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An ode to Dan’s Place II—Albany’s best diner

An ode to Dan’s Place II—Albany’s best diner

July 24, 2025

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Happy Thursday, Capital Region! Today, we’re paying homage to Dan’s Place II, Albany’s best diner in our book, as it prepares to serve its final meals on Friday 😢 But do tell us in our reader poll where we should satisfy our greasy spoon cravings next!

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

Today in The 518:

An appreciation for Albany’s best diner
Calling all kayakers to the Erie Canal
BofA is leaving downtown Albany
New Yorkers getting school tax relief checks
Get ready for a splendid summer weekend with our Top 5 Picks

Hot cakes and warm service: Dan’s Place II is located inside a 1939 Worchester-style diner 📷️ Pat Skerry

An ode to Dan’s Place II—Albany’s best diner

A little piece of Albany history is coming to a close.

Dan’s Place II at 494 Washington Avenue will serve its last meals on Friday.

For 48 years, the family-run diner has been serving up piping-hot breakfast plates and greasy burgers, always with a side of the most friendly service.

Until you break one of the rules. Like “no cursing.”

Rob Paulson tells this wonderful story of getting kicked out of the diner after his friends from Long Island started throwing around some F bombs.

“So the guy who's the main cook there comes over to our table and says, ‘Listen, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I'm sorry but you can't curse n' shit’… Best omelet I ever enjoyed in the cold.”

Rob’s story and others can be found in this old Reddit thread.

We discovered Dan’s Place not long after moving to Albany and it quickly became our favorite breakfast joint. We love a good diner. In reality, most of them are terrible. The food is either too greasy or too bland.

Not at Dan’s Place.

We always get the Beat the House special—a big plate of food with buttered toast, two eggs, three sausage links or bacon strips, and potatoes. Those potatoes! Chunky and perfectly browned on the outside, pillowy inside. The sausages are always smooshed down, first by hand, and then on the grill so they get a great char. The bacon, sizzling and crispy.

It’s those little details that elevated Dan’s to diner heaven. The place was a favorite of cops and construction workers, students looking to soak up tomorrow’s hangover, politicos and reporters, and longtime Albanians who know what’s what.

“It’s the end of an era,” longtime diner and Albany city worker Pat Skerry told us as we ate at the counter. “My favorite memory was when Dan's opened for 3rd shift, early in the morning. I kept real maple syrup hidden behind the milk machine. I would get off bartending around 3 am and I would call ahead to order a Beat the House breakfast and a tall stack of pancakes… One time when I got there, my friend Timmy (owner of Bogies—now closed) and some bouncers were putting in their order. They saw my food already out on the counter, and got very jealous. Timmy grabbed my plates, took a couple of forkfuls, and passed them down the bar. It must have been quite a sight watching five very large men sharing plates back and forth.”

The diner is closing exactly one month after co-owner and grillman Thomas “Tommy Cheez” Deuel died suddenly at age 60. Tommy and his sister, Donna Bloomfield, ran the diner with their two siblings after inheriting it from their mother, also named Donna.

Donna Deuel started the original restaurant with her longtime partner, Dan Mahoney, back when it was located on Madison Avenue.

This morning, we sat at the counter for one last Beat the House special. It was as delicious as ever. Today, it was also served with a deep sense of appreciation, on both sides of the counter.

“They always want to know what you get for beating the house,” Donna Bloomfield said in this 2009 profile, “and I say a full belly.”

You have one final day to make it over to Dan’s Place II (expect a crowd). And if you really love the place, the business and building will be on the market soon. Maybe someone will keep this Albany treasure around for a few more years.

Have you ever eaten at Dan's Place—and what's your favorite diner in the Capital Region?

A word from our partner

New Scotland Spirits goes gangster with Jack Diamond’s ProhibiGin

“Rakish scofflaw.” “Debonair scoundrel.” “Underworld hero.” “MURDERER.” That’s how the New York tabloids described Jack "Legs" Diamond, a fixture in the Prohibition-era Hudson Valley. Legs made his name hijacking bootlegged bathtub gin from the Helderberg Mountains to the speakeasies of Manhattan.

On the night of December 18, 1934, Legs met an assassin’s bullet (actually 3) while sleeping off a gin-soaked evening in a rented room on Albany’s Dove Street—a fitting end to a life riddled with crime, corruption and near misses (he’d been shot 11 times before).

Take a sip of Albany mythology with New Scotland Spirit’s Jack Diamond’s ProhibiGin. This 82-proof London dry gin is smooth and intense—a lot like Albany’s most notorious gangster.

🛶 Montgomery County is seeking 200 kayakers to join its Kayak-a-thon and Bicentennial Bash, celebrating the Erie Canal’s 200th. Kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddle boards are all invited to launch from Fonda and travel east along the Mohawk River, through Locks 12 and 11, and finish their paddle at the Port Jackson Boat Launch in Amsterdam. Tickets are $28.52 for the 9-mile paddle and festival on Aug. 23. [Eventbrite]

🏦 Bank of America is closing its downtown Albany branch on State Street. While there are numerous other bank branches in the neighborhood, it’s another sign that the downtown area is still struggling to recover from the pandemic. More than a third of its first-floor retail space is sitting vacant. [Albany Business Review]

💰️New Yorkers can expect to start receiving checks soon under the second phase of the state’s school tax relief program known as STAR. Most homeowners will get a STAR credit check between $350 and $600. Some eligible seniors will get between $700 and $1,500. [News10]

⭐️ The theme for this Friday’s Troy Night Out is Summerfest featuring Shark Week with a Jaws-themed clambake and a separate lu’au. We’re actually more excited for “Worlds Within Worlds,” a new group show at Context Collective where our own Karley will be among the presenting artists. Picture Lock One hosts its Open Screen event at Collar Works, and the Martinez Gallery, a residential gallery with a focus on Latino and Nuyorican artists, opens with Odyssey: George Simmons. Fri, various times, free.

⭐️ Our local music scene needs more support. Thanks to the inaugural WEXT Local 518 Fest, you can spend a full day listening to some of the best talents in the Capital Region. The festival features headliners Wild Adriatic and Sawyer Fredericks, plus Tops of Trees, Canella, and Sara Milonovich & Daisycutter. It’s also part of Schenectady’s Music Haven summer concert series. Sat, 12-9:30p, free.

⭐️ What’s summer without a trip to the county fair? The Saratoga County Fair is the first in the Capital District to kick off the season. The TU has some photos from opening day. General admission is $15, and free for kids 12 and under. Wristbands for unlimited rides are $30.

⭐️ Phish sets up shop at SPAC this weekend for a 3-day residency. Luckily, lawn seating is still available for those still on the fence. Remember, you can’t bring your own chairs anymore to Live Nation events at SPAC, but you can rent them for $15 a pop 🙃 Keep jammin’: Hilltop is headlining an afterparty at Nanola on Fri & Sat.

⭐️ Lake George is always worth the drive, but it’s even better when the Summer Lovin’ Funfest is happening. The event goes through the weekend, but TONIGHT is the big drone & fireworks show. Thur-Sat, free.

🎟️ MORE NOTABLE EVENTS

TODAY

🎬️ Tonight is Art House Theater Day at Albany’s Spectrum Theatre. Celebrate artful film-making with "Tangerine” and “AJ Goes to the Dog Park.”

🌇 Also tonight, the rooftop terrace at the swanky Franklin Hotel in Troy is hosting its Rooftop Summer Series.

🎥 Movies on the Hill is back with a free outdoor screening of Disney/Pixar’s "Elemental" at Jerry Burrell Park.

🤘Pump (Aerosmith tribute band) headlines Rock the Block in Cohoes.

🎭️ “The Little Mermaid” is running at Cohoes Music Hall through Aug. 17. And don’t forget this Saturday is the last day for “Oklahoma!” at the Washington Park Playhouse.

🎸 Night 2 of Stockade-apalooza-stock continues at Schenectady’s Van Dyck Music Club.

FRIDAY

🎡 Huck Finn’s invites you to Playland After Dark, an adults-only event with food, drink and music.

⭐️ 🕰️ The Brimfield Antique Show is a North Hudson flea market bonanza with the vintage and antique pickings that make life memorable. Plus, food trucks! All weekend.

SATURDAY

🎸 Lucid Street plays the Powers Park concert series in Troy.

💃 Susie Dahl (@brwnpaperdolli) puts on a fabulous burlesque show at the Larkin Hi-Fi. Get tix here.

🍺 The S&S Farm Brewery in Nassau hosts its annual Summer Bash.

⛷️ The Electric City Water Ski Show is back at Jumpin’ Jack’s in Scotia, while the NoLaNauts bring their New Orleans funk to Freedom Park.

🖼️ Schroon Lake puts on its annual Arts & Crafts Fair for the 55th year.

🧀 It’s Weirdo Night at No Fun, featuring grilled cheese sandos, magicians & face painting, among other wacky fun activities.

SUNDAY

🕯️ Craft & Draft, a candle-making popup, returns to Albany’s Lost and Found Bar & Kitchen

🌳 Heidi Woolever invites you to discover the powerful medicine trees can offer in their peak season at the NATURE Lab in North Troy.

🍀 Maggie’s Clan brings their Celtic rock to Scotia’s Freedom Park.