5 Best Restaurants in Albany and Central New York, New York

Since 1938 this casual restaurant has been serving such Southern favorites as fried chicken, ribs, pork chops, and jambalaya—a warm welcome to those born south of the Mason-Dixon. Meals include homemade biscuits and corn bread and a choice of sides, including macaroni and cheese and sweet potatoes. In nice weather you can eat on the courtyard patio. Inside, tables—in checkered cloths—crowd together; overhead fans and a banging screen door keep the air circulating. The place does not take reservations in July and August; you just show up and wait.

The restaurant is part of the Beeches, an estate with a lovely manor house. The place serves top-quality Continental fare that's full of flavor and attractively presented. Rack of pork, rarely encountered on menus in these parts, is marinated and slow roasted so that it melts in your mouth. Salmon steaks are broiled and dressed with the restaurant's tasty dill sauce. The dining room, with a large fireplace and hand-painted ceiling panels, exudes 1920s style. The chandelier, crafted by Raulli Ironworks of Rome, is original.

With high ceilings, draped tables, and mahogany-stained paneling, this restaurant in the Saratoga National Golf Club's Victorian-style clubhouse exudes quiet elegance. The food lives up to the decor. The menu might include Russian caviar, Australian rack of lamb, or seared ahi tuna. A lounge with a granite-and-wood bar and an outdoor terrace are more-casual dining options.

Savory and dessert crepes are the focus at this small eatery furnished with plain wooden tables and chairs. Side orders of Belgian-style frites (fries) come in paper cones sized for an individual or a table of diners, and may include several kinds of dipping sauce. The Mamma Mia crepe wraps up Italian sausage with sweet and spicy peppers—a ubiquitous ingredient in upstate.

You can see fettuccine, lasagna, and other pastas squeezing out of the pasta machine in the front window of this main-street restaurant. Traditional Italian dishes share menu space with more creative fare. Smoked salmon, caviar, and scallions adorn angel-hair pasta in Alfredo sauce; the same sauce dresses breaded breast of chicken filled with asparagus mousse and served with tomato-tinted pasta. For a truly regional experience, try the handmade gnocchi—pasta made of potatoes and called "hats" in some parts. There are 24 wines by the glass.