Walk down Lark Street past Hudson Avenue on a Friday night this month and you will smell fryer oil before you see the neon. The big round sign over 258 Lark St. lights up again, smaller than the twelve-foot Bombers sign that used to hang there, but doing the same job: telling you something is open in a building that has changed hands twice since 2023. What is actually inside now is Herbie's Burgers, a regional operator opening a new location on this stretch of Lark Street.
A Sign Comes Back On
The Times Union reported that Herbie's Burgers opened its ninth location and first full bar inside the old Bombers Burrito Bar building this summer, about a month before this was written. The basement holds a counter-serve kitchen turning out smashburgers, fried chicken, fries, and shakes, the same layout Bombers used for a quarter century after it started in that basement back in 1997. Upstairs is new: Herbie's Clubhouse, a bar with sixteen arcade games split between the two floors, including a Space Jam pinball machine of which only 800 were ever made, supplied and maintained by a Queensbury nonprofit called Arcade Archeology. It is the first Herbie's location with a liquor license.
That basement detail matters more than it looks. Bombers ran a counter-serve operation downstairs and a bar scene upstairs for years. Herbie's didn't reinvent the building. It filled the same footprint that made Bombers work in the first place, just with burgers instead of burritos and an arcade instead of tequila shots.
The Building's Recent Tenants
Bombers closed for good in the summer of 2023, ending a 26-year run that started when its founder walked away from a poker win at Turning Stone Casino. What happened to 258 Lark St. after that is the part worth paying attention to if you live nearby.
- 2023: Bombers closes. The building sits empty for months.
- Summer 2024: Out of Town Bistro opens in the space, run by a downtown entrepreneur who had previously founded two other food businesses on North Pearl Street.
- Roughly two years later: Out of Town Bistro is gone. Herbie's takes over the lease.
Down the street, a bar called Post gave way to Larkin Hi-Fi, which closed after running into regulatory trouble. The storefronts have seen tenant changes over the same few years.
As reported by the Times Union, Herbie's co-owner Nick Warchol described opening night at 258 Lark, with a full house at his own bar and a packed crowd next door at Pint Sized:
"You can see people coming back to Lark Street. It does not feel like zombieland."
Herbie's New Lark Street Location
258 Lark St. is a multi-level space with a basement kitchen, an upstairs bar, and a sixteen-game arcade. Herbie's has brought those features together in its new location.
Before this location opened, Herbie's had eight locations total, including a second Albany spot on the Empire State Plaza concourse and others in Clifton Park, Guilderland, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Troy, and Brooklyn. That matters because a business already running seven other locations may bring experience with food costs, staffing, and build-outs to a new location.
Herbie's new location adds a full bar and arcade to the regional operator's footprint. For anyone who has watched storefronts turn over on Lark Street, its opening is another development to note on the block.
Two Blocks Over, One Building Is Doing Double Duty
A few blocks away, Washington Park has its own fall events in a distinctive historic building. The Lake House, the Spanish Revival structure with terrazzo floors and wrought-iron chandeliers that has anchored the park since 1929, is hosting two very different crowds within eight days of each other this fall.
On October 3rd of this year, the Washington Park Conservancy holds its annual fundraising gala there, a garden party with a wine bar from Capital Wine and Spirits, catering from BMT Hospitality, piano music from Dan DeKalb, and a silent auction built around autumn plants and floral arrangements. A week later, on October 10th, the same building hosts the sixth annual Halloween Twilight Market, an evening market with a much more casual, family-facing crowd.
One building, one week apart, two events with different formats and audiences. The Lake House can host a wine-and-silent-auction crowd on a Saturday and a market crowd with kids in costumes the following weekend.
What This Actually Means If You Live Here
Together, these are two developments in the area: Herbie's has opened at 258 Lark Street, and the Lake House is hosting two October events. Both offer residents and visitors opportunities to spend time in the area this fall.
If you're already living around Center Square or Washington Park, that's worth knowing before you plan your next few weekends. Grab a burger and try your luck on the Space Jam machine at 258 Lark. Then swing by the Lake House on the 3rd or the 10th, depending on whether you're in the mood for a plant auction or a Halloween market.
If you're weighing what any of this means for a home nearby, or just want a straight answer about how a specific block or building affects value, I'm always happy to talk it through. Reach out to Shari Fox and let's connect.
