When I moved to the Albany area from Dutchess County, I knew one of the places I would miss the…read moremost was Half Time. This store took care of any angst I might have had. The selection is almost as good overall, and better when you take into consideration all of the New York State beers available, especially upstate (I had no idea there were so many new breweries in the Glens Falls area, for example). It's very well organized as well. Whenever my beer-enjoying friends are in the area, this is a must-stop.

The Brew Crew at Westmere Beverage is, hands down, the best staff and store in the Capitol District…read morefor beer. Have been going here for years and it continues to improve. Highly recommended for selection, price, knowledgeable and friendly staff.

I have found the best restaurant-made potato chips at Common Roots Brewing in Albany. The thing is,…read moreI wasn't even looking for them. They came free with my Nashville fried chicken sandwich order.They do great deep fryer food. My sandwich was all sorts of crispy, spicy and tangy fun. The space, however, has changed a lot. I remember when it was the Pump Station several years ago. The late owner, Neil Evan, was a fixture there and his seafood Mac & Cheese was something to rave about. By contrast, Common Roots has a more limited menu and plainer furniture. A lot of pizza varieties, tacos, salads and burgers. Decent bar food. By contrast, Common Roots flagship in Glens Falls appears to have a better menu with more variety. I generally eat healthy. I can't eat bar food regularly. The meal was great for a Friday night out. There's also a very good non-alcoholic beverage and drinks menu. I was happy to see all of varieties of stout. The snowy stout was delicious. So was the kombucha. The bar where I sat was clean, sleek and modern. The bartender, who took my order was helpful with suggestions. The main dining area looked a bit sparse for 8pm on a Friday night but the business is still relatively new. I'd like to see an expanded menu with at least a few more healthy choices and some family-friendly selections. Meanwhile, I'll know where to go if I get a craving for awesome freshly made potato chips.

If not for the amazing atmosphere, Common Roots would be pretty common…read more Although the establishment is vast with plenty of seating, the food has much to be desired. I ordered a sour beer of raspberry-lime. It was decent but something was missing I still can't determine. My starter were house made chips with their blue cheese dipping sauce. They arrived almost instantaneously and were well done, which I appreciated. The dipping sauce is so thick, it's more like a spread with some intense flavor. My smashburger arrived, which looked great until I realized the burger had been smashed to the point of being paper thin, making the edges crispy. This made for a "bread sandwich" that was dry until I got to the sauce and kimchi in the absolute center, which was quite good. There was no side salad option, so I went with the German potato salad. It was over-seasoned to the point where I had to stop eating. The runner also brought over fries, which I hadn't ordered, but he left them on my table anyway. They were also well done and tasted good. However, I was "potatoed out" at that point. Many other diners had pizzas and they looked great. Clearly, they knew something I didn't and I should have tried one of those instead. I couldn't relay this to the server because he kept disappearing for long periods of time and never happened to see me hold up a hand for help. He was kind but not attentive by any means. After fifteen minutes of waiting, he did reappear and finally got my check. Common Roots could be an amazing place to dine and hangout but they've got some work to do. Five stars for the atmosphere and two stars for food and service.

I've tried to visit Minor Key Brewery several times this year and finally got there yesterday. The…read morechallenge has been that for this small but beautiful brewery, the owner is very busy, and the brewery's days open have varied. So for this first review of the business, rather than list open times, I suggest you visit their website - the very top of the home page will list their current days and hours open, and you can also go to their calendar of events. Being a small farm brewery, they are typically only going to be open in the summer and autumn. But during peak foliage season, sitting outside in their comfortable Adirondack chairs, or near the fire pit, or on the benches, will be gorgeous. The beer list is relatively small, usually 5 or 6 beers on tap. They also have 2 slushie machines, one with margarita slushies and the other for a non-alcoholic bubble gum slushy. Snacks are minimal unless there is an event. There is currently no indoor rest room, just an outside porta-potty... not elegant, but it is kept immaculately clean, and there's a sink in the tap room you can likely use to wash your hands. But hey, this is about the beer and the view. I really liked the beer. All beers are available in 8 and 16 ounce pours. My favorite was my first pour, their Dark Saison, with a great flavor and not overly heavy or filling like a stout might be. Sitting outside, in 2 directions, there are great views of nearby rolling hills with trees that will hopefully provide great autumn colors. And they will have outdoor events as the season goes on. This place has been too much of a well-kept secret.

I finally had the chance to visit Laviano in their expanded site. They've made a good thing better…read more The extra space has allowed them to expand their inventory and organize it really well. Wine dominates the floor, but the last aisle has an excellent selection of liquors, prominently featuring tequilas and whiskeys. And those whiskies are priced very competitively. The expansion was definitely a good thing!

I have purchased items at this store several times over the years. I have always found the staff…read moreto be very helpful and friendly. They have a nice selection and are always knowledgeable and willing to make suggestions. I recommend giving this business a try. Their prices are competitive and they just expanded their store so there is even more availability.

I absolutely think this place is great!…read more I was introduced to Fallside through a Yelp Event earlier this year. I talked about it so much at work my friends begged to go. We met up for 50 cent wings on Sunday. Yeah, that's right, what is this 2006? 50 cent wings, and they are no joke! Big plump and juicy wings cooked perfectly crispy and generously tossed in sauce with was was described as house-made ranch or blue cheese dressing? My friends really enjoyed them. I had the fried vegetable gyoza and I can't say I've ever had them deep fried before, more like steamed or pan-fried, but this was a game changer! I was really looking forward to the Imposter cheezy jalapeno bites but our server informed us they were out. I love that they have several vegan options on the menu. At the Yelp Event we were fortunate enough to try the vegan pizza and it was honestly one of the best vegan pizzas around the Capital Region. They use Imposter plant-based cheese which is a local product made by a small business in Troy. I love that small businesses are supporting each other like this. The beer is excellent too, we were looking forward to having the red ale since I spoke so fondly of it but it was tapped out. I had a really good mango IPA which hazy doesn't even begin to describe! It's really nice inside and on Sunday it had just become warm enough by mid afternoon, they opened the big garage door and let some fresh air in which was no nice after such a long winter. I think I can speak for my coworkers and I that we will be coming back again soon so please keep those vegan options stocked up!

I was disappointed that I could not attend Yelp Albany's recent event at Bye-I-now-Fallside Brewery…read morea few weeks ago. So the next time I scheduled a brewery crawl in the area, I made sure to come here. I submitted a business page update regarding the rebranding, but at this point, I don't know whether Yelp will simply rename the existing page or create a new one for Fallside. For the time being, my update goes under Bye-I. The new space is great. I had no idea how much bigger it was until I walked a ways inside, and I was equally impressed by the cool artwork. The beer is, of course, as tasty as before. We seated ourselves in the back to enjoy our pours, and within a couple of minutes, a server dropped off food menus and attended to us the rest of the evening. Had I read my recently obtained copy of the March-April copy of local "True Brew," I would have known that several of their dishes were featured in it, specifically their beef stew and mac & cheese. But I had the Chicken Caprese sandwich, which came with steak fries perfectly cooked and obviously cut in their own kitchen. We were checked on frequently, and as we were finishing up, their Friday evening music session was starting. Food and drink here are reasonably priced, and I feel the quality of both were just as good, or perhaps better, than what you get at "those larger breweries" along Broadway. Of course I'll still patronize them all, but for me, Fallside has the edge in this part of town right now.

Great place to go and sit outside, listen to a good band, and drink your favorite variety of beer!…read more Bartenders and brewers are friendly, and the farm owner checks in with the guests to see how they're doing. Nice job, S & S!

We love S&S. Great beers. Fun food trucks. And playgrounds and picnic tables for the family. It's…read moresuch a fun spot, we can't wait to go back.

Ambiance is lovely! Clean large area to eat, relax, enjoy the company of where you are...feels…read moresafe. Trivia Wednesday nights, live music Sundays. Food delicious!!

Keep looking over your shoulder, Dru***** and Fid***, there's a new kid in town, and I'm willing to…read morebet you may have already lost some of your customers to this place. As of this review, Broken Loop has only been open about 1 month, and on a Friday evening, the parking lot was full, every table was full, and there was a steady turnover of folks coming in. Good for them!! But I'm not surprised. The folks working here have got it right. Of course we'll start with the beer. Just a couple of weeks ago, they were only showing 3 beers on their website. Last night they were up to 6, and their brewer told me they plan to get up to 12 on tap as soon as possible. My Golden Stout was interesting, the lightest and freshest stout I've ever had, with hints of caramel. My friend really enjoyed his hazy IPA, he said it's one of the best he's had. The food is equally good, and the menu is pretty extensive. We both got the chili, which was rich and full of flavor, with tortilla chips and thin slices of fresh jalapenos for texture and more flavor. Everything else we saw served to others looked equally good. And then there's the service here. I think every person behind the bar made an effort to speak to us at one point or another in the evening, including the woman who brought out our food. When was the last time they did that for you at one of the places I alluded to in my first sentence? But the best part is that Broken Loop is now the closest brewery to my house, and I'm pretty sure this is going to become a destination for me.

Not much to offer really the beer is a bit pricey for the and the patrons aren't the or the owner…read morefor that matter

Disappointed with the service we received this morning. We walked in because my daughter's hands…read morewere chocolately and sticky. Asked to use the bathroom for hand washing. The guy behind the bar appears annoyed said yes. My husband bought a coffee to support the bar. We then bought a hot chocolate. The guy poured a Swiss miss packet into a cup and charged us 6 bucks!. We will never do that again. Should have gone to Alejandro's for the good stuff