10/18/09

good pasta

by sadienyc25

great food---amazing pasta and wine. staff is helpful when ordering but could be more friendly. the decor is great and nice for a date spot. expensive but def an experience.

10/02/09

Worst Place EVER

by Utexas

Rude when we made rsvp and rude when we got there. Never again. As for the food, it was not all that and def. not worth the trouble. Def. a two thumbs down!

09/21/09

BABBO: THE WORST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES

by BrunoMastretta

“THE WORST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES” The bold at the entrance is extremely rude. He ignored us and kept me and my wife waiting for 2 ours standing up, and when we complained he yelled at us!!!. 1)Mr. Batalli:Why low class employees?; 2)Rank:Food is not “that good” -27 Zagat ranked? Never!; 3)Clients:OPEN YOUR EYES!; 4)Zagat&other Rankers: Be objective!. Don’t loose the credibility to pamper Mr. Battali…, without that this is only a restaurant directory.

• Pros: NOTHING!!!
• Cons: Poor Service, Pricy, Completley Overated, Mediocre Food

09/07/09

So disappointed with Babbo Balsamico

by mirjam nl

I read the great book ‘Heat’ by Bill Bufford and wanted to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in restaurant Babbo, the place where Bill Bufford took an internship… So romantic at Wasgington Square Park for us Amsterdam people.

I knew it was a hype so called them 5 months in advance to learn that one can make a reservation one month in advance at maximum. I followed this instruction and we were 'lucky' to get a 10:45 reservation. Mind you, PM! Okay so far, so good.

We arrived in a good mood 5 minutes early. We were asked to wait to be seated, and enjoyed a couple of good drinks at the bar with a constanly apologizing barkeeper. At midnight our table was ready. We ordered fungi and sardines as antipasti. There we learned Babbo's preference for balsamico. We had a salad on the side from grean beans tasting very much like… balsamico. The primo was a shared spicy spaghetti, just a little balsamico. By the way it was so late, and the music was so loud (S*x Pistols and that kind of music) that we only wanted to go to sleep, but we still had one course to go. The secundo was an outright disappointment. I had a skirt and huge balsamico beef and my husband’s branzino was very plain and was served together with a completely cremated black piece of vegetable tasting of balsamico. He asked what kind of burned vegetable it was and that he is not particularly fond of burned vegetables (health freak he is!). The answer was that it was their style to burn it completely black but they would bring a new one. Same degree of fire wounds ...

We were so disappointed that we asked for the check, without ordering a desert or even coffee. All we wanted was out of this place to bed at 1.30am. This signal was read by the personnel and they sent us a manager who apologized and said that he would adjust the bill accordingly. We paid a mere $160 (no discount on the bill found, but too tired to get into a new discussion), My husband left a $10 tip and wrote on the AMEX slip 'for the service, not the food'.

What had to be a celebration became a little disaster. We definitely ate twice at Babbo at Sunday Sept 6th: our first and last time.

I cannot recommend Babbo, and I strongly believe this place is terribly overhyped. And the arrogance from the reservation till you leave the place is one big joke, at least if you look at it from a simple gastronomic perspective.

Fried air ... below zero.

• Pros: hyped
• Cons: arrogance reservations loudness balsamico

08/23/09

Nice place

by Gaby

This place is really cute. We had reservations made about a month in advance and got there pretty early but we still had to wait about 15-20 mins and the lower level is really small and packed, so there isnt much room where to wait. The food was good and so was the wine. I went this past week and did a tasting kind of menu where basically you go through like 8 courses including appetizers, main courses and deserts, and every course comes with a wine pairing. The wines were all pretty good (I liked the reds better) and the desert was really good. I would definitely go again.

• Pros: Good food, great wine
• Cons: Waiting so long to get a reservation

07/26/09

Amazing food despite the hassles

by KarenTX

The food here is great, but I don't go very frequently because it's nearly impossible to get a reservation. Waiting for their stand-by tables is a huge hassle becuase they make you wait inside, crammed up against the bar -- often for more than an hour.

• Pros: Great pastas and main dishes
• Cons: Crowded and nearly impossible to get a reservation

07/18/09

Highly overrated

by ShermanBB

This restaurant used to shine (See Frank Bruni's review from a few years back). But, while it's a "good" restaurant, I it is not "great". There are much better choices around New York. The contorni (the Babbo Greens and the Rapini) are far too salty, for example, to the point of being inedible. No dish particularly stood out -- although the bread was excellent. The wine list is very good, however. I have been twice, once in 2005 and then yesterday. I would not go again.

• Pros: Very tasty olive oil
• Cons: Reservations; smug service; mediocre food

07/15/09

Worth the Wait!

by UpWest132

Making a reservation at this restaurant was almost as hard as trying to score Bruce Springsteen concert tickets. I called exactly one (1) month before the day of my wife's birthday (when their reservation lines opened) and got a busy signal for almost half an hour.

On the night of our dinner we were glad we weren't late. The lower level dining room was packed. I felt bad for those who were seated there because people waiting to be seated were almost standing on top of them. The upper level where we sat was beautiful tthough small.

The food and wine were excellent. The thing that amazed my wife and I the most was the service. I have never in my life seen a more attentive staff. We never had to ask for refills on water or wine, our questions were politely answered and our food was brought on time. To my surprise the bill wasn't as much as I had expected. We made sure the tip reflected the service. This is by far the best restaurant we have ever been to.

• Pros: Excellent Service
• Cons: Reservations hard to place

06/06/09

Terrible! Rudest host I have ever encountered!

by ladynyc0001

So a few weeks ago I went to have a late dinner meeting with a business associate of mine and one of his colleagues. I was coming from another meeting so I told them I would meet them there. I was dressed elegantly in a simple black dress and heels. Definitely in good taste. I am in my twenties, but that should be beside the point. I arrived and asked where my party was and the host was SO RUDE to me it was unbelievable!! He basically stepped out and stood in front of me as to block me from entering and said "We don't want your kind here. Go somewhere else". Now, I model for a living, so I would say confidently I am pretty attractive, and definitely carry myself with class and sophistication. I was not wearing anything provacative, so for this man to react like this and EMBARASS me infront of people was UNACCEPTABLE. I tried to explain to him I was meeting two colleagues of mine for a business dinner, and he said "No. Sorry". I felt helpless, embarassed and turned around and ran out crying. Apparently this ignorant host, had just dismissed a crowd of rowdy young people, and JUST BECAUSE I am young and female, he ASSUMED I was with this group!!! Can he get more ignorant??? Once he realized, I was in fact there for a meeting, he ran outside and apologized to me. How dare he? AS IF I WOULD EVER COME BACK IN THERE! This is New York City sweetheart, there are PLENTY of other good italian restuarants with employees that KNOW HOW TO BE POLITE AND HOW TO HANDLE CUSTOMERS. I live here and dine out at fine food establishments all the time, and have NEVER had a problem like this! I have never in my life been so insulted. My associate was also very put off and embarassed over the situation. NONE OF US WILL EVER GO TO BABBO AGAIN. AND I DEFINITELY DON'T RECCOMEND IT TO ANYONE ELSE. I attempted to call Babbo a few days later to complain to management, and after several times of being told that the managers were "unavailable" and empty promises that my phone calls would be returned, I gave up. Not even worth it. I definitely don't recommend this LOW-CLASS establishment to anyone. And alittle advice to the very rude host: Get a clue! We are over the snobby "too important for you attitude", you are a host after all! Have some respect for people! Work on your people skils buddy.

• Pros: I wouldn't know the rude host prevented me from entering
• Cons: The host. Rude. Ignorant. Should find a new job.

04/22/09

What I had was averageExample: great place for good bread

by btour

So I had the lamb tongue as a starter and the goat cheese ravioli as an entrée. The tongue was extremely oily and tasted more like bacon swimming in fat. The goat cheese ravioli was OK but very heavy and plenty of butter. Easy on the oil guys, it's good but too much of it turns the food heavy (cooking 101). Now, the service was impeccable!

• Pros: Service
• Cons: Some dishes aren't worth it