SARATOGA SPRINGS — After 18 years with the word “Prime” in its name, the restaurant at Saratoga National Golf Course reopens Thursday following its annual winter break with a renovated interior, more casual menu and new name, Heritage at Saratoga National.
It continues to be managed by Clifton Park-based Mazzone Hospitality. The company took over food operations at the Union Avenue course in 2008 and turned what had been called Sargo’s into a high-end steakhouse, Prime at Saratoga National, as a sibling to Mazzone Hospitality founder Angelo Mazzone’s Albany restaurant, Angelo’s 677 Prime. For the past two years, the golf course’s eatery was named Prime Restaurant.
The name Heritage reflects the decades-long friendship and nearly 20-year partnership at Saratoga National between course owner Tom Newkirk and Mazzone, according to Devin Manz, marketing manager for Mazzone Hospitality. It is also designed to rebrand the restaurant and distance it from the steakhouse identity and the Prime brand, Manz said Wednesday. (Angelo Mazzone sold 677 Prime to its founding chef in 2017.)
The new menu is by the restaurant’s executive chef, Dan Beltran, who joined Saratoga National last year from Salt & Char steakhouse in Saratoga, in consultation with Mazzone Hospitality’s culinary director, Brian Molino. It is streamlined, with 10 fewer savory items than previous menus and two steaks instead of four; the absence of the priciest steaks drops the average entree price from $53 for Prime Restaurant to $35 at Heritage. The menu will also be the same for lunch and dinner, and it includes new shareable items such as chicken wings, hummus platter, lamb dumplings and steamed mussels.
To cater to changing dining patterns that show an increasing number of patrons prefer lighter meals with drinks in a more casual setting, Manz said, renovations include an expanded bar and lounge area with more couches and club chairs around low tables and regular dining tables, separated by a floor-to-ceiling curtain from a formal dining room that can also be used for private events.
For the first week, Heritage will serve dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. through Saturday and be closed Sunday to Tuesday. Easter Sunday brunch is sold out. Starting Wednesday, April 8, the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday. The golf season begins April 10.