The Black Bear Inn

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  I have to say, I rather enjoy Black Bear. Its got the atmosphere of a sports bar/almost karaoke bar with the juke box that inevitably will be crowded with wildly entertaining drunks singing their cares away to some pat benatar, elton john or maybe some journey.
  They have a decent selection of draft beers, and bar tending service is pretty quick. I usually get a bite to eat as well - normally partaking in one of their burger selections. I have had a few of their burgers, and all the selections I have had have been quite tasty.
  So whether you go in for some bites, a few drinks, or just to people watch (and sometimes this can be the best part!) you will have a decent time here.

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  Posted on 06.11.13 Jessica L.

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  I walked into the Black Bear Inn not expecting much, and left completely surprised. I stopped here in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, looking to catch a quick bite to eat before moving on to the rest of my day. Black Bear Inn came up in conversation so I decided we'd try a new place.
  
  For a time when it seems like a bar/restaurant would be somewhat dead, this place was pretty damn busy. The bartender was covering the whole place -- the bar and the tables -- and she handled the workload admirably.
  
  The food was good, as were the prices. I'd definitely come back here again.

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  Posted on 06.05.12 Frank Z.

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  A pleasant surprise.  Seems like a neighborhood place, but welcoming for all.  Good food and great service.  Only one barmaid on staff, she handled all of the bar and tables efficiently and with a great attitude.  Give it a try.

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  Posted on 03.14.12 Mary B.

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  Such a fantastic, hidden away little gem of a bar. I might be rushing into things with five stars, but I don't really care.
  
  My friends and I love some pub trivia. We suck at it. We don't really care, though, because it is just way super fun. But for some reason, there aren't a ton of places in Albany that have trivia on Wednesdays. Washington Tavern used to, but they moved it to either Mondays or Tuesdays, which simply would not work for us. So I found a rather short list of places nearby that would be holding trivia.
  
  Enter Black Bear Inn. None of my group of friends had ever heard of it, and we entertained ourselves by circling Watervliet trying to find it. We figured it would be a dive, but it surprisingly was not. It was quite an inviting little sports bar, actually! With a whole menu of food that seriously looked fantastic, and was cheap to boot.
  
  They have lots and lots of flat-screen TVs for those of you who go to sports bars to watch the sports, and a fair amount of tables and stools at the bar.
  
  The service was so nice! Our food took much longer than expected, and our server came over to apologize, before we had even said anything! And she totally went above and beyond, giving us a free round to compensate for the wait. It was so sweet, and really made me like this place even more.
  
  Then trivia started, and it was actually a lot of fun. Great variety of questions. And the other teams were surprisingly not obnoxious. I get the feeling that a lot of them were regulars, but we all just had a good time playing. Did we win? Hell to the nah! In a tragic all-or-nothing whammy final round, we lost it all. But hey, at least we didn't end with negative points.
  
  Bottom line: Black Bear Inn rocks my pretty little ruffled socks off. The end.

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  Posted on 06.13.10 Danielle K.

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