Control Tower

My favorite summertime place to eat cheeseburgers and fries plus they also have good milkshakes. They also offer other foods such as hotdogs and fried fish, as well as ice cream. They provide both indoor and outdoor seating areas. Plus it’s also a great place to watch planes takeoff & land as well with its ideal location at the north end of the Albany International Airports main runway.

Omg this place is ridiculous!!! My family and I went to get icecream and fried dough, there are two different lines you have to go on. Which by far is an inconvenience, we had to to do 2 separate transactions. By, then I was highly annoyed! My eleven year old daughter wanted to go on the race cars, so I allowed her she became frighten and as the slim guy stated she was a danger to everyone Hello she’s eleven! I will never go back there ever ever my child was embarrass.

I first went there because I wanted to have ice cream and watch the planes taking off and landing. Unfortunately the Albany airport is not that busy, there were like 1 plane an hour. And they are all narrow body jets. So for commercial plane fans, it will be quite disappointed. However, aside from that, the place is super relax. And the fries are really crunchy.

Prices are high here, compared to anywhere else in the capital region. Ice cream is no different than other places. Staff is not particularly courteous. I’m going elsewhere.

Blech, while we love the ambiance at Control Tower and the amenities (when they’re open) at neighboring All4Fun, the fast food from a freezer here has gone downhill year to year. Soggy buns, uncooked meat, cole slaw that tasted like somebody had dumped the entire jar of celery salt in it, not quite microwaved from a freezing state pizza rolls, just a major litany of baaad the last two visits, straddling the year. We’ll give them another try because we love to watch the planes land and take off but take your Pepto Bismal or just skip straight to the ice cream in the meantime.

This is a summer staple for me since it’s only a half mile from my workplace. I am a big fan of dairy bars and a big fan of airplanes — so getting to sit outside and watch the planes take off and land is awesome. The food is just OK; I feel like its quality has kind of declined in recent years. My favorites are the cheesesteak, buffalo chicken sandwich (it’s hot!), and fried clam roll. I’ve had the (bacon) cheeseburger, and it’s pretty basic, reminiscent of Burger King in flavor but a bigger patty; not the best dairy bar burger I’ve had, so I probably won’t be ordering one again.
The menu is very large for a dairy bar, going beyond the standards. They have salads, wraps, and specialty paninis, as well as more sides than just fries and onion rings. And they have meal deals that come with cole slaw, fries, and a drink.
In case you’re wondering, the ice cream is not homemade; it is Perry’s brand, which is commonly served at dairy bars. They offer probably 15 or more flavors, but I’ve been to places with more Perry’s flavors available than here. The servings are large, even the kiddie cones. Prices on everything pretty standard – not terribly expensive. My boyfriend was disappointed with his chocolate milkshake, though; he said it was about the consistency of chocolate milk — weak and no thickness. He didn’t ask for another, so I can’t say how they would handle that in terms of service, but all the cashiers I’ve encountered have been friendly, usually the standard seasonal teenagers.
The large outdoor eating area is covered with a roof, but toward the back end there are some tables in the sun, so you have a choice of shade or sun, which is nice. There is a large indoor area too for not-​so-​nice days, with the same (maybe better?) view of the aiport. You have to order from the window outdoors, though. I must say that I love that there are bathrooms indoors — large and clean ones!
All in all I’m a fan. Like I said, the food is mediocre — not bad but not *great.* I think they’ve changed owners in the past few years; not sure if that made the difference. And I haven’t been yet in 2015, so I will have to update with any substantial changes for better or worse.

Nice location, tasty ice cream, expensive prices for what you get and argumentative staff. That pretty much sums up the Control Tower in Latham, NY.
A while back, I had a heated discussion with a staff member there at lunchtime. I ordered lunch and they were just opening up for the season and not very organized. Well, this year I thought I would give them another try so we went for ice cream. My husband ordered a medium sized cone and I ordered a small cone… mine was larger. When he asked the employee about the size difference her reply was, «Everyone makes them different. I can put more on it, if you would like.» They need to get consistent, especially with the prices that they charge!
Long story short, if I have an opportunity to go somewhere else for ice cream or lunch I will definitely go to another place.

Decent prices for reasonable food…

The venue for this place is legitimately cool. Even though we showed up after the sun had set (and I wish we had shown up at least an hour earlier), we were still able to see and especially hear the planes take off and land, and that was pretty sweet to me.
Now for the down side. The product sort of stank. When I order a milkshake, my expectation is for something that is frustratingly hard to drink. The moment I sipped it, I was able to draw way too much of it into my mouth on the first sip, and what I got was really bland. I kept sipping because, well, you know, I paid for it, but I already knew that I thought it was mediocre. The further I got, the thicker it got, and the flavor got stronger closer to the bottom. Which was good, I guess. I mean, my complaint was that it was flavorless to begin with. But the thing is, at the bottom, the flavor was almost TOO strong. This tells me that the thing wasn’t mixed right (or maybe wasn’t mixed at all). I’m no expert at making milkshakes, but I think the people I pay to make me one should be. So points off there.
We also ordered some ice cream for my son, and that was run of the mill. Not disgusting, by any means, but nothing special, either. It was like they pulled it off the shelf at the nearest grocery store. I could’ve done that myself and brought it to the airfield. So points off for blandness there as well.
Maybe my expectations were too high (we had just gone to Emack & Bolio’s in Albany the night before), but I don’t know. I realize it’s just ice cream, but ice cream can be special. And this wasn’t. I would return here in a bind, but I would never crave it.

One of the best places for soft-​serve ice cream in the area so far in my (unofficial) 2010 Summertime Soft-​Serve Tour. Their soft-​serve is dense and delicious, not airy and whipped like some I’ve sampled. They also have unusual twist pairings – I had English Toffee/​Vanilla, and they also had a lowfat Blueberry/​Cheesecake twist. If you’re into fried food, mini-​golf, go-​karts, and general family fun, they have those too. It’s right next to an open field near the airport, hence the name.

Watch the planes takeoff and land at Albany International Airport from the north end of the 1 – 19 runway, and stay for the food and ice cream! You can see the real control tower in the distance!
The Control Tower is a great place the bring the family for ice cream treats and drive-​in food, plus they have batting cages and miniature golf too! The menu offers ice cream treats (hard & soft ice cream, sundaes, splits, crunch cream, floats, malts, shakes, slushes), burgers, hot dogs, fish frys, clam rolls, sandwiches, paninis, fries, rings, salads, soup, and cold drinks. Seven combo meals are offered ($ 5.99-$ 7.69). The food is made to order so be patient.
There are separate outside takeout windows for ice cream and regular food, outdoor covered table seating, and picnic table seating. There’s also an indoor area with another order counter and seating, air conditioned for comfort.
I enjoy the soft serve on a hot day, which is very creamy and refreshing. I get the small size ($ 2.16 with tax) which seems very large. I wish there was a similar drive-​in like this place at the end of the runway at the Manchester Boston Regional Airport in Londonderry, NH, which would be very cool and I’d sooo be there a lot!