I came here last night by chance, and I was pretty pleased with it. It happened to be trivia night, and apart from the unnecessarily loud drunk singing from the college kids at the bar, it was fun times. We didn't actually play trivia, but I would definitely come back again to play! I ordered Batch 19 which was $2 on tap (!!!). I ordered the mozzarella sticks with the raspberry sauce as an appetizer and it was delicious! Never had raspberry dipping sauce before but I'm definitely a fan now. I also ordered the bleu burger. They brand the bun with the name of the bar which I thought was super cool, and it was a hearty burger as well! I was intrigued by the drunken clams soaked in the Belgian ale I saw on the menu. I did not order them but I will next time. The waitress was super nice too. I really enjoyed the layout too; the front part is a bar layout and the back is a traditional dining setting. I like that these were separated in case you wanted to sit down and have a meal but still get somewhat of a bar feel. A cool place that I will have to come back to again!
Review Source:I've been to LT about 6 or 7 times at first I was unimpressed, but that was on a Saturday night and an unsavory crowd was occupying most of the bar. But I had heard they had a good happy hour about a month ago and I figured I'd try again.
Man was it worth it, Friday it's 3 or 4 dollar drafts and they have live music, that's right  live music. Two lovely ladies have a jar and take requests on the piano, and if they don't know the song they will look it up on an iPhone or an iPad and play it relatively quick.
As a side note they had a spinach artichoke dip special. It came out and was a bright green, not the normal color, but don't ever judge a book by its cover because that was the best dang dip I've had in a while.
THEY RIP YOU OFF... THEN THEY REALLY RIP YOU OFF...Not only are they overpriced, but their food was (to put it nicely) disappointing. Â The beer tasted odd... as if the cups had been "cleaned" in dirty water. Â The bathrooms were disgusting. Â Only one stall actually worked (and apparently it is BYOToiletpaper) The stall wall also had a light smattering of what appeared to be boogers. Â The clientele is a lovely misture of creepy old men and creepy older men, and the best part of this lovely gem was that as we were patronizing this establishment the owner called and had our car towed from their parking lot. Â When we asked for information about where we were towed he said, "I'll get that for you." Â He then walked into the kitchen and hid out there for the next hour without providing the information. Â I suppose I shouldn't be suprised at this considering what I've read about how the current owners essentially hijacked the space from the previous owner after a fire. Â So then I had to go to the worst neighborhood in Albany and pay $165 to get my car back from the junkyard where it was towed. Â The towtruck driver, who left big grease handprints on the interior of my Audi told me that Ryan, the Lark Tavern owner tows his customers all the time. Â I suspect he is cahoots with them. Â Afterall, I did spend more getting my car back than I spent on food and drinks. Â Perhaps Ryan should pay better attention the the cleanliness of his establishment and poor quality of his product than who he can tow.
Review Source:This review is solely based on the bar scene and not food.
I first went to Lark Tavern last year  with 4 others on New Years Eve when it was newly re opened. We planned to bar hop a little bit around Lark St but ended up staying here because we liked it so much.
The reason I like Lark Tavern so much is because they have the back room that, if you're lucky enough, you can get a table with your friends and actually sit down and have a conversation. (There are also electronic dart boards) What I HATE about going to bars is when the music is so freaking loud that you can't even hear the person directly next to you and there's nowhere to sit down if you'd like to.
I visited Lark Tavern last night as well with 2 friends and the same opinions as last year stand true: that back room is pretty sweet and relaxing and a good place to sit and hang out and talk. It got loud later in the night when they turned the music up which is totally understandable, but it was still better than being in other places.
It didn't get 5 stars from me because the women's bathrooms were absolutely disgusting. There were 3 stalls and only ONE HAD A DOOR. ARE YOU SERIOUS?? The floors were sticky and BLACK and there was no toilet paper. It also smelled like straight piss. I first went into the BR at about 11 when we got there, it wasn't that packed and it was early in the night so there was NO reason for it to be that gross.For such a nice looking place, there is no excuse for this catastrophe in the bathroom. Also, the front room by the bar gets so packed you legit can't walk, and people are A holes most of the time and won't even get out of your way. Kind of hard sometimes to get a drink at the bar, which is normal for any bar on a Saturday night at midnight.
All in all, fun place, beautifully redone, drinks are average priced, but please, I'm begging you, fix those bathrooms!
Came here for some Monday night football and was really surprised with how few people there were inside. I mean, granted it's a school night.... but really. The bartender told us that there was trivia going on in the back, but there may have only been one team playing by the looks of the front of the bar.
There are a few nice tvs playing all different sports games. That's great for when one person in your party wants to watch baseball, or something. Also, nice ledges next to the bar table to set your massive oversized purse on.
Food was reasonably priced. Drinks were a little weak for $8. You are a hole-in-the-wall bar in Albany. Honestly.
I absolutely LOVED the Lark Tavern when Tess owned it ... good food, great staff, and great prices on drinks. Â I moved back to the area after a four year absence, and went there the other night. Â Despite my excitement that the Tavern had re-opened, I was deeply disappointed in the service and the atmosphere of the bar.
There was a piano-bar sing-a-long performance going on in the front end of the bar that was, quite frankly, terrible, so myself and 3 others went to the back end of the bar. Â I must admit that the renovations are extensive and very nice, but all the charm of the building got replaced along with the renovations. Â
We proceeded to order 2 beers (one draft, one bottle), three salads and one club sandwich. Â The food was decent, although the grilled chicken that topped our salads had a concerning texture (I couldn't tell if I was eating blue cheese crumbles or chicken at one point) and very scant (there were only three pieces of grilled chicken on each salad, at $3.99 a pop). Â The bill came to just over $60, which I think is overpriced for sub-par pub fare.
On top of that, the wait staff was horrible. Â Our waitress was terribly distracted, utterly lacking any personality, and inattentive. Â
Sadly, the Lark Tavern that I used to know and love is no longer there - just an empty, overpriced, uninteresting shell in its place.
I have been in town now since Nov 2011. I have been all over trying to find a bar I like and enjoy. I have gon up to Saratoga Springs and down to Delmar. Over to Schenectady and Troy have not found a place better then Lark Tarern. The food is very good and made to order. Served hot and you can tweak it to your liking and they wont charge you for it. The bar staff is good. Mostly fine women working and surprising all friendly and polite. Place it so popular it take 10-15 mins to fight your way up to the bar. In the back they have live bands from Jazz to Rock, but I prefer the TV Screens to watch my sports and flirt with the pretty young ladies that come in. I been here several times and to this date I have not seen a fight break out. In LA there would be at least one fight a weekend, different world here in Albany I guess. Only have two cons, one they need to get a hold of the second floor and expand that place. 2 I lake Japanese beers and they have none. Still 5 stars and I am return customer again and again.
Review Source:Ohhh Myyy Goddd. This place has a piano bar, so I'm going to be in love with this bar, even if it wasn't beautiful (it is, even down to the bathroom, so clean!), and if there weren't lots of variety on tap and in bottles for a excellent price. Oh and the bartenders were wonderful, it's all ladies and yet they still noticed me and made sure that my drinks were filled often. Thank you! Great TV's got to watch all the basketball games I wanted cause they have all the channels. Got to listen to two different piano players, the two girls were fabulous, and guy was okay but didn't get the crowd as wild as the ladies before him had.
Oh and theres paring behind it( yes it gets full fast, but its also a quick walk from the park!). Love this bar.
Went here on a Saturday night and it was pretty fun. Â There is a good selection of beers and they're reasonably priced. Â It was busy, but a good busy, not a bad busy where you can't move or it takes 10 minutes to get a beer. Â The piano man played a lot of sign-along-songs, and was good! Â I'll be back.
Review Source:Awesome burger and deelish sweet potato fries. Â That is the true way to my heart. Â The server was very friendly and the kitchy interior was hip/fun. Â This would be a great place to celebrate a birthday with friends or meet up for some drinks/fries. Â The food took a while to come out and we were 3 of the 6 people in the place...not sure if it was cause we were on the early-ish side for dinner or what. Â I've heard there are cool live nights with poets and music. Â Sounds like this place would be my hang-out spot if I lived in Albany!
Review Source:Hehe, I kicked some ass at darts.
The crowd here was more my speed. No more lame-o frat boys with popped collars. Just beer and the jukebox. No frills, obvs.
And that huge tequila shot.... Thanks, guy.
Also, we made a few new friends over the darts. Did I mention how I totally won that game? Yeah. I don't even know how to play darts. HAHA!
While I wouldn't normally make a big deal about this stuff unless it was nast, but the bathroom was SOCOOL. I can't even describe it. It had mirrors and primary colors and some cool industrial sink. Meliked. A lot.
I'll totals come back.
I was up in Albany visiting my sister and best friend and decided to call upon my Yelp resources to figure out a place to dine for Vday lunch.
Lark Tavern had decent reviews and a cool history, so we decided to go here around noon.
We were the only customers in the restaurant section, but apparently the bar had about 10 people.
I have no visual proof of the number of people at the bar, but that could explain why it took so long for all of our food to come out! And even longer to get our check!
I ordered the chicken philly and it was disgusting. Â I can eat most anything (even if it isn't that great), but I took 2 bites of the philly and could not force myself to take another. Â Everyone else with me seemed to enjoy their meals, but if I were to rate this on my personal experience (which I am), this place cannot get more than 2 stars.
I rag on Albany a lot being a Bay Area, CA girl, but I have to admit - they do have some good places that serve tasty meals and aren't near the hustle and bustle of a typical downtown.
I'm not a real drinker of any kind of alcohol - I'm one of those "for special occasions" type of people. But after a difficult day of work where nothing goes right, my co-worker and I were looking for a place with good food and happy hour.
The menu choices ranged from soups and salads, to sandwiches, paninis, burgers, and steaks and pasta. I ordered the "Best Reuben."  With ingredients like corned beef with sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and russian dressing (which to me taste like thousand island) on rye, and a name like that, I had to order it. My co-worker ordered the Tavern Cheese Steak. Both sandwiches came with fries, a pickle and macaroni salad. Now this was my first Reuben sandwich (I think its an east coast thing), so I can't say if it was the best. However, it was VERY good! It looked as if they put the sandwich through a panini press, so it was a warm, slightly greasy sandwich with melted cheese. Almost reminded me of comfort food on a cold night with a glass of $3 beer (I'm trying to get my taste buds used to alcohol for the sake of a social life in Albany. Apparently that's all there is to do out  here. Oops, there I go again, ragging on this wonderful little town). My co-worker raved about her sandwich, too.
To some people, the macaroni portions were small, but to me, it was  the perfect amount. Not too heavy on the dressing and with the addition of herbs (I think oregano) made this mac salad very tasty. The fries looked fresh-cut. They were good, but needed a little salt and/or pepper.
Overall this was a good place for cheap beer (during happy hour) and above average food. The restaurant/bar was a little dark, but had that home-y, comfortable feeling. Great service - the waitress was very friendly and checked on us a number of times to make sure everything was OK. Her and another woman (I'm sure one of them is Tess) were chatting with the customers, which re-affirms the welcoming feeling I felt when I walked in.
A fairly good sized bar that in my experience gets pretty packed later on. But never too packed that you can't get a spot to enjoy your drink. Â It has a good menu that gets served late and a nice selection of drinks and beers.
The owner is almost a Lark Street Icon to those who have been around in the area for a while. Props to Tess for taking on the Tavern and only making it better.
Live music, shows, open mics and what ever else they see as entertainment makes this place a point of interest in the Albany area.
And to boot last time I was in they still had Utica Club on DRAFT! Can too of course so no matter the mood your covered.
I don't know if anyone else can go with me on this, but the men's bathroom looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie. It contrasts rather starkly with the rather old, run down feeling of the rest of the bar. Â Anyway...the reason why I noticed the bathroom was due to the fact that happy hour allows for fairly cheap drinks at Lark. Â And even after that wonderous time ends, the pitchers were also priced rather cheaply at around 10 bucks for most beers. Â The bartender, perhaps this Tess that everyone keeps mentioning, thought she knew one of my friends and gave us discounts all night. Shit was too nice. The food, typical pub fare, seemed decent, but it really didn't phase our drunken selves very much. Â Overall, we enjoyed the atmosphere, the cheap prices, and the creepy, potholed parking lot.
Review Source:This is one of my favorite Albany haunts. Â The food is above average for pub fare, and there is always a great selection of beers on tap. Â However, what sets the LT above the rest is the phenomenal service. Â Tess knows who her regulars are, and she treats us like celebrities. Â I remember one night in particular, just wanting some dinner, and taking care of some inebriated comrades, Tess bent over backwards to help me get a table, and get some food into our hungry tummies.
Review Source:The Lark is The Lark but I must share these two stories:
After returning from SF I went in and had dinner; always great to see Tess who still treats me like a celebrity after a long absence.
From Jessica, the most outstanding server in the universe I order the usual martini: I'll have a Goose Cosmo, no Triple Sec, easy on the cranberry, with fresh lime only, no Roses and please shake the hell out of it. Â She takes a lengthy food order from us and returns with the perfect martini.
It is a month later that I come in again and she says to me: You'll have a Goose Cosmo, no Triple Sec, a splash of cranberry, with fresh lime only, no Roses and shaken like mad? Â WTF? Â I express my undying love for her and another great high carb meal that will eventually kill you commences.
As of last night it has been another month and we return again. Â There is my darling Jessica, "You'll have the usual?" Â I tell her I love her again. Â The drink comes and immediately I can taste the Triple Sec, I let her know and she quickly returns with a replacement, although, this one has a hint of Roses. Â I so much appreciate her great attitude and exemplary service that I decide to suck it up and just drink it, slowly and without complaining, a rare event for me.
Enter Alex: Â I am suffering (ok, suffering is a bit dramatic) through this drink and here comes Alex with the third Cosmo. Â She tells me she can see me drinking it slowly and figures out that she added the Roses and presents me with the perfect Cosmo, letting me know that she just wants me to be happy. Â I think I tell her that I love her too; it's that perfect drink thing that only some can identify with.
The Lark is great for me in the back, the food is always consistent and the service, obviously superb. Â
You just won't find me drinking in the front there amongst the frat boys with far less tattoos and IQ points than me. ;)
$2 Uticas, that will last us long time on our $30 bar tab, that's what you get for playing a show there, and a discount on food too. So it's usually a good idea to go solo on this one.
My girlfriend and I ordered some food, I got the chicken parm and my lady got a burger with onion rings. The onion rings were great, I liked them a lot. My chicken parm was pretty good, nothing special, chicken could be softer.
The people working there were nice at least and we got paid.
Good beer, good food.The entertainment is hit or miss though...usually miss. And if you're going here to see a band play, the set up is a little awkward for that. Also, depending on the customer complaints, you could see a bands set get cut short...so don't get your expectations too high.
Review Source:The Lark Tavern has become one of my favorite bars in the area.
The food - basic pub fare - is actually quite good, especially the burgers.  The  service is usually pretty good and the prices aren't too bad. I like that Tess books a wide array of genres when it comes to events. I might not always like the entertainment, but I appreciate the diversity.  I almost always have fun, especially when the Kamikaze Hearts play here.  It gets really packed though, which is irritating but can't be helped.
It's also a great place to go for happy hour or on a weekend afternoon in the summer, when I want to sit outside with the dog. Â They make a mean bloody mary too - none of that pre-mixed stuff, these babies are made from scratch with horseradish, worcestershire sauce, tabasco, salt and pepper, lemon and lime juice, and of course, tomato juice and vodka.
I live nearby so parking isn't an issue for me either.
The location is wonderful, Tess is a doll, the food is great for bar food, the service is always wonderful and the various entertainment options are fun. True some of the music isn't fantastic but it is local - open mic night sometimes reveals a gem (better than drunken karaoke i say). Â There is a lot of room and the patrons are usually pretty laid back and friendly.
Review Source:I agree. The live music is terrible. Awful. But, if there's no live music, its a great place to get away from the Lionheart. Much more low key, older, not necessarily wiser, but very quiet place to conduct conversations of monumental or trivial proportions. The music is in the back by the tables, and when you go in its  dark wood booths, and the bar on the left. Nothing much to complement, but then again its what you make of it.
Review Source:there is a weird smell to lark tavern. even after ownership changed and the food got better, the smell still remains. they have a variety of entertainment which is hard to find around here. there is also parking, which is a definite plus in the lark street area. as bars go its somewhat mediocre, but its got a great location and outside seating in good weather, plus they have beer- which is the real reason anyone goes there.
Review Source:I like the Lark Tavern a lot. Tess is a blast and the rest of the staff are usually nice as well. The food is pretty average pub fare, but good nonetheless. The happy hour specials and changing special drinks are always a treat.
I just don't like how they charge cover on Friday  and Saturday nights when I just want to grab a quick bite to eat and a beer. Heck, usually just a beer. I'm really not going to listen to some band play. This is especially irksome when you are charged cover to get in, and leave before the band even sets up.
I do love the Brew Ha Ha comedy nights that they have once a month, though. They're great and the room fills up early.
The parking lot also fills up quickly and it really is annoying when people park in the middle - it makes it really hard to get out of an actual parking spot.
The only interesting thing about this place is that it's old and semi-historical. Â The food is underwhelming, the staff sucks, their parking lot is filled with potholes and they have rabid attendants chasing people away from what used to be open parking. Â The live music lineup is sad, the acoustics are pathetic as is the equipment. Â I make it a point to avoid the Lark Tavern.
Review Source:Excellently located downtown, this bar is a local institution and an all-around good place for a drink. Typical bar interior, with character but not dirty. Great weekday specials, like $2.50 beers on Mondays and $3.00 well drinks on Wednesdays. Basic pub menu, but good. I loved the mix of students, professionals, skaters, slackers, and serious drinkers. And, yes, right next to Dunkin Donuts. And they have their own parking lot. Which may or may not be a good thing.
Review Source:Stay here until closing time and grab some Dunkin Donuts across the street. Â They used to allow dogs to be in the bar, not sure if that is still the case, but it always felt like organized lawlessness. Â I love a bar that has a guy with a business suit, a biker and a hard core barfly all having a good time together.
Review Source:
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