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All Reader Reviews of...
Butter
415 Lafayette St., New York, NY, 10003
nr. Astor Pl.
212-253-2828
| 6.6 | "Recommended" Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10 |  |
Definitely underrated
femmebot from 10016 | Posted on 7/29/09
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I've been to Butter twice in the past 10 days -- once at lunch then, again, for dinner. The menu was inspired. Flavors were clean, simple yet assertive. Food was consistently stellar. The staff was abundantly attentive. Definitely underrated IMO but that's good for me as I intend to keep returning.
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Good food & ambiance, mediocre service
nermi99 from 10025 | Posted on 7/26/09
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Decided to go to Butter w/friends for Restaurant Week. The Charcuterie Plate appetizer was nothing special, wouldn't order again. For my main, I ordered short ribs: INCREDIBLE. My dish smell AMAZING, was perfectly cooked and beautifully paired with carrots & greens. I was disappointed that dessert advertised online wasn't available (carrot cake), but settled instead on dark choc cake with vanilla ice cream. Cake was tasty, but should have been served warm. Only got a thimbleful of ice cream, which didn't matter cause it was bland. Also tried raspberry beignets with vanilla bean sauce -- VERY good. Not sure if it was because we ordered off the RW menu, but the waiter disappeared as soon as food came out. Never checked in on us -- even to ask if we wanted to order a second bottle of wine. Eventually my friend flagged him down to request coffee (before dessert arrived), but it didn't come until 10 min after our dessert plates were cleared! I expected better/decent service.
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Really Great Restaurant Week Menu
mky84 from 47408 | Posted on 3/23/09
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I know this restaurant does not get rave reviews from critics like some other NYC restaurants, but in my opinion, it deserves to be mentioned alongside some of the great ones. The building itself is amazing with very intriguing interior design. The hostess and server were so very nice and down to earth. The gnocchi and mussels appetizer was great. The duck confit entree is probably the best thing I have ever eaten--soft duck leg meat with a crispy skin, over a bed of lentils topped with slivers of apple and fried brussels sprout leaves. The coconut tart dessert was also pretty good. My only complaints are that the wine by the glass was a little pricy for not being special and that the service dropped a little as the restaurant got busier. In order to combat the service complaints, try to get there before 6:30pm and you'll probably have the same great experience I had.
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Terrible Service
kchandler04 from 10028 | Posted on 2/12/09
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A waiter provided the worst service I've ever had last night. He made no effort to hide the fact that he was disgusted by the fact that my friends and I were at Butter for Restaurant week, he barely deigned to look us in the eyes when were ordering off the restaurant week menu, and then the final straw came when he made mistake, bringing us a bottle of wine costing TWICE the amount of the one that we ordered. He attempted to charge us for both on our check, and when we asked him to take the bottle off that we had ordered but not received, he actually got defensive! It was outrageous and as a waitress myself, I think it's a despicable to treat people. And, of course, to add insult to injury, despite the fact that we did not WANT to leave a 20% tip, one is automatically added to your tab, regardless of table size. The fact that there is no incentive to be nice to your customers was clearly reflected in our waiter's attitude last night.
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Great overall experience
elizabeth87 from 10022 | Posted on 1/18/09
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We wanted to go to Butter because we'd heard so much of it, so when we called at 7:30 on a Saturday night to get a reservation for 9:30 pm, we were surprised to find that Butter had availability. However, we were kept waiting for nearly 45 minutes to be seated, yet we were then given complimentary glasses of champagne to make up for it. Once seated the service was great, our food came quickly, and everything was delicious.
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Lovely place, wonderful food
joshny from 11201 | Posted on 8/4/08
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My group and I will definitely be returning to Butter. We had gone for restaurant week, and had therefore dialed down our expectations a notch, only to be surprised by good service and full portions of excellent food. Reading these poor reviews, I have to wonder if Butter has undergone a change in management. We had no problem with service and we all loved our meals - highlights were the braised short ribs and the creme fresh "chocolate sandwich". We also loved the cavatappi pasta with spicy lamb (one of the only things we ordered that I see on the current site, so I don't know how much of our menu was RW-only). Next time I'll try the duck.
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Restaurant Week Delight
MMCoff from 10011 | Posted on 7/30/08
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I feel as if I am reading reviews of a totally different "Butter" when I read of bad service and poor experiences. Three of my friends and I went yesterday for a Restaurant Week lunch treat. And...that is what we experienced at Butter. The food was exquisite with an unbelievable number of choices (for RW) and full-size portions. The service was attentive but not hovering (which we liked!). The decor worked for us--with a high 80 degree temperature outside , the cool, clean look and feel was perfect. When we were leaving, I asked why it was called "Butter" and we heard the charming story from an equally charming owner. (You have to go to find out!). I think what impressed us the most was that there was no hint of our being second-class patrons (RW problem). in fact, we felt special and welcomed.
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OVERRATED in every way, Not recommended
AWarner from 10003 | Posted on 7/2/08
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Terrible service. Totally agree with the two previous reviews. The reception has no idea what he is doing and has no memory. The interior needs a big face lift, no longer trendy. The overall design is terrible. So many echoes. It is hard to enjoy your dinner. The restrooms are very far away. All dishes are either too salty or too oily in my taste, totally unhealthy. I will definitely not go back. It totally ruined my date. It is definitely not for kids. It is definitely not high-end enough for business lunch or dinner. Trust me. Clients would question your judgement. It will ruin your special occasion for sure.
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The Service IS Still Bad - And its a tourist stop
safarigurl from 11215 | Posted on 4/28/08
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while the food was terrific, the service was absolutely amateurish. trying to hard to be Per Se service but more like Hill Country service. it is also a total TOURIST TRAP. Waited 40 minutes between courses. Server left the amuse bouche on a used bread plate. Our sommolier came over and asked us where we were visiting from and kept recommending we buy $300 bottle of wine even after we told him our budget. Japanese shoppers on one side, Texas bachelorettes on the other. Being featured in Gossip Girl certainly won't help.
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Terrible Service
shadyadi from 10014 | Posted on 1/24/08
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The concept and set up of Butter is very cool and it looked to be a promising evening. Unfortunately my starter was delivered cold, but there was no waiter in sight to ask for another one. Then it took 20 minutes for the waiter to bring over a glass of wine. He seemed extremely un-interested in providing any service and was condescending when he did deign to appear. The entrees were pleasant, but the service so bad that we would not go back.
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