Stacks Espresso Bar — Restaurant in City of Albany

Dang I read thru some of the negative reviews here and I can say that almost everything people are complaining about is intentional on the part of Stacks. Yes it’s small. Small is good. Small is intimate. Yes it’s expensive. Roasting AA beans is expensive. Shipping costs have gone up 4000% in the past year. Beans have to be shipped across oceans, go thru ports, get driven on freight trucks. Each of those operations are expensive. Paying a farmer a living wage is expensive. Coffee should never be a buck fifty. That’s the coffee equivalent of a blood diamond. Good pastry is expensive. Good ingredients are expensive. Not getting all your ingredients from Sysco is expensive. That’s ok! That means you are supporting something worth supporting. No music means no distractions if you are there to work or hang with friends. It’s quieter, more subdued. Ethiopian natural process coffee, which of course is the original taste of coffee, doesn’t taste like Starbucks. It tastes like raspberries or blue berries. It comes from a friggin fruit! I could go on with those 1 star reviews but the nutshell is, read them and think: if you recontexualize these, shine a different light on them, they might be 5 star reviews for you.

I wandered in, never been in before on a Sunday. The staff was nice, it’s was busy but not nuts. There was a guy waiting on a pour over, and the staff constantly kept him appraised of how much time was left. I bought a cortado, perfectly executed, tasty, not boiling hot. Text book perfect. And a leek and parm pastry which was heated up in a convection oven. It was warm, flaky, delicious, really good. A great asset to a cool...

Truth! I enjoyed the 20 minute walk from the Renaissance, flowers, buildings, and ever deteriorating landscape til you get to this street which reminds me of Old Town Chicago 1968..kinda. This is a small place with ok coffee and Two young folks working behind the counter…friendly and very talkative…never the less the man in front of me had to repeat his order twice after I got in line. God knows how many times he’d said it before I got there because there was discussion and changing of position and…. I ordered a croissant. Bits just bread nothing croissant about it except perhaps it is wearing a croissant coat to hide the white bread beneath. Folks seem content studying their Apples - all except a very elderly man who sits at a counter table in the window alcove facing the street. He has a pen and paper, his head in his hand. Maybe he’s a poet. Must be hot over there. Reminds me of Hamburg. Poets swinging in the windows. The music is not too loud but unavoidable..Talking Heads Donna Summer hall and oats but never Rickie Lee. Where’s Chuck es in Love? Perhaps there are better places closer to town. Nothing much on the menu here . At all except a whiff of steamed not- Homemade Funk. But I’d rather have a nice soft boiled egg. Coffee is not bad though not much favorite bean and tastes slightly burnt. Oh- Donna...

I was hoping to get a feel for the downtown location—but parking is a major challenge.

I've visited Lark location twice.

First visit, I tried a BLT on a croissant. Honestly, it wasn’t great. The combo of salty bacon, mayo, and croissant just didn’t balance well, and there weren’t any other sauce options like chipotle to cut the saltiness. I don’t blame them too much for the flavor, but it wasn’t a hit.

Second time, I ordered a single-cinnamon bagel with cream cheese. The bagel itself was fine, but there wasn’t enough cream cheese—definitely needed more spread for a satisfying bite.

Coffee, though? Always solid. They do that part really well.

One big letdown was the menu. When you walk in, there’s this large menu board that gets you excited for things like French toast—but that’s only available on weekends. During the week, the options are much more limited: mostly bacon, egg & cheese or open-faced sandwiches. I was disappointed to find out there’s no hash browns, no French toast, nothing hot and hearty during the weekday breakfast hours.

Lastly, the back hallway near the restrooms still smells like a bathroom—like they never fully updated the space after taking over from Café Hollywood. It's not a deal breaker, but it definitely takes away from the experience.

Great coffee, decent concept, but a few misses that need...