Recovery Sports Grill – Guilderland, NY

I’ve never eaten at a place that’s shared a wall with the gym where I train because that opportunity has never arisen. Recently, Recovery Sports Grill opened up a location in Guilderland, near home and work, and right next to Vent Fitness. I wasn’t particularly impressed by my previous visit at one of these restaurants, but I’ll give anything a second shot. (Well, almost anything.)

We stopped in to the Guilderland Recovery Sports grill on a Saturday evening, close to 5:30pm. The section with low tables was just about full, so we ended up being seated at the high tops near the bar. Balancing on the high chairs isn’t one of my favorite things to do while eating, but neither is waiting for a table.

The restaurant is very much geared toward the sports crowd. If you’re the type of person who can focus on one thing with many distracting things around, it isn’t a terrible place to catch a game. If you’re easily distracted like me, there’s way too much to look at. There are numbered TVs on the walls, and they correspond to stations on the portable (albeit static-y) volume control system.

At least you can try to listen to which ever sporting event you want to hear.

The menu has a number of different items, ranging from appetizers to salads to wings to burgers to entrees. On this visit, I decided to  try a couple of different flavors of boneless chicken tenders and to have a burger.

For the price, the portions of these tenders are well worth it. This is the perfect type of food to share with a buddy. The Thai peanut glazed tenders were delicious. They were rolled in a sweet sauce that had strong peanut and sesame flavors. The blue cheese didn’t really jive with this sauce, but they didn’t need any additional embellishments. The hot Buffalo style tenders were very good; they have a good amount of heat. The sauce definitely seemed different from the hot I had at the Wolf road location, but it could have been that there would be more sauce on these larger pieces of chicken. In any case, I enjoyed the tenders very much, and the blue cheese sauce, although mild, provided the ever necessary cooling between bites of the Buffalo style tenders.

It took a while for our entrees to arrive, and, in that time, it was clear that the staff was inexperienced. A number of the dishes at a neighboring table were sent back, and the waitstaff and management discussed the matter on the floor, which is a little awkward to have to hear, especially when your food hasn’t arrived yet. I noticed a number of non-staff members walk up to the pass and distract the person expediting orders, and the dishes were quickly piling onto the window. Things just seemed a little too casual there.

Once the food arrived, it wasn’t perfect, but it was decent. I ordered the triple play burger (smothered in BBQ sauce and cheddar cheese, piled high with bacon and a crispy onion ring, served with lettuce tomato and onion – $9.99). When I ordered, I was surprised that the waitress asked me for a temperature preference (medium rare) on the burger. I wasn’t surprised when it came out close to well done. At least the meat was seasoned. The bun was good and hearty. The cheese was plentiful and melted nicely, but I wouldn’t exactly say it was smothered in BBQ sauce; I was comfortable with the amount that was on the burger. The onion ring was a little overcooked, but the bacon was good. The fries were a little cold but had good seasoning.

The experience was a fun one, and the meal was affordable enough that none of the issues we observed hindered us from having a good time.

It’s a little dangerous to have delicious Buffalo chicken tenders so close to my gym!