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Buddha Bar
25 Little West 12th St., New York, NY, 10014
nr. Ninth Ave.
212-647-7314
| 4.0 | "Not Recommended" Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10 |  |
For Clubbing? NO, NO, NO!!!
HaLa from 11216 | Posted on 8/12/09
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Disclaimer: I was dragged here against my will by friends visiting from out of town, even though I warned them that BB is NOT a CLUB. BB is a RESTAURANT! Don't be deceived by the rude doorman, the ropes or the sad tourists standing in line - BB is NOT a CLUB. If you do get dragged to BB, be prepared for crappy music blaring from blown speakers and no dance floor/space, which leaves the tourists to dance around dinner tables. Nice. And, the primary criteria for gaining entrance appears to be agreeing to a table/bottle service (which we did not and jumped the line anyhow), as the clientele was almost entirely composed of scroungily dressed tourists. I would recommend going to BB if you're a tourist who has no idea how to dress to go out in NYC and your only option is to buy your way into a "club." We left BB fast and went to a proper NYC club with amazing music, a real dance floor and a door policy based on allowing in only classy clientele.
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A Nightmare of an experience.
DD728 from 11363 | Posted on 10/26/08
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A friend & I had dinner in the restaurant at 8pm, which was nice - cool decor, good food & an attentive waiter. After dinner, we moved to the lounge to reserve a table & bottles & wait for our friends to arrive. (My brother & I were told in several calls that tables can't be reserved in advance.) Once in the lounge, we were introduced to Felix, who arranged for us to have a table that goes for 4-5 bottles, for "just" 3 bottles. Felix then agreed to sell us 2 bottles, on the condition that we had a max of 10 people join us, whom Felix would personally let in. When our friends arrived, Felix would NOT let them in. I went ballistic & got most of our party inside, after fighting with Felix. Jimmy, the nasty owner & ruler of the door, refused to let 4 of our guy friends in, who wanted to buy more bottles. 2 bottles & $900 later, we left & met the rest of our friends at One. The staff at Buddha is the worst I've ever come across & this place is NOT worth the inevitable heartache you will experience.
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OBNOXIOUS staff!
cooper13 from 10003 | Posted on 7/21/08
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I have NEVER dealt with such unprofessional, DISRESPECTFUL and unaccommodating staff! Running late for our reservation, we called and were told as long as we were okay waiting at the bar for a little, it would be fine. We arrived (celebrating birthday & engagement) and were checking in with a host when UDI, the RUDE MAITRE'D interrupted and informed me that he could not accommodate us until 11:30pm! When told he was being rude, he responded, "Yes I am being rude". Asked for a manager after an hour and he seated us at a 3 top (4 people) 2 feet from the coffee room. They had 5 four top tables open throughout the night and could have seated us (one open 40 min). When questioning the table, we were told Âthis is the one Udi is giving us". We left to STK and they were packed but took care of us in 15 minutes! Food is consistently better and so is the staff!! Food at BB is mediocre; good only for atmosphere which is not worth the headache! I have never been spoken to / treated so rudely by restaurant staff and the error was on their part!
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Quite Good, but Not Great
Make_It_A_Double from 10021 | Posted on 6/28/08
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I enjoyed my dinner at Buddha Bar and so did the others in my party (4 total). The service was decent, the food was better than average, the theme/ambiance, including the music, was great. The drinks were definitely overpriced as was everything in general. You can tell that, like many places in NY, half of what you pay for is just the "cool" factor, which is pretty overrated for anyone who has lived here for more than a few months. With that said, I'd probably go back in the future if I have friend who's visiting from out of town and wants to go to a "cool" place.
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Awful food
REDemery from NY10006 | Posted on 1/4/08
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Style over substance. The food was awful, my sashimi was frozen in the middle, the lobster was bland and the shrimp curry made a ready meal appear tasty. Go for a drink (coconut mojitos are a winner), but make sure you eat beforehand.
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Obnoxious Door
ues_nyc from 10021 | Posted on 7/7/07
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While they literally beg you to come on a weekday, weekends is a different game where bottle service must be purchased. I read somewhere that Buddha Bar revenues had gone down and the previous manager had been fired. With people like this at the door, i am not surprised customers are looking at different options. Simply rude.
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SEXY
Jkhoroz88 from 07024 | Posted on 12/28/06
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It was very sexy, the crowd kicked ass. Just because they serve food does not mean you have to eat it. I was disappointed that the food was not very good. The one in Paris is better. I would certainly go back.
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Great music bar, awful restaurant (bad food, terrible service)
HyunJungLeePark from 10023 | Posted on 12/15/06
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The subject line of my review says it all. Nice place, great decor (similar to unrelated Tao), awesome music as all Buddha Bars. Drinks ok, dont adventure with martinis. Restaurant is terrible. Service is awful. Food never came together, so some people in my table had to wait for ever until the rest were served. At least the waiter could have advised for how long more we had to wait. Sushis are very bad quality. The only thing worth trying was the tiger shrimp appetizer and the steak. Otherwise, nothing amazing, rather poor quality. The waiter spilled a glass of water on the table before even taking the order, and never worried cleaning. Never got the chopsticks I asked for. Waiter is too busy to make you any suggestion or explain anything on the meny for you. For the price, at least I expect more attention than that. And to end the night, can you believe a waiter who brings one dessert menu for a party of 4? after he never brought anything we asked during dinner. Skip restaurant and stop by the bar if you want a taste of this place.
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Terrible Service
julesf from 10012 | Posted on 11/13/06
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This past weekend a group of friends all wanted to celebrate together over a nice meal. We decided to go to Buddha Bar. We made the wrong decision. Not only were we not allowed to order what we wanted off the menu, but we were told that we had to order a minimum cost per head. We were instructed we had to order entrees, when none of the entrees suited us, we preferred the sushi menu and appetizers. A total that would have equaled the same if not more in cost compared to the entrees. The minimum per head was not a big deal when it came to cost, it was just how rudely it was conveyed. One of the managers came up to our table and said "Ladies, you are at a restaurant. If you don't order the entrees, you're on your own." The staff that we interacted with was rude, unprofessional, and appalling. We would NEVER recommend eating, drinking, or socializing here to anyone.
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right to video
foodczar from 10019 | Posted on 10/16/06
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Having been a fan of buddha bar for years and owning a dozenof their cds and having been to the original in paris i was most excited to try the one in new york.However ,the peanut pot stickers from lean cuisine ,are vastly superior to the version that i was subjected to tonight (10/16/2006).Perhaps the other people are happy with a much hyped,and late in opening ,theme restaurent, in the over saturated meatpacking district but i was not.The waiter whose third language was english was annoying ,in that at these prices at least you might have understood what was being thrown at you ,go to empire szechen and wear dark glasses,at least the food is better.dja
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