Restaurants, in my experience, each have a certain personality to them. This is taken to the extreme at many chain restaurants such as Fresno’s or the Olive Garden, where the theme is present in the servers’ dress, the wall decorations, the physical menu, the food, etc., to such an extent that it’s more of an anti-personality than anything. But just about any restaurant that’s been around for any length of time develops a consistent “feel” that’s some combination of the food, the physical building, the staff, and the patrons who frequent the establishment. The feel may be folksy, family, or fancy, but it generally adds up to a cohesive character.
Verdile’s, on the other hand, is a study in incongruity. It’s been a Troy landmark for decades, but nobody had ever mentioned it to me before. Immediately upon walking in, there is a sign indicating that proper dress is required—no t-shirts. Right next to that, though, are a number of old photographs that you might see at a simple mom-and-pop restaurant. The waiters all wear tuxedos and bowties; the decor feels like a hotel lounge from the early ’70s. It certainly feels like it can’t make up its mind whether it’s a four-star establishment or an inexpensive family restaurant. More likely, the management is trying to be both.
As we were there for lunch on a Sunday, most of the patrons appeared to have come directly from church—this would be a very easy restaurant to feel underdressed in. We hung up our coats and were seated promptly.
Perusing the menu, one finds all of the classic Italian dishes: veal parmesan, chicken marsala, linguini (or any other pasta) with clam sauce, and so on. Overall, the selection is solid, and the prices are in line with most other establishments in the area—entrees start around eight bucks for simple pasta dishes and climb up near $20 for steak and seafood. We placed our order and didn’t have to wait long for our food to arrive.
My first reaction to our meals was that the portion size was remarkably small for an Italian restaurant—I’m used to having enough leftovers for another full meal (and occasionally even two). Here, we finished what was served. This is not a bad thing, per se—certainly most restaurants tend to seriously overfeed you, contributing to some extent to the weight problem in this country.
More important, obviously, is the quality of the food. We found it decidedly average. The bread that was brought out initially was alright, but it definitely would have been better warm. Shrimp scampi is definitely hard to do badly, and mine was tasty enough, but ’twasn’t anything special. (The butternut squash I had as a side dish was very good, though.) The marinara on my wife’s ravioli was similarly uninspired, and this is a major flaw in an Italian eatery.
Dessert, on the other hand, turned the previous two paragraphs on their ear. (Yes, I know text doesn’t usually have ears...) At our server’s strong suggestion, we ordered the carrot cake, one slice for the two of us to split. To borrow a term from my friend Colin, this piece of cake was “ginormous.” The full cake must have been as big around as a large pizza and nearly a foot high! It was also as tasty as it was huge—we happily tore into it, ate half of it between us, and took the rest home for another day.
I found the service good, the food (other than the carrot cake) merely adequate, and the atmosphere indifferent. My wife came away with a much better impression than I did—she suggests that it might be nice for a romantic dinner.
One final thought: There is unquestionably a lot of history behind this establishment. After we ate there, my wife was told that at one point the restaurant went out of business, but the residents of Lansingburgh made a huge push and helped it to re-open. I didn’t know this at the time, so if you head up there for a meal, my recommendation is: Ask for the stories—I’ve a hunch there are quite a few, and that most of them are interesting.
Verdile’s is located at the corner of 115th St. and 2nd Ave. in Lansingburgh. To get there, go down the hill on Hoosick St. Go under the bridge to the end of Hoosick, and turn right onto River St. This will become 2nd Ave.; Verdile’s is on the right side, about two miles from Hoosick St.
