Illusive Restaurant Bar - Albany

Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $10–20 Food: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4 Recommended dishes: Garlic Parmesan Wings, Eff Popeyes Burger and Sweet Potatoes Fries, Beef Burger, Mac N Cheese Parking space Plenty of parking Parking options Free parking lot

Local restaurant bar. Great service, great drinks, the best crab sandwich I've ever had in my life and my husband said the burger was very good. Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $10–20 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Parking space: Plenty of parking Parking options Free parking lot

Good food and beer selection Food: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4

Service: Dine in Meal type: Lunch Price per person: $50–100 Food: 4 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 4

Illusive is the name of this restaurant and that may be due do its location. You would never know it was here unless you already knew about it. It is hidden out of view behind other buildings on Ferry Steet. But once you do find it, you won't bedisappointed. Illusive was recently a finalist in a competition for the best burger in NY, and with how much I love burgers Idecided to see if they earned it. I ordered the Empire Smash burger, which was their entry for best burger, and honestly aftertrying burgers from most of the other finalists (and the winner), the Empire Smash gets my vote as the best burger. It has twosmashed beef patties, candied bacon, cheddar, lettuce, bourbon BBQ sauce and on a toasted brioche roll. The burger has soooomuch flavor! Their bacon is super crispy and delicious on its own, and is at home on this burger. The beef is excellent and veryjuicy, it is the core of this amazing burger. I wish I got some more of the BBQ sauce to take home, it likely would be great onanything or even to eat on its own! I don't get how this burger wasn't the winner and only a finalist, I went to Syracuse andhad the winning burger the day before, and it was not as good as this. My only real complaint with the burger was that I felt ithad too much raw onion, but that is a personal preference and I still ate it and enjoyed everything immensely. The burger alsocame with home made potato chips, they were also great, they freshly made and perfectly cooked to be crispy but not burnt. Theresturant and the bathrooms were clean, the staff are also excellent and friendly. Prices are reasonable, parking is plentiful,and overall this place has a great vibe. I look forward to coming back again sometime.