Drinking in Albany (New York)

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A decent downtown scene has developed over the past few years. Albany's serious drinking scene congregates around two downtown streets and around the city's colleges. Never wear open-toed shoes or sandals, as you will likely have to step over some lightweight freshman's vomit while crossing the street.

The best place to barhop is probably Lark Street, where more than a dozen bars from cocktail lounges and dives are crowded between Ontario Street and Central Avenue. Good bets include:

• Oh Bar is a popular gay/lesbian bar. Check out Karaoke night on Thursdays for some homoerotic fun.
• Midtown Tap and Tea Room is in one of the quieter parts of town and has one of the best wine menus.
• Popular burrito bar Bombers operates a pub upstairs.
• The Lark Tavern is a good place to sample Utica Club beer, an upstate brew common in the Post-War period. The Tavern frequently hosts live bands, open mic nights, poetry readings and left wing lesbian rantings.
• The Lionheart. Good on weekends when the Romans come down for their orgy, good happy hour specials, a good selection of beer, and they have dartboards and pool tables.
• Susies is a fun subterranean bar with several microbrews that are served in really small cups.
• Hollywood Tavern attracts a slightly alternative, unpretentious crowd. It's more "meet your friends" than "see and be seen. Great outdoor patio during the warmer months."

Pearl Street is another good place to go out. Closer to the large state offices, these bars draw a large after-work crowd, and after the Thursday afternoon waterfront concerts in the summer - Alive at 5 - these places can be pretty busy

• Envy Lounge - A good time. Great food with fair pricing. They also offer latin dancing and art auctions.
• The Albany Pump Station lets you dine with a few of the beer. Located just below Pearl St. toward the Hudson.
• Jillians, Massively popular chain restaurantbarnightclubgames etc.
• Blue 82, a trendy but nice place to get a martini, or some other fancy drink, and look hot
• The Bayou Cafe, New Orleans style fare and bands. Another good after-work crowd. Fills with older hepcat college students later in the evening, especially on weekends. Good live music.
• Plastic, possibly the only 'night club' style bar in Albany.
• McGeary's often has bands playing Celtic folk and/or bagpipe rock and they have an outdoor area for eating, drinking and listening to live bands during the summer.

Some places of interest:

• Mahar's - a drunken beer lover's paradise with a selection of literally hundreds of beers from all over the world. If you get to be a regular, you can earn T-shirts, cases of beer, and even your own cup on the wall.
• Red Square is a new live music venue that has a great atmosphere.
• Waterworks on Central Avenue is another popular gay/lesbian bar.

For the College Crowd:

• The Washington Tavern (WT's) is an upper classmen bar. It's usually pretty busy.
• Chubby's, Michael's,The Long Branch, and Bogies are hot spots for the college kids who aren't yet old enough to drink elsewhere.
• The Pub is a nice place to hang out on weekends. It's very busy with the typical college scene, but not as annoying as some of the others.
• Stone Crow caters to the slightly pretentious out of touch scene.