The Delaware Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in City of Albany

A Friday night reservation for party of five was efficiently managed. The bar and dining room were well attended, but not uncomfortably crowded. Service was friendly and excellent. Numerous tasty vegan options and a selection of non-alcoholic cocktails for our teetotalers made the evening less challenging for the more fastidious of our party. Ambience was delightful.

Service was unhurried, but smooth; courses well coordinated and presented at correct intervals. Both conventional and vegan dishes were excellently prepared and delicious. Quantities were more than adequate.

The Delaware seems to have made a thoughtful effort to accommodate diners of all diets. Too often, especially post-COVID, many restaurants that had offered decent vegan options pared their menus by discontinuing plant-based menu items. The Delaware has upped its game by offering more choices. Our mixed party of standard, vegetarian, and vegan diners all was able to find selections without compromise.

Dinner spanned two and a half hours, including 30 minutes at the bar for drinks. Our final all-inclusive bill (bar, dining, tax, gratuities) totaled just under $600 or $120 per person. This seemed reasonable, given current prices.

From happy times at the sadly long gone Old Daley Inn in Lansingburgh (Alaskan King Crab specials to die for), to wedding rehearsal and reception dinners at Old Daley on Crooked Lake, to the delightful The Delaware Restaurant & Bar, the Daley Hospitality Group has remained in its stride for many decades, and continues its tradition of excellence. For area diners that wish to enjoy excellent food served in a lovely setting, The Delaware Restaurant & Bar should not to be missed. Going forward, surely, we’ll...

We had dinner at The Delaware for the first time on a Sunday evening. Party of three with reservations (and we noted on the reservation that this was a birthday celebration but this was never acknowledged). We were seated immediately. The atmosphere and vibe are just lovely. Staff all very friendly. Did not receive a cocktail menu, just wine list. Our server was not familiar with the wines, nor did they know what beers are offered, or provide a list (if there is one). Drinks (wine, beer and soda) took quite a while to arrive. Appetizers of shishito peppers and eggplant rollatini came out fairly soon and were delicious. Had a lighter dinner consisting of two salads and the tofu reuben. The salads were really excellent. The tofu reuben was completely cold, inside and out. It was unclear if the tofu had even been cooked, or if it was just put in the sandwich raw. Strange. We tried to alert someone to see if it could be reheated but we couldn't get anyone's attention for a long while. By the time someone checked in on us two of us were already done eating, so we just decided to wrap the sandwich to take home and reheat ourselves. There were very long periods where we didn't see our server and asked multiple other staff to help us (ordering our entrees, wrapping the sandwich, bringing the dessert menu, asking for the check). Our empty water glasses were never refilled, and we were not offered a second round of drinks. It was really kind of painful experience service-wise, and took away from what was supposed to be a celebratory dinner. We will come back and give them another chance though, especially because this is our neighborhood and we really want to support...

We were looking forward to finally trying this place since moving to the area in October. Rather than be negative I hope this can be seen as constructive feedback that echos a lot of what other people said.

The menu: There are quite simply way too many items on offer. Diversity is great. I don’t need it on a menu. Is the food Italian? South American? French? Chinese? This isn’t a diner. I don’t need 60+ options for a place charging $25+ for an entree. Settle on 6 apps, 4 salads, and 10 mains.

The food: Read your other reviews Chef Elliot. You use way too much salt. Our food was inedible. Who ruins orange chicken? Somehow as salty as the chicken was, the basmati rice was bland. You need to cook until all the water has been absorbed before you plate it. Inedible. The green goddess salad was drowned in dressing. The dressing itself was fine, but why so much? The cucumber salad had one cucumber. Again, stick to far fewer items and do them well.

The space: It’s lovely! Which is why it’s such a shame the food was so bad. The art is cool, the exposed brick and bar area is a nice touch.

The service: It was okay. Our waiter was doing his best but clearly inexperienced. No worries there. But we had to flag we got charged for an extra martini, had to wait 15 minutes for one we actually did order, and then it was wrong when it was delivered.

I was so excited for this, but frankly without a more thoughtful menu and a new chef I will...