Hudson River Coffee House

I love this place. Please excuse the hipster verbiage but it’s quite *authentic*. Good crowd, great staff, solid munchies. Too bad the last date I had here decided to mansplain some stuff to me and I had to walk out.

This is in the weirdest neighborhood ever but it’s a little gem. It’s a cool place to hang out and get a coffee. I tried doing some work here a few times but it was a bit loud and was very busy while I was there.
I’ll definitely be going back, but only with my headphones to drown out some excess noise.

I hadn’t realized how close this café was to my office, otherwise I would have been coming here more often. The atmosphere is nothing special, and it’s kind of cold in here (but that could be a positive if your trying to do homework and not fall asleep), but there is plenty of seating and it’s quiet.
I ordered coffee and a breakfast sandwich. The bagel is certainly a highlight of this place, as they order out from a local bakery. The food was decent, and I’d come back for another breakfast sandwich for sure.
The coffee is fine. I’d say it ranks among the top 4 or 5 in albany, certainly behind tierra, but in contention with Uncommon Grounds and/​or Daily Grind. This place is owned by the same people who own The Delaware Trolley House and Café, but this place is obviously much more established.
Baristas were attentive and the food came out quickly. I didn’t ask about the beans or roast, because I’m aware that they use the same beans as DTH&C.
With its close proximity to my office, I anticipate a return trip for lunch here over the daily grind, which is a similar distance from my office.

Stopped in last night for a cup of coffee, first time I’ve ever been here. I’m not a student (much older unfortunately :-P) and I really enjoyed the place. The coffee was good and the man at the counter was really friendly and accommodating. I especially enjoyed chilling out in the front room, the décor was cool and it reminded me of a place that you’d find on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Hope to make it back to try some food.

Relaxed environment. It isn’t the quietest of places but I do believe it depends on the time of day and point in the semester.
I enjoy coming here when I need a change of scenery. It’s ideal for reading a engaging book, making lists and checking emails and light studying (flashcards, essays and etc.)
There are plenty of two seat tabletops, a couple of larger tables and outlets for many. Free Wifi!
The drink selection is good– coffee, teas, chai, chocolate and Italian sodas. Breakfast and sandwiches are here if you get hungry. If you have a sweet tooth, there are cookies, muffins and biscotti.
Lastly, the staff is friendly and quick with service.

Been coming here for about 5 years now and the Van Buren just gets better every time.

This review is based on one first time visit and one small order. I will update review after more experience here.
Came here for first time. Building is really beautiful on outside. Looks like an old bank. Tons of space inside to sit alone or with friends. It’s a super hot August day today and their AC is on full blast and it feels really refreshing in here. Rock and roll music on the radio. The person who assisted us with our order was really chill, patient and nice.
We ordered one large skim milk iced latte with hazelnut almond. It was delicious. We took it to go but both agreed we could hang out here. The food looks really good. Cookies and sandwiches especially.
We will be back.

I’ve been here a handful of times over the summer and this is a wonderful coffee shop.
The coffee selection, quality and taste are the best I’ve found in Albany. Prices are average.
There are a lot if tables and a variety of seating options. Each table I’ve been at has had access to 1 – 3 outlets.
They have food, which includes bagel sandwiches, cookies, muffins and other baked goods. I had the cranberry oatmeal cookie and it was thick and chewy.
There is art on the walls and some of it is for sale. There are also two old school video games. On Thursday, they have «open mic night». Tonight it was a mix of guitar playing, singing and poetry.
For me, this is the perfect place to do work. Although, I’ve only been here during the summer, so not sure how the vibe will change when students return.

I’m always looking for places to study, write, and basically try to minimize distractions while I work. Oddly enough, for me this means bustling coffee shops with my headphones drowning out the noise.
Some of my requirements: free wifi, great coffee, spacious tables and abundant plugs. Some perks: bountiful sunlight and minimal post-​coffeehouse smell when you finally leave 8 hrs later. HRHC fits all of the above criteria.
The tables toward the front receive so much sunlight that you get the feeling of a light summer day in the middle of January (in Albany, that’s just short of magic). On top of that, the tables are huge and you’ll never want for plugs. The coffee is excellent and the staff is exceptionally friendly, so much so, they’ll apologize if they didn’t memorize your name. Two of the top reasons I kept going back (hard to narrow it down) were the fact that I could get a decent egg and cheese sandwich and not smell like it the rest of the day and the Cookies!
The only reason this is a 4 and not a 5 star is that due to the location near SUNY and St Rose, parking can be challenging when the college kids are around.

Coffee shops are some of my favorite places to do work and study at. I typically order a house coffee, plug in my headphones, and fall into a concentration lapse fueled by caffeine.
HRCH is not a bad place to do the above. The crowd and venue definitely gives a vibe of a high school/​college hangout for nerds (no offense, I’m one too). Plenty of kids here studying and chatting away. Outlets and tables are plenty. Wifi is quick. There was one person who sat across the room that kept staring at me, which was kind of awkward. Also, another person asked me to «watch their stuff» as they ordered coffee. I think I’m not socially awkward (I hope) but the customers here, in my opinion, are kinda off putting. The barista was super friendly though.
I am pretty disappointed in their coffee ($ 2.25) as it was not piping hot and tasted nothing special. I also felt the caffeine was lacking as I ordered a large and ended up having to order a cappuccino ($ 3) to get to that buzz (and out of curiosity of the special drinks). The cappuccino tasted pretty good and was prepared very well. I did not try their pastries or food but they looked pretty yummy.
HRCH has a ‘secret treehouse’ kind of atmosphere to me and I might consider coming back to hangout with friends. I can tell it’s a great place to unwind and relax as others have mentioned, but sometimes I need to visit coffee shops to do work and get caffeinated and my first experience here was not as valuable ($-wise, caffeine-​wise, & crowd-​wise) compared to my typical ventures to sbux.
Fun fact: Caffeine is very well absorbed upon ingestion and takes 15 – 30 minutes to ‘kick-​in!’

Nice chill place, serves good coffee and cookies. Has a ton of board games even monopoly. Very hippy atmosphere.

This is my favorite coffee/​tea/​pastry place in Albany. I come here often. Open late, great space for seeing friends. Usually something going on. Good seating. The help is awesome, and consistent. Great food and drink.

Decent coffee (and I’m picky when it comes to coffee), fun atmosphere, and even better people-​watching. I’ll come back.

This is probably my favorite place in the entire world… I think I was more sad about not being able to get coffee and sandwiches here anymore then I was about actually graduating. Great great great location for students who live downtown and need somewhere quiet to study or grab a quick coffee. Nothing beats coming here after a long night out! To this day I sit here feeling so nostalgic about this place haha. The iced coffee is unreal, I need to know what blend they use! Only complaint is the size of the cups, I wish they were bigger :(I can get a large iced coffee from dunkin for the price of what a small is :(The sandwiches are phenomenal, I got turkey on ciabatta bread! Highly recommend, this will be my highlight when I visit Albany again!

Cute. A bit loud behind the counter at times

I don’t even drink coffee and I love coming here. It is quiet but not stark, great atmosphere, friendly awesome staff, has great space offered for open mic, music, dancing evenings. Great food, pastries and drinks that aren’t coffee. Wish they had a few gluten free options.

I stopped by mid-​morning to check out this coffee shop since I was in the neighborhood, had some time, was hoping to grab a quick bite to eat with my coffee, and prefer the small independent coffee shops. The coffee was excellent, as expected, and the service friendly. Unfortunately for me, I must avoid food products with flour and so was limited to just the beverages today as nothing GF was available.
I’ll likely stop back for coffee and hopely, I’ll find something to nibble on when I do, even if only a piece of fruit or packet of nuts.

I love this coffee house! The staff is always so friendly — If they learn your name, they remember it. Some of them can do cute ‘latte art.’ My friends and I sometimes go to the open mic night on Thursdays– a great variety of local artists ranging from comedians to spoken word poets to three piece bands.
This is also my go-​to study spot. (Just graduated from undergrad so won’t be doing this for a while :)) It’s quiet and has lots of comfy spots to set up and study. The layout is cozy and not too open so there usually aren’t a lot of people walking by you. The outlets are plentiful and reachable from every study spot.
They’re open until 12 am so you can spend the first half of your all-​nighter in one of their comfy chairs downing flavored lattes and writing that term paper that you put off until the last minute.

Came here one time to grab breakfast. Its in a street row of homes in a ghetto area and I thought it wasn’t even opened. I ordered a café mocha which was great and the balboa italian hoagie. Ive had plenty of hoagies in Philly and I thought this place was actually really good.
Everything inside the café looks hipster. A lot of the furniture looks like it was found in a garage sale or dumpster. They even have I think 4 old ass arcade machines and very old small piano and looks like nonfunctional organ piano. Definitely a hole in the wall spot, but I think its good for the neighborhood thats looks beat up. Recommend to anyone in the area.

3.5 stars for this unassuming place that blends right into its surroundings. Keep an eye out and nab street parking, which has been fairly easy to do and hasn’t been too troublesome.
HR has a hipster, retro feel with ample space (4 stars) for you to camp out either at booths or actual tables with cushioned chairs. My qualm is primarily with the chairs since I’m vertically challenged and find myself sinking deep into the seat with my elbows unable to reach the table (2.5 stars). Upon subsequent visits, this issues hasn’t dissolved and remains fairly problematic when trying to type on my laptop or take notes on the actual table. For those without the height issue, you can disregard this. Wifi can be sluggish at times but for the most part is conducive to being productive.
Their coffee is well-​brewed as in not too acidic but bold and strong, which I really appreciate (4 stars). Their teas are from Mighty Leaf Tea, which I am already very much a fan of. Food selection is a bit lackluster with only subs (3 stars). I haven’t personally sampled them myself, so perhaps they’re made with quality ingredients and have delicious flavor, but I’m usually looking for lighter fare while studying in the afternoon or late into the evening. Perhaps some soups or lighter wraps or even salads would be welcomed additions to the menu.