The following suggestions are purely my own, based on personal experience and personal taste.  All of the restaurants listed below are locally owned and operated.  (If you want familiar “chain” restaurants, you can find them in the local telephone book.)  I’ve included restaurants primarily  in the immediate Schenectady area and surrounding communities.  Not included (with  the exception of Jack’s Oyster House) are all the wonderful places in the downtown areas of Saratoga Springs, Albany, and Troy.

Byron Nichols

Dept. of Political Science

Elegant restaurants (and expensive) near campus

            Glen Sanders Mansion (in Scotia, on Rt. 5 just across bridge).   The building itself is about 300 years old, so the setting is both historical and elegant.  Excellent food, with most dinner entrees around $20 per person.  Lunch gives you the same atmosphere at much lower prices.  Bar in the basement has its own dark charm.

            Stockade Inn  (corner of Church & Union St., in  the Stockade).  This a recent refurbishing  of an elegant private club.  Décor and setting are beautiful, and the food is well-executed, upscale American fusion.  Service can be very slow, both at lunch and dinner.

            Van Dyck (on lower Union Street, just beyond Erie Blvd).  The VanDyck is technically a brew-pub, but  it much more than that – it’s also a first rate jazz and blues club with big-name acts upstairs from the dining room.  The food is upscale nouvelle American, in a very nice setting.

Elegant restaurants (and expensive) further away

            Carmine’s.  (On Central Av. in Albany, at the back of a strip mall near Everett Rd.)  Contemporary, up-scale Italian cuisine in the site of this area’s only nationally syndicated food show.  You can actually reserve the show’s kitchen area for a small group.  Wonderful food, elegant décor,  and very attentive service. 

            Chez Sophie.  (On Rt. 9 in Malta).  By far the best French restaurant in the area.  The outside looks like a diner (which it used to be), but interior is elegantly contemporary European.  Most continental menu in the area.  Big bucks.

            Jack’s Oyster House.  (At bottom of State St. hill in  downtown Albany). A classic 100 year old fish house with upscale new menu.  Waiters still in tuxedos, polished wood and mirror walls, and  superb seafood selections.

            Milano.  (On Rt. 9, south of Latham traffic circle, in a strip mall).  Don’t be fooled by the strip mall setting.  This is  an upscale, open-kitchen restaurant, with polished  décor and superb contemporary menu of Italian  origins.  Also has take-out deli.

            Provence.  (In Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany – a few blocks east of Crossgates Mall.)  Another very good French restaurant, but more of a sleek bistro than Chez Sophie.  Open kitchen, lovely modern décor.  Can be noisy, and the bar at front can be crowded.

            Scrimshaw (in  Desmond Hotel, just past Albany Airport).   The Desmond is probably the area’s nicest hotel, and the Scrimshaw is their signature restaurant.  Mostly  seafood menu, superb service,  definite upscale décor.  Coats & ties required of men.

Nice (but not elegant) restaurants near campus (moderate

but not cheap prices)

Brandon’s  (On Van Vranken, about 3 blocks north of campus.)  Good variety on the menu but nothing unusual.  Comfortable décor.

            Castelo’s.  (On Nott Terrace, just past Holiday Inn).   Family run restaurant serving Italian and Greek dishes.  Food is all homemade and very tasty, with lots of families eating there.  Can be noisy.

            Cornell’s.  (now on North Jay St., easy walk from campus).  The centerpiece of Schenectady’s new “Little Italy” project,  Cornell’s  has long been a favorite of campus.  Traditional southern Italian fare, loud crowd, and a very nice new building.

            Corelli’s.  (On State Street, heading east, several blocks past McCellan St.)  Very similar to  Castelo’s, featuring homemade Italian and Greek dishes. Less noisy, more personable.  Great thin-crust pizza.

            Francesco’s  (On Jay St. opposite City Hall ).  Another family run  Italian

restaurant, with  wide variety of homemade and imported pastas. Interior is dark and service is often uneven.   Best menu feature (back page):  you select the kind of pasta, sauce, and topping ingredients you want in order to create your own entree. 

Pinhead Susan’s.  (On Broadway, corner of Liberty, just under bridge from AMTRAK station).   Relatively new restaurant but very popular.   A moderate-to-upscale contemporary Irish bistro, with contemporary bistro food in brass-and-wood  décor.

            Scotti’s.  (On upper Union St. just past Boston Market).  Limited number of tables and limited menu, but Scotti’s has the best Italian red sauce in the entire area.  Portions are large. Pizza available, both to eat in and take out.  Functional décor.

            Other popular destinations.  Schenectady is filled with Italian restaurants.  Near campus, Union students and faculty often go to Fireside (Eastern Av, across from Price Chopper).  Further away are Malozzi’s (Curry Road) and Petta’s (Duane Av).   I don’t happen to like these places as well as I do the restaurants listed individually in this section, but other people do.  The Appian Way (on Van Vranken, close to campus) has superb,  Northern Italian  cuisine  (not Italian-American  food) with everything a la carte, but it keeps shutting down and re-opening.

Nice (but not elegant) restaurants at some distance from

campus (reasonable but not cheap prices);

            Barnsider.  (On Sand Creek Rd., just off Wolf Rd near Colonie Center).  Best of the area’s steak houses, with roughhewn décor.  Typical steak house menu and salad bar,  but high quality cuts of meat and side dishes.   Sometimes long lines and noisy.

            BFS.  (On Western Ave. just west of Crossgates Mall).  Eastern Mediterranean  cuisine, both Middle Eastern and Greek.  All foods are homemade and can be taken out.  Seating is crowded, but live guitar music is played on weekends at dinner. 

            Charlton Tavern.  (On the main road in the tiny village of  Charlton, north of Schenectady)  The food is tasty and traditional, but people go here for the atmosphere – a 200 year old, authentic, rustic  tavern that still has all its fireplace  charm.             

             Mangia  (two locations:  Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany and off Route 146 in Clifton Park.)  Nice blend of Italian and contemporary American cuisine.   Wood-fired pizza, good soups and appetizers.  Attentive service.

            Old Homestead.  (At corner of Rt. 50 and Lakehill Rd., in Burnt Hills).   Lots of rough wood in old fashioned décor.  Nice variety of menu selections in many price ranges.  Good choice if one person wants a full dinner and another wants a snack.

            Real Seafood Company.  (On Wolf Rd., in  Colonie)  Lots of different fish selections, and good rawbar.   Nothing fancy but nicely prepared.   Can be crowded and noisy, and some dishes are pricey.

Diners … (real variety of prices and options on any menu):

            Most diners offer similar menu choices and decors.  The best diners in the area include the following:  Blue Ribbon Diner (State St. past the Crosstown arterial),  Farmer Boy Diner (further out State St/Central Av., in  Colonie),  Circle Diner (on the Latham Circle, where Rts. 7 and 9 cross), the Glenville Queen (Rte. 50 in  Glenville), and  Latham 76 Diner (below Latham Circle on Rt. 9)

Good Asian restaurants:

            Chinese:   Close to campus, try the Hunan Wok (on upper Union St.) for pleasant setting and standard menu choices and the New China Restaurant for take-out (in Sheridan Plaza, just beyond Ellis Hospital off Rosa Road).    Further afield,  try the Dumpling House (on Everett Rd. in Albany) for dim sum.  The most authentic – and best –  Chinese food can be found at Emperor’s (on Wolf Rd., close to Central Av.), serving  many non-Westernized  specialties (e.g. stewed vegetables with duck feet) on traditional round tables for large groups.  The most dramatic, beautiful setting for Chinese food is probably Plum Blossom (on Rt. 7, just east of Troy city line in Brunswick), with grand spaces framed by intricate wood carvings and plants.

            Japanese:  Mari’s (now relocated on Van Vranken, six blocks north of campus)  has tasteful décor and food presentation, and Saso’s (on Central Ave. in Albany) has the most authentic food but crowded seating. Both of these places have commendable sushi.   If you like  the show of Japanese hibachi table cooking in front of your eyes, try Hiro’s (on Central Av., in  Colonie);  and at their regular tables, kimono-clad waitresses  use electric pans at your table to cook dishes like sukiyaki or teriyaki from platters of raw ingredients. 

            Thai:  Bangkok (on Wolf. Rd in Colonie, very near Central Ave – across from the Colonie Center Mall; and Bangkok Bistro,   a Schenectady branch at State and Erie  by the same owners.)   Well seasoned dishes with varying degrees of spiciness and liberal use of fresh herbs.  The Schenectady Bistro spices their food more than Colonie, so don’t be afraid to ask the Bistro  to tame down the heat for you.  Particularly good place for vegetarians and seafood lovers, for both appetizers and entrees; pleasant décor in both places but uneven service also at both.

            Indian:  Taj Mahal , aka Aashiana (downtown Schenectady on Jay St. across from City Hall) has great South Asian food at moderate prices in an unpretentious setting.   The Sitar (on Central Ave. in Colonie) is upscale and more elegant and is probably the area’s most popular Indian restaurant.  In between in elegance is Ghandi, at the beginning of Central Av. in Albany.

            Vietnamese:  My Linh (on Delaware Ave. in Albany’s south end) has superb food in an elegant setting in a funky neighborhood.  Almost next door to Spectrum Theater, for a classy dinner and a movie combination.  More informal is  Van (on Madison Av, in downtown Albany, below Empire State Plaza), with  food almost as good as My Linh

Mexican?

            You’re out of luck in Schenectady.  The best Mexican food in the area can be found at El Mariachi  ( on Washington Av in downtown Albany, across the street from the Albany Institute of History and Art.)  Authentic dishes (not Tex-Mex nor California-Mex) in  a décor that is decidedly urban Mexican.  Great sauces and soups.

Funky places in and near Schenectady for a quick bite:

Ambition Café.  (On Jay St. walking  mall, between City Hall and Proctor’s).  Great place for breakfast and lunch.  Funky décor, tasty food.  Can be crowded at noontime, but great place to hang out and chill during the non-peak hours.  Often has live music on Wednesday or Thursday evenings.

            Anker’s Fish House.  (On Altamont Av, towards Rotterdam.)  Specializes in fried fish of all sorts (including  fried oysters), but clam chowder is also superb.  Mostly take-out, but a few tables.

            Fo’Castle Farm Country Store.  (In Burnt Hills, on  Blue Barns/Kingsley Rd south of Lakehill Rd.)   On the edge of an apple orchard.  Go through the gift shop to get to get to the dining area – all homemade soups, sandwiches, pies, etc.  Cafeteria style service but big fireplace near tables.  Great place in fall and winter for weekend lunch.

            Gershon’s delicatessen.  (On upper Union St.)  Schenectady’s most popular deli, with all the expected sandwiches and salads.  Good soups.  Mostly Jewish ethnic cuisine but not kosher.  Table service or take-out.  Closed Sunday.

            Homestyle Pizza.  (On upper Union St., brand-new location in Sept.2004)  Arguably Schenectady’s best place for takeout pizza now has eat-in tables and expanded menu of familiar Italian favorites.   Can be very crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.   There is also a branch of Homestyle on Rt. 50 in Glenville.

            Jumpin’ Jacks.   (Just across Western Gateway Bridge – State St. – on the bank of the Mohawk River.)    Straight out of the 1950’s,  serving very limited menu of burgers, hot dogs, and fried fish  to be eaten at covered outdoor tables.   Cafeteria-style  service.  They make their own onion rings and zingy coleslaw.   The ice cream building next door still makes an authentic malt, as well soft ice-cream specialties.  Open only from early April – Labor Day.  A Spring Term “must” on a warm day for lunch or dinner.

            Mike’s Hot Dogs.  (On Erie Blvd, between Union St. and Nott St.).  All kinds of hot dogs with all kinds of toppings, plus other grill  favorites.  Good quality.

            Perreca’s Bakery.  (On North Jay St.).  Long famous nationally for their home-baked bread which you buy warm and fresh from their ovens, you can also get olives and Italian luncheon meats and cheeses for sandwiches.  Their bread alone is worth the three-block walk from campus.  On Saturday morning, the regulars often sing along with the Italian operas or Frank Sinatra coming from the radio as they wait for the bread to be taken from the ovens and stacked in the window.

            Peter Pause.  Most Union students don’t know about this gem right across from the campus on  Nott St. (opposite Nott-Seward parking lot).  Serves only breakfast and lunch; closed weekends.  Great homemade Italian food and bread in a linoleum  environment;  daily specials are particularly noteworthy.