If you were planning to eat mustard with your burger, be ready to be charged for a "side" of mustard for $0.75. I could bring a whole bottle of mustard for that price...also, I find it heinous that they would charge for a condiment that is normally consumed on a burger. It's not like I asked for beluga caviar! I wonder if they charge for ketchup?...
Finally, never trust what the hostess tells you for wait times. If she says 25 minutes, expect to wait for an hour or more.
The only redeeming quality? Good wings.
I came here night before last with a friend from out of town to get drinks and appetizers. Â We had an amazing time, Giles and Liz behind the bar were absolutely wonderful and so friendly. Â They really made us feel right t home and on top of that food was great. Â Junior's is definitely one of my regular places to go. Â Thank you and Kudos to your great team!
Review Source:One of my go to and favorite places local to me. I'm really surprised their rating isn't higher than 3 stars. Â If you want amazing wings, this is your place. The moonshine wings are addicting.
The new renovation makes this place a 5 star. The bar looks beautiful and there's so much more space now. Very busy most of the time but if you don't mind waiting for a table or standing while at the bar for a bit its a really fun place. This is the place to be, or so it seems, on the weekends. They also have trivia during the week not sure what day.. its hard but fun. Awesome place to watch a big game as well, TONS of Tvs
Love the beer selection. Bartenders are nice and staff is very friendly. Last time we were there we ordered take out on a Friday and it was so busy they must have forgotten to put the order in, when we got there they were super apologetic and gave us a free drink at the bar while we waited. No problem by me..
Their bbq whiskey chicken sandwich is one of my faves, and they definitely do "pub food" the best around.
Seriously though, moonshine wings, try them....
In terms of bar food and drink, Juniors is as good as it gets. Â The food is great, even the salads, and the service has been perfect since I started going here. Â
The downside was that it was too cramped, but they just sunk a bunch of money into the place and added tons of space and brand new TVs. Â I highly recommend it.
I've being going to juniors since 2007 and loved every moment of it. People are always friendly and the staff is cool for the most part. There is a few that have a little attitude but don't let the ruin the experience. Since the expansion it got even better. Highly recommend this place.
Review Source:The food is very good. I've never ordered something here I did not like, and I've been coming here for 2 years now. The wings are amazing, probably the best I've had in Albany. The staff is friendly and the food is consistent.
When Juniors gets busy, main dishes can be a little slow coming out. It's not terrible, just an extra 5-6 minutes more than you might expect. However, apps and wings are fast. The waitresses are usually very good on making sure your drinks are attended to in the mean time. Ever accommodating, they once ran over to the restaurant next door to get me real whipped cream for my sundae, which they were out of, in lieu of the Cool Whip they had in the kitchen.
Both trivia nights (Mondays 7:30p & Thursdays 10p) are a lot of fun; I recommend Monday nights to those interested in a quicker trivia experience. On Thursdays tables fill up fast for trivia, so your group will need to put in for a table by 7 at the latest in order to play trivia by 10.
There are a lot of TV's and at least one projector on. In nice weather, having a drink on the front patio facing Madison ave is amazing. In the winter it can be a little cold if you get seated next to the front windows, bring a jacket.
A great place to bring a group of friends. Tip: There's parking in the back.
I go to Juniors a few times a year for a quick late lunch or with my work crew as a thank you meal. Â The restaurant side has been pretty good, but I have never been comfortable on the bar side. Â The usual daytime bartender is always very "southern friendly" which has always come across to me as fake and condescending, but maybe it works for others. I was in about a long while ago for a quick meal before an appointment I had, Â It took more than 5 minutes for her to "notice" me when she was standing at the waitress station on the other side eating. Â It was really strange, because she was keeping an eye on the nearly empty bar and I had just arrived. Â I ordered the burger lunch daily special, and it took literally about 20 minutes to arrive. Â By the time it arrived I had to go. Â I asked for it to go and she said that the daily specials had to be eaten at the bar and couldn't be boxed up. Â I obviously pointed out the long delay in getting the food and that it hadn't been my intent to get it to go, but to no avail. Â I took 2-3 bites and paid up with a small tip as deserved. Â Not for the food delay, but for the long wait at the beginning and the lack of common sense about the to go.
Anyway, about 5 months later, I am back, order a burger and beer at the bar, and when I ask for the check I get the $9 or so tab WITH an 18% GRATUITY INCLUDED!!! Â Â She probably thought it good to "get even" with the poor tipper, but the irony is I usually tip $3-4 on a small tab like that, but I am not afraid to tip very low for poor service either, I don't just do 20% on every tab I see.
I tell this story all the time as I thought it was hilarious that she remembered me and held the grudge, and how it just hurts her and the owner. Â Obviously I haven't been back since.
Some friends and I came here for Happy Hour on a Saturday. Their $4 Bay Breeze and $4 screwdrivers come in pretty tall glasses, so, by the end of the hour, everyone was reasonably happy.
We also ordered disco fries, mozzarella sticks, and pizza for $5 each. The disco fries sounded good in theory because who doesn't love fries smothered with bacon, cheese, and gravy? However, we all agreed that whoever was put in charge of seasoning the fries was heavy-handed. Surprise surprise, the only gal who finished her fries was the "drunkest" one, so at least the bartender knew what he/she was doing. My 3 friends, who live in Albany, would suggest that you go to Bombers for the fries instead.
Everything about this place is mediocre. Â The interior, the food selection, the beer selection, all mediocre. Â The coolest thing about it is the games on the table, but even those are pretty easy - I got the high score for every trivia game I played.
With the right group it could be a fun place, but with the right group anywhere can be a fun place.
I should probably come back for trivia night. Â Heh.
We have been twice in a week span, first with another couple, then with our 3 and 5 year old. I have to say we are pleasantly surprised by the food and atmophere. It is a bit loud, but it is a sports bar with music, so that makes it easy with the kids. Service was "fine" - wings, salads, panini, burgers, all pretty good.
On friday at 5:30 it was jumping with college kids and young professionals so there was a bit of a wait to eat, but what place does not have a wait on friday night? Â Worth a try.
I have a soft spot for Juniors. Â It's where we said goodbye to a member of my brass quintet before he left to play on cruise ships. Â It's where I re-united with old friends from Saint Rose. Â It's our neighborhood bar and grill I guess, not that I live in the neighborhood anymore.
The food is pretty consistent and usually quite tasty. Â There have been times when I haven't received what I ordered, or when special requests were mixed up between two plates (such as mushrooms on the sandwich that wanted Swiss and vice versa). Â They have Trivia nights, or did last summer at least. Â Some of the other patrons are the typical SUNY* idiot type. Â But if you can ignore them and focus on your friends and your beer, it's a fun time. Â
Overall, a nice, casual, cheap place with (usually) tasty food.
*It should be noted that, though I have a degree from Saint Rose, I am currently enrolled in SUNY for grad school. Â So when I call them idiots, I'm not just showing preference for StRose :)
Husband and I came for lunch on a Saturday on the anniversary of our first date at Junior's seven years ago. Â It wasn't so much a date-date, but more of a let's-meet-for-drinks-after-work kind of date. Â Anyway, this is where it began for us. Â All together now: "Awww!"
I would classify Junior's as a college bar, and therefore not somewhere I'd come for late night drinks as I creep closer to 30. Â I would have to disagree with those who describe it as a dive bar, only because I would never come to a dive bar for lunch, and frankly I'm not sure that a true dive bar would even serve lunch. Â
When we arrived, there were 3 or 4 other booths of younger 20-somethings and a few 40-60 year olds eating and drinking at the bar. Â The jukebox was being fed by one of them, so we listened to The Who during most of our visit. Â
Junior's is relatively small with approximately 15 booths/ tables and a long bar on one side. Â They have nearly 20 flat screen TVs throughout, which I felt was a huge number of TVs for a space of this size. Â They also have electronic games mounted on some of the tables, so Husband and I passed the time with a few friendly games of photohunt and trivia. Â
I was impressed when we sat down at the sheer size of the menu. Â They naturally have a number of fried appetizers, as well as a large selection of pizzas, burgers, salads, subs, sandwiches, paninis and wraps. Â
The waitress was very friendly and attentive throughout. Â She rattled off a list of about ten beers they have on tap, which must change because there was only a menu for the bottled beer options. Â We started off with the Moonshine wings (see pic). Â Since they advertise on the menu that the wings are "award winning", we felt they shouldn't be skipped. Â And they were pretty damn tasty. Â A little heavy on the sauce for my liking (read: sloppy), but a generous size, nicely cooked and the sauce had a good tang to it. Â
For the main course, the husband had the Yates Street Dagwood sandwich (pic), a hearty sandwich including turkey, ham, roast beef, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo. Â He said it was good, although I didn't try it. Â I went with the Whiskey River sandwich (pic) consisting of grilled chicken marinated with their whiskey barrel BBQ sauce, plus Monterrey Jack cheese, bacon and onion on a kaiser roll. Â It wasn't amazing but better than I would have expected for lunch at a bar. Â The ingredients were all fresh, and this variety of BBQ sauce was also very good. Â
I could give Junior's two stars, to be honest, because I have certainly had better. Â I decided on three only because I felt that the quality of the food was pretty good for a place whose business is more focused on the bar, and there wasn't anything overtly negative about our visit. Â Plus, everything on the menu is under $10. Â I'm not in any hurry to come back, but I could see having lunch here if I were in the area and had a hankering for some yummy wings.
Junior's is one of those "meh" places that isn't so bad. Every time I go, I'm like "Oh. Juniors. Eh. Sure." It doesn't do much to impress me, but it's useful nonetheless.
It's not the best bar in Albany, but service is always friendly and they've got some later night hours. Part of what makes it so 'meh' to me is that I think it could be a little better, but right now there's not many other bars like it in the area, so it is what it is. They serve food, but I still think of it as a bar that serves food than a restaurant.
Here's why:
Drinks are fine, but I've never been wowed by either the prices or the flavor. But still - it's fine.
Food is good. It's edible. But the choices are either $7-11 appetizers, or entrees/sandwiches for about the same price. I wish they had some $3-4 snacks to choose from. Sometimes you just want a little something to curb your hunger when you're at a bar, not a big ass sandwich and a doggie bag.
So Junior's isn't on my list of favorite places in Albany, Â but it's more like a backup bar. In that part of Albany late at night and want to meet up with friends? Junior's will give you a table to sit at and not too much loud noise so you can hear each other talk. And I've never had anything bad there, just nothing that's ever stood out. Kind of reminds me of a chain restaurant, except it's not a chain.
Oh, and there's some parking in their back lot, but it's usually so packed you're better off parking on the street.
Cute little place. I ordered the mild wings and personal pan cheese pizza. Both came out wonderful. The wings were cooked cripsy just like I requested. The booths have a table top game that was fun. $1 for 3 credit let us play 3 different games. The staff was very friendly and quick. I will go again and try some of the other food. They have a huge menu.
Review Source:Typical college town bar, went here early on Saturday in December. Â Place was pretty crowded, but we were seated quickly. Â Party of four, ordered buffalo chicken sandwich, fish and chips, salads and onion ring tower appetizer, everybody was happy with their meals. Â Bill was relatively inexpensive, beer of the month is a great bargain-Stella Artois bottle for $3. Â Would recommend for quick, inexpensive meal.
Review Source:Juniors is your token "McDivepub", nothing really special here but the food is really good. Mouth watering wings and other bar food that will pad your waist and clog your arteries.
While I technically classify it as a college bar...if you come here any time but late Friday or Saturday nights it's pretty mild mannered. This is a nice spot to grab a beer and some wings. I've come here for happy hour a few times since graduating college and I've met up with friends here on week nights. The bartenders are amiable, there are big screen TVs with ESPN on, the food is cheap, the wings are great...Juniors performs it's job.
If you're looking to go out here on a Friday or Saturday night. It's mostly the 21-23 age range, if you are somewhere in that age vicinity and enjoy the process of getting very intoxicated, you'll fit right in! Droves of St.Rose and Suny Albany students flock here when school is in session.
Also, I can't really remember because my college days are so far behind me but I think Wednesday is actually a very popular night here too. Whatever night it is the place gets packed with college kids because they offer $1.50 beers or something like that.
It's a little bit further away from the rest of the college bars on Madison but for that reason the interior is much nicer. The only thing about that is, if you aren't feeling the crowd or the fish aren't biting that night, you can't just walk over to the next bar. :-(
BOTTOM LINE: Junior's delivers with cheap bar food and drinks. It's mostly a college spot on the weekends (if school is in session) but it's also not a bad place to checkout for dinner or happy hour. I wouldn't go out of my way to visit but if you're in the area it's worth stopping in for the wings alone.
I'm an older guy who goes for the burgers, when school's pretty much out. Â Try to be healthy so beef burgers are a treat for me, generally eat turkey. Â A fellow who could care less said Juniors has the best ...not sure of that but they are really good, I get with no bun, still great. Â Service has been good to above average in front, kitchen a little bit slow. Â ok by me.
Review Source:I like the food here. I always get the chicken pesto pizza or a sandwich, and it works for me. Their salads are also really good and generously portioned, but their ranch dressing is awful. I couldn't eat the salad when I ordered it with ranch. I usually take out of town friends here b/c it has something for everyone. However, the service is always, always extremely slow. The servers are completely overworked; I think it's always two girls trying to help everyone. While it's a smaller place, that's a lot of people to please. Ordering, getting food, and checks, takes forever and you're likely to not be able to get a refill. We can only go if we're not in a rush. But: really good food at a good price.
Review Source:I go here for one thing and one thing only: Â WINGS. Â Not on wing night though... I don't mind paying full price to have less people around me. Â
The hot wings are good, but the Whiskey Barrel are unique and worth a shot. Â I also discovered their fries with gravy and cheese (Disco Fries in the tri-state area) which were great. Â Crispy fries, good gravy and lots of cheese. Â Sure, a heart attack waiting to happen, but not like wings are health food either!
Meh.
Not much to say...Junior's is a pretty standard, run-of-the-mill frat-like bar. Their food is mid-priced, but still actually cheaper than most of the places I've been to so far. Do NOT get the mandarin chicken wrap, though...it was not palatable, but I'm blaming myself for ordering that when other things sounded good. My friend got fried mac-'n'-cheese, which was surprisingly kind of good.
The bartender obliged my strange habit and put cherries in my diet Pepsi. I approve of that.
I like this place for their Trivia Monday nights, burger and fries. Â They are great for lunch and a week night dinner as they are not so crowed then. Â The place could be compared to a sports bar. Â There are many large flat screens always showing whatever games are on. Â The crowd is mostly young adults and college-aged kids.
Review Source:They have not yet discovered fire, it would appear.
We stopped in Tuesday night after a few fine beers at Mahar's, just up the street. Â We were hungry as hell, and even mediocre food would have satisfied. Â Junior's did not hit that mark.
Actually, the food was not really bad, or at least I'm guessing it was not bad. Â Had it been HOT it would have been much easier to tell. Â There is NO excuse for serving food that is not hot. Â Epic Fail.
The wings were tasty and cold.
My panini flavorful and lukewarm.
My sister's "steak & bleu cheese sandwich" was served open face and unmanageable on pumpernickel, without bleu cheese, and moderately warm.
The french fries, though apparently fried at one time, were, you guessed it, cold.
The place was busy, the bar half filled with barflys, mostly college age it would appear, but the dining area was small enough for one or two competent servers to manage easily. Â There might have been three, and you can deduce their level of competence. Â Assuming the food was actually cooked with actual heat, and fried in actual fryers filled with HOT oil, I fault the servers for not picking up food when plated and delivering it promptly, while still HOT.
I also fault the management for not jumping in to promptly deliver waiting and ready food that was sitting on plates under a heat lamp (maybe not turned on) upon seeing that the servers were overwhelmed.
Juniors would appear to be a decent place to get a bite of pub grub to eat and a beverage. Â For now, I've crossed food off it's real description and relegate it to college "bar only" status.
the bar was PACKED on a week night (which i love) and my $4 blue moon shocktop came with a yummy orange slice just like i had hoped it would. Â that being said, the atmosphere of this place is a little weird. Â the bar area is pretty small (6-8 spots to sit and no area to stand just a walkway) , and to the left is what looks like a full service restaurant seating area. Â there is food coming out of the kitchen, people sloppily eating and drinking and ambling around this space because there isnt really anything to do. there was a lot of noise but no music. Â i got bored here pretty quickly, so i would come here if i wanted to stuff my face while getting faded but thats about it.
Review Source:I think I have a love/hate relationship with Junior's. Â I want to hate it, as it's always crowded with a loud, obnoxious crowd, but I just can't. Â It's but a walk away from home and they have so many big TVs, making it the most convenient bar to watch sporting events. Â They have trivia on Mondays and Thursdays, which means you can find a time that is convenient. Â They have a wide and varied menu, and the vegetables in my salad were actually fresh. Â The food I've eaten there is by no means the best I've ever had, but if you're looking for pizza, burgers, wraps or paninis, you'll find something decent to eat. Â As I said, I want to hate it, but I just can't.
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