Highlight: Doc’s Restaurant in Glens Falls

Doc’s Restaurant in Glens Falls isn’t just your ordinary restaurant. For starters, their location is dripping with history. Located in the historic Park Theater, the buildings roots date back to 1911.

Since originally opening as the first movie theater in Glens Falls, it later became the printing plant to The Glens Falls Post Co (owned by The Post Star) in 1937 and then another attempt was made in the late 1900’s to revert back to a performing arts center.

Fast forward to 2014, local developer Elizabeth Miller (president of Miller Mechanical) purchased the property and began years of renovations. The Park Theater reopened in 2018, along with a new restaurant in the lower level of the building, Doc’s Restaurant.

We all know going out to eat during COVID has had its challenges, and for me, the biggest difficulty is just not feeling comfortable eating indoors. That’s why I was SO excited to find out that they had a beautiful heated tent outdoors that will likely keep outdoor dining going for the months ahead.

Before heading up north, I connected with Anita, the head of marketing at Doc’s. They were so gracious to put together a sample menu so we could get a taste of their many fall menu options by the fabulous Executive Chef
Matthew J. Delos.

Our first tastes came from the fall cocktail menu, with the pomegranate martini and the curry old-fashioned.

Made with pomegranate vodka, white vermouth, cardamom, orange bitters, citric acid, and lemon peel, the pomegranate martini was a kick in the pants, fall-style. I loved the warmth of the cardamom in this, while still being refreshing with citrus being the main flavors.

The curried old-fashioned was totally unique, featuring bulleit bourbon, massaman curry spices, coconut, roasted butternut squash syrup, and ginger bitters. And yes, it tasted as good as it sounds!

For dinner, we started with a pair of pasta: Butternut Squash Ravioli and Rigatoni & Brown Sugar Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

First, let’s discuss the Butternut Squash Ravioli.

If you’re a creamy, dreamy pasta lover AND you enjoy the natural sweetness of seasonal butternut squash, THIS is your ticket to nirvana. Made with mascarpone, sage cream, and topped with shaved parmesan, it was love at first bite for me. This pasta is on their large plates menu (obviously we had a smaller version for tasting purposes) and costs $24.

If we’re comparing pastas though, this Rigatoni had me at Brussels sprouts.

Tossed with smoked bacon, walnuts, gorgonzola, and herbed bread crumbs, this pasta has a little of everything for your taste buds. I have been VERY into bread crumbs on pasta lately, and this just furthered my obsession. Located on the small plates menu, this dish comes in at $14 and is a great pre-dinner pasta snack. (And yes, that’s a thing.)

The next course featured their Autumn Crunch Salad, with winter greens, butternut squash, apples, toasted pepitas, dried cranberries, and maple cider vinaigrette ($14).

Now might be a good time to mention that the owners of Doc’s also have their own farm where they grow a majority of the vegetables they use in their dishes, which is just awesome.

This salad is the type of salad I want to eat for all of autumn/winter. It’s light enough to be a starter course, but it’s also super nutrient dense with squash, mixed greens, pepitas, etc. I will attempt to recreate this at home for the next few months, so prepare your Instagram feeds.

Moving along into the entrees, we had the Seared Sea Scallops, Braised Beef Short Rib, and Skillet Roasted Chicken Breast.

First up, the chicken was served atop of rosemary polenta, grilled artichokes, olives, tomato madeira broth, and pancetta ($23). The Mediterranean flavor inspiration was clear here, and it felt like a great transitional dish after a summer of grilled meats and veggies. The polenta was creamy without being soup-y, and acted as a great base layer for the chicken and broth.

Finally, the Braised Short Ribs.

I don’t think I can come up with a better stick-to-your-ribs type of meal than braised short ribs. These were served with horseradish mashed potatoes, honey thyme heirloom carrots, natural braising juices, and gremolata ($28).

Ummm… HOLY horseradish – if you’re a horseradish lover like me, these mashed potatoes will bring you serious joy. This dish was warm and hearty, just as it should be for this time of the year.

And then there were scallops.

The scallops came with spaghetti squash, adirondack red potato chips, and a caper brown butter sauce ($36). What I loved about this is that typically this time of year, scallops are served with some sort of root vegetable puree and I always find that the sweetness from the puree drowns out the buttery simplicity of the scallop.

This preparation allowed the scallop itself to truly shine, which was a refreshing change from the norm.

As if we weren’t full enough, then dessert came out…

Say hello to the Cider Doughnut Bread Pudding, Pumpkin Creme Brulee, and Espresso Martini!

Calling all pumpkin spice lovers: THIS IS FOR YOU. Who knew you could actually take a creme brulee and make it better?!

And the cider doughnut bread pudding? It’s hard to say which I liked better. I’m a HUGE bread pudding fan, and then you add cider doughnuts, adirondack bootlegger sauce, and caramel sauce and you’re just asking for a sugar high of epic proportions.

I have to say, I am incredibly disappointed that I didn’t know about Doc’s Restaurant until recently. What a treasure this restaurant is in the Glens Falls area, and such a quick and easy trip for any of us in the Saratoga area.

Their cocktail menu is delightful, their wine list is great, and as you can tell, the food is fantastic. From start to finish, our time spent at Doc’s Restaurant was excellent, and we cannot wait to go back!