Variety Pizza & Deli

Ordered from: Variety Pizza & Deli

Stewart's Cream Soda
Popcorn Chicken
Grilled Cheese (w/ french fries)
French Fries (oops!)
Spaghetti
$25.99 with tax and tip

NHam: I got the popcorn chicken, which is good - better than D'Carlitos, although like those these also came with marinara sauce, which I continue to not understand. I'd recommend getting these if you have your own sauce or getting some honey mustard on the side. (I ended up not eating much of the popcorn chicken and dunking the garlic bread that came with KHam's spaghetti in the marinara sauce. Tasty!)
I also got the grilled cheese, which is very good, although not what I thought it would be - this was almost more like a "fried cheese" sandwhich. It felt like they took a long sub roll, applied some olive oil, and dropped it in the fryer. The result is that it's nice and light and flaky. Very nice surprise.
Finally, I got the fries - and I accidently got both fries with the sandwich and on the side - and although they were kind of cold, they were at least edible and not mushy, to which I credit the fact that they almost felt like they had been battered before being fried. Good stuff, and although they would have been better hot, as always, fries are the hardest thing to get right with delivery food, so being edible at all is a plus.

Would I order again: Most certainly.

KHam: There wasn't enough sauce on it. I mean, it was good. It's kind of hard to fuck up take out spaghetti. Um. I'd order there again. I should probably stop ordering spaghetti everywhere.

Would I order again: I just said I would!

Mild Wally's

Ordered from: Mild Wally's

Ziti Marinara (Regular)
Spaghetti Marinara (Large)
Garlic Bread

($20.59 plus tax and tip)

KHam: They have, hands down, the best sauce of any take-out place or restaurant at which I've ordered spaghetti. If I could get away with it, I'd like to order the large spaghetti and eat the entire fried dough by myself and when I'm covered in sugar I like pretending I'm a cocaine dealer. The large spaghetti makes awesome leftovers, I try not to eat all of it at the first sitting. On top of that, they deliver pretty promptly, and I love the fact that you can get Ben & Jerry's delivered even though we didn't get it delivered this time.

Would I order again: Yes.

NHam: I'm not the spaghetti expert here, so I don't know that I have a lot to say. (cue huge paragraph): I got the ziti, which was good, although the sauce inevitably separated a little bit. The chunky parts of it are good as a open-faced sandwich using the garlic bread as the, um, bread. You know, the bottom part.
Since I don't have a lot to say about what I got this time, let me talk about something we sometimes order: The "Big Fried Dough". They're not fucking around with this fried dough. It is indeed Big, easily as large as a full-size pizza, and covered with powdered sugar. It's really good, and we didn't order it this time only because, frankly, it can be kind of a mess; Cutting it, let alone eating it, without getting grease from the dough everywhere is tough, and not spilling the powdered sugar is impossible. I'd recommend eating it if you're about to throw all your clothes in the laundry and hop into the shower and possibly wash your floor, but otherwise, while good, it's a little bit too much of a hassle. Also, I promise this is the last time I write more about something we sometimes get but didn't than about what I actually got this time.

Would I order again: We order from here all the time. If you're out of what you need to make spaghetti at home, hit this place up.

Ichiban

Ordered from: Ichiban

Cirspy Orange Beef (sic)
Stir Fried Minced Chicken with Lettuce Wrap
Veggie Lo Mein
Wonton Soup
Tofu Teriyaki

($45.77 plus tax and tip)

Kham: The wonton soup was good. The tofu teriyaki tasted too much like the grill, and I don't like the charred taste, so I couldn't really eat too much of it. I feel like they almost forgot to put the flavoring on the noodles, because they were really bland. This may be a case of it's better to eat in the restaurant, because we have eaten there before and liked the food. 

Would I order again: I'd just go there. 

Nham: Oh, where to begin. I've gotten the "Cirspy" orange beef in the restaurant before, and it's good. Delivered, it's tough as shoe leather; I literally could not tear a hunk of it off with my teeth to eat! I guess I could have cut it with a knife, but who knows how long I'd have been sitting there chewing. Luckily, it wasn't a total disaster - the stir fried minced chicken was good, and I still enjoy the novelty of eating wraps made up of big lettuce leaves. I had much more chicken than I did lettuce leaves, so I ended up putting the leftover chicken on a bun and eating it, which was also good. So that was nice, but we did end up throwing most of the food out, which is never what you want to happen.

Would I order again: I feel like you're better off going to the restaurant. 

Debbie's Kitchen and Catering

Ordered from: Debbie's Kitchen and Catering

Egg Salad Sandwhich (on Hard Roll)
BBQ Chips (small)
Create My Own Sandwhich: Swiss, Bacon, Tomato, Peppers, Garlic Mayo (on Hard Roll)
Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup
$29.52 including tax and tip

KHam: Oh, this was good. And the soup is really good too. Um. I don't know. The whole thing was just really delicious and I'm glad I ordered it.

Would I order again: Definitely.

NHam: Man, that's an expensive egg salad sandwhich! Really tasty, though. Egg salad plus bacon on a hard roll is one of my favorites, and this was a good one - the egg salad wasn't too bitter and it went with the BBQ chips perfectly. My only complaint is that this may have been the messiest egg salad sandwhich I've ever eaten - the egg salad really didn't want to stay on that bun, which made it harder to get into my mouth, which is where the food goes. Keep some napkins ready if you're ordering this sucker.

Would I order again: Any time I want egg salad and have $7.20 to burn

Fiorello Bakery & Deli

Ordered from: Fiorello Bakery & Deli

Veggie Sub (Large), with: Swiss cheese, banana peppers, mayo, roasted peppers, tomatoes, and sun dried tomatoes (ed note: someone really likes tomatoes).
Chicken Salad Sub (Large), with: Lettuce.
($21.57 plus tax and tip)

NHam: I got the chicken salad sub. It's good. I'm not sure I have a lot to say here; Fiorello's is basically a deli that delivers, so the menu isn't as huge as some of these other places - subs, wraps, soup and salads. I've had the chicken salad sub from them twice, and it's very good each time. (One advantage of a sub over the triple-decker from last time is that the chicken salad doesn't fall out, although it doesn't feel as classy.)  If you NEED a great deli sandwich and you're too lazy to drive, you can't go wrong ordering from here.

Would I order again: I already have!

KHam: It was good. Odd taste, but good. The sun dried tomatoes may not have been unnecessary, but how many places actually let you pick that as an option? I figured I had to go for it. There's not much else to say about a veggie sub. It was good? There was a little too much bread. That's okay.

Would I order again: Yes!

Gourmella's Pizzeria & Deli

Ordered from: Gourmella's Pizzeria & Deli

The Florence (with French Fries) - chicken salad sandwhich with lettuce, tomato, and bacon
Grilled Cheese (on White)
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread (Small)

$28.82 with tax and tip (palindromical!)

KHam: I got the spaghetti. I'm trying to think of something to say. Um. I mean, the spaghetti was good, it tasted like they cooked it in a pan and it had a different flavor to it. That's all I have to say :X

Would I order again: Yes.

NHam: It's always a good sign when the place you order from has good fries; as I keep saying, it's the hardest thing to get right with delivery food, and these were great. Of course, the fries were just a side to the real star, the "Florence" - triple-decker (!) chicken salad sandwhich on toast. Felt very fancy. Tasted great, too, the bacon and lettuce were nice, and  my only complaint about it is that there was a little too much chicken salad on it (some fell out after a few bites which was a little messy). That's a good problem to have. I also got the grilled cheese, which was fine and well-grilled the way I like it; I don't have much to say here as I got this because we hadn't eaten all day and I was really hungry. Overall, I was very pleased - when all I can complain about is having too much of the main attraction you're in great shape.

Would I order again: Most definitively.

D.P. Dough

Ordered from: D.P. Dough

Your Mom (the wrap)
Construction Zone (make your own calzone) - tomato, onion, potato, garlic

KHam: Ehhhhhhhhh. The vegetables didn't taste cooked; It seemed like chopped up vegetables stuffed in a pizza crust. It's a testament to how unremarkable the sauce that I can't even think of words to describe how it tasted. I'm disappointed, we got this before and I swear liking it before because we ordered it several times. Maybe we just caught them on a bad day.

Would I order again: I might give them another shot in a couple months.

NHam: I got "Your Mom" - don't ask me why lettuce, bacon, chicken, and ranch is someone's mom. Also, they were out of bacon. (How do you run out of bacon? It's called Price Chopper.) The chicken was good and there was plenty of ranch, but I got two bites of lettuce, then two bites of lettuce and chicken, and then two bites of chicken. So, um, I can't really recommend it. If you need a calzone, go here. Otherwise, stay clear (more like rapping thru albany.blogspot.com! -ed)

Would I order again: Uh, no.

D'Carlito Pizza

Ordered from: D'Carlito Pizza

Pasta w/ Tomato Sauce
Popcorn Chicken
French Fries
Chicken Bacon Ranch Sub
(and we got a free salad!)
$30.30 with tax and tip

KHam: The spaghetti was really good! The sauce was very nice. Good chunks of onions and other vegetables, which keeps the sauce from being too bland and just, uh. There's a good amount, and... I don't think I liked the popcorn chicken that much. It seemed a little too spicy or something. I'm sure if you're a bigger meat eater than I am it would have been fine.

Would I order again: Definitely, especially the spaghetti.

NHam: The french fries were cold, but edible (as opposed to being mush, the constant bane of delivery food). The popcorn chicken was okay, although it came - bizarrely - with marinara sauce, which KHam took for her spaghetti. (Popcorn chicken and marinara sauce? Okay. They're not bad, but I'd ask for honey mustard sauce.) Lastly, I also got the Chicken Bacon Ranch Sub, which is MEATNORMOUS. It's almost too much; Fried chicken, a ton of bacon, and as much ranch as the sub bun can hold. It's good, but man, it's really serious. I know this sounds crazy, but it could almost use less bacon (!!!!!) and maybe some lettuce. Crazy talkin', yes. It tasted really good, but I couldn't finish the whole thing. Also, the bonus salad was pretty good.

Would I order again: Sure.

Capital Q Smokehouse

(Ed. note: Yes, Capital Q Smokehouse is alphabetically before Chicken Joe's. This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night.)

Ordered from: Capital Q Smokehouse

Smokin' Chicken Thigh Sandwhich
Cold Smoked Chicken Breast Sandwhich
BBQ Mac 'n Cheese (Medium)
Zesty Homes Fries (Small)
Croakers (Two)
($32.38 with tax and tip)

KHam: I won't be the best person to describe the sandwich because I don't like big hunks of meat on my sandwhich. I kind of just prefer some or no meat. So I wouldn't listen too much to what I have to say. It came on garlic toast which was very good and I enjoyed eating the lettuce, mayo, and tomato on the bread once I took all the meat off. The BBQ mac and cheese is extremely delicious. I think the croakers are potato croquettes, but I could be wrong. I'd recommend it, especially the macaroni and cheese.

Would I order again: Yeah!

NHam: I think KHam and I had opposite experiences here; She really liked the sides and didn't like her sandwich and I was the other way around. I got the Cold Smoked Chicken Breast Sandwich, and that's some real ass BBQ right there, let me tell you. So I really enjoyed that, but the sides not so much - I got the Zesty Home Fries, which is cut up potatoes, except they were weirdly bitter. I'm wondering if there was BBQ sauce on them, and if so, those are two great tastes that do not taste great together. I also had a Croaker, and I have no idea what it is; Tasted kinda like a Hush Puppy, which I'm not a huge fan of. Overall, though, don't mind my complaining about sides too much - in all the places I've eaten from on Mealo, this is the only real delivery BBQ restaurant I've found so far, and the main attraction is delicious.

Would I order again: Any time I'm craving real BBQ.

Chicken Joe's

Ordered from: Chicken Joe's

The College (fried chicken, honey mustard and potato cones), no cheese
Churro
Potato Cones (Small)
Medium X-Tasy Fries
Macaroni Salad (Small)

NHam: I got the College, and it's awesome; Breaded fried chicken on a bun, dripping with honey mustard. It can be a little messy to eat - they don't skip on the sauce - but, oh my lord, is it ever good. I happen to love fried chicken sandwiches, and this is one of the best ones around. I also got the potato cones, which are, uh, kind of hard to describe; It's a cone-shaped crunchy outside with almost a mashed potato kind of inside. It's very good, although I usually can't each much after polishing off a College. For dessert I had the churro, and um, I've never had a churro before (really), but this was very tasty. In short, I loved everything; This is one of my favorite places to order from, and the only reason we don't do so all the time is that I think I like it a bit more than kham does.

Would I order again: Oh yeah. I like ordering from here when you know who isn't that hungry.

KHam: I know it's called Chicken Joe's, but it is it too much to ask that there's a vegetarian option? Something for the household member who doesn't like an assload of chicken? That being said, I did like what I got. The "X-Tasy" fries were very delicious - they're french fries with ranch dressing, cheese, and bacon. And if that doe not sound immediately delicious to you, perhaps this is not the restaurant for you. This is the restaurant  after all, where they put french fries and macaroni and cheese bites on their sandwiches. The pasta salad was.... pasta salad. There's not too much you can do with it; It's pasta, mayonnaise, and whatever the hell else is on it. IT didn't have too much mayonnaise, which is often a crime of macaroni salad. I also had some of the churro, and I was surprised that it was good. The last one I had was burned to a fucking crisp and not cinnamony at all and was basically a rod of burned fucking dough. This was not a rod of burned fucking dough, it was a perfectly cooked rod of cinnamony, crunchy dough.

Would I order again: I would order again.

Anthony's Pizza Palace

Ordered from: Anthony's Pizza Palace

We got:
Fried Dough Bites
Garlic Bread
Fried Chicken Sub
French Fries
Spaghetti

($32.36 plus tax and tip)

Nham: I got the french fries and fried chicken sub. The fries were inedibly mushy - I don't hold this against the restaurant, because fries are almost certainly the most difficult thing to get right with delivery, and no matter where you order from you've got a 50% of this occurring.

The sub was OK; I can't complain that there was nothing but lettuce, onion, and fried chicken on it because I had the cheese and tomatoes removed. Needs some kinda sauce, tastewise. Texture was okay. (Little heavy on the onions - again, I don't hold this against the restaurant, many places will give you extra on one ingredient if you remove a lot. I appreciate them giving you more value for your money, and you can always take the extra off.)

Lastly, we split the fried dough bites, and oh my gosh, they are delicious. Not only is it super tasty hot fried dough, but having them in bites makes it way easier to eat; You don't have the mess or having to worry about a spill like you have with a big glob of dough.

Would I order again: Yes, but probably something else as my meal. 

Kham: Spaghetti was good. It was a little more on the al dente side than I'm used to, but still good. Plenty of it, which should make for good leftovers. I also got the garlic bread which was good, but there was not enough extra sauce with the spaghetti to mop it up, which I like. I also enjoyed the fried dough bites. Good value for the money, AND when they delivered they had one of those heat bags that keeps your food warm!!!!

Would I order again: I'd definitely order it again.

Introduction

Welcome to Eating Thru Albany! As a resident of Albany right on the edge of the student ghetto, I have a wide array of options when it comes to ordering dinner, and I thought it would be fun to take a culinary tour of Albany this way - not through the city's finest restaurants and pubs, but through the places you can order from via your browser and have arrive 30 to 40 minutes later.

We're going to start the tour with a (roughly) alphabetical trip through Mealo's delivery menu, from Anthony's Pizza Place to, uh, one of the many, many restaurants that start with S. (Somebody please open Zambrelli's or something so that reads a little better!)

After that, who knows? There's Allmenus, GrubHub, and a dozen other sites; Or maybe by then I'll be bored, or dead from eating fried dough twice a week.

Just for fun, here's a little information about your hosts.

NHam
Loves: Fried chicken, any kind of crunchy food, potatoes prepared just about any way, bread, well-done hamburgers
Hates: Shellfish, mushy food, cheese, undercooked meat

You'll probably enjoy his recommendations if: You are a college student/obese person who is lactose intolerant and allergic to shellfish.

KHam
Loves: Spaghetti, tomatoes, spaghetti with tomato sauce, vegetables, cheese subs with mayo and vinegar, french fries dipped in milkshakes
Hates: Seafood, meat on the bone, beans, peas, food that requires too much chewing

You'll probably enjoy her recommendations if: You are a normal human being.