Albany Buffet — Restaurant in Town of Colonie

After reading several of the new reviews, I was hesitant and lowered my expectations when visiting the Albany Buffet for the first time. My family has frequented the Capital Buffet for years and have ranked them high on our list as one of our favorite places to eat. I was disappointed by the low reviews of the Albany Buffet but I had to see it for myself. I went on a Monday night around 6pm. The parking lot was pretty full but found a spot quickly. As a table of two, we were seated quickly in what is potentially the "party room" which was hosting a small birthday party along with several other patrons. The furniture is the same as the Capital Buffet, but it was fine. The buffet looked nice, with copious options and full trays, routinely replenished by the staff throughout our stay. The options were nearly identical to that of Capital Buffet, though the layout was slightly different. I will say that I noticed there were few options if someone were vegetarian as almost all items contained meat or seafood (not a complaint, as it feels like you're getting your money's worth versus a scant meat or seafood item here or there, but it's worth noting if you have a family member who doesn't eat meat). The food was consistent with what was at the Capital Buffet and at most Chinese buffets I've visited, with the stand outs for me being the teriyaki chicken skewer, fried dumplings, and the chicken with mushrooms (I could drink the sauce - it's legitimately my favorite thing on the buffet). For dessert, don't ignore the banana pudding - they put vanilla creme sandwich cookies instead of vanilla wafers! Only one thing from the buffet wasn't piping hot - the seafood stuffed mushroom. I loved the lighting on the buffet stations. There's a cut out on the bottom where the plates are stored that features a color-changing light that was a nice feature! I made a comment out loud the second I noticed it. The women's bathroom looked nice with a marbled tile on the walls and the stalls were pretty too. As the Albany Buffet is new, everything works - the locks, the toilets, hand dryer, soap dispenser, etc. Let's just say it's a nice improvement from the Capital Buffet which had a dark bathroom with broken locks on the stall, wet sinks and a jug of soap on the counter. Another patron even commented on the bathroom being the cleanest ones she had ever seen at a buffet. I want to address the comments that mentioned Albany Buffet being dirty. I went in at night the day after we had snow. To me, the "dirt" I saw was footprints on the floor from people tracking in snow and salt. It would be impractical for the staff to constantly be mopping. I feel for them because I have what looks like similar tile flooring in my bathroom at home, that the second I finish mopping, you still see footprints - I know it's clean but the tile is simply unforgiving. It seems like a case of inexpensive flooring rather than egregious lack of cleaning. I didn't notice anything else that I would consider dirty around the buffet or in the seating areas. Overall, I was impressed with the improvements that came with relocation. It reminds me of Flaming Grill in Newburgh with some of their style choices and their transition from soft serve to ice cream cups. My family and I will continue dining here when we're up in Albany because the food is delicious, the staff is attentive with beverage refills and clearing plates, and the cost ($19.99 for an Adult Dinner) is comparable or better than a sit down restaurant....

I visited this buffet with a friends family back in March with my service dog. The staff was talking to and petting her despite her having a vest on that clearly says do not pet. At the time I just ignored this because the language barrier it just wasn't worth the hassle. Today I went back. And as soon as I walked in the hostess was looking at me all weird and giving weird looks to my SD (service dog). She seated me in an area away from other guests and told me the dog needs to stay at the table. That she couldn't go up to the buffet with me. Stating it makes other guests uncomfortable and last time people explained I told her under the Americans disability act she is allowed and I'm sorry if it makes people uncomfortable but the law is there to protect me as a disabled person. I also told her and furthermore she can't put me in an area separate from other guests that's violation of ADA. I ultimately walked away and went up to the buffet grabbing two plates putting them on my walker just so I wouldn't have to deal with her going back up. She then came to me and said I was put in the other room because they didn't have a small table in the other area. Whatever you say ma'am As I was eating my food a wait staff stood leaned against the doorframe I felt like I was being watched at it made me feel very uncomfortable. I just wanted out of there!! I finished my food and asked for the check. It was brought to me quite some time later. I thought the reason it took so long was maybe because they were compensating it as an apology for the hassle they gave NOPE. I went to pay. Asked guy if he was manager he said yes. I said well I had issues with my service dog. Under the ADA you can't put us in a separate section island I was told she can't come to the buffet with me that's also a violation of ADA. He basically was like so. I was like well I'm gonna give you a negative review on every platform I can and your lucky I don't report you. He then said do whatever legally you want you went through got your food and ate it so I don't see the problem. I was like WOW you just don't get it!! That doesn't change the fact you tried denying a service dog

Also my service dog may be well trained but she is Not going to stay at a table out of site from me while I'm gone 3-5 minutes or however long it takes to get food! She is going to come find me! She is my medical equipment and is NOT to be separated from...

Went out with my family. Not the spot we wanted but figured since it’s owned by someone else now it might be better. We were eating our food and started to notice the food didn’t taste that great. Certain items were cold and other things tasted fine. These group of kids came in and gave our waiter a hard time. The manager Tina not too sure if that’s even her real name scolded him for allowing these kids to come in and drink soda they had 1 bite and said the food was bad too. My kids ate the food that was hot and looked fresh. My 4 yr old daughter starts to complain about her stomach when we are leaving and I told my dad to say something since he was paying $97plus tip he said he won’t say anything just not come back. I thought maybe she ate too much. We saw throw up in the parking lot everywhere by the Buffett. Then I tell my daughter to relax we will be home soon. We drive less than 5 feet I had to pull over and she projected vomit looked like the exorcism of her food she just had eaten. She had massive diarrhea as well plus she was hot to the touch. I called the place the lady couldn’t hear me one on phone so I called on another phone. Tina was rude, never apologized for her actions nor apologized for the food nor asked if my daughter was ok. All she said was not my place not my food she didn’t get sick here, plus she said they don’t change the tongs and handles to the food. I told her my daughter got sick she kept saying the same thing. I drove back and explained to her I will be letting people know about this place. I don’t like that she didn’t know OSHA rules and if someone gets sick they have precautions they have to take. She kept blaming everyone else besides her restaurant and her food. She wanted to argue with me about the situation. Gave me a hard time about giving her name up plus the owners name as well. This place needs to be looked into by the health...