Wizard Burger — Restaurant in City of Albany

Aah, I hate having to write this review but alas here I go. I came here on Valentine’s Day as a treat. My partner and I live about an hour and a half away but I always talk about how much I loved this place from visiting a year or so back so we wanted to make the trip up here to celebrate the holiday. As a vegan of many years I love supporting vegan spots especially as a musician and queer person I’ve always loved the atmosphere of this spot and the events I see them throw so I was so excited. When we placed our order the cashier was really nice no problems there. We got a 2nd breakfast burger (no combo) and the “chicken” sandwich with parmesan fries. A can of coke and a nine pins. Which after tip all came out to $47.. When the food came to our table I noticed regular fries instead of the Parmesan ones which all I said was “oh I ordered the Parmesan fries but it’s no big deal” I was about to finish my sentence and say I’d just be okay with the regular fries but then the person who handed us the food got very tense and quickly cut me off to say “it is a big deal but let me take them back”… which set such a shitty tone. As an anxious person who already has social anxiety it really threw me off. We were the only people there besides one other customer sitting at the moment and the vibes were just so off which sucked because we drove all that way to celebrate the holiday. They brought the fries back and it just was still so tense. The “chicken” sandwich I got was very mid, it was chicken tender pieces with just lettuce a bit of ranch and franks red on a bun, the Parmesan fries were just oily as heck and the whole thing was a let down but we tried to not let it ruin our trip and day. As someone who tells all my friends about wizard burger they were surprised when I said how my experience went when I got back that night. Also for tipping $7 and the only time we saw the employees was when the food was brought tensely to the table, no other time did anyone say anything check on us etc when the place was dead, and you bag your stuff up yourself by the trash. My partner isn’t from America so to them tipping when there’s no service of any type didn’t make sense to them. Just really unfortunate of an experience as someone who was so hyped to come up here on a cute day to celebrate.. wasn’t worth the money and the vibes created a bad atmosphere to the beginning of our day. When my partner checked our receipt turns out the cashier rang us up for regular fries which I understand is a simple mistake we would have loved to fix but there was no communication just quick hostility.

Also wanna add as people who struggle finically $47 is a lot of money for what the food was plus the experience, we wish we could rewind and just not have went but here I am. Disappointed because I really used to talk...

Stopped here randomly when heading to the Albany-Renssalaer Amtrak station. Looked up "vegan food near me," and it was a quick 5 minute drive. The menu was quite extensive, so I let the cool guy at the counter make a suggestion. I ended up with a kicka$$ breakfast burger. I substituted the impossible patty for a black bean one--also comes with Just egg, hashbrown, some maple syrup concoction, and a jalapeño crema. And treated myself to some fried pickles. Holy crap, y'all, it was delicious!!! When leaving, I alsonfoubd out they have "milk shakes". Whaaaat?! I was so full I didn't get one, but it is on my list next time. The vibe is laid back, cool, and funky. There's even a spot to play Nintendo! Lots of seating. Prices are good, and what you'd expect from made fresh to order vegan comfort food. Parking is a bit wonky because it's downtown, but after 5pm there were spots along the streets and I parked about a block away. This place hit the spot and what I couldn't finish I packed to go. I debated grabbing a selection from the beer fridge, but decided on a lime Jarrito. The carbonation cut through the yummy delicious fried goodness sitting in my belly. Delicious burps and a chance to reminisce all the flavors I...

I had a day in Albany and was looking for a place to eat. If you've been in Albany lately, you'll know that the pandemic really impacted the local economy, evidenced by empty storefronts and boarded up restaurants.

Wizard Burger stands like a beacon in the dark here, and so I decided to give it a try. I ordered the Magicano because a pulled pork sandwich sounded pretty good - I wasn't expecting the pulled pork to be on a burger patty! But it was a pleasant surprise. I also ordered the tots, which were fresh, crispy, and salt. Very delicious.

Although the burger was pretty good, I did notice it was a touch bland. It wasn't until I returned to my hotel room and looked at their website that I realized the burgers and "pork" there are vegan - the quotes on the menu should have given it away. 😆 I'm a card carrying omnivore, but I also like to eat healthy when I can, so finding out my "cheat" day was a slightly healthier option than I originally thought was another pleasant surprise. It tasted much better than other meat-alternative patties I've tried in the past.

Nice vibe, they had a retro NES emulator hooked up to an old CRT television that you could play.

All in all, a nice stop if you're in...