McGuire’s Restaurant

I really enjoy McGuire’s. They make a great martinis and also have very good food. Another spot on Lark St that is a good date night spot. Food is always paired nicely and presented well. Service has always been great.
This really shouldn’t have 4 dollar signs because most entrees are in the $ 20 – 30 range.

Hmmm, great service but the place was empty. Food was excellent but took a couple of tries to come out as described. They compensated with free dessert, a chocolate cake that was pretty straight forward. Overall, they need to work on the details but the experience was satisfactory. The price point though?

Apps were tasty (oysters, calamari, cocktail shrimp). Felt confident ordering the ahi. $ 25 for carbon monoxide blasted tuna — if you’re going to charge upscale prices, I expect quality food. What an utter disappointment.

Great physical bar, but atmosphere is quiet and not authentic. The place operates on no reliable hours so it’s hard to count on if making plans. Recommend other nearby bars before heading here.

McGuire’s is the epitome of class and elegance. The food as good as it gets; full of flavor and sustenance. Going for drinks and appetizers is welcomed, but the food is the true claim to fame. Nestled in the heart of Lark Street, McGuire’s is every part wonderful as the building it inhabits.

Excellent food and drink. Totally worth it. The prices here are comparable to any good restaurant in a larger city. Service, food, and cocktails met my expectations, which are high. Love that this place is just a block away. Will be back.

Was planning on having dinner here last night, and it was closed at 7pm. Said 10 on here (which seemed accurate from the times I’ve been here), so we made the drive and it was lights out. I’ve lived away from the Albany area for some time, so maybe it’s closed since I left? I would call beforehand if you’re planning on coming here!
Edit: Local Unilocaler Roger sent me a link to a story saying they would be closed for a month to renovate. The article was from over 2 months ago, so who knows what’s going on. For now it’s at least temporarily closed.

I’ve never been to McGuires, but I recently tried to make a reservation and called the restaurant. I called them SIX times in an attempt to make a reservation around 6:00 on a Saturday night. Nobody ever picked up the phone. Needless to say, I I’ll never call again.
Get it together over there!

Saving grace– my 16 oz Rib-​eye special was cooked to the perfect temperature, and the oysters we ordered were fresh. On the flip side– my cappuccino was watery and cold. My hosts lady friend’s clams were fishy and the pasta undercooked (read: not al dente’). Service was super slow, even though we were one of the only tables. Finally, that bartender! He certainly did not make us feel welcome when we entered the door and greeted us in the most condescending way, almost as if it pained him. Kind of creepy. I spend a lot of cash in Albany when I visit from the Big Apple; guess I will have to spread it somewhere else.
This used to be one of the classiest restaurants in Albany, but, I guess they have really jumped the shark.

Had a 7:30 reservation for four. We were seated at 7:50, then asked to vacate our table at 9:30. I told the hostess that there was no mention of a time limit on the table when we made the reservation. She said «you didn’t make (the reservation) with me».
We had recommended McGuire’s to our companions who picked up the tab before being evicted.
Very embarrassing experience.

I’ll echo the sentiment of another Unilocaler, ‘what happened Mcguire’s?’
What was once one of the preeminent fine dining establishments in Albany has appeared to do a full 180 towards over-​priced mediocrity, and that is very sad. Years ago, after chef Brian Bowden left it appeared to have taken a slight turn downwards, so it had been some years since we had been back. Sadly, what was once my better half and I’s favorite local restaurant is now merely a shell of its former self.
We arrived on a weekend evening, surprised that the restaurant was almost empty on a night where in the past it would have been hard to find a table. The greeter simply told us to pick a seat ‘near the front’ wherever we would like. This would be the start of a terribly depressing evening where both large and small mistakes/​miscues were made.
Small errors/​nitpicks;
— The tablecloths were not freshly pressed, and clearly showed all the creasemarks where they had been previously folded up
— Salad I had ordered as an appetizer was described as having ‘candied walnuts’. Salad had walnuts, but most definitely were not candied
— Halibut special my better half ordered was described as ‘encrusted’…I’m not sure with what, as it was most definitely not encrusted with anything.
— Overuse of the same bread. The exact same bread that was initially served was used as a garnish to the salad as well as steak ordered.
Large errors;
— Hangar steak was ordered medium, came out more of a charred mess. Overcooked completely and drowned in oil. The bread served with the steak was literally black from being charred to death.
— Desert as ordered was described as a ‘raspberry torte’ and ‘vanilla bourbon crème brulee’. What came out was appeared to be and tasted like store bought raspberry swirl cheesecake and a terrible excuse for a crème brulee. Honestly I couldn’t taste any vanilla or bourbon and I’m pretty sure crème brulee isn’t supposed to evoke a sour taste.
— Atmosphere… seriously I like Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ as much as anyone but blasting it and other music in an attempt to drown out the silence and high blasting box-​fan noise is not becoming of a restaurant with these price points. Not a single other dining group came in during our visit, which probably tells me that we were late to the game in figuring out that this place was no longer worth a visit.
— Prices — Seriously, nearly $ 40 for a halibut special, $ 15+ for appetizers and so on. At these price points, at least ensure that what you describe on the menu is what is being served. Then cook it properly. At that point they are probably still overpriced. If we were talking the Mcguire’s of 5 years ago, then yes these could be justified. But as is, absolutely not.
The good;
Not much to write about here unfortunately. The veal meatball appetizer was very good, and the service was friendly, if a step or two below what the price points would suggest is ‘good service’.
Overall a saddening and disappointing experience from start to finish. Unless we hear of a major re-​haul being done at some point, we won’t be returning. We can’t ‘afford’ to take that chance.

Sucked. Served burnt bread to start-​literally black crust that tastes burnt. Ordered pasta on a very slow night and took well over 40 min to get served. Not worth it at all for these prices

I Come here often and always love it! I finally tried the ahi tuna… and don’t know why I waited!!! I’ll never get anything else. It’s the best ever! Everything is top notch and the staff is attentive and friendly.

Wonderful albeit pricy food. My companions and I all had steak and it melted in your mouth. Great waitstaff. It was a little congested and crowded… not the place for an intimate dinner. I would highly recommend this place…

What happened to McGuires? The last time we were here was eight years ago for our daughter’s college graduation. It was memorable in a good way. Tonight we experienced a different place.
Lobster popstickers were really salty and the ones we get from Trader Joes are better.
My iceberg salad was really salty and warm. The tomato in my plate in the height of the season tasted old.
The halibut was obviously frozen and hard
as a rock. My polenta was surrounded by canned tomatoes.
The owner — was too busy flirting with the barmaid to care.

Just came in for drinks, arrived 10 minutes before opening but they unlocked the door and opened the bar (not sure why a bar would be closed at the 4 oclock hour). Awesome staff, friendly bar tender, and good tap beers.

There’s an open bar, some booths in the dining area when you first enter, and then more tables in the back room of McGuire’s. Patio seating was the popular choice that night as the two tables were occupied in the front of the restaurant while the main dining area was deserted. Dark wooden accents warm up this establishment, although not in so much of a refined way but in a more homey way. D and I unsuspiciously sat down to dinner without an inkling of what our meal would cost us.
Service was cheerful and attentive, which was very much appreciated.
We decided on the tender calamari w white beans in a spicy marinara sauce to start with, but McGuire’s no longer had calamari. Instead we had the beets salad with field greens, endive, red onions, and red tomatoes topped with some gorgonzola in a balsamic vinaigrette. The salad was just fine, made not with the finest and freshest ingredients, but with standard market vegetables. The portion was petite.
Our entrees were the tenderloin and the halibut, both a generous size. The tenderloin was plated with mashed potatoes and some sauteed vegetables and the halibut came with the same side vegetables. To both our surprise, while the meat and fish came out a little hotter than warm, our vegetables were cooler than room temperature. Perhaps they were put on the plate much earlier than the tenderloin and halibut, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t particularly enjoyable to have two different portions of our entrée at such different temperatures. The meat itself was cooked as desired, medium, and the halibut’s texture was firm but not dry. The sauces accompanying our meat and fish were not particularly memorable or flavorful. I did appreciate the thin layer of crusted garlic atop the fish, which added more texture and flavor to an otherwise not too interesting dish.
Dinner was a pricey affair considering the quality of the food served. There wasn’t much creativity to the dishes either, which would have been a reason we could have justified the hefty bill. There’s definitely room for improvement here.

Oh McGuire’s… we had such high hopes.
We started off the night attempting to visit the Wine Bar & Bistro down the street. Unfortunately it was closed so without looking on Unilocal (oops) we popped into McGuire’s down the street.
Upon first glance we noticed the menu was VERY pricey (which is bad because it was a company expensed meal — i.e. specific amount of $$ we can spend per meal). There were also limited selections, strike number two. We ended up ordering an array of appetizers, starters and main dishes. The starters came out and were beautiful looking, but lacked flavor and pizzaz (we paid top $$, it should have had some flavor pizzaz) — strike 3. Then the salads/​soups came out — one member of our party sent theirs back because it was burnt — it was soup. How do you burn soup? You leave it on the stove too long — strike 4. The other appetizers were just bleh, nothing special or interesting or particularly good (I can’t even remember what we got because it was so unmemorable). The meals came out and again there were poor/​mixed reviews. Most of the dishes were edible, but by no means worth the $$$ we paid. One diner’s dish was cooked very well done when she clearly asked for medium and asked what exactly medium meant to them — strike 5.
Overall we were very disappointed in our dinner there (the chef certainly knew as well since we were sitting next to the kitchen with an open wall to the back). Needless to say we did not stay for dessert. Several of our dishes got comped because they were not good. Also needless to say we will not be going back. Very disappointing experience for a somewhat well rated restaurant and for such a high price. I think Albany Unilocalers need to be a little more critical in the future of their restaurants. Do not waste your time.

Ever feel like the wait staff knows something you don’t? Felt like we were intruders on valentines day. Lobster bisque was really thin but very flavorful. Duck confit and dessert were fantastic but scallops, citrus salad, lobster and steak were completely gross. We didn’t expect much on valentines day but definitely more for $ 85 per person. Watching people hang out while you’re paying top dollar is not a good feeling. Definitely would not go back.

I have seen many reviews on Unilocal in the «restaurant» category written on the basis of just drinks or just drinks and appetizers. So I am going to go ahead and review McGuire’s on the basis of an appetizer but a very outstanding appetizer. That’s the fried oysters. That’s the «hook» that got me in here and I haven’t been able to get past that yet. When I do, I will update this review but I’m sure anything on the menu is a winner. These fried oysters are not to be missed though and they are something that is rare in the capital district.
McGuire’s has 10 beers on draft, a nice selection and several different kinds of bottled beer besides.
The atmosphere here is wonderful. It is old fashioned charm. The wait staff is very efficient and the friendly owner is «hands on», right there at the bar. The street life is visible through large windows. Booths are opposite the bar and a nice dining room is through a passageway.
This is fine dining in the old tradition.