Best American
1. New World Bistro Bar
2. Five Guys Burger and Fries
3. 15 Church Restaurant
Though New World has lots of around-the-world influences, its seasonal and regional ingredients apparently qualified it for this category. Even so, the all-American burger and fries of Five Guys made a respectable second-place showing.
Best Italian
1. Café Capriccio
2. Lombardo’s Restaurant
3. (tie) Lo Porto Ristorante Caffe, D’Raymond’s Restaurant
Our readers know their Italian restaurants: This was the tightest vote count in the food poll.
Best French
1. Provence
2. La Serre
3. The Epicurean
The solid vote totals for each of these eateries signal that each has a loyal following—and great food.
Best Seafood
1. Reel Seafood Co.
2. Red Lobster
3. Ted’s Fish Fry
Locally owned Reel Seafood walloped chain-owned Red Lobster, its Wolf Road competition.
Best Chinese
1. Plum Blossom Chinese Restaurant
2. Ala Shanghai
3. Rain Modern Chinese
Troy’s Plum Blossom was the clear winner, but Latham’s Ala Shanghai and Lark Street’s Rain were in a tight race for second place.
Best Japanese
1. Shogun Sushi & Sake Bar
2. Koto Japanese Restaurant
3. Hana Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
Shogun edged ahead of Koto by a single vote.
Best Vietnamese
1. Van’s Vietnamese Restaurant
2. Sukhothai
3. Saigon Spring
You know what? Van’s is really good. Readers agree.
Best Mexican
1. El Mariachi
2. El Loco Mexican Cafe
3. Pancho’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant
It was almost a Mexican standoff between El Marachi and El Loco in this popular category.
Best Southern
1. Hattie’s
2. The Flying Chicken
3. Capital Q Smokehouse
The Flying Chicken rose to challenger status, coming in a close second to the venerable Hattie’s.
Best Caribbean
1. Roy’s Caribbean Restaurant
2. First Choice Caribbean
3. The Dutch Pot
For a long time there was only Roy’s (winner by a single vote) for authentic Jamaican, so it’s nice to see some competition.
Best Indian
1. Shalimar
2. Karavalli
3. Sitar
Regardless of cuisine, it seems the more locations, the more votes.
Best Greek
1. Athos Restaurant
2. The Greek House
3. Anton’s
The readers, the critics, even the complainers on Yelp agree that Athos is “amazing.”
Best International
1. New World Bistro Bar
2. Umana
3. Tara Kitchen
Ric Orlando is a chef of many talents—one of them, an ability to fold multiple cuisines into one outstanding menu (New World also won Best American and Best Vegetarian).
Best Vegetarian
1. New World Bistro Bar
2. Lil’ Buddha Tea
3. X’s to O’s Vegan Bakery
With inventive veggie dishes from roots to tofu, New World owned this category.
Best Steakhouse
1. Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse
2. Angelo’s 677 Prime
3. The Barnsider
The Capital Region loves meat, judging by the vote totals in this category. And upstate chain Delmonico’s has the steak you crave.
Best Barbecue
1. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
2. Capital Q Smokehouse
3. Pig Pit BBQ
Dinosaur in Troy is set by the river and has live music—we’re assuming these, and of course the tasty food, are among the reasons it smoked the competition. (And by “smoked” we don’t mean a cooking technique, we mean a 200-plus vote margin.)
Best Brew Pub
1. Brown’s Brewing Co.
2. Druthers Brewing Co.
3. Albany Pump Station
Brown’s, the granddaddy of regional brews pubs, won this by a heady margin. (Brown’s is another 200-plus vote margin winner.)
Beer Beer Selection
1. The Ruck
2. World of Beer
3. Madison Pour House
Gaze across the categories—you love the Ruck. The relatively new Madison Pour House has a ways to go to earn the love Mahar’s used to command.
Best Diner
1. Latham 76 Diner
2. Blue Ribbon Diner
3. Bob’s Diner
The road most traveled: Year in, year out, Latham 76 wins it--must be that Route 9, Latham, location.
Best Deli
1. Gershon’s Deli
2. Deli & Brew
3. Roma Foods
Gershon’s solid win honors their 60-plus-year tradition of deli deliciousness in Schenectady.
Best Brunch
1. Café Madison
2. Carmen’s Café
3. Iron Gate Café
This was a tight race, as well it should be considering the quality of these three cafes.
Best Outdoor Dining
1. Brown’s Brewing Co.
2. Jumpin Jacks Drive-In
3. The Mill on Round Lake
Brown’s has a patio deck overlooking the river by a marina; outdoor dining doesn’t get much better than that, except for when the beer selection is brewed on the same premises.
Best Cheap Eats
1. Gus’s Hotdogs
2. The Brown Bag
3. Famous Lunch
Decent food just doesn’t get any cheaper than Gus’s; the same can be said for Famous Lunch, which followed the relatively upscale Brown Bag by a mere two votes.
Best Burger
1. Five Guys Burgers and Fries
2. Red Robin
3. The Brown Bag
Five Guys likely got a quadruple boost from its multiple mall locations, since it raked in four times more votes than Red Robin or Brown Bag.
Best Wings
1. The Ruck
2. The Ale House
3. Bombers Burrito Bar
You, dear readers, can’t get enough of either the Ruck or Troy in general.
Best Pizza
1. DeFazio’s Pizzeria
2. I Love NY Pizza
3. Paesan’s Pizza
DeFazio’s, Troy’s longtime culinary anchor, gets the biggest slice of pizza love.
Best Bagels
1. Bruegger’s Bagels
2. Uncommon Grounds
3. Psychedelicatessen
It’s true that Bruegger’s makes a nice bagel, and thumped the competition (by 200 votes) with their multiple locations. However, Troy’s wonderfully named, single-location Psychedelicatessen nearly caught Albany-Saratoga mainstay Uncommon Grounds.
Best Subs
1. Subway
2. (tie) Deli & Brew, DiBellas Subs
4. Andy’s Italian Food & Deli
Subway wins again. (Sigh.) Just wait until Best Of, however: last shall be first.
Best Ice Cream
1. Stewart’s Shops
2. The Snowman
3. Ben & Jerry’s
Stewart’s ice-cream has won top prizes from national diary competitions—and is a regular winner here, too. The Snowman in Troy (which makes a memorable pistachio) came in a solid second.
Best Coffee
1. Dunkin Donuts
2. (tie) Stewart’s Shops, Starbucks
4. Uncommon Grounds
Dunkin Donuts wins again. We’re tickled, though, that Stewart’s tied Starbucks.
Best Desserts
1. Bella Napoli
2. Villa Italia
3. Sweet Sue’s
Lots of yummy new confectionaries around, but readers stood by their longtime favorite, Bella Napoli.
Best Wine List
1. Lucas Confectionary
2. The Wine Bar & Bistro on Lark
3. Yono’s
Troy wins again.
Best Bakery (Desserts)
1. Bella Napoli
2. Villa Italia
3. (tie) Leah’s Cakery, Schuyler Bakery
Bella Napoli: Because authentic cannoli is a thing of beauty, especially when it’s on Route 9, Latham.
Best Bakery (Breads)
1. Bella Napoli
2. Rock Hill Bakehouse
3. The Placid Bakery
Bella Napoli: Because authentic Italian bread is a thing of beauty, especially when it’s on Route 9 in Latham.
Best Indian Buffet
1. Shalimar
2. Karavalli
3. Lazeez
So many Indian food buffets—and so many good ones.
Best Place to Take a Date
1. New World Bistro Bar
2. Peck’s Arcade
3. 15 Church Restaurant
Whether its Delaware Avenue location is romantic is your own call, but New World’s adventurous menus and cocktails and comfy atmosphere are as romantic as you could ask for.
Best Place to Take the Kids
1. Friendly Restaurants
2. Red Robin
3. Dave and Buster’s
Friendly’s wins with the nostalgia vote, as this once ubiquitous eatery has dwindled to a mere few across the region.
Best Food Event
1. Troy Pig Out
2. Troy Chowderfest
3. Mac ’n Cheese Bowl
When it comes to bacon there is no competition.
Best Power Lunch
1. Jack’s Oyster House
2. Angelo’s Prime 677
3. Panera Bread
Panera for a power lunch? And we thought the down economy was on the upswing.
Best Place to Eat at 3 AM
1. Bob’s Diner
2. The Brown Bag
3. Denny’s
Even a location in every ’burb couldn’t put Denny’s in the same league as the other two eggs-over eateries, Bob’s in Watervliet and the Brown Bag in Troy..
Best Breakfast
1. Café Madison
2. Carmen’s Café
3. Manory’s
Raspberry-oatmeal pancakes must be a sure-fire vote-getter, as Café Madison is a perennial winner.
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