The Point Restaurant and Lounge

I’m constantly struggling with myself if this spot is worth the money. I mean, it’s not the most expensive place to eat, but their portions are really spotty and their food is hit-​or-​miss. I’ve had great times at the bar and it’s definitely a great date place.
I also don’t completely mesh with the crowd there. A lot of post-​college guys who think they’re suits and a lot of Tinder dates. It’s a really weird mix of pseudo fancy people.

With a ton of choices in the surrounding area it’s tough to pick one! The Point stands among the best offering delicious food like the grilled pizzas, fresh ravs and awesome truffle fries with outstanding desserts and an aggressive approach in mixology it delivers at every turn

Night out with the family and wanted to try a new place. Actually did some research before going. What I found very much differed from the apparent glowing reviews. Our entire party was served tasteless food by inadequate waitstaff. Perhaps it was a bad night for the front AND the back of the house… it happens. I personally find it takes a lot of nerve to ask nearly $ 20 for two scoops of plain pasta served with some sort of orchid in it. I don’t know, it could have been a daisy or pansy. Whatever. It should have been in a vase on the table, not in our food. The two scoops of plain pasta didn’t come with salad, though there was bread for the table to share. We had to continually hunt down our waiter for refills and we were one of two tables seated. Again, it happens. Though the last thing I want to do while out with my family is spend it parched and actually physically hunting down somebody. anybody. for service.
So my review is bad food. confused service. decent atmosphere. Snooty, at best.

Nice restaurant with good design and the food is pretty good, I had the Kobe burger and thoroughly enjoyed it. My friend had the pork and she loved it a lot. Four stars only because the drinks are just so expensive, similar to expensive drinks in the city. I do like their cocktail options, and the names are pretty cool.

We spent a perfect night at The Point. Our son recently settled in the area and we were looking for a neighborhood place with a creative menu and lively atmosphere for when we come to visit. The Point nailed it.
We had originally made reservations at Black & Blue up the street, but upon seeing the absurd (for Albany) prices, we searched for an alternative. A few of us ordered the Angry Drunken Spaghetti — which was fantastic — and they happily de-​spiced it for one of us who wasn’t into super-​hot fare. (The spicy «Angry» version rocked, too)
Special kudos to our waitress, Lauren, who handled our party of five flawlessly and with grace — it was as if she was hosting us at her own dinner party. One of the best restaurant servers we’ve EVER encountered.
The rest of the table ordered the Polenta Fries, the Old Town, one of the pizzas, and the BLT Wedge, all of which were amazing. And the desserts? OMG: Thoughts on a Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate Silk, and the Melting Bombé were unforgettable.

This place is good for quite nights like weekdays. Inside is cold for winter, they should turn on the heat little more. also they should work on menu too…

The server was fine, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. The beer list was boring, went with a glass of wine instead. The food was the real disappointment: the blackened green beans (a famous and delicious staple at another Albany restaurant) were greasy, limp and bland. I have made them much better myself at home.
The Bang Bang Shrimp were flavorful, but somewhat different from the menu description: they were battered, fried and covered in spicy mayo. I’ve never failed to finish a shrimp dish, but the combo of mayo on fryer was too much for me.
The risotto was monotonous with sage. It was so sageful, there’s really nothing more to say about it. Did I mention it had quite a lot of sage?
Overall, a pretty beat culinary experience.

Was really excited about the menu — both food and cocktails. My Spicy Uncle Ts margarita wasn’t what I hoped. Too much OJ flavor. Thinking they didn’t muddle the jalepenos (just a garnish). The beet salad was fabulous and much larger than expected. An awesome entrée and value! Highly recommend. The Mediterranean platter was a disappointment. Came with crostini vs pita. No red peppers. Not much hummus and think there was a tapenade too. I plan to return tomorrow night with a group of co workers. Thinking this may be one of the best places in town. But the bar service was laughable. Absolutely horrible. I was totally ignored, even when my glasses were empty, my dishes were piled in front of me, my card was on the bar and I was standing to give some regulars room to sit. The bartender never checked on me and came over three times to wait on the regulars before they could even sit down. While he was standing in front of me, chatting it up, I had to ask for my check it was like I was invisible (FYI– I’m 5’11″ and not ugly). Anyway, giving The Point another chance and setting my expectations high — where they should be — when I return tomorrow night. That’s why I’m giving them a 4 rating.

Have they lost a chef? Our food looked nothing like the Unilocal pictures. High prices for uninspired food was our experience. I have no idea how this place has 4 stars. The outdoor seating is nice but the food for our dinner was poorly prepared. The curry chicken was very dry and over cooked. (Deep fried?) The carmelized onion pizza was overly greasy and the crust was crunchy very brown and over cooked. The truffle Parmesan rissotto had little flavor of truffle or Parmesan and was also over cooked. Risotto should be slightly al-​dente. If the rice opens up all the way it’s too gummy. If this meal for four people had a cost of $ 50 or $ 60 I wouldn’t feel so bad. But for $ 100 (no alcohol at all) it’s completely not worth it.

Really great date night spot. The décor is beautiful and the food hasn’t let me down yet. It’s a little on the pricier side but totally worth it. I’ve also never had to wait longer than 10 – 15 minutes.

This place feels like a good fit for the area, it’s in a good location with an enjoyable menu. I could see a lot of Saint Rose alumnae getting together here for reunions and happy hours. I found it doing a search on «cocktails,» and this was the first restaurant at which I used the UnilocalSeatMe service to make a reservation. That worked well, and while it wasn’t necessary this particular evening, I can see it being necessary once school students return to St. Rose and SUNY.
The cocktails and the appetizers were a bit of a mix for me. I generally liked the drinks coming in stemware better than the ones we ordered on the rocks. My tequila mockingbird felt diluted. My second drink, their summer white margarita special, was a better choice. White margaritas are often too sweet for me; this one was a bit more tart, and the glass was full to the rim.
For the appetizers, we got the small cheese and meat board, which I feel is a great deal. There’s definitely enough for 2, including 3 types of cheese, a small selection of meat (delicious, I wish it had more), crackers, a ramekin of olives mixed with some roasted vegetables, sliced pears and strawberries, and a bunch of champagne grapes — save the grapes as an intermezzo before dinner. The brussels sprouts with bacon and cheese were less satisfying, primarily because the brussels sprouts were overcooked. They were bland and somewhat mushy, having lost all the great flavors and textures in the cooking.
For dinner, I ordered the lasagna Bolognese, because I was wearing white shorts and I felt the marinara sauce would gravitate to them. Okay, not really — I ordered it for the wild boar sausage in it. The portion was larger than it looked with a fresh marinara sauce (which missed my shorts) to go with the thick noodles and wild boar.
Desserts are somewhat expensive, rich and full of chocolate. Many of them are in the $ 10-​$ 12 range and are meant for 2 people.
While a couple of drinks and appetizers weren’t quite as good as I had hoped, my overall experience here was very positive. This is the type of place I’d love to visit many times to sample the variety of drinks, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and specials.

Dope place. Great local acts. Beautiful environment. Great menu and selection of beer. The staff have anyways been great.

A little pricey, however it is worth the money. A great atmosphere and variety of food you don’t see in a lot of places in Albany.

Real nice place nice people good food… proposed there last year to my fiancé. all In all a very nice place

They had me at big cake.
They also had me at delicious cocktails, flatbread pizzas, and rissotto fritters.
I enjoy the various seating options in the Point. When I have come with my mother, I’ve asked to sit in the quieter mirror room off to the side. On a date with my boyfriend, we usually ask to be seated in the main bar area at the high top seating (though do take caution, it can tend to get VERY loud over here).
I’ve been to the Point well over a dozen times and have had a solid meal on each occasion (with one sad dessert exception, noted below). They have nice patio seating, but do not take reservations for the patio — it is first come, first served, and I have never gotten the opportunity to enjoy their outside dining.
One thing you can get from the Point is reliability. The only downside to this reliability is that it can sometimes get a little redundant. As I have dined at the Point on so many occasions, I’ve started to make my visits more sporadic, as the menu is not updated as frequently as I’d like. Although there is usually a soup of the day, a special, and sometimes a ravioli of the day, I have come across a lot of repeats. On my last visit, the last weekend in May, they were still on the winter menu!
One of my old standbys at the Point is their black and blue pizz. It has a crust akin to naan bread, a hefty supply of mozzerella, gorganzola, sliced steak, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and my favorite part — gnocci. It’s usually lightly drizzled with steak sauce. The amount of steak that comes with my pizza has varied, but the size of the dish is definitely more than enough for an entrée or a very substantial appetizer for two. However, at $ 18 (up from $ 16 at my last visit), it’s a little pricy for a personal pizza option. At this price, I really think a few more slices of steak is justified.
Their chicken curry (with Brown rice, peppers, green beans, apple, toasted coconut, basil slaw; $ 22) is also a really nice Indian-​esque option. I enjoyed the flavor profile and spices, and thought the bits of apple were a nice touch. Another good option is the angry drunken spaghetti (pork sausage, spaghetti, tomato basil cream, parmesan, breadcrumbs), but as this is similar to a dish I make for myself at home, it’s not something I usually pick.
If you’re considering a place to come for cocktails (Hait-​orade is a great summer option — like a strawberry lemonade mojito) and desserts, the Point is also a great option. The big cake, as several have mentioned, is a huge slice of their cake of the day. I’ve been there when it has been sweet potato cake (absolutely fantastic), chocolate marshmallow, tiramisu. All were great, and enough to comfortably serve 4+ guests. If you come on your birrthday, they’ll give you a (slighty smaller) slice of big cake. I’ve celebrated two birthdays here almost entirely for that big cake. I do not, however, recommend the carrot cake beignets. I love beignets (yay, beignet), but these were served on top of a red beet purée with piles of chopped golden and red beets all over the plate. I am a fan of mixing sweet and savory, but the beet was excessive and far, far too earthy. It overwhelmed the beignets and was actually unpleasant. I mentioned this to our waiter (Chris, who is one of the best waiters I have had — ask for him if you can!) at the time, and he kindly took it off of the bill, mentioning that they were considering removing it from the menu (looks like they recently have done just that).
You’re unlikely to find parking in the back lot on most nights, but there is plentiful street parking near the Price Chopper and on the other side streets.

One of my go-to’s for a hip night out with my husband or girlfriends. I am determined to try every cocktail on their menu and, so far, they’ve all been phenomenal.
Some of my favorite food items are the Black and Blue pizza, brussel sprouts with bacon, eggplant meatballs, cheese boards… I could go on. The only thing I’m not a fan of is their desserts (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing to save a couple calories).

1^st timer for this new find… suggested by my 24 yr young Daughter… we were celebrating her new job with G.E.!! …so I let her pick the place. So glad she knew of The Point… I could be a regular if I lived in Albany but certainly recommend it. We (3) dined on a Sunday during a snow event (like what else is new)…so it was not at all crowded but used the handy Unilocal reservation system just to be sure. The ambiance was up-​scale and fresh/​clean design with touch of old-​school art and «antique» feel.
Service was very good although our server seemed nervous for some reason. Impressive specialty drink list (trendy martini bonanza) but opted for a bottle of wine to share instead since we already had champagne @ home to start the celebration.
I could have «pigged out» on the healthy list of appetizers as a «small plate» spread but very much enjoyed the «Mediterranean Platter» to share… which was good size and tasty except for the «points» toast (cold and greasy). My wife ordered the Hanger Steak (I would have if she didn’t)…again very good… but she dislikes gravy and the Steak was sliced and swimming in it… I loved my taste. The Salmon was perfectly cooked and wonderfully seasoned… as was my Chicken Curry very well done and would order again. Pricing was surprisingly low for the both quality and quantity making the entire experience very good… only to be capped by our server offering a free desert for the newly employed …Sweet Potato Cake with candle was… sweet and thoughtful. Well done… but then, guess that was… The Point!

This was one of the worst meals I’ve had in a long time. And as someone who eats out regularly, in a variety of places, on a variety of continents, this is honestly saying something.
I ordered a steak special and asked that it be served nearly raw, or at least as close as they could do. My wife ordered the mussels & frites?! (Are we too stupid to know what moules are? It’s a little thing, but you look foolish.)
Calling what I received medium rare would be like calling Geno Smith an elite quarterback. This thing was well done and the sides were rubbish. I could have sent it back, but one bite and I knew that I would never be happy with the dish in any state of doneness.
I always wonder if Albany really deserves good restaurants, but places like this remind me that often the blame lies with the restauranteurs. It looks like a bistro, it smells like a bistro, it feels like a bistro, but it is actually a sad attempt at a bistro.
If Albany really does deserve better, it won’t be until people stop thinking that good enough, is good enough.

My most recent visit to The Point cements a four-​star rating in my mind. I’ll first say that I would avoid this place like the plague if there is a chance it will be swarmed with undergraduates. It can be. If you are looking to be in a swarm of undergraduates, then by all means, busy Friday and Saturday nights might be for you.
Away from the bar, the dining area is nicely appointed and unique. The mirrors on the ceiling somehow seem interesting and not creepy. I have always found the waitstaff to be very attentive and professional – given the sometimes-​studenty clientele, it can be surprising that your waiter seems to know something about wine. Anyway.
The fall menu, which was new when we visited last, was really wonderful. I’d say it’s lighter on big plates (not pasta) than I would have expected, but the appetizers were the stars. We had the risotto fritters and bang bang shrimp, and they were just delicious. Recommended highly. The fall risotto was also very well done, with a nice balance of flavors. If you’re in it for a full three courses, the paired dessert list is interesting. We had the salted caramel egg nog bread pudding. It sounds like a mish-​mash of seasonal flavors, but it wasn’t. The bread pudding was miraculously light and smooth, and the salt was just about perfect to balance the sweet. Paired very well with the Licor 43.
I think the fall menu this go-​round is notable – past meals here have been good to very good but not remarkable enough that I’d remember what I ate a week later. No longer!

«The Point – it’s on point.»
My fellow diners suggested that I start my review off with that clever phrase. (thanks, guys!) There were four of us dining that evening, and it gives you an idea of how all of us felt about the whole experience.
The Point is an impressive restaurant, and you instantly feel as though you are robed in swank-​ness when you walk in the door. The steakhouse vibe and candle-​stick lighting on the tables of the main dining room also make for great pictures when celebrating a friend’s birthday or anniversary.
The servers, dressed all in black, do seem almost intimidatingly hip to engage in conversation with – yet, they provide attentive service and prove to be not only friendly, but incredibly knowledgeable on the menu. I leaned on them for all of my choices, and ended up ordering the pasta special: a ravioli dish with spinach, goat cheese, garlic, and artichoke. You have the option of a half or full portion of the pasta special. Take advice from wise old Mel B. – just order the full portion. Let me explain:
The dinner opens with fresh bread and apple-​cinnamon butter. I ate a lot of it, and did not remember politeness or consideration for my friends once I noticed that there were real granny smith apple slivers in the butter. After ordering lemon-​pepper frites for the table and stuffing myself with bread and that glorious butter, I thought the half-​portion would be enough. It came with probably five large raviolis, but it was really light and delicious. I wanted so much more.
It was my friend’s birthday, but she was so full from her Plum Tomato pizza (this girl stole a piece of that too: I was a food monster that evening, but I had to write this review: mmm so good!), that she didn’t think she could fit a piece of their legendary «slice of cake.» (apparently, the portion consists of half of an entire cake). The Point didn’t care. They brought her over a «tiny» piece of their drizzled Sweet Potato Cake (the flavor of the day, and what amounted to, eh, probably one-​third of an entire cake). All four of us took a fork to that «slice,» and we could barely finish it. However, it was awesome and terribly pretty. We asked for coffee to cap off the dinner, and it came in glass mugs that captured the candlelight of the table and added to the magic of the meal.
I’m going to (lightly) poke at The Point. I typically require that if a restaurant is having multiple dining room identity crises, that there is at least one, overarching theme tying them altogether. I guess the theme weaving the four dining areas at The Point is that you can eat in them, and they are all well-​decorated.
The main dining area gives off that steakhouse feel I mentioned above, with brick walls, iron décor, and nice windows to the far side of the room and that humongous candlestick in the middle of the table. Love!
There are also three more private rooms for dining. My favorite was past the main dining area and to the right – The Madison Mirror Room. A long narrow room, in tones of spring-​moss green and putty, there are many various mirrors whimsically placed on the ceiling. Three different Moroccan-​inspired light pendants hung in a row between them. Very Alice in Wonderland.
But then-THEN!-There is a third room, and it does pull in the putty and moss colors and the candlesticks from the other two, but it looks like a formal dining room. I could imagine a nice work dinner or anniversary meal with family in that space.
The fourth room threw me for a loop. Walking in, you see tables set into what look like alcoves in the wall. Stacked up in the center of the wall of the room, on shelves, are five old TVs playing snow or blurry pictures. By the time I saw that room, I didn’t know where I was anymore.
What I do know is that The Point is a great restaurant for a magical dinner – I’m sure in any of their rooms.