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Alexi's, Alexi's Diner, best of, blog, breakfast, brunch, burger, cappuccino, chrome, coffee, dessert, diner, dinerness, dinner, drinks, East Greenbush, food, food blog, foodie, french fries, lunch, ny, omelet, omelette, pizza, strawberries, travel, traveling brunch, troy, troy ny, upstate, upstate new york, upstate ny, waffle, water
This past weekend, we found ourselves in East Greenbush, a town named after the mayor’s favorite color and the shrubbery commonly found in the area. (Okay, that part is made up. But we did end up there.) We ignored the giant Cracker Barrel sign by the highway and made our way to Alexi’s Diner, which is on the way to Troy. Alexi’s is on a lovely road and the diner itself is surrounded by trees, with a nice walkway to the entrance. It’s the type of place that looks nice year-round because of impeccable landscaping and excellent location.
We only had to wait two minutes before the hostess led us to a booth with a window. The booths would have been comfortable, since the backs were nice and high, if not for the oddly-placed button cover smack in the middle of the back.
Our waitress took more than a couple minutes to come to our table; when she did, I asked if they had any coffee flavors, because I was really craving a caramel latte. She informed me that there are no flavors, so I went with a cappuccino. Matt ordered a coffee and a water. The water was a 3, it tasted like the pipe it was pumped through, in that it had a metallic aftertaste. The coffee was a 4–smooth, well-bodied and delicious. The cappuccino was a 5. Despite the lack of flavor syrups at Alexi’s Diner, they know how to make a fabulous cappuccino, with a light dusting of ground cinnamon on top. It was a happy surprise on a chilly, windy day.
After hearing that the soup of the day was cream of broccoli, we both ordered one. It came out quickly, piping hot:
I don’t know if I can be trusted to review it, because I’ve been trying to eat less sodium and it tasted way too salty. But Matt said it was great and totally enjoyed his bowl of soup. I could only eat about half of mine… perhaps the reduced sodium intake has made my taste buds more sensitive. There was a lot of actual broccoli in the soup and it didn’t look like it had come from a can, which is a huge win over other soups at other diners we’ve had.
The menus featured traditional diner items, like specialty omelettes, breakfast sandwiches, clubs, melts, appetizers, salads and more. They even have a pizza omelette, which you need to try and tell me how it is because I want to avoid eating all that delicious sodium, and just live vicariously through you. I went with the Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, because my gluten free lifestyle fell by the wayside last summer with all the wedding cake I had, and Matt ordered a burger with fries. We didn’t have to wait too long after finishing our soups to get our meals. The waffle came out with that typical “breakfast syrup” abomination on the side, but I was too engrossed in the strawberries to care. The waffle was typical restaurant waffle quality–obviously not homemade, but I’ll take it, it’s still delicious and filling.
The french fries were a light golden brown, as you can see, and were delicious, with a soft inside. The burger was cooked to order, and tasted like it had actually been on a grill. The burger toppings were fresh and good as well. We neglected to taste the pickle or the cole slaw, because nobody has time for that, but it looked like it was probably just as tasty as the burger itself. This was definitely one of the better diner burgers we’ve encountered, if not the best so far.
The service overall was a 4, slightly above average. Our waters were filled pretty consistently, and we didn’t have to wait long for anything. The food all came out quickly and our inability to decide on what we wanted at the beginning of our visit didn’t deter our waitress from checking on us until we had made up our minds.
We were both too full to get dessert, but here’s a look at the dessert case. Not a huge selection, compared to some of the other places we’ve visited, but they looked good enough to eat. They’re all baked on premise, so I think we need to go back sometime and try out their baked goodies.
Dinerness of Alexi’s Diner is a 4. (If you’re just joining us, check out the About page for an explanation of “dinerness.”) Chrome and mirrors are ubiquitous, the exterior is modeled in part after a dining car, some of the waitresses look like they’ve been there for a long time, and there is plenty of seating available at the counter. Many of the patrons seemed like they frequented the place, and it drew a lot of young families and couples on Saturday morning.
Overall, a nice place to go on a leisurely weekend morning or afternoon. Alexi’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has a great selection of food and drink. If you go, let us know what you think! And don’t forget to Like us on facebook or comment on this post directly below. We’re always interested in your suggestions, ideas and reviews.
Oh, and this is our 20th post! We hope you continue to join us on our journey as we explore the diners of Upstate New York and beyond.