NISKAYUNA — Have a sandwich with a aspect of snark on the Damaged Inn, positioned in a small brick strip mall on Nott Road close to the Niskayuna Co-op.
The Damaged Inn’s neighbors, previous and current, within the purchasing plaza are represented by authentic signage adorning the restaurant: drugstore, barbershop — that form of factor. That helps the restaurant, which opened this previous March, really feel like part of the neighborhood.
Many of the furnishings, which all have an attention-grabbing provenance, got here from some place else: cubicles, the lengthy bar, the high-top sweet tables.
What’s a sweet desk? It integrates a industrial coin sweet machine into the metallic {hardware} underneath the desk. Form of by your ft. The dispensers all look like stuffed with Reese’s Items.
The menu is place-mat-sized and laminated, and will double in a pinch. The entire thing is printed on one aspect, together with commentary from the proprietor, and he has rather a lot to say.
You go to the Damaged Inn for a sandwich, a salad or a snack. The menu is temporary — burger-less, even. There are wings ($15 a dozen) and sliders ($12) and hummus ($12) to share and begin, and French onion soup ($8). Plus an authentic, unclassifiable stuffed bacon app ($12).
Select from 4 salads: chef and Buffalo rooster (each $15), Caesar and Greek (each $12). There are 5 sandwiches together with a French dip ($16) and Blatnick’s roast beef ($16), named for Niskayuna’s personal Olympic gold medalist.
There’s a garden veggie wrap ($12), and grilled cheese and ham ($16), thinly sliced ham between two grilled cheese sandwiches. Sandwiches embody mac salad or coleslaw. Fries are $3 additional.
On weekends, they serve brunch-type meals, corresponding to eggs Benedict, and open at 10 a.m.
The Damaged Inn does issues its personal manner. Like, it takes money solely. Don’t panic: There’s an ATM within the place, and it solely fees a buck.
As an alternative of letting the bank card firms skim 3% off every tab, the restaurant sends the identical quantity to help native worthy causes. Teams change month-to-month.
You’ll be able to simply cut up a large sandwich, however it’ll value you. There’s a $20 penalty for a shared plate as a result of, because the menu states, “cut up plate charges suck,” and the servers find yourself making half as a lot. The $20 goes to the month’s Niskayuna trigger.
Per one other space newspaper’s “Desk Hopping” weblog, all these quirks come from Tommy Nicchi, whose father opened the Comedy Works, now positioned in Saratoga Springs, and Deli Works, lengthy closed, on Central Avenue in Albany. There are ties to Gershon’s deli, which explains the give attention to sandwiches.
Nicchi is a busy man, with one other Comedy Works in Las Vegas, and he runs the father or mother firm of each. He additionally books expertise for a membership in Hawaii.
There was pushback from the neighbors, who didn’t desire a bar shut by. So the Damaged Inn (named for daughters Brooklyn and Kennedy) doesn’t hold late hours and asks that you simply not park on the neighbors’ lawns.
I arrived earlier than Patrice, received a comfortable, padded sales space with view of the bar and eating room, and realized I didn’t have any money. Yikes! Then I remembered the ATM within the eating room close to the ice-cream window.
Pink Floyd was taking part in, not too loud. Husband Eric would approve of the traditional rock soundtrack.
You enter from the Clifton Park Highway aspect of the strip mall into the eating room, or through the entrance, which is the bar. The plate-glass home windows offset the darkish wooden, and the repurposed fittings look authentic to the constructing.
We began with a plate of candy corn nuggets ($10), the particular appetizer of the day. The walnut-sized deep-fried snacks are barely candy on the surface, with a thick, tasty crust that provides option to a gentle, creamy middle studded with entire corn kernels.
Alongside was a cup of horseradish-scented creamy dipping sauce. The nuggets had been topped with grated cheese, which appeared a random selection.
They’re addicting, and we tried to not eat all of them. “Pure junk meals,” stated Patrice approvingly.
Patrice had a chef salad with balsamic on the aspect. I famous the freshness and top quality of the Romaine. She favored that the meat and cheese had been rolled collectively and sliced. It was organized completely: The egg was quartered precisely, the tomato and sliced cucumber located exactly.
“I like the 2 sorts of cheese,” she stated.
The Damaged Inn fries in peanut oil, which provides additional taste to any meals. Patrice handed over a matchbook-sized crouton. It tasted prefer it had been rubbed with contemporary garlic, then deep fried. Scrumptious.
The Damaged Inn’s turkey membership ($16) is made with 4 slices of bread and towers over the contemporary pickle and cup of mac salad. Thinly sliced turkey spilled onto the plate, leaving loads extra behind.
There was an abundance of bacon in two of the layers, and I fortunately nibbled on the salty, nonetheless chewy and never crispy items across the edges.
I eliminated two of the bread slices, which left a wobbly sandwich however gave me to alternative to price the tomato (ripe, thinly sliced) and Romaine (good small leaf).
The bread is from Perreca’s Bakery in Schenectady, which explains the superb chewy crust and agency crumb.
As a lot as doable I attempted to carry it collectively, and it was really a deal with. I loved all of the fillings and made my manner by the one lowered half.
The aspect of fries ($3 additional) was a delight, with thick-cut, just-right plain sliced potatoes — old-school fries that don’t want any seasoning besides salt.
The server principally left us alone to speak however was there once we wanted one thing. By this time the place was busy and it was arduous for me to listen to her.
We shared an order of soft-serve ice cream ($5), foregoing the chocolate lasagna ($8) and different desserts. It was served in a tall glass with rainbow sprinkles over. I outlasted Patrice, and saved working lengthy after she’d put down her spoon. The sturdy observe of vanilla saved me going.
Cones or cups are every $5. There’s chocolate and vanilla. The ice cream window, on the Clifton Park Highway aspect of the constructing, is open for walk-up enterprise.
The tab for our meal, together with one lemonade, got here to $56.16. I left an excellent tip over that.
We favored the place rather a lot, for its straightforward environment and seamlessly built-in repurposed furnishings, and we favored the meals very a lot.
Additionally, it’s regionally owned with good native youngsters working there. And once we neglect to convey money, there’s an ATM.
Caroline Lee is a contract author who lives in Troy. Attain her at [email protected].
The Damaged Inn
WHERE: 2209 Nott St., Niskayuna; (518) 469-5622; broken-inn.com.
WHEN: 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; 4 to 11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m Sunday
HOW MUCH: $56.16 for meals, together with tax and earlier than tip
MORE INFO: Kids’s menu. Parking in entrance lot and throughout the road within the massive lot. Money solely. ADA compliant. Takeout not out there presently.
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