WHERE TO EAT ON A MONDAY NIGHT IN DOWNTOWN ALBANY

With Albany’s Clinton Market Collective, Empire Live + MVP Arena all booking Monday night events, we have 9 restaurants open late for drinks + dinner downtown.

Story: Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: Susie Davidson Powell/The Dishing

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Whether you’ve attended a Monday night Siena Saints basketball game or you work in the restaurant industry and Monday is your night off, we’ve all heard the familiar question, “What’s open in downtown Albany on a Monday night?” Many downtown bars from The Copper Crow and Lost & Found to Albany Distilling Co. and DeFazio’s Pizza in the Warehouse District, are closed on Mondays. So we’ve got a reliable 9 that stay open for sports fans, ravers + lobbyists alike.

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1. McGeary’s Irish Pub | Visit
   McGeary’s needs no introduction. Open most days from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. - including Mondays - this staunch Bills bar is the clear downtown spot for a beer on the patio or Sunday live music inside, but when it comes to food, the popular move is wings. Sure, they have burgers and more if you’re looking for Irish pub basics, but the kitchen will fire wings to any level of crispiness with a variety of sauces. Sticky fingers for the win.

2. DPs: An American Bistro | Visit
   Tucked inside the Hampton Inn and Suites, DP’s is a popular destination with craft cocktails, an excellent wine list from sommelier and owner Dominick Purnomo, and a mix of dinner, happy hour or late night menus. Small plates, Black Angus burgers, fresh pastas, handheld sandos — something for everyone, served in stylish surroundings with a popular happy hour bar. Extra busy on Palace theater nights; a mainstay for political staffers.

3. Viva Empanadas | Visit
   Viva Empanadas vibrant, almost tropical restaurant and bar keeps going from strength to strength. Originally more of a daytime spot, Viva has more recently expanded its dinner hours to 9 p.m. most nights while Latin weekends go to midnight with salsa dancing and early dance classes. Serving Peruvian rotisserie chicken, Cubano sandwiches, Ecuadorian arepas, Brazilian-style Churrasco grilled skirt steak, and owner Veronica Agama’s famous flaky empanadas (available gluten-free), you’ll be glad they’re open on a Monday night.

4. 677 Prime | Visit
   This upscale steakhouse may not win any awards, but the standards are there from surf and turf to oysters. This is the land of pricy wines, average cocktails, overflowing seafood towers and massive Tomahawk steaks including a “hanging” version for two torched tableside ($179.) Sit at the bar or among dining room tables occupied midweek by suits expensing business dinners.

5. Tanpopo Ramen & Sake Bar | Visit
   On the opposite end of the scale, you have the diminutive Tanpopo Ramen houses in a the former Miss Alban railroad car that was also featured in the movie, Ironweed. Order piping hot ramen in the wooden booths, at the counter or seated on the fixed-to-the-floor stools at a communal table.

6. Olde English Pub & Pantry | Visit
   While we aren’t currently fans of the food, this historic house with a London phone booth upfront has one of the best, winding, leafy beer gardens perfectly hidden in downtown Albany at the entrance of the new walkable Skyway connecting downtown to the waterfront. This is the spot for a nice pint and an average meal, so use that knowledge wisely and opt for things that are hard to mess up like hearty chili or chicken soup, the house burger or, sometimes, an excellent beer-battered fish and chips (depending who’s cooking it.) The old world pub feel is excellent and cozy, so go nonetheless. Always a friendly vibe.

7. Albany War Room Tavern | Visit
   This is a little bit of a further walk heading up State Street, past The Renaissance Hotel (we would include Wellington’s if the kitchen and bar didn’t consistently close early) and along Eagle Street to the Albany War Room which might be the only place to get a steak at 10 p.m. If you arrive a little earlier, you’ll be in luck with Saso or Jimmy making some of the best sushi in the 518.

8. Ophelia’s | Visit
   Part college, part grunge, this live music and DJ venue is exactly what downtown Albany needed, along with Empire Live, to reboot the music scene. Once Slidin’ Dirty (formerly and brick-and-mortar in Troy, but until recently a food truck) took over Ophelia’s food ops, it suddenly resurrected their bar menu of sliders, avocado fries, Po’Boys, chopped cheese, and short rib French dip. Comfort food for the late night crowd, but sticky tables for those who care so check your expectations at the door. Nice sidewalk patio for warm nights.

9. The City Beer Hall | Visit
   This fairly cavernous German-style beer hall stays open til midnight, and although they no longer hand out free pizza slices, they now have the onsite Blu Pizza serving “until 10 p.m. or until no mo’ dough.” (Of course, Sushi by Bou is also downstairs in the former Speakeasy 518, but they’re closed on Mondays.)

   Honorable mention: Loch & Quay | Visit
   Loch & Quay is a slim all-day pub serving craft beers, burgers, and American comfort food, to the downtown politicos. Sadly they close at 7 p.m. on Mondays. Open til 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day bar Saturday when they close early at 5 p.m. Sidewalk patio.