The Spot Kitchen & Market — Restaurant in Albany

I seen this established highlighted on Town and Country, as well as some people hyping this place up, so I tried it. I came approximately at 7pm. The owner was on the phone at the counter and no one greeted me or anyone for that matter, and he left without any acknowledgement. They did have the menu on a tv, but they only had one paper menu taped to the counter, so people had to take pictures of the menu. When the cashier came, I can tell she was younger and still learning, but her customer service skills was low-hanging fruit. I ordered a salmon Patty melt with fries and peach cobbler egg rolls, but they were out. So she picked up a sign from off the ground that said what they were out of, which looked like their more popular items. I asked could I have lettuce and tomato, she asked the kitchen staff and they said they would put it on the side. BTW, it was 1.75 for that.

The restaurant started to get crowded pretty quickly. The cashier had to take orders and bag the orders as they were coming out. Finally, someone came to assist her. It took around 30 minutes to get my food. It was "meh". I loved the concept of a salmon as a Patty melt, but I thought it would be in a form of a patty or a whole piece of salmon. It was chopped up, and maybe some cheese on regular pieces of bread. It was dry. There wasn't any type of mayo or any signature sauce with it. If it was, it was missing. Not to mention, the lettuce and tomato was soggy and wilted. There was only one chair to sit in, and it got crowded, but I didn't know how long to wait, so I just stayed and observed everything. They was playing trap music which is fine, but the cashier couldn't hear so she ended up turning the tv off.

I think the restaurant has potential, but restaurants in Albany have to provide excellent customer service if you want to thrive and go to the next level. Recommendations Offer your menu as a QR code so we're not squinting or having to take 5 snapshots of the menu.If the wait is going to be long, look into a text message system or an online ordering system. Acknowledge customers and verbally communicate about any menu changes and the wait. Smiling helps. Suggest items to new customers. I asked about some sauce to go with my patty melt and all I was told it was 75 cents. The sad part was I didn't know what y'all offered. Justify the portions for the price. Getting a handful of fries and barely an ounce of fish and no drink for 16 dollars was interesting. Have a better front counter system. I empathize with the cashier because she was overwhelmed with taking orders, handling orders that weren't correct, and bagging up the orders is a lot for one person. And even though it's a carryout establishment, think about the atmosphere. I know running out of things isn't a new phenomenon, but if you open in the late afternoon, and close at 3am, and you're out of items within a few hours of opening is concerning.

I am not sure if I came at the 'right time', but consistency is key. I wanted to share my experience and hope the staff if they see this looks at this not as a bashing session, but to course correct so you can serve in excellence and scale...

Only came here because of the food reviews. The food looked good and the reviews made it seem as if it was good and how they got large portions. Received a Philly sub with barely any meat. Had a slop of meat on it and a corner of cheese on top. Something I could’ve cooked myself. It was seasoned good but wasn’t worth $20 especially being asked told onions or peppers but still cooked it with onions and peppers. Wings were little winglets told to cook hard received soft and dry no extra flavor and were tiny. Not worth $20. For the reviews to receive good plates but regular people receive other wise is crazy. Keep that same energy for every customer. I see why most reviewers order in secret tk see what kinda treatment they’ll get based off their plates. I probably won’t be make waste of money. Order two plates totaling $40+ other plate was cooked the same without care and waited 40 mins. Waste of...

New customer , first time visiting from another city. Cashier was nice however wasn’t welcomed in . I had a burger and fries and my bf had Philly steak and fries with wings. Also tried the shrimp tacos. Food was VERY salty. Barely could eat any of it due to the amount of salt. Shrimp tacos were at 4/10, just were drenched in chili sauce. Fries were fresh. Philly steak was 5/10 , a little salty as well. The only positive thing was the lemonades. They were great. I think it has potential , just need to tone down...