Jack's Oyster House — Restaurant in City of Albany

So I almost hate to do this ..I have literally eaten at almost every restaurant in Albany proper from the Clinton avenue exit to lark and up Madison and back…

After several weeks of travel here I saved Jacks for a weekend with my wife ..

This actually replaced a well known Mexican restaurant for the worst experience..it overtook last place

Let me just say Albany has a great restaurant scene ..I reside in Chicago and have literally traveled the world

From the pubs up here near Clinton to the stadium to lark street and down ..the restaurants here are simply incredible ..Italian Mexican eclectic seafood vegan ..I’m not vegan but the vegan scene is amazing ..put simply this city has some of the best restaurants around bar none ..

Jacks sadly is not one ..the menu was extremely limited literally 5 entrees to choose from 2 or 3 were steaks ..we had sea bass and mussels and salads ..and a bottle of wine ..

The place was empty ..the service was rushed ..the portions were puny which I don’t care if the food is excellent .it was mediocre ..the salads were uninspiring ..they tried to overcharge us for the wine, we brought it to their attention and they corrected but it was embarrassing but my wife insisted ..

It was very expensive which I knew but ..at any price ..I’m sorry but don’t embarrass yourself by taking anyone here ..it’s disappointing ..we even tried for desert but wanted to have it at the bar which was “closed”

Skip this at all costs ..don’t buy into it’s the oldest restaurant ..i only regret that I wasted a night with my wife on this ..so many better choices and we enjoyed 2 great nights and 2 great brunches before this utter disappointment

Live and...

I was very disappointed in my visit to this restaurant Tuesday evening. On the plus side, the staff was good and reasonably attentive, though our waiter left the appetizer "tower" on the table throughout the meal while the ice melted and dripped onto the table. The decor is charming, and the booths feel private. The people I dined with seemed satisfied with their meals, but no one was making yummy noises, either. The rolls were warm and fresh, the butter nicely whipped. The vegetables were good - haricot vert, julienne carrots and a lovely dollop of red cabbage sauerkraut, very finely cut and just the right touch of acidic balance on the plate. The strawberry cotton candy was fun. On the down side, for appetizers, the oysters were dry, as if they'd been open for a while, sitting on ice. The lobster claw and jumbo shrimp had that antiseptic taste that you get with seafood that's been commercially frozen and then thawed. The lobster was almost inedible. I had the cod special with a ritz cracker crust - the crust was soggy and the fish undercooked. The mashed potatoes had the consistency of spackle. An array of desserts were ordered for the table but fared little better. The bananas foster were tasty but the sauce was like goo(though the ice cream was good); the chocolate cake seemed stale; and the cheesecake was dry...

This may have been the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. This was where my girlfriend wanted to go for her birthday and it was highly recommended by her. She got the filet mignon mid-rare and I got the lobster and filet Medium. She said her steak was good. Both of my entrées were overcooked. Picture rubberized burnt lobster tail and a glorified steak tip. To pin the nail in the coffin we were swarmed by fruit flies. It literally seemed like we were camping by a river. We told the waitress and basically whoever may have been the manager (a unnamed petite man who didn’t introduce himself) came over and apologized. He basically in some way explained whatever he thought the problem might be without much empathy and brought our food back in take out containers. There was no discount offered, no mention of possibly a gift card for the future... nope. Just 90 dollars for a burnt tail, 2 steak tips (Mine charred) and a Diet Coke. Consumer beware!... oh and one last thing, we had an reservation and they failed to inform us or mention on their sites menu that there was less than half of the menus options available. I honestly wish I never walked in the door. I would’ve saved 65 dollars and a half hour drive and...