All Over Albany

The doughboys at Esperanto

In a hole-in-the-wall on Caroline Street in Saratoga, between The T&L and Desperate
Annie's, lies the best damn hot pocket you've ever had. Real golden brown pizza dough-- crunchy outside, just the right amount of chewy inside -- stuffed with grilled chicken breast, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Colby cheese (yay cheese!) and a secret mix of spices. The doughboy is just about the best thing you can eat for only three bucks.

But a Hot Pocket it is not. In fact, a Hot Pocket wishes it could be a doughboy at Esperanto.

Inspired by street foods from around the world, Esperanto makes "real" fast food that's
affordable. They do soups and burritos and other good stuff, but the doughboy has become their signature thing.

The cheese and chicken pockets started as a grad school experiment in the 90s -- and they caught on fast. For a while, Esperanto had trouble keeping up with demand. (Things could get ugly on Caroline Street when Esperanto ran out of dough boys.) Since then the owners have invested more than ten thousand dollars in dough presses and
hi tech pizza ovens to get it just right. Today they're a doughy, cheesy gold mine, making up 35 percent of the shop's business.

The Bottom Line

Grab one after a night on the town, or pair it with soup for a hearty lunch. But whatever you do, don't tell your cardiologist.