Illusive Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in City of Rensselaer

I have eaten here in two occasions for late lunch. The dining room is unremarkable, but a host wouldn't hurt. Being alone, I have eaten at the bar and on both occasions I have ordered a hamburger (just the mood I was in). I won't get into the individual attributes of each burger, they were both good in their own way. They both had the same problems though. The toasted brioche is certainly that, to the point where the crust crumbles at the touch and the interior doesn't have the fluffy, buttery texture of brioche any longer. It's not a particularly pleasant bun to eat.

The cook on the burgers was well done on both meals. I ordered medium. It was a well cooked well done and a good patty with good seasoning, but not what I ordered. I didn't send it back because you can't uncook a well done burger and I hate to see food wasted, especially since it was well cooked and not dry like many well done burgers can be.

The toppings and sauces on both burgers (I order two different sandwiches) were fresh, tasty, well seasoned, and in appropriate amounts. The fries were unremarkable and a bit limp, but at least they were not greasy - which would have been intolerable.

The service from the bartenders was not outstanding either - though all of their flaws seem to be endemic of every bartender I have encountered in Albany. I don't expect a lot as far as food service from a bartender, especially when they are busy. However, there were never more than 3 bar customers while I was there. The two bartenders had similar issues : neither was good at getting the cues of when someone is ready to order, neither asked if I needed anything else after my food was delivered (I like mustard with my fries and it's not something that is normally provided), and neither came to ask if the food was prepared well (another reason for not sending back the well done patties). Both were polite and generally nice enough. There is a fine line between being to intrusive as a server and being oblivious to the customer. Service here did not walk that line particularly well.

So, passable food bordering on good. Absent the weird toasting of the brioche making it papery and unappealing and the wrong cook on the meat the burgers were very tasty. Service is lackluster though. So, a pretty average restaurant and...

Found out this evening from the FB page that people have been review bombing Illusive, and I just wanted to set the record straight for everyone here on who they are as a company and what they mean to me.

I remember the first time that my wife and I visited Illusive. It was right after we got married at city hall across the street. Emotions were running high for us on what could only be called a roller coaster week of emotions, and we just wanted some good comfort food to celebrate our union.

We walked in and were immediately greeted by Meg, who was immediately friendly and took us to our table. She asked if we had ever been in before, and we hadn't, so she went over the specials and gushed about how inventive they were week to week. We were immediately intrigued, and so we ordered the specials of the day. Since that point we were hooked, and we take any chance we can get to visit (and drag our friends and family along for the ride).

When people used to ask me what my favorite restaurant in the area was, I used to struggle. After all, the Capital region has so many great eateries. But nowadays, I can immediately say with a smile that it's Illusive.

No restaurant has ever provided such consistency in service and quality of food to me over and extended period of time, and certainly no other restaurant makes me legitimately exited when they post up pictures and videos of the new specials on FB.

I can't rate Illusive high enough, and if you don't believe my words, well, believe the proof from my camera roll. The only images that aren't here are for items that were simply too good to stop and take a photo of :)

Thank you to the chef, the back end management team, and the front end servers who make the experience at Illusive something I truly look forward to whenever I get to go.

...and don't worry, I'll be in for that quesadilla...

Illusive is the name of this restaurant and that may be due do its location. You would never know it was here unless you already knew about it. It is hidden out of view behind other buildings on Ferry Steet. But once you do find it, you won't be disappointed. Illusive was recently a finalist in a competition for the best burger in NY, and with how much I love burgers I decided to see if they earned it.

I ordered the Empire Smash burger, which was their entry for best burger, and honestly after trying burgers from most of the other finalists (and the winner), the Empire Smash gets my vote as the best burger. It has two smashed beef patties, candied bacon, cheddar, lettuce, bourbon BBQ sauce and on a toasted brioche roll. The burger has soooo much flavor! Their bacon is super crispy and delicious on its own, and is at home on this burger. The beef is excellent and very juicy, it is the core of this amazing burger. I wish I got some more of the BBQ sauce to take home, it likely would be great on anything or even to eat on its own! I don't get how this burger wasn't the winner and only a finalist, I went to Syracuse and had the winning burger the day before, and it was not as good as this. My only real complaint with the burger was that I felt it had too much raw onion, but that is a personal preference and I still ate it and enjoyed everything immensely.

The burger also came with home made potato chips, they were also great, they freshly made and perfectly cooked to be crispy but not burnt.

The resturant and the bathrooms were clean, the staff are also excellent and friendly. Prices are reasonable, parking is plentiful, and overall this place has a great vibe. I look forward to coming back...