a wrap. The service was fast and friendly even though the restaurant was pretty full. The food was great and the price was reasonable. It was the kind of overall experience you hope for. read more

Awesome hot corned beef sandwiches served with chips pickles and a taste of coleslaw. They also have a great French dip. Meat is fresh and tastes homemade. My go to when in Albany. read more

From other reviews, it seems like the rating depends on the entree you pick. Well I had the fried Haddock with Coleslaw and fries and it was delicious. The fish was hand battered in a flaky crisp coating and fried to perfection. It was not greasy or oily at all and the flavor was light with just the right spice. The Coleslaw was also crisp and delicious. It was a shredded cabbage with the perfect amount of dressing do it also tasted really fresh and not full of mayonnaise. The fries had a thin crisp coating of some kind but were not spicy. They were good, but I'm not a big fan of coated fries. The potions were very generous and I certainly left full. I topped it off with a bread pudding that was very good as well. The service was exemplary. Our waitress checked back three or four times and kept the fresh hot coffee coming. I'll certainly be back again! read more

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Good points: friendly service, good potato soup, and my husband enjoyed his very-crispy-but-still-moist fried chicken. Our meal was also dirt cheap. The big bad: possibly the worst egg sandwich I've ever had. There's that old joke that goes, "The food is terrible! And such small portions!" and I really felt that here. The sandwich was served on a very tiny elf-sized hard roll that was also almost inedibly hard and dry. The turkey sausage was leathery, and the eggs unseasoned. I won't say that I'll never eat here again -- it's right across the street from the market where we do a lot of our shopping -- but I definitely won't subject myself to another one of those egg sandwiches. read more

The Gateway Diner - The world's smallest and driest egg sandwich - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

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3.5 Stopped here while traveling on 90 with my kids and husband. The best parts were the friendly service, out food came out very fast and our kid's pancakes were in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I ordered French toast, bacon and scrambled eggs and it was standard diner good. read more

This place used to be really great however within the last year it has gone way downhill I feel management doesn't care about the guests and their needs The quality of the food has gone into the garbage and prices have gone through the roof I recommend you go somewhere else read more

Every single time this place gets a visit we find hairs in are food i haven't been here in over 3-4 years because of it and today I come here with a group and found a black hair in the eggs Benedict (edit - I found a hair in my food as well see both photos) read more

The Gateway Diner - A hair in the eggs Benedict - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

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Great homemade hash. Don't get why they have canned and housemade hash??!!?? Pan omelette was great! Eggs Benedict excellent. Was there for Friday specials Nd the Mac and cheese was grainy and not tasty at all!! Fish fry was dry and over cooked. But will be back!! read more

Don't judge a book by it's cover! The Gateway Diner hosted a Birthday Celebration for my family on Saturday October 23rd 2021. We celebrated all the October bdays. Frank Dianda was our host/server. The owner was warm, professional, nice and extremely accommodating. In fact, she accommodated our every need! We had about 15-18ppl, 2 of which were Vegan. The room we had our event in was so nice, clean & such a beautiful space to work with.We were given ample time to set up in advance. I have never experienced such a high level of service and accommodation for an event eve! We felt lucky & well taken care of. Our host/server Frank Diana went above & beyond with making sure our every need and want was fulfilled INCLUDING anticipating what we might need or want. He was extremely approachable, accessible, knowledgeable, nice, charismatic, funny and highly skilled at his job! I wish I could go back and give an even bigger tip than the 20% tip I gave! In addition, the restrooms were very clean & nice, Every employee I encountered was nice! Even the customers in the diner were nice & went out of there was to wish us a Happy Birthday & compliment our looks! I highly recommend The Gateway Diner. for your events & dining! Lastly my very picky eater/teen loved the food! I thought I was going to have to bring him something from outside. My cousin and I are Vegan and were allowed to bring our own food & cake. read more

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I'm making it my mission to try my staple breakfast at every diner in the area: scrambled eggs (well; not runny), bacon or home fries, and pancakes. The service was prompt and friendly. However, I was overall disappointed with my breakfast. Bacon: Nice flavor but chewy. Eggs: Cooked well on the outside but really runny and squishy upon cutting into it. Pancakes: These were good and my favorite part of the meal, but unfortunately I wasn't happy with the other two items so that affected my overall enjoyment of them. Maybe lunch or dinner here is better, but I most likely won't be back for breakfast here. read more

The Gateway Diner - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

Came in for breakfast at about 9:30 on a Monday morning. My third time here. No more than four occupied tables in the place. Waited about a minute while two waitresses socialized and the working one breezed past me without acknowledging my presence in any way beyond not walking into me. Once I was seated, one of the social waitresses offered me coffee. I perused the menu and my order was taken (an omelette and a short stack), and the timeliness ended there. I wasn't timing it, but it took my food at least 20 minutes to come out, and it may have been half an hour. Once it arrived, I asked the waitress what had taken so long and she basically ignored the question, asking if there was anything else I needed and sandwiching in a quick "sorry about that" before I answered her. It was ordinary diner food. The first bite of the omelette tasted a bit weird - kind of perfumed and sweet - but it evened out after that. The pancakes had that slightly plasticky surface texture one sometimes encounters in diner pancakes and the syrup was Smucker's Breakfast Syrup...the fake stuff (to be expected). After a while, the waitress brought another round of coffee. I asked for more half-and-half; that request, too, was verbally acknowledged but otherwise ignored. Except for that weird first bite of omelette, the food was fine for diner food. The service and the experience overall, however, I felt left much to be desired and I doubt I'll go back to this diner. The feeling I was left with is that they just don't care. Ah...upon reading one black reviewer's observation that every other customer in the place was elderly and white, another reviewer's that every TV in the place is showing Fox News, and a third's that the waiter refused to speak to her obviously lesbian friend, who had to place her order by speaking through the reviewer (after an earlier visit during which the waitperson referred to her same group as "your kind"), I'm starting to piece it all together: my longish hair may have been the reason for the length of time I waited for my food to come out and the dismissive attitude of the waitress, and I think I can deduce from what I've read and experienced that this place is currently run by...not-nice people, relics from the past who probably instruct their waitstaff to treat any remotely unconventional people like crap to reduce the likelihood of their coming back. For my part, I'm more than happy to give them what they want and deserve. I won't be back. read more

Have been going here for breakfast with my granddaughter for the last year. Past two visits were disturbingly poor. Prices have zoomed out of site. Coffee size has been substantially reduced and the price is now approached $3/cup. Breakfast potatoes are incredibly boring and flavorless. Toast is never toasted, and is always lathered in bacon. This place has earned its way off of my list of go to breakfast places. Must add that table service is well handled in most cases, but the people seating incoming customers seem to have no understanding of how to spread people out so service is not compromised. We recently were seated in a station where the waitress had just been assigned a large party in the middle of the diner; the service was very slow because our waitress was covering too many tables and could not keep up. read more

Went there in 2007/2008. Ordered burgers. The bread was stale and nasty. The waitress was an older woman with an attitude. Will never return

The look and feel of a Jersey diner, including liquor sales, but without the 5" thick menu. Stopped in for a quick bite and left with a full belly. read more

The Gateway Diner - Diners Near Me - Albany, New York

Just drove into Albany & wanted a cocktail & eggs.. found it. The place is immaculate: the waiter prompt and friendly and great diner menu & good food, & it's snowing! read more

I love the food in this place!!!! In Albany for two nights and was lucky enough to grab a burger here the first night. Came back the second night. THE BURGERS HERE - WOW! And the staff are great. Thank you to MANDY the server and ZACH the floor manager - very nice folks. (BTW, I had an omelet here, this morning, that changed my life. LOL). Eat at this diner. Ask Zach to seat you in Mandy's section. You'll be very happy you listened to me. :) read more

Homemade soup of the day was tasty. Their eggplant panini was excellent. Friendly staff. Restaurant looks clean.

The Gateway diner has been around forever. Maybe that is why people take it for granted. I've been coming here come off and on, since the 70s. For the last few years, I have been going to newer and trendier restaurants for breakfast. Today, it was just more convenient to go to the Gateway. You wouldn't think that something as simple as scrambled eggs, home fries, and toast could be that much different from restaurant to restaurant.Well, they were. I don't recall enjoying a breakfast that much in a long time. In addition, the service was fast and cheerful and the prices's reasonable. That was a really good breakfast! I think it's time to rediscover this diner. There is a reason that it has been around all these years. read more