Martel's for a quick, no-nonsense meal

I went to Martel's tonight with the meetup.com Dining Out Group.  Martel's is located at the Capital Hills Golf Course on 65 O'Neil Road in Albany.  Though the golf course is closed for the winter, Martel's is open on a Winter Schedule, which means it is closed on Mondays but open every other day of the week.  Martel's offers a decent meal at a very reasonable price.

The front doors at Martel's lead into a nice, cozy bar area.  Several beers are available on tap.  There are bar stools to sit on and two big screen TV's for your viewing pleasure.  The dining area is located further inside.  The restaurant feels a little bit like a diner, with simple wood tables and chairs.  The tables are lined with paper tablecloths, which makes the restaurant feel a little downmarket.  Crayons are put on the tables so kids (and kids at heart) can draw on the paper.  The dining area boasts large windows which offer an excellent view of the golf course.  The centerpiece of the dining area is a large fireplace.  Overall, Martel's feels cozy and inviting inside. 

Martel's offers a wide selection of sandwiches, salads, pizza and entrees.  The menu is much more extensive than a menu at a typical snack shop, but not as extensive as one at a diner.  Our table of 10 ordered our entrees, and they came out within 20 minutes, which I thought was excellent timing. 

I ordered the chef salad ($7.50) with honey mustard dressing.  The chef salad was quite average.  The portion was about the same as what you would get at TGI Friday's.  My only complaint is that Martel's did not put enough grilled chicken on the salad.   There was perhaps 1/4 pound of grilled chicken on the salad, cut into strips.  Other than that, the salad was quite good.  Most importantly, the iceburg lettuce was fresh and crisp. 

Though I found my entree to be just average, others at the table seemed to have very good-looking entrees.  The gentleman sitting across from me had a very large roast beef sandwich with at least a half pound of rare roast beef on it.  The woman across from me ordered an eggplant parmigiana which also looked extremely tasty.  I was surprised to see such tasty Italian food coming from this non-Italian restaurant.  Her husband ordered a hot roast beef sandwich which was overflowing with meat and came with real mashed potatoes and vegetables.  That is what I should have ordered! 

Martel's is not gourmet, but the atmosphere is cozy, and the prices are very reasonable.  My meal plus tax and tip came out to be just $10.  This is as cheap as getting fast food.  Martel's offers a lot of value for your dollar.  Next time, I will get the hot roast beef sandwich.