Illusive Restaurant & Bar - American restaurant in Rensselaer - 3 Ferry St, USA

I have been here too many times to count and every time at least one dish blows me away. Once it was the garlic chicken Mac n Cheese. It’s always the tater tot poutine! And I try a new burger each time. The best burgers in the Capital District and I don’t say that lightly! I’m a foodie and try new restaurants regularly as I’m always on the lookout! Customer service is always good. Sometimes a little flustered at the front desk when they’re slammed. Butt he wait staff is attentive and food comes out quickly! Here are some photos!

Definitely a good stop. It's a small place with creative food options. They have a full bar, and I have to say that the service was impressive. It appears that 2 ladies were serving customers, and one was also tending bar. They did an exceptional job. Seven of us started with Lemon Pepper Buffalo wings. These are not crispy, but also do not have a chewy or thick skin. These have lots of flavor and taste exactly how you would imagine. Cooked perfectly. Very very good wings. I got the Mick Jigga burger. Good flavor. I didn't love the texture of the thick caramelized onion and soft wet, lettuce, but this was very good and my personal preference. Sweet potato fries were perfect and their fries/spuds are some of the best around. Strip steak is very tasty, cooked perfectly and a good value. Mac n Cheese is also very good. Overall very good place that takes period on food, creativity and service. It was also clean.

Food: excellent, excellent, excellent---did I say freaking excellent? I was not expecting this level of food at this place simply because from the outside, the place looks like some dive bar that serves burgers and fries. First time there we got the Pub Crawler and the tater tot poutine---delicious. Decided to come back a 2nd time and had the Empire Smash Burger---even better than the Pub Crawler. Friend had the cajun garlic mac and cheese and she said, best mac and cheese she's ever had at any given restaurant, and she is a fellow traveler and a mac and cheese snob. There was a special listed for 53 bucks, which had it not been for the fact that I wanted to have the Smash Burger, would have ordered it. Kind of intriguing that place serves a 13 dollar burger, and it also has plate for 50+ bucks. So many other places in the area to try, but honestly, food is good here, that I'm having a hard time going to another place and being disappointed with the food.

Found out this evening from the FB page that people have been review bombing Illusive, and I just wanted to set the record straight for everyone here on who they are as a company and what they mean to me. I remember the first time that my wife and I visited Illusive. It was right after we got married at city hall across the street. Emotions were running high for us on what could only be called a roller coaster week of emotions, and we just wanted some good comfort food to celebrate our union. We walked in and were immediately greeted by Meg, who was immediately friendly and took us to our table. She asked if we had ever been in before, and we hadn't, so she went over the specials and gushed about how inventive they were week to week. We were immediately intrigued, and so we ordered the specials of the day. Since that point we were hooked, and we take any chance we can get to visit (and drag our friends and family along for the ride). When people used to ask me what my favorite restaurant in the area was, I used to struggle. After all, the Capital region has so many great eateries. But nowadays, I can immediately say with a smile that it's Illusive. No restaurant has ever provided such consistency in service and quality of food to me over and extended period of time, and certainly no other restaurant makes me legitimately exited when they post up pictures and videos of the new specials on FB. I can't rate Illusive high enough, and if you don't believe my words, well, believe the proof from my camera roll. The only images that aren't here are for items that were simply too good to stop and take a photo of :) Thank you to the chef, the back end management team, and the front end servers who make the experience at Illusive something I truly look forward to whenever I get to go. ...and don't worry, I'll be in for that quesadilla this weekend :)

We decided, last minute to meet up with friends who were visiting from out of town and saw that Illusive was open on Mondays. When we arrived, there was a wait of 40 min for a table of 6. By the time our friends showed up, we only needed a table for 4. Since the place was packed, we went to the bar to eat. It took longer than i thought to receive service for drinks, but once ordered, it was fast. Unfortunately, they did not come back to see if we wanted food and had to get our own menus. We finially ordered around 7:45 and was told that the kitchen (and apparently the restaurant) closes at 8. We ordered 2 appetizers and 2 dinners. The award winning wings were Soooo Good! We totally recommend them! Our friends ordered the mac and cheese and a burger. We were disappointed that the wait staff was cleaning all around us and putting up chairs on tables, even though there was another table of 5 still eating/drinking and talking. We felt a bit rushed at the end. We wish that we were told that they closed at 8 instead of rushing us to eat.

First time coming in today - Great music and energy. The staff is super friendly too. The food is amazing! Highly recommend the chicken and bacon dip. We also got the fried chicken sandwich and an amazing burger. Will be coming back often!

Understated and awesome. I had a Cobb salad with chicken. The chicken was tasty and fresh and tender. Salad greens were awesome not just iceberg actually I don't think there's any iceberg. Avocado was fresh.. all around good salad. Only thing missing was real balsamic dressing. They gave me a sweet Italian but they told me was a white balsamic. The other sandwiches at the table looked freaking awesome. It's a must return location. Help was pleasant and nice.

This was the fourth time we came and each time it's been great service and the food has been incredible every time. The poutine tater tots have always been cooked perfectly and the cheese melted and not drowning and soggy in gravy. Just the perfect amount of gravy. This time I got the weekly special which was sphagetti-o-jello and franks. The presentation was awesome and the unflavored gelatin really absorbed the tomato base and I think I tasted green cardamom and safron. The hot dogs were natural casing helmbolts I think. Reminded me of the hot dogs at Famous lunch. The drink menu is extensive and reasonably priced. We went to that Fancy place The Roosevelt Room over by Hudson valley and I would say the food here at Illusive actually tastes better and you don't leave hungry. Definitely my new main restaurant.