Standard Fare

With the world and life being so crazy, it’s nice to be able to enjoy a night out. The second I walked into Standard Fare, I felt the ability to relax. The service was fantastic. We were always being checked on . My friend and I even got to chat for a few minutes with the owners. For the food, I love the combination of comfort food and fine dining. Classics you know but upscale. Beef short rib- new to the menu. Melt in your mouth and very flavorful. Mom’s Meatloaf- my friend ordered this but I had a bite. Would definitely order this myself Parmesan Truffle Fries- crispy fries with Parmesan. Can’t go wrong and a big portion for a side dish. Charred artichoke- so tender and perfectly paired with tzatziki sauce. Cocktails: Espresso Martini Citrus Got Real

Every single detail was thought out-right down to the bathroom! Was even fun ordering a coca-cola! We absolutely loved our meals, and had an amazing time chatting with the staff. Everyone around us was having the best time pointing out different details around the restaurant. Pork chop and meatloaf were insanely delicious and my husband loved his milkshake! But don’t sleep on the milk and cookies!! 🍪 thank you for an awesome dinner! New favorite restaurant!

There’s nothing standard about Standard Fare!!! It’s the perfect mix of bougie and fun- where elevated meets energetic & every little detail feels like a love letter to good taste. The decor is intentional, chic, avant-garde, and somehow still so welcoming. You walk in and immediately know you’re in for a good night. The food- Not a single miss. Standout stars of the night: the lobster rolls, lil oinkers, and the “Go Shawty It’s Your Birthday” milkshake- insane. The vibe was energetic, playful, and full of life. We were in the middle of dinner already talking about when we’re coming back. Terry was an absolute gem of a server, Corey was so kind, and the bartenders were on their A-game. Zac was everywhere making sure everyone was vibing & taken care of. You can just feel the heart in this place. If I had to describe it in two words? Elevated and fun. That’s exactly where I’m living. So happy for Saratoga to have this kind of magic on the map.

I’ll start by saying we live in Saratoga Springs and dine out often. We have been to SF twice, including tonight, New Year’s Eve. The first experience was respectable, although one from our party had to send their meal back. It was good to the point we wanted to try it again, thus tonight. The menu was a five course prix fix for 115/pp. My wife and I were excited to go have a good meal, chat, and enjoy the evening. We had to send our entrees back b/c the small portion of mashed potatoes were cold and the chicken and other sides were warm, at best. All five courses were rushed and we were provided our check 1 hr 15 mins after we sat down. We did bring it to the managers attn and to his credit he was apologetic, asked if he could do anything, and offered us a complimentary drink. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm to stay there waned and we left, $317 later with one drink each + tip. Would we go back in the future? Probably not. We’re fortunate that SS has many dining options that are very good we would go to b/f going back there. Hopefully, our first two experiences are anomalies and they will have long term success.

Food is top notch, starters to desserts, cocktails to cakes. We loved some things enough we ordered repeats, and by the end…we’ve never seen our kids not make it through their (humongous, delicious) desserts! Fun, festive, delicious. And our kids say “people are very, very, very nice here.” Oinkers, calamari, fries, shrimp & grits, lobster cobb, shakes and cakes.

Excellent new spot in Saratoga by the fantastic purveyors of Bocage Champagne Bar. Great food, good cocktails, and a lovely vibe inside of a cozy little spot on Phila. Too full for dessert - but we will be going back for it because it looked amazing! Cake slices the size of your face, sundaes and milkshakes that looked delicious.

I’m not usually effusive about restaurants, but Standard Fare will have to be the exception. We had the green goddess salad, half chicken, boeuf bourguignon, and carrot cake as well as the new thyme-heavy and pleasantly dry cocktail. All were exceptional - the salad tangy and delicately flavored from the herbs, the chicken juicy but crisped at the surface and not briny, the beef fork-tender and complex, and the carrot cake well-spiced and light with a balanced frosting. We really enjoyed all of it, and would be lucky to have a place like this in our own neighborhood.

We absolutely enjoyed our dinner at Standard Fare last night! The food and presentation was spectacular and the service could not have been better. The menu is perfectly small and, as advertised, Standard Fare. The prices were as expected for a nice establishment, such as this (moderate). The dining room wall small is perfect. The host is was apologetic for the difficulty we had getting a table at the last minute on a Friday night. There is no reason for an apology… Any restaurant worthy of five stars should be crowded on a Friday night, regardless of its size. The only issue with the restaurant is the noise level… It is excessive for a small restaurant. We were able to have a discussion throughout our meal, but it was quite loud. We will absolutely return and greatly appreciated this fine establishment!

Congratulations to the owners of Bocage for opening this gem of a restaurant nearby on Phila street. Solid service, high quality food and an interesting menu make me want to go back. Love that they have some "throwback" dishes (think Lobster Thermidor!) Also, and this will sound odd....but go check out the bathroom. It's pretty cool. Leaving that there. The only issue? Sound decibels. It's a smaller restaurant with not much to absorb the sound. It was hard to have a conversation once it filled up (and there was one particular table that was extra loud). I'll make plans to go back during a quieter time, if possible.

Cocktails were good but food was mediocre at best. Got the Swedish Meatballs, crispy artichoke which were pretty good. The wedge salad was not done well and we finished with the steak frites which was horrible. Fries were basic frozen fries and the steak over cooked and lacked seasoning. I expected more from the main meal, especially with the price. My excitement for this place quickly disappeared.

We were 10 minutes early for our 8:15 reservations and were brusquely told to wait outside (not a friendly welcome) seated promptly at 8:15. Girlfriend ordered a glass of wine which they were out of and they recommended a wine that was "similar" it wasn't. She ordered the baked half chicken and were told it takes 25 minutes and were we willing to wait? Yes we would wait and ordered the Green Goddess salad to split. The salad was good (slightly over dressed but nice). Chicken came and was barely above room temperature (certainly not freshly out of the oven) and rubbery. I had the ribs (Asian fusion) which were very good. We split an order of Green Beans which were also good. Would not go back as there are many good restaurants in Saratoga. Why put up with attitude and cold chicken.

Excellent service (Cory), excellent food, friendly and cozy ambiance, well made drinks (Old Fashions), etc. e will be back!

Food was okay. Service/experience was poor. Will not go back. I rarely leave reviews, but in my opinion, this one is justified. Let me walk you through my night. Made a reservation for 7:15pm. My wife and I show up promptly only to be told that we need to be sat at the bar. I ask why, as this selection is a bit more informal (sitting side by side) and we are celebrating our anniversary. The hostest explained that their reservations are "general seating" and that all the tables are taken. Not a fan of this policy. Look at places like Hamlet and Ghost - you have the CHOICE to select regular table, bar, chef's counter - which helps accommodate the type of night that you want to experience. In any event, we sat at the bar. By the way, the bar seats don't move so we couldn't even adjust how we were sitting and the distance we were from each other. The bartender, maybe distracted from making drinks for the entire restaurant, didn't warmly or promptly welcome us (part of the reason I don't like sitting at the bar - distracted and not a traditional server). After a few minutes, he poured us some water, without a greeting and continued on his way. A few minutes later, we ordered our drinks. Drinks were good (wine and a dirty martini). After a few more minutes, we ordered cheese "curds" to start. When served, we discovered that these weren't what we were expecting. A cheese curd by definition is a bite sized deep fried piece of aged cheese (again, see Hamlet and Ghost). These "curds" were more like flattened mozzarella sticks. They were not bite sized and they were soaked in oil. After a few more minutes (slow service, maybe a distracted bartender, not a server that we were expecting), we ordered our food. My wife ordered the salmon and I attempted to order the chicken pot pie (Thursday special), which I was prompty told just sold out. Maybe I would have gotten my order in if the bartender was more attentive? Anyways, I scoured the menu for choice #2... okay, I'll order the pork chop. The server came back a couple minutes later and said I am striking out... pork chop is sold out. I was blown away. How is a standard menu item sold out? I understand a special, but something that is on the menu? There are only 10 mains available, and 2 of them are sold out? Okay, so with 20% of the menu sold out (at 7:45pm), I looked for choice #3. Ended up ordering the shrimp and grits, annoyed with the denial of my first two choices with little to no sympathy from the server. Anyways, food came out. Wife really liked the salmon. I enjoyed the shrimp - it was cooked well (grilled) - and the grits were just okay. The iciing on the cake was when the owner came into the restaurant around 8:30pm, when we were finishing our meal, sat a large table and loudly announced, almost with pleasure and purpose, that the pork chop is sold out but he had them save the last one for himself! Now, I'm not mad that he did that as it's his right as the owner, but maybe use a little more discretion on annoucing that to the entire restaurant since there may be paying patrons there who got robbed of the experience of enjoying that dish because of him? Perhaps be a little more sensitive towards those people who help make his restaurant a success? Anyways, finished the night with a fruity pebble milkshake. Was tasty, although it's menu description said something about a cupcake which was no where to be found and the portion size was maybe 8-10 oz? Small and cost $15. Not worth it in my opinion. And perhaps this should have been free since they sold out of my first two preferred dishes and I was noticably upset by it? Maybe this was overlooked because we had a bartender as a server? Maybe they don't care about the customer experience? Bartender rarely checked in on us, never asked how things were, did minimal amount of work. $160 bill (before tip) for two of us to eat so-so/decent food with a poor service experience. Will not be recommending this place to my friends, family, clients. Will not be back.