Get ready for some breaking news from the Capital Region’s fried chicken scene: Hattie’s Restaurant, Saratoga’s longtime comfort food HQ, will be opening a new location in the former Lombardo’s Restaurant on Madison Avenue in Downtown Albany.
The news comes three months after Ed Mitzen, CEO of Saratoga-based advertising and marketing agency Fingerpaint, and his wife, Lisa, launched Business for Good (BFG), a foundation that buys for-profit businesses, gives all employees full benefits and competitive salaries, and donates all profits to charity. With the launch of BFG in July, the Mitzens also announced the purchase of Hattie’s, which currently has three locations—the OG restaurant in Downtown Saratoga, Hattie’s Chicken Shack in Wilton and the Hattie’s pop-up at Saratoga Race Course. The Albany restaurant will be the business’ fourth outpost.
“Our goal is to hopefully open up in the spring after we do a pretty major remodel,” Ed Mitzen says of the new location. “In keeping with our [foundation’s mission], the plan is to hire people from the community down there, give them good-paying jobs, pay for their health care, and as we make money, we’ll donate all the profits to charity. Downtown Albany has gone through a little bit of a rough patch, so we’re hoping this will be the start of helping to revitalize downtown.”
BFG also owns and operates Saratoga’s Bread Basket Bakery, which opened a second location in September, as well as Handsome Cock Farm, also in Saratoga.
