FOOD & DRINK

Best (American)

1. Tie: Red Robin, Justin’s

3. DeJohn’s

Kudo’s to Justin’s, a locally owned, neighborhood joint with creative American cooking for at least keeping pace with the popular chain fave Red Robin. Justin’s sister restaurant, DeJohn’s, falls in right behind.

Best Italian

1. Lombardo’s

2. Café Cappriccio

3. Delmonico’s

The venerable Lombardo’s wins the battle of lower Madison by a gnocchi; Capriccio’s old world charm and fine Northern Italian fare still holds its own.

Best French/Continental

1. Provence

2. Chez Sophie

3. Nicole’s Bistro

Bon choix.

Best Seafood

1. Real Seafood Co.

2. Red Lobster

3. Jack’s Oyster House

Real Seafood and Jack’s are local institutions that have earned their keep in an otherwise seafood-poor region; without too much else to choose from, a chain was bound to sneak in here.

Best Chinese

1. Ichiban

2. Plum Blossom

3. Peking

It’s no surprise in the ever-more pan-Asian restaurant landscape the winner here doesn’t just do Chinese.

Best Japanese/Sushi

1. Ichiban

2. Koto

3. Saso’s

Ichiban trounced the competition with twice the votes of their closest competitors while making us hungry at the same time.

Best Vietnamese/Thai

1. My Linh

2. Bangkok Thai

3. Sushi Thai Garden

Our sentiments exactly.

Best Mexican/Southwestern

1. El Mariachi

2. El Loco

3. Bombers

El Mariachi and El Loco represent their respective corners of the cuisine well; and Bombers makes great bar food using some of the same ingredients. So no complaints here.

Best Southern/Soul Food

1. Hatties

2. Bayou Café

3. Magnolias

Damn good fried chicken. What else is there?

Best Caribbean

1. Clayton’s Caribbean Spanish Cuisine

2. Roy’s

3. First Choice

Clayton’s decimated the competition here, beating the closest competitor by a nearly six-to-one margin.

Best Greek

1. Taste of Greece

2. Grecian Gardens

3. Chariot

Same here: Taste of Greece ran away with this one.

Best Indian/Pakistani

1. Shalimar

2. Sitar

3. Karavelli’s

Both of Shalimar’s locations rock. Yes, we said it. It’s out there. They rock really hard.

Best International

1. Justin’s

2. BFS

3. IHOP

Anything tasty that spans two or more distinct cuisines earned their votes here. Justin’s—check. BFS—check. IHOP (emphasis, apparently, on the “I”) . . . um, they still have the Swedish pancakes, right?

Best Vegetarian

1. Antipasto’s

2. Shades of Green

3. Tie: Shake Shake Mama’s, Honest Weight Co-op Café

We can only assume, here, that some vegetarians would rather starve than eat anywhere but Shades, which has (sadly) been closed for months . . .

Best Steak House

1. Tie: Delmonico’s, 677 Prime

3. Barnsider

Slab after slab of delicious red meat—some of which you can even afford.

Best BBQ

1. Smokey Bones

2. PJ’s

3. Giffy’s

You said it, folks. We’d have more to say, but our hands are completely covered with sauce.

Best Brew Pub

1. Albany Pump Station

2. Troy Pub and Brewery

3. Malt River Brewing Company

The Pump Station had it all over the next in line, winning by a two-to-one margin. Hoist a pint and celebrate!

Best Beer Selection

1. Mahar’s

2. Lionheart

3. Albany Pump Station

Mahar’s and the Pump Station, in particular, are no-brainers when it comes to offering a great variety of brews and relaxed environment in which to enjoy them (Lionheart has a nice selection too, but isn’t exactly relaxed with the frequent shoulder-to-shoulder crowds of college students). We’re just glad to see that the comfortable surroundings of Mahar’s, the attentive barkeeps at the Pump Station and the unique beer lists that each establishment offers are getting the love they deserve.

Best Diner

1. Miss Albany Diner

2. Gateway Diner

3. Latham 76 Diner

We love ’em all, but we especially love that our readers appreciate creativity in a diner format.

Best Deli

1. Gershon’s

2. Andy’s

3. Roma’s

The Schenectady landmark wins by a pickle.

Best Brunch

1. Justin’s

2. Gideon Putnam

3. Café Madison

Now we can’t wait for Sunday.

Best Outdoor Dining

1. El Mariachi

2. Lanie’s Cafe

3. DeJohn’s

We can taste the margarita already.

Best Cheap Eats

1. Bombers Burrito Bar (LANDSLIDE)

2. Gus’ Hot Dogs

3. McDonalds

Time and time again, our readers opt for the more-bang-for-your-buck approach, in the form of Bombers’ gloriously overstuffed wraps.

Best Catering

1. Glen Sanders Mansion

2. Old Daley Inn

3. Classe Catering

Will that be for here or to go? Oh, silly us, you obviously meant “to go.” Good call.

Best Burger

1. Red Robin

2. Sutter’s Mill

3. Lark Tavern

You guys know they like to put an egg on your burger at Red Robin right? You’ve seen that right? It’s an egg and it’s on the burger. These guys have to own a few heart-care practices on the side, ’cause that is one helping heaving serving of cholesterol. Oh, who are we kidding, we don’t touch their burgers till they country fry it, dip it in cheese and put a dollop of super fudgey, fudge ice cream on top. Red Robin, you rock!

Best Wings

1. Wings Over Albany

2. Bombers Burrito Bar

3. Hooters

Mmm, wingy. Guilderland, you have a treasure in your midst.

Best Pizza

1. I Love NY Pizza

2. Paesan’s

3. Marino’s

A wind of state pride sweeps the land and puts I Love NY Pizza squarely on top of the pizza mountain. We suggest that next year challengers might want to take state pride to the next level by offering state-related pizza toppings such as the state animal (beaver) or the state bird (bluebird). We’d suggest the sugar maple for a topping, but we’re not eating a tree, that’s just gross.

Best Bagels

1. Bruegger’s

2. Uncommon Grounds

3. Bagel Bite

Breugger’s is a bagel evangelist, bringing fairly decent bagels to the masses who used to not be able to tell a bagel from a product made by Lenders. Fewer people make it to the even more authentic Bagel Bite. Perhaps they should try offering sun-dried tomato bagels.

Best Sandwiches / Subs

1. Subway

2. Debbie’s Kitchen

3. Quiznos

Subs! Sandwiches! Soft white bread and shredded iceberg lettuce! Nectarine mayo and pea pods and gouda! The battle lines have been drawn in this close race folks, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

Best Ice Cream

1. Ben & Jerry’s

2. Coldstone Creamery

3. Snowman’s

New kid in town is making an impression with its ninja method of preparing your cone’s toppings (um, fillings). But the folks with the trippy flavor names and cheery wall colors are holding their own.

Best Coffee

1. Dunkin Donuts

2. Starbucks

3. Daily Grind

Dunkin Donuts huh? You like the double d. You love the double d. We understand. Starbucks Mocha Marbled Magnetic Macho Mountain of Manilla Macchiato special just didn’t do it for ya.

Best Martini

1. Alibis

2. Blue 82

3. Justin’s

Hey, we’re just happy that so many establishments take the martini seriously.

Best Wine List

1. Gingerman

2. The Wine Bar

3. Antica Enoteca

The Gingerman was doing a great wine-by-the-glass thing before it caught on elsewhere; now we’re getting establishments that cater to wine enthusiasts, and we’re as happy as the guys from Sideways.

Best Desserts

1. Vanilla Bean

2. Bella Napoli

3. Debbie’s Kitchen

We like desserts. We really, really like dessert so if you wouldn’t go around flaunting names like Vanilla Bean without having some fudge cookies for us we would appreciate it. What’s that? We asked you about it. OK, sorry to get all defensive, you win but next time we see you, you better be holding some pastry!

Best Bakery / Breads

1. Panera

2. Bella Napoli

3. Bountiful Bread

Isn’t it great to have a bakery right around the corner? There’s not much better that that. Yes, we would rather that it not be a chain but when it comes to a loaf of fresh baked bread we will really take it where we can get it and apparently so will you.

Best Indian Buffet

1. Shalimar

2. Curry House

3. Tandoori Palace

See we told you Shalimar rocks earlier. And they are doing some heavy duty rocking here. Rocking their competitions world, winning by a landslide and making it all look easy.

Best Chinese Buffet

1. Dragon Buffet

2. Capital Buffet

3. China Buffet

We counted enough votes for Happy Golden Dragon Bowl to know that some of you were just fooling around here. To those who weren’t, this won’s for you. (Heh heh.)

Best Restaurant to Take the Kids

1. TGI Friday’s

2. Red Robin

3. McDonalds

Some of us with kids can assure you it doesn’t have to be this way.

Best Restaurant to Take a Date

1. Justin’s

2. Café Capriccio

3. Tie: McGuire’s, Barnsider, 677 Prime

All good, all with potential to impress—a couple of these even more so, if you know what we mean.

Best Restaurant For A Power Lunch

1. Jack’s

2. 677 Prime

3. Panera

Jack’s and 677 Prime are no-brainers: Either one could be where the secret convention-center deal goes down. But . . . Panera? What kind of power lunch do you mean?

Best Place To Eat At 3AM

1. Denny’s

2. Bob’s

3. 76 Diner

A Denny’s waitress once told us “I see lots a interesting folks like you come through here,” and we said right back, “When we come through here we see lots of interesting food. You know, that sort of interesting where you ask, ‘Is this edible?’” Oh, the charm of late nights at Denny’s.