Pinto & Hobbs Tavern

When hanging out on Lark and dealing with people that you might not love dealing with — come here. Great staff. Great patrons. Great drinks.

10:00 pm on a karaōke night and the restaurant was closed. :-(Birthday party going on so it was busy, but the it was a tight squeeze all around. Got bumped into several times standing at the bar.

I guess people open bars because they like to drink. To see the owner sitting at the bar drunk is nothing unusual for this place. I watched someone come in about a cook postion and was told to come back because there was nobody there that to talk to about the job. He asked for an application, which they didn’t have of course. All the time the owner is sitting there drinking away. I felt bad for the poor guy who obviously wanted to work there. Too bad because the food is boring, nothing that you can’t get anywhere on Lark Street. Wings and burgers oh my!
You’re better off going to Center Square Pub right around the corner.

Nicely located bar. Unfortunately I thought it was really divey with higher than necessary prices. Small, dark, dirty. Not a lot of selection either.
Didn’t try the food.

I went here for the first time yesterday for a more casual dinner, but they have it all on their menu, from burgers to prime rib. It is a relaxed environment and you can eat in the bar area or in the dining area.
I chose the fish and chips, which were both good, as was the cole slaw. My guest chose the Chicken Roulade, which was heavenly — chicken filled with a bread stuffing and bacon. How can you beat that?
Our bartender and server, Moira (I hope I didn’t get that wrong and it’s Myra), was fantastic. She said she has been making drinks for 27 years and you could tell. They were top notch, as was her friendliness, her professionalism, her care, her service, and her smile. I don’t know if it would have been the same experience without her.
I love the look of the place and particularly loved that nice big band sound of Frank Sinatra, etc., in the background. I will definitely go back.

This place is the only place to go in Center Square. It’s intimate during the evenings and buzzing during the day. Great Happy Hours and the best fare in the ALB. JD’s brunch is to die for and the crowd is so diverse. Always a great time!

I went out on my birthday using a list of places that give free drinks on your birthday, and everywhere I went you had to spend $ 20 first and out a $ 40 cash only deposit on the large glass.
Pinto & Hobbs– To get a free small fishbowl (about the size of your average coffee pot) of not very strong Long Island iced tea you have to do absolutely nothing, no minimum purchase first, no deposit, just the honor system that you will buy at least a couple more drinks after. Now the drink, as I stated, is not as strong as I like my Long Islands, and is half Ice, but it’s still a free big drink just becuase it’s your birthday with no questions asked. We ended up spending a bunch of money there anyway so it didn’t really matter in comparison to the other places that make you spend a minimum first, but it was a much better feeling because I got my free birthday drink FIRST right at arrival, with no pressured feeling that I owed an amount of money that they had decided already.
NIce little place, with room to spare in the back, they don’t have much: a dart board, a little Atari style multigame table (with a big crack in the glass, but it worked), and separate gender bathrooms, but we met some really fun people there, perfect amount of noise, and they have no juke box, they have a sound system that they will play your own music (for free) on CD and probably MP3 as well (I didn’t check, sorry)… now how cool is that?
Of course you have to show ID proving that it’s your birthday.

Good Solid Neighborhood Bar, the food is great, and the bartenders are awesome too.

Food is amazing here. Each dish seems to get the individual attention as though the person cooking would want to eat it. Bar is very laid back, usually can get a seat but many tables near the bar. Nice n dark an right on a main strip

Pinto and Hobbbs has moved around the corner to Washington Avenue across from the Albany Institiute of History and Art and with the new intimate space comes a new fresh food menu featuring some very tasty items. They roast thier own turkey which makes for great open face hot turkey sandwiches. They have burgers, rubens, salads and home made soups (perfect for a snowy Albany winter day). Ask for specials and things not on the menu — there is always something great. P&H has a nice, friendly, cozy atmosphere. Karaōke on wednesdays too. Don’t miss this place — it is a hidden gem! My favorite is the meatloaf sandwich served on an Italian roll with pepper jack cheese and Chipolte ketchup… sooo good… plus it comes with an incredibly creamy side of Mac and cheese. The ultimate comfort foods.

Pinto and Hobbs is in a prime location in Center Square and has a great atmosphere inside. However, those are the only good things I have to say about the place.
The food is awful. I ordered the fried chicken wrap which came with fries on the side. For my money, I much would rather have eaten at Wendy’s. The fries were crispy and delicious, however, the sandwich was awful. There was hardly any chicken on it. I could have taken some Tyson’s chicken fingers and made a better sandwich at home for a dollar.
I went to Pinto’s karaōke night and will never go again. I put in a request to sing which the DJ ignored. Regulars got to sing three songs before I got to sing once. I waited over an hour before I got to sing. I politely asked the DJ twice where I was in the order and he ignored me.
I approached the DJ a third time and told him that I was waiting to sing once while regulars had sung three times. He accused me of calling him an asshole and said that if I made another comment he would not let me sing at all. This was probably the worst experience that I have had in any dining establishment in Albany. I can see why this place is empty so often.

Ask me what I think of Pinto and Hobbes last year, and I would have ranked it highly. Since our first visit, however, the fare has gotten progressively worse — even with menu items that we previously enjoyed!
Two examples to highlight: one takeout order of salad tasted like hand soap and they used what tasted like squeeze cheese (you know — from a can) on nachos my husband ordered last month. Then there was the overly touchy waitress, who was not «touchy» in the sense that she was sensitive … she seemed to have an interest in touching the two men at the table — one of whom (my husband) had a ring on his finger and both of whom were obviously there with their significant others — on their shoulders, thighs, etc. It’s not that I was jealous or anything like that, but I think it was inappropriate and demonstrated a lack of tact that downgraded the restaurant.

The Players:
«Meth» the Bartender
Dumpy Owner Chick
Us (4)
We went here last night for drinks and food and I will say that I will never step foot in this place again.
This place has the «bad service disease» that seems to run rampant through the Capitol District. Meth, the bartender, appropriately named due to his constant twitching and mindless pacing was quite put out that we would actually want to order drinks. I asked for my usual Cosmo, no Triple Sec with fresh lime, please. He did put in the fresh lime and then proceeded to add more Roses Lime Juice. I told him that I did not prefer both and would he start over, keep in mind he had not added vodka yet so there was really no loss. He looked and me with disgust threw the lime and ice drink away with vigor and proceeded to start over.
I could go on and on about how he never asked us if we wanted anything or another drink after removing our glasses and his incessant pacing and twitching but you get the picture.
I ordered a small dinner salad and out came the largest salad known to man. This would have been ok except that I had a dinner engagement after. Perhaps he could have said, we don’t have a small salad, but oh well. Half of Mel’s order was completely forgotten and when asked for, Meth again, was quite agitated by this request and any subsequent ones.
We probably would have stayed for a while but of course this was out of the question so we asked for the checks. This seemed to be a difficult task for Meth but he finally was able to pull it together. I looked at the bill only to see that we were overcharged for both drinks and food. I try my best to politely point this out, all the while Dumpy Owner Chick is just glaring our way. Is there not a time when she should step in after lingering behind the bar observing this entire evening’s experience?
I tell Meth that the tab is wrong and then he and the waitress say that Dumpy Owner Chick told them what to put on the bill. Are you kidding me? I think they call this stealing.
Now waitress girl is trying to help, I point out that the price on the bill is different than the price on the menu and that we did not have that many drinks. Her response is, yeah, they really should have the right prices on the menu. A brilliant idea.
I threaten my daughters’ very life if she leaves them one cent in gratuity and off we go.
Enough said.

I’m not sure why this place typically seems so empty. Maybe because it frequently reeks of fried food (and not in a good way.) Back when it was the Bleecker, all the legislative workers, journos and lobbyists would come here after work. I think recent ethics reforms have cut back on some of that fraternizing.
It’s always packed on Thursdays though for karaōke and sometimes they have a live band. I once had a great time here when I stopped by on my way home after a long night of drinking. Somehow I ended up even drunker and was soon dancing to Motown classics on the jukebox with a group of strangers. I want more nights like that.
The patio is a great little spot, although it’s a little run down.
I’ve only eaten here once and while the food was decent, the service was terrible. I think our waiter was new. He misquoted the price of the wines we orded by several dollars and never brought us water after we asked. It also seemed like he made several answers up rather than admitting he didn’t know. If you don’t know something about the menu, then go ask — don’t lie to us and then try to cover up for it when our food comes and it’s not what we wanted.
Still, I have hope for this would-​be corner pub. Maybe I should just start bringing groups of people here…

The dinner menu is pretty good and the appetizers are all reliably yummy. We go here to have a few drinks (they have a nice outside patio with an awning) and a few snacks usually. The food and the drinks have never let us down. You will not be wowed but you will enjoy yourself and come back again. It is a great local hang-​out.