D’Raymonds, Loudonville

One thing we have in this area is delicious Italian food and not just any Italian food. We have locally-owned Italian staples that year after year prove why they’re still around and one of those restaurants is D’Raymonds in Loudonville.

D’Raymonds has been named Best Local Restaurant & Best Italian Restaurant of the Capital District for the past 13 years and if you’ve been there, you know why.

You walk in to what seems like an extended dining room at an old Italian family home. That’s what you feel like eating there – family. It may sound cliche and I’ll be honest, it kind of is, but everyone working there is so personable and ready to help you have the best experience.

We came in with no reservations (not at all recommended) and chanced at a spot at the bar to eat. We ordered fried squash flowers for an appetizer. They’re the flowers that grow on squash plants before they’re pollenated and in turn, where the squash grow from. I don’t know what it is about them, but they’re one of my favorites. For dinner, I ordered Veal Antonio. I don’t normally eat veal but apparently theirs is some of the best so, I ordered it. It was Veal cutlets baked with prosciutto, eggplant, red sauce and fontina cheese served with a light lemon caper sauce. As with most Italian restaurants, it was served with pasta and way more food than I could ever eat in one sitting. Everything was fantastic.

Then, we had to order dessert to get the full experience, obviously. It was a small cookie filled with chocolate and covered in ice cream – so good! I was already full by that point but I couldn’t stop eating it!

If you’re looking for an Italian restaurant with an old school feel but delicious food, you need to check out D’Raymonds. They have a ton of options and everything sounded amazing, whether it be steak, pasta, chicken, fish, or veal, they have something for you.

Also, when President Biden was in town for a chat at Proctors in 2017, he celebrated his birthday at D’Raymonds, according to the Times Union. You, too, can order the veal parmesan and rigatoni with homemade sausage and vodka cream sauce and feel presidential.