The 10 Most-Read SLAH Stories of 2025
No surprise: Foodie news takes the cake.
If there’s one thing about Saratoga Living After Hours readers I know to be true, it’s that they love to read about what they know. Specifically, restaurants they know. This year’s top 10 stories skew heavily toward coverage of beloved eateries (and drinkeries) that changed gears or opened new concepts in 2025…with a few wild cards thrown in there for good measure.
10. The Divot Bar and Grille Opens on West Ave
Fans of The Brick at 2 West were devastated to learn that the restaurant and bar would be shuttering it’s doors this past fall, but their disappointment didn’t last long. Just over two months after the last day of service, the space at 2 West Avenue reopened under new ownership and the same management: The daughter of the previous owners was staying on to run the new spot, which features many of the same fan-favorite dishes as its predecessor and will soon be home to a state-of-the-art virtual putting green.
9. 27 Saratoga Businesses That Are Opening, Closing, or Switching Gears
This year brought with it big changes in Saratoga’s small business scene, from the opening of Fillies on Phila to the closing of Dehn’s Flowers on Beekman Street. This story from late May laid all the latest developments out for SLAH readers.
8. Blade Just Wants to Be Entertained
After years of manifesting an interview with Daniel Macejka, the Saratogian better known as Blade finally granted me a brief 13 minutes on the sidewalk outside of Bailey’s late on a Friday night this summer. Our conversation touched on his love of the Beatles, the origin of the nickname Blade, and why he’s been frequenting Downtown bars for the last 20 years.
7. How to Make Friends in Saratoga
For a while there this winter, I kept coming across people who weren’t just making friends as an adult—they were helping other people make friends as adults. Before our Holiday 2025 Capital Region Living cover story on the community builders who are fostering real, in-life connections right here in upstate New York, there was this article, in which we asked some of the most accomplished relationship-builders how they’re doing it.
6. Wandering Food Dude Owners to Open Brick-and-Mortar Restaurant in Gansevoort
Chef JD Salvato didn’t lose his following when longtime Saratoga restaurant Longfellows closed in 2023—instead, he teamed up with his wife, Lauren (who’d also worked at Longfellows) to start the uber-popular Wandering Food Dude catering. And when, earlier this year, the couple opened their own brick-and-mortar restaurant in Gansevoort, their Saratoga fans wanted to be the first to know about it.
5. Owners of Bocage Champagne Bar to Open New Restaurant on Phila Street
One of our first stories of the year, our exclusive preview of Zac Denham and Clark Gale’s new full-service restaurant, Standard Fare, made quite the splash both on Substack and social media. Since then, the restaurant actually opened, also to much fan”fare” (get it?).
4. Solved! The Mystery Behind Saratoga’s Mystery Machine
After several sightings of what appeared to be a real-life Mystery Machine straight out of Scooby Doo, I got a tip as to who in town was driving such a rig around. Turned out, I wasn’t the only Saratogian curious about the story behind the decked-out Honda Acty. When former Saratoga Living Senior Writer Cierra Orlyk wrote this story, it immediately became one of our most-read posts of all time.
3. 13 North Restaurant Moving to Phila Street, Changing Name
Back in May, we caught wind that 13 North, the restaurant located right off Exit 13 of the Northway, was on the move. By July, we’d landed an interview with owner Patti Weaver, who told us that she and her husband, Larry, would be taking over the former Phila Fusion space on Phila Street, and changing the name of their restaurant to Elody. Fast forward to this week, and Elody has announced its grand opening will be January 2.
2. A Beloved Caroline Street Bar Just Got New Owners
This is another case of a favorite Saratoga establishment changing gears, except this time, two local bars were involved. In early September, the owners of Bailey’s teamed up with local mixologist Justin LaViolette to purchase Lucy’s Bar. The best part? They knew Lucy’s already had a good thing going, so haven’t changed much about the tiny bar.
1. We Tried 4 New Saratoga Restaurants So You Don’t Have to (But You Definitely Should)
And now, for Saratogians’ favorite story of the year: Our February roundup of four new restaurants that had recently opened in and around the Spa City. Highlights of the story include a spicy vegan chicken sandwich from Refresh Kitchen, charcuterie at Familiar Creature, Slidin’ Dirty sliders at Nanola (which has since closed its doors), and a smoked vanilla latte at Putnam Market’s new cafe.
—Natalie
Thanks for being a part of Saratoga Living After Hours this year. It’s because of you—specifically our paying subscribers—that we are able to bring you boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Spa City each and every week. If you’re not a paying subscriber, please consider upgrading your subscription: When you do, you’ll gain access to all past and future SLAH posts, without the pesky paywalls. And, you’ll sleep easy knowing you’ve supported of your hometown magazine at a time when local journalism isn’t a given. Cheers to another great year of SLAH. 🥂