Orchard Tavern West — Restaurant in Town of Guilderland

My bride's family are generational customers of the original Orchard Tavern. I've been going since the late '70s after football games at Bleeker Stadium. The present owner has expanded to this new site on Western Ave (formerly Dorado's) in front of Star Plaza. A lot of renovations inside - new bar, open floor plan, bright & airy. They also have the big room on the side for events & parties. We had a drink at the bar as we waited for her brother & sister-n-law. Friendly bartender (short in stature - no name given, no name tag. People at the did have apps in front of them. When we were all present we were seated immediately. I missed the waitperson name - sorry. As per tradition the go it was Orchard pizza & chix wings. First the pizza - original style Orchard pizza which is a thin, crispy, 10 cut. They start at $10. for a cheese pizza -your choice of 18 toppings are $1.50 each. They also have white, vegetarian, & 12 speciality pizzas, such as buffalo chicken & shrimp scampi. We had three pizza at our table, half taken home. Wings are $13. for 10 in seven flavors w/ celery & blue cheese. Always consistently tasty and always cooked correctly - crispy skin and cooked through to the bone. Great job. NOTE: On your actual birthday the Orchard will treat you to a wing for each year of your age (in house only). I went for something different. I ordered a Philly cheese steak ($13). When it came out it looked fine to me, but the owner came over and said it was not the way he told his staff to make it. He offered to make a new one but I was OK w/ this one. Maybe it was the cheese on the bottom instead of on top? Flavor was great though. The owner came back, apologised again, and said he was taking my sandwich off the bill. That's how you take care of your customers. Excellent customer service from ownership down to all employees. This is how you get a loyal customer following. Thank you. We had beer & wine w/ our dinner. Full service bar is available. Hours are 12pm-8pm everyday. Family friendly dining. We will be back soon and thanks again for the great service. You should be proud. Nick &...

Went there last night with my mom and her friends for her 71st birthday. I am writing this to say thank you to our waiter, Yuri. He was so nice and attentive. We never needed to ask for refills or extra napkins. He even helped us sing happy birthday to my mom! Then, it was time to pay the check. I wanted to surprise everyone and pay for everything. Yuri was helping another table, so I waited at the counter in the back, and the manager helped me. I told her I knew Yuri was helping the other table and was waiting for him because I didn't want him to get into trouble. So paid, and we were getting ready to leave, and Yuri is cleaning the table next to us, and the hostess comes over and starts talking to him about an issue. And she was loud enough for us to hear. We had a lovely time. Yuri was awesome and made my mom's birthday more awesome because he was so cool, and here is this person loudly putting him down in front of us. My mom was p**d, so I told her I would take care of it. I went and told the manager what was happening, and I was getting emotional. My mom is the most important person to me, and she was upset, and Yuri was getting yelled at for nothing, in my opinion. I let Yuri know I was sorry for what happened and that he was awesome. And I made sure that the hostess and the manager heard me. My mom wanted to give him more of a tip than what was included in the bill, but after she saw how he was treated, she didn't know if he would get into trouble or be forced to share it, even though he cleaned the tables and we only had water and soda. So, on behalf of my mother and I, THANK YOU YURI!...

This is my first time for a sit down meal in OTW. I think i have had a pizza take out once before. The Tavern opens at noon and i usually have lunch a bit earlier. I have visited the original Orchard many times through the years. When I visit an Italian restaurant, I usually get spaghetti and meat balls. I also decided to get a pizza to go. I remember the pizza as very good , as the pans were well seasoned but more like a pizza for 2. The pizza was good. When I was young there was another Tavern in albany using the same type of pans. It was called The 3 S's for 3 sister's. Just a little history. Now back to the Orchard . The spaghetti and meat balls was a good quantity of spaghetti but pricey. 4 meat balls were aligned across the top. It was really 1/2 meatballs but a neat arrangement. They were ok. The spaghetti was a bit over cooked . The sauce ok. I might have given 4 stars for food but the kitchen was overwhelmed making pizza for a party there also. The waitress did not tell me they were overwhelmed just told me was going to be a while because of making pizzas for the party. I was in no hurry nursing a beer but others might find it too long. The orchard is an ok place for italian food and maybe better for other fare. I am not making a statement for everything and it is just my feelings and others may feel different. This is more than I usually write but the original Orchard was a landmark in...