Paolo Lombardi's Ristorante — Restaurant in Town of North Greenbush

I used to work in this area and heard what a great place this was. On the way home from a short trip we used our phone to find it. Beautiful building, big parking lot, nice lights outside. Entrance was confusing. Just a long ramp? No stairs? No front desk? Hmmm. OK. We were seated at a nice table next to a window with a little privacy without having to ask. Very nice. Nice menus. Waitress was articulate and friendly, however, did not know much about the specials and some other things. Bread was OK. Garlic butter was cold and too hard to spread but good when thawed. Dish of oil and thin sliced garlic was good but I notice a strong salt taste. The Mrs. said she couldn't taste any salt. I tried her piece and sure enough, no salt. A closer look revealed salt was all over the plate at random and a bunch must have landed on my side? The Mrs. choose the specials. French Onion Soup, Salmon Risotto. I had Calamari Picante and the cowboy steak from the regular menu. F.O. Soup: soggy bread, large pieces of raw onion. The bread should be like a crouton almost not mush, onions should be thin and caramelized. Salmon Risotto: Salmon was alright but Risotto overcooked, again a bunch of mush on a plate. Calamari: Guess? Yes: mush. Menu says peppers "tossed in" on the calamari. Rubbery calamari with virtually no breading and too much marinara poured over. Too bad because we were looking forward to this dish. Cowboy steak: tough and grizzly for a $32 steak. I also ordered Alaskan King Crab legs for an additional $15. These crab legs are the same as you would get at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Not King, not Alaskan. They were frozen, then boiled. Served with no little fork or cracker. We explained some of these issues to the waitress when asked why we didn't finish our food. She said she didn't like the calamari here either. (wish we would have know that earlier) The waitress alone advocated for us and we spoke to the "manager"? Another young lady in street clothes asking if we wanted desert. We just wanted to leave. We asked if the owner was there and was told "no". The waitress returned and said she just spoke with the owner who was upstairs and tried to get the bad Risotto dish $ removed from the bill. She explained that he never refunds money to any customer and was rude to her. She asked if we wanted to speak with him? I said no. I did not want a confrontation to maybe take $22 off of a $97 bill. No drinks by the way. Just one D. Pepsi. No Shiraz on the wine list. Really? We told the waitress not to worry. We left her a 20% tip. Left out the long ramp that takes you to the back of the restaurant were to male employees were arguing loudly. All I could think of was "when is Chef Ramsey coming to shut this kitchen down!"? Too bad. We don't get out alone much for a nice dinner. Don't make the same mistake we...

The pasta was good and the decor was pretty. Thats all the positives. Let me be clear. I expect fine dining to be better than a diner. This meal was not.

The server left us alone for too long - so we couldn't order additional drinks. After changing her mind that she did want something other than water, my wife had to wait more than 20 minutes to order her drink - while staring at an empty table setting (after the apps were cleared). When she did come into the dining room where we were seated, she seemed to ignore ohr efforts to get her attention, so all our problems just snow balled.

Appetizers took 30 minutes from our order of them. Main course took over 90 minutes from when we ordered it. We spent most of the time we were there with nothing but bread (which we had to request while we waited). We tried to order our desert before the main course arrived (so we wouldn't have to wait??), but everyone disappeared after we were served - even though we were trying to talk to them.

Our steaks were inedible due to salt level (have you ever smelled the salt on someone's plate? I could, while leaning away!). The manager/hostess/maitre'd/someone came over to ask about our steaks specifically, so she knew there was a problem. We were clear that they were hardly edible but we had to leave, not wait another 90 minutes for new food. The manager didn't apologize for the wait, or the saltiness. We asked that our food be boxed up so we could eat it at home, saying we'd give the steaks to our dogs - only one of the dogs would eat the steak.

We got desert to go. The tiramisu did not taste of coffee/espresso at all and was made w strips of cake, not lady fingers. It got thrown out. The Godiva chocolate mousse pie was ok, but was basically chocolate pudding on an oreo crust.

All in all, service was meh. Food was slow and filet mignon salted to death. Deserts were underwhelming. Manager didn't seem to care how poor our experience was.

In fairness, there were two huge parties seated at the same time as our table. But, if you can't serve us, then cancel the reservations you can't handle or call in enough staff for the...

I booked an early Monday morning bus from Albany to Syracuse, 12:15 AM to be exact. I knew I could have left at 4:30 PM, 7:30 PM or 10:30 PM. But I wasn't done with my exploring in the highlands near the Hudson River near Albany. I found an Italian country house all by itself on Sand Lake Road. So I went for an early dinner. I wasn't disappointed. A mansion had been converted into a set of private, intimate dining rooms, a perfect place for a murder mystery dinner. Old mansions make the best restaurants. I loved the great and wide porch, covered against hot sun and ordinary rainstorms. The menu on the porch featured more Italian grub than cuisine and I wanted the soup, the bread, the olive oil, the salad, the balsamic dressing and a beautiful dish of Chicken Milanese. Not served on the patio, the beautiful and capacious patio. But served at the bar. I enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio on the deck and enjoyed bantering with the youthful wait staff in their livery, a formal uniform.

Hailee had actually spent a summer in Tuscany, an Italian American woman gone to the old country. The country house reminded her very much of Tuscany. I was inspired to go to Tuscany to see if she were telling true. I dined in relaxed style at the bar and three friends who restored vintage cars at a nearby shop popped in for steaks and red wine. They made me feel part of the group, asking how I enjoyed each course. The bread came with olive oil for dipping, sauteed garlic for spreading. The Chicken Milanese didn't disappoint, served up with a grilled lemon to squeeze over the dish. I wanted to shout Opa! as I squeezed the lemon, although the dish wasn't served flaming.

I lost track of time and dallied the entire afternoon. On a lovely couch, I took a siesta long enough to make me open up the abundant leftovers of bread and oil, zitti and marinara and half the filet of Chicken Milanese. I was pretty much in need of a walk after that indulgence, so I walked around Snyder's Lake as the sun settled. Sand Lake made a good substitute for Tuscany, and so I delayed all thoughts of departure until the day had gone from...