A Look Back at One of Upstate New York’s Most-Missed Restaurants

Want to Feel Old: Crossgates Mall is 40!

It opened back on March 4th, 1984.  I was 11 years old at the time, but I remember it fondly.

Some of my favorite stores back in the day were Teams 'n Tee's, Heaven (a candy store), Sound Traxx, Merry Go Round, Pizzeria Uno, Caldor, JC Penny (which is still there), the Garden Food Court, and of course, Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse.

Who Remembers Bugaboo Creek Steak House?

I'm not sure how many times I ate at Bugaboo Creek, it may have only been 3 or 4 times, but with its rustic lodge, warm fireplace, and talking moose head, how could you ever forget it?

I had a friend who worked as a waiter at Bugaboo in the mid-nineties. His real name was "Scott," but the staff made him change his name to something more like a  mountaineer, so that summer while he was working there, he was known as "Dirk."

We never let him live that down.

Bugaboo Creek opened in 1992 in Rhode Island and came to Crossgates in 1995 where it began a fairly impressive 12-year run, finally shutting down in 2007.  And while it wasn't one of the "original" Crossgates Mall restaurants, it holds a special place in our nostalgic hearts.

Who Cared About the Food?

One would hardly notice that their steak was overcooked, or that their smashed potatoes weren't hot when a stuffed wild critter came to life near a tree, or a fish started flapping on the wall.

And let's not forget about the talking moosehead on the wall that greeted customers.

The animatronics were a bit glitchy and they were known to scare small children, but none of that mattered when the warm bread came out.  Some of you might even remember being told to "kiss" the moose for good luck on your birthday.

If that happened to you, I apologize for bringing back a memory you may have suppressed for two and a half decades.

It was the kind of gimmicky restaurant you'd see in Disneyworld, where the decor was exemplary and the food mediocre, but the memories are forever, and to this day, people cite Bugaboo as one of the most missed restaurants in the Capital Region.