Barnsider

We stopped in from out of town and had a terrible experience. My steak was literally frozen and was told a medium rare steak can not come out be warm, it will always be cold. I ate by myself when my 3^rd try steak came out which was not worth the wait at all. It was cooked to my liking on the inside but the burnt outside killed it. The mangers argued with me rather then try to make things better. Wish I could give no stars.

Went to the Barnsider with co– workers after work. we had never been here before– and will never go again. We got the seafood sampler which appeared to be frozen, I had the Beef Wellington which was supposed to be m-​rare and was well overdone. My co worker had the pork chops which was like a hockey puck. All three of us were sick to our stomachs the whole next day!

The Barnsider used to be known to be a better quality steak and seafood house. It has been years since I had dinner there and went with my wife and sisters and brother in law for his birthday. I ordered the swordfish blackened with a mixed vegetable side and my wife ordered a small order of scallops with a baked potato. We had water to drink and no appetizer. Our bill came to $ 77.77 with a 20% tip included. It was a decent $ 50.00 meal. My swordfish was a small portion and the veggies were a few big pieces of broccoli and cauliflower and the rest was what looked like crumbs from the bottom shake of the bag. My sister ordered plain baked haddock and came out a little runny and had to be sent back. The service was good the food mediocre. The place was loud and could use a freshen up.

Just about the best steak or baked stuffed shimp you can get!
If you’ve been to any of their other restaurants (farther east in the Boston market) it’s the same great quality menu you’ve come to expect from this enterprise.
If you’ve never been, prepare to indulge in a fantastic atmosphere, salad bar (one of the few places I can think of with a great salad bar) & meal selection. They have some truly great cuts of steak and have the preparation down to a science.
I’ve been a fan of this place for 20 years and have had the opportunity to try the Barnsider (Albany), the Beverly Depot (Beverly, Ma.) and their 2 former locations called the Mile and a Quarter & Dandelion Green (Providence, RI and Burlington, Ma.). I’ve never had a bad meal and recommend this place whenever I can.
If you’re in the market for seafood their lobster casserole or baked stuffed shrimp are sure to hit their mark and you simply can’t go wrong with any of the steak selections.
Truly a great dining experience.

The sign says «Fine Dining»…ok, I’ll bite. Menu while a quite a few options, not much originality in preparation. The mish mosh of chairs at the tables isn’t eclectic, it’s cheezy. Don’t get me started on the fake plants that are dust ridden beyond words. I personally didn’t care for my meal, but I took a gamble on trying a new flavor for me (cajun, chicken with mango salsa), so that’s on me, not them. My husband liked his, wasn’t ecstatic. Salad Bar does not «fine dining» make, in my opinion, but it is nice that I could have a salad I customized. The bread on the salad bar was great, they have these metal sleeves with handles that fit over the bread so you can cut the bread without touching the whole loaf (although I watched too many people still touching the whole loaf to hold it down (after I got mine… I get queezy thinking about those before me… blech), Barnsider gets 5 stars for trying!!! Having multiple servers asking multiple times how we were doing was overwhelming. The décor was not «Fine Dining» at all, it was 1970’s shabby chic. My meal was HUGE… I mean HUGE, so I got ²⁄₃ meals out of it. However the other pricing on the menu seemed a bit high. Unimpressed, but full.

Delicous classy environment. We had a drink at the bar. Many seasonal/​regular beers on tap. We also ate an appetizer (bacon beef wellington) so delicious. The restaurant is very clean and the staff is friendly.

Nothing has changed here in years. Same décor, same menu, same number of staff (3) waiting on you per table. Salad bar very fresh with just enough vegetables, cheese, bread, and rich dressings. We then had an app of scallops wrapped in bacon, tasty but a bit salty from the bacon. Long wait between app and our entrees. My husband had the sirloin and loved it. I had the 8 oz filet and wasn’t as thrilled. Tasted pan fried, not grilled. Disappointment especially at $ 30. All waiters, no waitresses at least in the section we were in. Staff was attentive and always close by. I use to consider them a Steakhouse but after tonight I’m not sure. Not sure what their specialty is any more. They’ve been here for years so they’re doing something right.

Overpriced and VERY LOUD. appetizers are in the $ 12-​$ 13 range and most entrees are over $ 30. The food was «just ok» — certainly not worth the money. NOT a place that accommodates people that are vegan or gluten free. Most places — ESPECIALLY those that are pricey, can whip up something. As they served pasta with chicken & had brocolini and asparagus on the menu, requested they could just mix with olive oil and garlic. Came with oil — no garlic, no brocolini, a few spears of asparagus and then gave a side of asparagus and charged us extra (and didn’t take off for deleting the chicken). Bland to say the least. Steak Au Poive, while you expect it to be peppery, it was overpowering and the steak lover in our party barely touched it. Salad bar was pretty good. There are other restaurants in the area that are much better and more reasonable (and you can hear each other talk!)

It’s been many years since I have been to the Barnsider and we were a bit apprehensive about going. We will not feel that way going forward. We were very pleased with our meals. My son really enjoyed the clams casino and perfectly cooked medium rare prime rib. I absolutely loved my beef wellington, cooked perfectly to a medium rare. The salad bar is the same as always, nothing fancy but serves the purpose. I do enjoy the bread choices at the end of the salad bar.
Our service was very good, on a busy night. I feel the prices are fair, especially if you compare to the «high end» steak houses in the area (one of which always over cooks my steaks).
We will be returning, especially for the beef wellington!

I’m really on the tail end of the demographic for the Barnsider. The average eater there was business men in town bitching about their wives and also lots of nice friendly families there for birthdays (apparently half price for the birthday guy or gal — who knew?). That being said, I really enjoyed this place and the nostalgic vibe a classic steakhouse has for me. While the whole premise of the Barnsider is wildly outdated I enjoyed a very friendly and comfortingly «starched» meal there.
As we walked in, I felt completely overdressed. Everyone on the patio had flip flops and shorts on. The bar area inside was the same. Come to find out those those areas weren’t a good indicator of what to find inside. Once we entered the «true» dining area everyone looked nice and Barnsider met my expectations. Some odd décor included a cat statue and some old abacus game looking thing hanging on the wall.
The drinks were awesome, they were brought and poured table side in a carafe that had some extra awesome Manhattan-​ness in there. Cheap too, less than 8 bucks for a Maker’s Mark Manhattan. A+
The salad bar was successful at what it was supposed to do, be a salad bar and nothing else. I wish the veggies were cut up a little smaller. Eating a giant circle of cucumber with the skin on it doesn’t look all that classy. It was cool that they had lots of bread to sample and I think the french bread was the best. I would have loved to see healthier options for dressings (at least they had oil & vinegar) but even that made me feel nostalgic for older times where people didn’t care about the sodium content in their Good Seasons.
I got the strip steak (8oz) and my partner got the ribeye with the pecan/​blue cheese «topping». Both our steaks were cooked well, but my partner said he really was disappointed in the char-​grill flavor of his. While I kind of like that «back yard charcoal grill» flavor he prefers his restaurant steaks to be cooked «restaurant style» aka cast iron sear, finished in the oven. My steak was almost too chewy (on the menu it says «No fat, no bone, just great taste.») maybe it could have benefited from some fat or bone! The fact that you are eating bloody cow parts and want to avoid fat and bone is beyond me.
Service was great an attentive while the «stuff your order ticket in your table hole» is an odd practice. Having multiple servers asking multiple times how we were doing was overwhelming while chewing my steak. Can’t knock them for being helpful!
TL;DR
Cheap and large liquor drinks, Uneventful salad bar, nostalgic/​outdated touches at I actually liked a lot, well cooked steaks and not as pricey as I had expected.

Good all American steakhouse with a full menu page of steaks, prime rib, beef Wellington, and fish/​scallop combinations. All the steaks are pricey, to me, with only 1 – 2 under $ 30. Had the 16oz prime rib, which was the perfect slice at medium rare. The Blackened Delmonico special was tempting but I hadn’t had a good prime rib in a while. The salad bar was great, with all my favorites and go-​to salad fixings, like very crisp and cold lettuce, kidney and garbanzo beans, three bean salad, beets, shredded carrots, and the house dressing is all I needed for a great salad. Try the deep fried ice cream for dessert!

The Barnsider is a very good steakhouse. I highly recommend this restaurant. Meals include a visit to a great salad bar. The menu did not list my favorite, a New York strip. The waiter said their version is the New York sirloin. I ordered that and it was excellent. This steak was comparable with a New York strip from Ruth Chris. The dinner comes with a side. I ordered the mixed vegetables. These were delicious. My family ordered the sirloin and fillet. These were also excellent. The restaurant was crowded on a week night. Reservations are recommend. My only complaint was a family with a crying child. I don’t think this is a place for crying children. Go later and you may be able to avoid this.

Being from FL food tastes way different up north. The best adjective is bland. A lot of food has no seasoning. My wife had the shrimp scampi, I had blackened salmon and it would have tasted better at Red Lobster or even if we went to the grocery store and got it out of the frozen section. Service was decent and food took a little long. My wife is an executive chef and was observing the cooks playing around on the line. In their defense I didn’t notice anything wrong. If I’m ever in Albany again I’d give them one more try to see if what I had was bad or if it’s just the restaurant.

Came for a company dinner. We had the entire back room to ourselves. Servers were very quick to bring more drinks. Prime rib was good, could have been a bit more tender. Apple crisp for dessert was delicious. Prices were a bit high for the quality of food, better value could be found elsewhere.

I had way better prime rib for less, the scallops was allright. The prime rib needs to be seasoned better and dishes need to be executed properly for this price. Other than that, it was a nice place and the service is excellent.

Went here tonight, May 19, 2015 for my mom’s 61^st birthday. I wish it had been a pleasant experience. Shortly after ordering our drinks, my mom and I were rained on by shards of glass. A busboy had dropped glasses off of his tray and the shards got all over myself and in my mom’s hair and on her clothes and all over our table. I understand this was accidental, but when we complained, we were offered a free dessert but they refused to compensate our dinner. This is completely unprofessional, we could have been injured much more severely, and now we have to clean the glass shards out of our hair and clothes. My mom has a physical disability, so this is even more of a task for her. SMH. Shame on them.

I have been there a few times in the past and they were alright, they did however have a good beef wellington. I recently revisited the barnsider for a family outing. I of course ordered my favorite, beef wellington medium rare with a baked potato. After ordering we then went to the salad bar which is alright, they do have good bread and cheese there to snack on. Everyone at the table finished their first course, and chatted for a while and we all began to wonder where our food was. The waiter came out and said your food will be with your in a moment. Twenty minutes passed and still no food. After the arduous wait the food came in. Everyone seemed to be somewhat enjoying their food, but my beef wellington was

It was very good. I liked it a lot. My steak was perfect.
Everyone at our table of six had a good meal also. The service was perfect. My beer was never empty and my water was too. The food came out in perfect time.
No complaints.

Well, the Unilocal definition of two stars is: «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» I certainly have.
I will say this FIRST though… The food was pretty good. The prime rib I had was good, the beef wellington my wife had was really good, and the baked scallops I had were AWESOME. On the other hand, the salad bar was abysmal.
Now, with that said, the service really, REALLY sucked. I know it’s a staple in this area that’s been around for years so they can’t be as BAD as I perceive, but we really weren’t all that impressed with anything other than the scallops.
We evidently had TWO servers assigned to our table. Each would ask us what we wanted and would fill out a tab and slip it into a slot on the table if we placed a new order (appetizer, desert, another glass of wine, etc.) The biggest problem was, the left hand wouldn’t talk to the right. The two servers never spoke and never «took ownership» of our table. It was my wife’s birthday and, at the Barnsider, you get your entrée at half-​off ON your birthday. The FIRST server asked for her ID to verify it was her birthday. The SECOND server tallied our bill and didn’t take half-​off my wife’s dinner. When I pointed that out, the SECOND server not ONLY asked my wife if she showed the FIRST server her ID but then, RIGHT in front of us, asked the FIRST server if he had verified the birthday!!!
Not once did they ask us if we wanted another glass of wine. Not ONCE was our water refilled. If I am going to pay AS MUCH AS WE DID for that food, I ***EXPECT*** much better service.
Again, MEH. We’ve lived in the area for 7 years. This is the first time we’ve eaten there. It will more than likely be our last.

When I went to college in Albany three decades ago, Barnsider was a pretty fancy «special occasion» kind of restaurant that we could seldom afford. I remembered it as being pretty fancy, at least in the eyes of us 20-​something college kids. Maybe my fond memories have been clouded by nostalgia or romanticism, because when we revisited yesterday, after an absence of 30 years, the place looked a bit tired and dated.
The first impression, as we walked from the back parking lot, was how amazingly shabby the rear wood deck looked –peeling stain and in a general state of disrepair– it looked terrible.
The interior is very rustic– high ceilings with wood post and beam columns. The open kitchen was fun– we saw half a dozen cooks working feverishly to keep those steaks a’coming. But it did seem to us that the waitstaff was a bit understaffed, because our service was spotty.
I did enjoy the salad bar. The bread was hot and plentiful, and the big slab of cheese next to the bread was unexpected but yummy. I started with a soup special — Corn Chowder that was hot and tasty.
My entrée was the Ginger Scallion Swordfish for a hefty $ 29.95. It was excellent– moist, juicy, flavorful, and perfectly cooked. Entrees are served with a choice of baked potato, rice pilaf or vegetables. I tried to get a half order of rice and a half order of veggies, and the waiter looked at me like I was from Mars. But for an extra buck or two, I could get both, so I did. Whatever…
Since it was a special occasion, I went for dessert and chose the Key Lime Pie which I enjoyed a lot.
So all in all– how was the Barnsider experience? So-​so, I thought the food was fine, but overpriced. I thought the décor was dated. I thought the service could have been better.
I should have relied on my memories…