Jack's Oyster House

Jack's Oyster House, at 42 State Street in downtown Albany, is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in New York State's capital and has been a Capital Region institution since John Deckelman opened it in 1913. The restaurant sits a short walk from the New York State Capitol building, the Court of Appeals, and the State Legislature office buildings — a geography that makes it the traditional power-lunch destination for Albany's political class. Lobbyists, legislators, governors, and their aides have been eating at Jack's for over a century, and the restaurant's walls are decorated with the signed photographs of the politicians and dignitaries who have passed through over eleven decades of operation. The menu is a classic American seafood house offering: the signature oyster stew and pan roast — oysters in a cream broth fortified with celery salt, Worcestershire, and butter — are the dishes for which the restaurant is most historically known. The lobster bisque, broiled fish preparations, and the New England clam chowder continue a tradition of straightforward American seafood cookery that reflects the restaurant's roots in the early twentieth century. The dining room is wood-paneled, formal, and intimate in the way of a serious business restaurant — tablecloths, jacket-appropriate but not mandatory attire, and a bar that serves as a gathering place for the political community. Jack's has survived multiple ownerships while maintaining the essential character established at opening.