Lanie’s Cafe

We celebrated Mom’s Birthday. The food was amazing, server was great and the portion sizes were huge. Excellent Chicken Parm dinners. The Panini’s were great too! Will definitely be back.

Unsettling experience. I’m having trouble figuring this place out, to be honest. Food was good. Portions were ridiculously large– almost foolishly too big. Prices are high. Staff was bizarre. And the ambience is very appealing but incredibly loud.
We tried the ‘chopped salad’ which is not at all a traditional chopped salad. It wasn’t chopped! It was very fresh, though fairly boring. We also tried the open faced turkey sandwich which was just toast, turkey gravy and about two pounds of french fries. Again, pretty ordinary and one note.
One of my customer service pet peeves is when the staff is managed or discusses the operation in front of guests. I do not want to hear when your shift ends, or how many shifts you get next week, or the state of the ladies bathroom. MANY of these conversations were taking place all over the restaurant by several servers, bussers, and even kitchen staff (why is the kitchen staff dressed in s dirty apron wandering the dining area and chatting up the servers???). And because nothing has been done to dampen the echoey dining room we heard them all.
And I doubt I’ll ever forget watching one of the servers making out with a guy just behind the salad bar. I don’t mean a kiss to say goodbye. I mean MAKING OUT. And many staffers walked by them as if nothing was going on. It went on for several minutes.
The menu is extensive with a bent towards Italian. The food is surprisingly pricey considering the location and the market.
I’m hoping we just caught the staff at the end of a difficult shift. But I’m worried the overpriced food, and nice décor may just be lipstick on a pig with a poorly managed restaurant on the floor and in the kitchen.
We’re going to try this place again because I honestly couldn’t figure the place out on our first visit. I know this review seems a little unfocused, but that’s exactly the way our dining experience here left us.
Must say the patio looks incredibly inviting!

Great menu selections and salad bar with bread and cheese board make this one of my favorite local restaurants. Definitely a go-​to for the area, I’ve never been disappointed here and recommend it to friends.

chicken/​eggplant parm
bacon burger
side pasta w/​marina
enormous portions.
italian american fare.
fresh salad bar.
seems like everyone leaves
with leftovers bagged.
pricey but 1 entrée
can actually feed 2 adults comfortably.
tasty but very salty.

Lanie has the best food in this area. Doesn’t matter what we get it is always 5**** My only complaint is that it cost $ 10.50 for a drink. We usually have dinners that cost between $ 28.00 and $ 35.00. By the time we add in the drinks and tip it’s a $ 150.00 — $ 175.00 meal.

I have been to lanies two other times and had a good experience, so I decided to go last night for my birthday. The hostess was really friendly, but the reason I really hated my experience was our waitress. She was really passive aggressive and I almost felt like she was yelling at my family and barking to get our orders. It made everyone uncomfortable. If your a waitor/​waitress, and someone says its their b day, you make sure you wait on them with extra effort and make birthday boy/​girl feel special. I did not get that experience. I ordered a wine and she asked for id in a very rude loud manner. She looked at it for like three seconds, my family told her it was my birthday… She seemed like she was rushing us with our orders overall. Our bill was quite high… the least she could of done was wished me a happy birthday or gave a small cake or at least have the staff sing for me. Absolutely ridiculous. The food was alright this time, not worth the high prices to be honest. The atmosphere is amazing and outside seating is nice during warm weather. Sadly, myself and my family will not return.
p.s there was NO reason for her attitude and to be rushed… we got their at 8 and the café closes at 11. The restaurant was not at all packed, so she could of really made our experience wonderful.

Really enjoyed the chicken quesadillas with the hot pepper’s. Also enjoyed my pasta with sausage dish. Always a steady flow of ppl so the food is fresh, just plan accordingly if your in a large group.

Love their eggplant sub without the bread! Good quesadilla’s

Excellent service by Katie very friendly. love Lanies seating could be better
Keep up the good work great job katie

We have eaten here many times, both lunch and dinner. We have never had a bad meal at a reasonable price. Today I called in a lunch order to pick up. It was literally ready in 10 minutes with all the condiments, silverware and napkins included, hot and well prepared. The staff there has always been absolutely lovely!

I like Lanie’s. The atmosphere is always positive. The staff is always friendly and nice. We went here for dinner recently. I got the broiled haddock with Parmesan garlic roasted potatoes and vegetable which was mostly zucchini. It came with the salad bar.
The salad bar was fully stocked with fresh veggies, fresh bread and cheese you slice off the block yourself. There’s about 6 different types of salad dressing to choose from. None of them are labeled but easily identifiable. I opted for a vinaigrette. Good appetizer and it was probably enough for me but I love food sooo.
The haddock was very tasty, in a buttery white wine sauce. I would have
loved rice but it wasn’t an option. The vegetables were very good and tasty. The Parmesan garlic potatoes were cold but they were tasty as well. I wish they had Manhattan clam chowder. I’ve had it there a few times and it’s so good!
My dinner partner got the prime rib. It was cooked to his specifications and he said it was way better than Delmonico’s. His potatoes were cold too.
There was a band trio playing some light music. Very enjoyable!
The prices are a bit high but the food is always good and you always bring home lunch for the next day.

We’ve eaten at Lanie’s many times, it’s usually good for the $$$. So we decided to bring two very good friends for dinner. It was a Sunday evening so there was plenty of open tables and not busy. As usual, the salad bar was full and items were fresh, that’s pretty much where the good ended. We ordered Italian our friends wanted prime rib, their beef was uneatable, tuff as nails. Our friends were honest with the waitress when she asked how their dinner was. She offered to get the manager and they accepted. The manager offered a change in their entrées, they accepted a change to ribeye steaks which came fairly quick but unfortunately both steaks were not much better than the prime rib. The manager never returned to ask how the steaks were, she did offer a free desert to our friends, not the table as I thought she should have. I ordered my desert with coffee, no one else really wanted desert. I ordered cheese cake, which was awful, not fresh seemed still frozen, coffee came 15 minutes later, which I declined as we were ready to leave. Very disappointed. Gave this review 2 stars because the salad bar was good.

We’ve driven by about a million times so we decided to stop in tonight. It’s hard to describe the inside décor and ambiance. It looks like it’s been there since the 1970’s so I was a little surprised to see that it opened in 2001. Wow was it busy, but they turned the tables pretty quickly so we didn’t have to wait long. No reservations here unless you have a party of 8 or more.
We started with the eggplant rollitini which could have been an entrée for 2. Huge portions was the theme of the night…
I ordered the haddock special which was spinach, artichoke, tomatoes and mushrooms served in a lemon butter sauce. Very delicious, but again, realistically was probably the equivalent of 4 adult portions. My husband ordered the BBQ burger. There was almost as much bacon as burger, but the bacon was overdone for my taste. The fries were ok. It was served on a brioche bun.
Summary…huge portions… good bang for your buck, quick good service. I get the feeling that the best dishes here may be the Italian dishes, but their menu is huge.
It’s definitely not our typical scene, quite the interesting people watching experience for us. I’d consider coming back in the summer for the outdoor seating I’ve heard so much about and would also pick up some takeout in the future, but it may not make it into our regular rotation.

I have heard a lot of people give Lanie’s high praises for their food but I just don’t agree. I met some friends there for dinner a couple weeks ago and my whole experience was subpar. My chicken parmigiana was literally burned and they chose to cover it up with cheese and sauce and serve it anyway. My house Cabernet Sauvignon was served chilled and was very poor quality. Aside from meeting friends there I definitely would not choose to go there. I didn’t complain to the staff because I don’t like to have my friends feel uncomfortable. Sorry Lanie’s, my experience was a bad one.

Will be back to try some of the food. Wasn’t really hungry when got there and when I saw some of the dishes of pasta I couldn’t do it. Portions are huge and they looked and smelled fantastic. Had one of their burgers which was great but very big. It was cooked to perfection and the flavor was awesome. Will be back and will try some of the Italian options. Great place but very small. Maybe seats 30 – 40 people.

LOVE Lanie’s. We go here everytime we are in the Albany area. We only found it through a local friend who gave us the tip… The steaks are big and cooked perfectly, salad bar is more than just a bowl of lettuce and cherry tomatoes like some places :) dinners come with sides of pasta and the burgers, entrees and pizzas are large portions. the drinks are fairly priced and generously poured :) Overall great food for a fair price and zero attitiude. We have 3 boys so our family is hard to please and we all look forward to a visit to Lanie’s. only reason i dropped a star is the last time we went in our waitress was a bit salty.

What an awesome night!!! A big hug and many thanks to Karen and the staff for making our dear friend’s surprise party a success! 5 stars for the service, food, live entertainment, and ambiance! I’ve been here a few times and knew it would be a perfect fit for our group… The extensive menu satisfied everyone’s appetite perfectly and Karen was wonderful… many thanks!!!

Love Lanies. My husband and I eat here often. They have the best french onion soup. We also love their salad bar. Their outdoor area is awesome during summer months. The restaurant is clean and service is great.

I just love it here. Their menu is very extensive, and the food is always amazing. I absolutely love their chicken and eggplant panini, but it’s HUGE. I can never finish it, or anything else I ever order. Which is nice because then you have leftovers! The restaurant is ALWAYS packed. Love their patio area, great for mild summer evenings. Downgrading one star just because some of their menu items are pricey. But, for the portion sizes, I guess it makes sense.

Do not order the chipotle margarita unless you love to drink Tabasco! I loved it but it may not be as refreshing as you think! We ordered the nachos which was delicious, quantity was huge for the 4 of us. I ordered the special pulled bbq burger with Memphis sauce which was alright! My wife and my friends wife ordered raspberry mojito which was super awesome!