The Albany Rail Yard

My husband 's coworkers go here for trivia on Tuesdays, and I tag along because I just moved here and have no friends of my own to hang out with. The best part about it is I enjoy our server. She 's funny friendly and brings me my beers, which wouldn 't normally stand out but here it does, because the server we had in Ashley 's (I think thats her name...the guys call her shanaynay absence failed to do that 2 weeks in a row while bringing the guys additional rounds. (I was on beer order #1 both times . Sexism or coincidence I 'm not sure. The food is standard subpar bar food, and I got sick later in the night after our most recent visit. Not saying it was definitely the chicken quesadilla, but considering I hadn 't eaten anything for lunch the odds are ever in its favor. Maybe the grease just did me in. The same guy wins trivia every week, so that part isn 't really a blast either. The good news is they have prizes (and super decent ones for each round winner, and we sometimes manage to win those. The questions are apparently repeated at other establishments across town and it enrages me when I hear other tables saying I 've had this one before after nearly every question. It shouldn 't be that difficult to come up with new content with the world being as large and old as it is. I should probably track down the trivia company 's page before I go into further detail as this is not so much a fault of the Rail Yard (other than the fact they make the choice who to contract this out to... but I digress. The atmosphere here is run of the mill dingy bar, leaving plenty to be desired, but it meets the minimum requirements of beer and bar food with sometimes friendly service. I probably wouldn 't come back here if I weren 't so desperate for the company of anyone but my dog, but here I am. The guys apparently like it.

We had our rehearsal dinner here. Event date 4/25/14 We just had some pizza and wings in the room in the back. We wanted a casual evening before the wedding. We were extremely impressed with the service and the food. Lisa helped set up everything, tables linens and lighting. She made the room look really nice. That room has a private bar with your own bartender. Our Bartender rocked. So sweet, attentive and really fast! We had about 30-35 people and he kept up with everyone, no one was waiting for drinks. he also helped us with the music. The price was really fair! No B.S. fees or bartender fee, everything was one set price unlike a lot of places we found before we agreed to try the Albany Rail Yard. I got so many compliments on the service and the food and that is really all you can ask for! I recommend this place to anyone.

My wife and I visited the Rail Yard for the first time this past weekend. Compared with C.C.s earlier review, it seem that many of the opening day wrinkles have been ironed out. They had about a dozen beers on tap, the names of which were read off by the server. A list of beer offerings with descriptions, either on the menu or separately, would be helpful. Our initial server (they seem to utilize team service) could have been better schooled in the choices, but she seemed quite young, perhaps not even of legal drinking age. My lovely wife ordered the corned beef Reuben which comes with a choice of one side (about 15 are offered}. She chose coleslaw. I had a pulled pork platter, also with coleslaw, Cajun fries, and cornbread. The Reuben was served on rather thick sliced marble rye bread with coleslaw instead of the usual sauerkraut. Wifey was not unhappy with the variation, except to say that if she had realized, she would have ordered a different side. She concedes that she did not read the menu description. She raved about the quality of the corned beef used in the sandwich. The Cajun fries served with my meal were lukewarm at best. I sent them back and they were replaced in short order with fries so hot that I had to blow on them. The pulled pork was tender and tasty. I would have liked a deeper smoke. We both thought the slaw was excellent, containing little or no mayonnaise, in favor of a slightly sweet and sour version. Although there seems to be a separate dinning room in the rear, all guests were being seated in an area partially sectioned off from the bar. The slight partitioning did little to mitigate the noise level, resulting in a din reminiscent of a middle school cafeteria. Finding a way to deal with the noise should be a priority for this establishment that shows a lot of promise.

I am rooting for this place to succeed because I like barbeque and this place has a lot going for it including a good draft beer selection, a nice outdoor patio and good service. But the two meals I had here so far were at opposite ends of the scale. A pulled pork plate was excellent. The pork was tender, had a decent amount of fat, (that 's good), and a decent amount of the burnt ends (also good). But what I really liked was the sauce. I was afraid it was going to be a sweet sticky goop; instead, it was a thin brown sauce that tasted mostly of Worcestershire. My second meal here was a plate of brisket that was tough as shoe leather. This was a nasty surprise as a friend reported to me that he just had the brisket two days earlier and that it was good. Maybe it was because I came in late at the end of the day and the brisket had been overcooked by then. The sides here were a weak spot. Corn nibblets were swimming in butter and the black beans that are offered just do not cut it. Baked beans would be good but they don 't offer it. I would like to see a green vegetable collard greens would be ideal. The Santa Fe rice was just rice with diced tomatoes and lacked any flavor. Bottom line, I will give Albany Rail Yard 3 stars for now and hope to follow up with another visit.

Would highly recommend this place for college graduations take your kid there, food was very good..good beer choices..very comfy atmosphere.. we went mid day.. on a Saturday