J&a Italian

We had a great lunch. Our server, Jason, was awesome. He was attentive, professional, knowledgeable and so pleasant. He had great energy. The entire team, from the hostess to management, was friendly and hospitable. It is a well run establishment. It appears to be a great place to work in. We shared a pizza pie to start. My daughter had the salmon entree and I had chicken. My husband had one of their salads. Everything was delicious. The portions are large enough to have leftovers and it just as delicious the next day. We recommended and will definitely return when we visit Albany again.

Wonderful venue. Food is excellent. I tried the chicken a la Vodka, it was well done and flavorful. If you are not a spicy person, don't order it. It is delicious with a little kick of hot spice. Dessert,the pecan cheesecake hmmmmm. Yummy 😋😋😋

What a stylish place with great drinks and pretty good food. My birthday this year was on a Monday night, and none of the "celebration" places I usually go to were open. Fortunately after some research we found Jacob & Anthony in Albany. The place was clean, very stylishly decorated, and had a hip but mature vibe. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and the staff was very friendly. We sat down pretty quickly, and ordered a sweet Manhattan straight up and some sangria. The drinks were great and well made, and so I ordered a second Manhattan. Warm bread with basil and parmesan olive oil came out as we ordered our appetizers and meals. The first to arrive was the Calamari with Fried Onions and Peppers. This dish was extremely well crafted and tasted delicious as the flaky delicate crust of calamari nearly melted it in our mouths. I give kudos to any chef that can make fried food taste light. It just needed a pinch of salt to be perfect -- and this is coming from someone who almost never adds extra salt to dishes. I prefer to rely on the chef's vision of their food rather than tinkering with it. Next we dove into the arugula salad with goat cheese and beets. This was also a light and beautiful appetizer with a very mild lemon vinaigrette. My friend pointed out that it too needed a little bit of salt to be perfect. I couldn't agree more, though I also wouldn't mind dried cranberries or something that had an extra pop of sweet acidic flavor to balance out the salad. Both of us wound up ordering the same dinner, which was a half portion of Chicken Milanese with spinach and mushroom fettuccine alfredo. First, it should be noted that the half portions were plenty of food for both of us, especially with the prior appetizers. Each got a single chicken cutlet that was beautifully fried, and came out nice and hot. But the fettuccine alfredo blew my mind. Mind you, it wasn't a typical heavy white cream sauce. But rather a mild and flavorful parmesan sauce. Supported by the portobello mushrooms and spinach, which added incredible depth of flavor to the dish. If there's one critique, both of the chicken and the pasta also needed a pinch of salt. Overall we really liked this place, and was very happy to find it open on a Monday night. The staff is great, the environment was hip and clean, and the food was really good. As long as they learn to add that pinch of salt in the future, I'm sure I'll be coming back with new friends again and again.

I have only ever got to-go orders from J&A, but every times it is delicious and there are large enough portions to split into two hearty meals. I look forward to sitting in the dinning room for a full sit down meal.