Dallas Hot Wieners

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Written by Kent

Category: Restaurant Reviews

What can I say about a new place that features Hot Dogs?  Especially when [generally speaking] each and every one of us likes our hot dogs prepared or topped a different way, or still others that do not like eating hot dogs at all...

I can tell you that Dallas Hot Weiners puts out a good tasting and fast meal with an abundance of menu choices for a relatively small space, with good prices and very good service.

First, the Setting and the Location of this new diner-like fast food fixer, which hails from Kingston, NY, is in the Times Union Center, or as I still call it the Pepsi Arena or better yet, the Knick.  The inside eating area is small, with about three tables of 2 or 3 seats each and then two different counters with stools.  One counter is normal waist height and faces the grill and the fryers, which has about a dozen or so unmoveable stools.  The second counter is about half the length,  but much higher and is going along the back wall with about five or six  higher stools.  There are a few tables in an outside seating area and also a takeout window built into the wall and windows in front.

Before Arriving, I knew I'd be trying the hot dogs and sauce, but that isn't the best thing about this place.  After many visits and trying several different food items, I must conclude that the steak sandwich is the best thing on the menu.  The steak sandwich is real steak strips grilled on an open flamed grill and then topped with your choice of fixings and cheese on a fresh Kaiser-like hamburger bun.  I added fried onions and cheese to my order. 

The next things you should know about the food choices at Dallas Hot Weiners is that they serve breakfast all day long.  Additionally, they have milkshakes, ice cream, and deserts on the menu and offer their hot dog sauce for sale to go.  They also usually have a soup of the day and deli sandwiches written on a chalkboard menu, both of which are not listed on the online menu or the paper to-go menus.

Overall the food is good and consistent.  The Hot Dogs taste good and they offer the standards for toppings:  sauce, onions raw or fried, cheese, and the normal other condiments offered with dogs. The french fries are skinny and tasty, salted appropriately and the prices on the menu are reasonable.  I would give the service 5 out of 5 forks, the food taste, quality and price a 3.5 and the atmosphere a 3.  Depending on what you order, a sandwich or meal generally runs you around $5 or 6 dollars and a dollar or two more if you get a drink or an extra dog or side.

Website:  http://www.dallashotwieners.com/index.htm

Online Menu: http://www.dallashotwieners.com/albany-menu.htm

 Two Loaded Dallas Hot Weiner Dogs                                                           Grilled Steak Sandwich

Garden Bistro 24

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

This well kept secret nestled in Colonie deserves delicious mention. In truth, I'd planned to post this review much sooner but out-of-country travel crept up quicker than expected. But I digress...

Garden Bistro 24 is located on Central Avenue, about a half block East of the 155 & Central intersection. I call it a kept secret because you wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking for it, as it's set back in a strip mall next to Pizza Mare. The outside may seem unassuming, but when you walk in you find a charming restaurant that's decorated in warm earthy tones.

The staff is always friendly, accommodating, and conversational. For the longest time Garden Bistro 24 has been my "go to" restaurant on my ride home from work. Their menu is always fresh, and flavorful.

On this visit, I decided to indulge in a little of everything. I ordered the pumpkin bisque ($6) to start. It had a delicious maple flavor and was garnished with crunchy walnuts. The serving alone would probably constitute a meal's worth, but I wasn't done there. Next, I ordered the mussel frites ($16.50). Part of what makes these mussels exceptional is that you get a variety of cooking flavors to choose from (white wine, provencal, saffron tomato, and more). I chose the special of the week, a bacon, gorgonzola, spinach broth. It was absolutely divine, and the mussels were fresh as always. I will say, though, that the mussels looked to be a bit smaller than I'm used to them being, and I find that the frites are really superflous to the dish. Last, but certainly not least, came dessert. I always find myself caught between the creme brulee and crepe freezzaffi. On this visit, I chose the latter. The crepe freezzaffi ($6.50) is filled with a warm hazlenut chocolate, and fresh bananas.

The meal was delectable as always. It can be on the pricey side, but well worth it in my eyes. One tip I will give is to aim for their "specials" menu. This menu changes every other Friday, and showcases fresh, seasonal foods. Not discounting their regular menu, but when you compare the two side by side, the standard menu seems plain in comparison to the complex, and adventurous flavors you'll find amongst their specials. In this foodie's opinion, you don't go to Garden Bistro for their standard menu; you go for their seasonal menu.

Pumpkin Bisque
Mussel Frites	Crepe Freezzaffi

Sciortino's (closed)

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Written by Brian

Category: Restaurant Reviews

Sciortinos opened up in the former location of Miss Albany.  It had a soft opening about two weeks ago, and on the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try it out with her.

If you were ever at Miss Albany, then you are already familiar with parking and seating in the restaurant.  Parking is all on the street, but there is plenty and at worst you will just have to walk a little bit.   Seating is not ideal, there are only 6 booths, and bar seating.

We started our meal with Uncle Frank's tomato salad - $6.  It was refreshing with a great flavor.  For our entrees, I ordered the 'Baked Hats' with meatballs - $11.  The dish was basically a large ziti type dish with a pasta that was slightly thicker.  The sauce they use is very good, it is a meat sauce that is a little sweet, and not too acidic.  There was a ton of cheese on the dish, which was great.  I think there was a bit too much sauce on it, and because the pasta was thicker than I'm used to, i was a bit more al dente than I would normally like.  The meatballs were also very good, with a very mild spice.  I would have preferred a little more meat in the meat sauce, but it was a very good dish that I would order again.   My friend ordered the chicken parm - $9.  It was a classical dish with a typical presentation.  The chicken was cooked well with a nice breading and the sauce again made the dish better.  There wasn't that much spaghetti with the dish, but like the baked hats, the dish was very large, so it wasn't really an issue.

For dessert, we split a brownie sundae.  It had hot fudge and a raspberry sauce on it.  Again, a very good dish.  I was a little disappointed that an Italian restaurant didn't offer cannoli's or tiramisu for dessert, but they did have several types of cakes from local businesses.

Sciortinos also has a large pizza menu, and I saw a few orders go out, it is very large slice (bigger than the plate) so I will have to try that next time I'm in the area.

Tomato Salad
Chicken Parm	Baked Hats

MezzaNotte

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

MezzaNotte is located on Western Avenue in Guilderland. It's decor is tasteful Italian, boasting an open kitchen, an elegant bar area and separate yet open dining room. Our party of four arrived at approximately 6:30 Friday night. Parking was problematic, but seating was immediate.

Our server was courteous and attentive, explaining the specials and answering any questions we had. He gave us the time needed to make our decisions, while also making certain we didn't feel neglected.

We started our meal with martinis (Tiramisu, MezzaNotte Punch, Spicy Martini, and Regular). We were all pleased with our selections. We ordered the Saratoga Chips appetizer, topped with a gorgonzola cheese sauce. The chips were crispy, salted just right, and the cheese sauce was fresh and delicious.

Warm bread was served before dinner. The bread was accompanied by an olive tapenade, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. For entrees we ordered the seafood trio (scallops, shrimp, and swordfish) with a vegetable capanota, linguini with clams in a white wine butter sauce, sushi grade yellow fin tuna (seared very rare) on top of a bed of faro and grape tomatoes, and a duck confit butternut squash risotto.

The linguini dish was enjoyable, though some of the pasta was a little too al dente. The risotto dish had onions in it which weren't mentioned in the menu, but the flavor was impeccable. The confit was tender, as was the squash, and the rice was perfectly cooked. The seafood trio had a decent flavor, but the portion size was less than expected. There was one skewer which held two shrimp, two pieces of swordfish, and one scallop. Sadly, the scallop was overcooked. By contrast, the yellow fin tuna was seared to a perfect rare, was tender, moist, and as fresh as could be. The dish as a whole had very good flavor.

We ordered tiramisu for dessert. Though delicious, the espresso flavor seemed to overpower the custard and marscapone, and took some getting used to before it could be enjoyed.

Overall, the experience was a pleasant one.

Yellow fin tuna	Duck confit risotto
Seafood Trio	Linguini with Clams

Union Cafe

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Written by Brian

Category: Restaurant Reviews

Union Cafe is located on Union St. in Schenectady.  We stopped in on a late Saturday morning during harvest festival (also being held on Union St.)  The place was relatively crowded.  Even with the crowd, we received the best service I have ever gotten at a restaurant.  The staff was friendly and promptly seated us, and our server was great.  She was very friendly, recommended some dishes to us and was incredibly quick to offer a refill or take a plate out of the way.  The food was in front of us about 10 minutes after ordering.

Great service always sets a place apart from others, but the food is the still the focal point of Union Cafe.  Their breakfast menu is your typical menu with eggs, omelets, pancakes, french toast, nothing out of the ordinary.  I decided to go traditional and order 2 scrambled eggs with sausage (it comes with home fries and toast)  - $6.50.  The eggs were cooked well, but the home fries and sausage were the stars of the plate.  The sausage had a nice flavor, and the home fries were really well seasoned and were cooked well.

Josie ordered the short stack of french toast with blueberries on it - $7.  The french toast was made with brioche, it was moist with a nice flavor.  She pointed out that the blueberries were frozen, but since they aren't currently in season, that wasn't a shock.

There looked like there was a parking lot in the back, but with all the stuff going on on Union St. we just parked on a side road and took a short walk, but it shouldn't be hard to find parking any time of the day.

If you want amazing service, and a good meal, try out Union Cafe.

Scrambled Eggs with Sausage	French Toast with Blueberries and whipped cream