Smith's Public House — Restaurant in City of Cohoes

Beautiful Ambiance, Disappointing Bites at Smith's Public House We were really looking forward to trying Smith's Public House after seeing so many great reviews. And honestly, the atmosphere when we walked in was lovely – it's a really nice space. Plus, the staff were fantastic! Our server was super friendly and attentive, which we really appreciated.

Unfortunately, the food just didn't live up to the positive buzz. We started with the pierogies, and while they were nice and crispy with a good little sauce, they just had absolutely no flavor. It was a bit of a letdown.

For my main course, I ordered "The Encore" sandwich, which sounded delicious on paper. But when it arrived, it was so dry and surprisingly bland. I actually had to ask for extra sauce just to get some moisture and a bit of flavor into it. It helped a little, but it still wasn't very good. The chicken cutlet inside was soggy and didn't taste of much at all, maybe just a tiny bit of garlic. And they were so stingy with the pickled onions that I only got one bite with that nice vinegary tang I was hoping for. Overall, it was just really disappointing.

My companion ordered the vodka sauce and chicken cutlet pizza. Sadly, the bottom was completely burnt. And the pizza itself had a really odd flavor to it that was hard to place. The vodka sauce was barely there – just these tiny little dots that you couldn't even really taste. She said the whole pizza should have been made with the vodka sauce to give it some flavor. She really wanted to like it, but honestly, she left with a bad taste in her mouth, literally.

Despite our disappointment with the food, we both really loved the friendly staff and the genuinely nice atmosphere at Smith's Public House in Cohoes, New York. We would honestly like to give it another try sometime, hoping our experience with the food was just an off night. But right now, it's hard to shake that...

Very beautiful restaurant. It's dark, with paneled wood lining the walls, a fireplace, leather couches and chairs complete the look. A very Long Bar greets you as you enter. You can feel the history.

Friendly if not quite attentive staff.

Food was truly meh. Here's what we had...

5 Mrs. T pierogies, some crispy, some limp with a tasty sour cream and chive sauce for $14. The pierogies were served with a pool of oil, I think, at the bottom of the dish.

Cremini Fettuccine, $19, housemade fettuccine with cremini mushrooms, cream sauce and parmesan. Nicely cooked pasta, but it was served with a GARLIC cream sauce, with garlic overpowering all other flavors.

Also in the cream sauce, we found a stick of thyme. I don't have a problem with thyme, I cook with it often, but take the leaves off the stem before serving. That inedible stem should have never left the kitchen.

Short Rib Melt, $22, Braised short rib, caramelized onions, Italian long hots, provolone, aj jus served on a seeded hero roll. The bread was good, but the rest had no flavor.

When I ordered the sandwich, which I didn't realize until just now is one of the most expensive things on the menu, the waitress asked me if I liked spicy food. I told her I did, and she said I made a good choice.

When the sandwich arrived on a hero roll, I was surprised. To me a "melt" is traditionally closer to a panini, not a hero from the local pizza place. I took a bite and was greatly disappointed in the lack of flavor and heat. I also wondered where the aus was. I ate half of it before the waitress returned to check on us.

I asked her about our conversation about the heat and she responded with "Did they leave the hots off? They do that a lot."

She stepped away and return with about 4 slices of jalapeño, not Italian long hot peppers, and apologized for the kitchen's negligence. She then said, "I hope that makes it...

This was our second experience. My wife turns to me and says "the food is just so terrific and consistent. It's just good wholesome home cooked meals." To which I replied did you forget we met the chef last time. He's from Louisiana and has cooked along side some of the best known celebrity chefs. I think he's just great in his own right. Mr. Hostig came over just like the last time to give a friendly hello as he makes his way around to every table, which isn't easy since he requires a scooter to be mobile. The cream cheese stuffed with crab and artichoke appetizer was a meal in and of itself. We both tried the veal medallions which were outstanding. I usually can't find a restaurant to cook my steak the way I would like it. I'm worse than Goldilocks. I like mine Med-rare, plus, but not medium. Whenever I order med-rare anywhere else it comes too rare and medium too well. At Smiths they nailed my special request. The champagne vinaigrette dressing took your typical salad into a great part of the meal. I had the tomato and crab bisque which very good. We took our desserts to go because anymore we would have exploded. We had them before. One is his grandmother's recipe for Carrot cake which my wife loves carrot cake. Though, carrot cake is pretty much at the end of my list, this one is phenomenal. Our server a delightful lady, I'm drawing a blank on her name, brown hair black rim glasses. maybe Marrianne? She spaced our courses to make it a great...