Babbo has long been one of my favorite restaurants in New York. They do wonderful things with pasta and have a pasta menu that can be made vegetarian. I have dined there four or five times over the last two years and enjoyed it, up until recently.
Recently, I made a later-than-usual reservation after the New York Century. I figured after riding my bike 100 miles through New York City, a late reservation seemed a good idea. When I arrived, the host said my table was not ready and I could to order a drink at the crowded bar, at my expense. My guest and I did not order a drink. The thought of waiting for a table I had reserved and paying for drinks to do so rubbed me the wrong way, so we stood with many others in the entry and waited. After about 15 minutes, the host brought us each a complimentary glass of champagne. My guest and I were seated about 25 to 30 minutes after our reservation time.
We had a lovely table upstairs in the corner, but by this time, I was tired and the pasta tasting menu no longer sounded appealing so I had a salad and called it quits for the evening. A hoped for celebratory evening came to a lackluster end.
I thought this was a one-time occurrence as it had not happened previously. But last week, I again had a late reservation (confirmed by the restaurant with three calls to me), showed on time only to be told I would not be seated for about 25 minutes. The host tried to pass this off as a one-time issue. He tried to blame it on weather that did not exist. I said this was the second time I had experienced this in the last two visits. He appeared surprised by my response. Feeling a bit stuck (where else was I to go at this time and I had already spent $20 on a cab), my guest and I waited. We watched as others were told the same lines. A party of four with reservations were led to a table for two in the noisy and cramped bar area. After 30 minutes my guest and I were seated. The host did come by with a blood orange salad as an apology gift. Again, we ordered less than we otherwise would have. What would have been a $500 check became a $250 check, but Babbo filled an 11:00 pm reservation slot they likely otherwise could not have. Was it worth it to them? Perhaps. Babbo is a hot ticket. Jennifer Aniston was in the night before.
I have been to hot restaurants including Noma, Fat Duck and French Laundry and have never seen one that could not manage their reservations. I've not seen this at low-end restaurants. To err once is a possible mistake; but twice shows disrespect for customers.
There are other Italian restaurants in New York and many are better. Scarpetta http://www.scarpettarestaurants.com/menus/new-york-menus/ does a very nice vegetarian menu. Dovetail http://dovetailnyc.com/pdfs/Dovetail.MondayVeg.pdf though not strictly Italian is another nice alternative. Unfortunately, Babbo and I need to call it quits.
Recently, I made a later-than-usual reservation after the New York Century. I figured after riding my bike 100 miles through New York City, a late reservation seemed a good idea. When I arrived, the host said my table was not ready and I could to order a drink at the crowded bar, at my expense. My guest and I did not order a drink. The thought of waiting for a table I had reserved and paying for drinks to do so rubbed me the wrong way, so we stood with many others in the entry and waited. After about 15 minutes, the host brought us each a complimentary glass of champagne. My guest and I were seated about 25 to 30 minutes after our reservation time.
We had a lovely table upstairs in the corner, but by this time, I was tired and the pasta tasting menu no longer sounded appealing so I had a salad and called it quits for the evening. A hoped for celebratory evening came to a lackluster end.
I thought this was a one-time occurrence as it had not happened previously. But last week, I again had a late reservation (confirmed by the restaurant with three calls to me), showed on time only to be told I would not be seated for about 25 minutes. The host tried to pass this off as a one-time issue. He tried to blame it on weather that did not exist. I said this was the second time I had experienced this in the last two visits. He appeared surprised by my response. Feeling a bit stuck (where else was I to go at this time and I had already spent $20 on a cab), my guest and I waited. We watched as others were told the same lines. A party of four with reservations were led to a table for two in the noisy and cramped bar area. After 30 minutes my guest and I were seated. The host did come by with a blood orange salad as an apology gift. Again, we ordered less than we otherwise would have. What would have been a $500 check became a $250 check, but Babbo filled an 11:00 pm reservation slot they likely otherwise could not have. Was it worth it to them? Perhaps. Babbo is a hot ticket. Jennifer Aniston was in the night before.
I have been to hot restaurants including Noma, Fat Duck and French Laundry and have never seen one that could not manage their reservations. I've not seen this at low-end restaurants. To err once is a possible mistake; but twice shows disrespect for customers.
There are other Italian restaurants in New York and many are better. Scarpetta http://www.scarpettarestaurants.com/menus/new-york-menus/ does a very nice vegetarian menu. Dovetail http://dovetailnyc.com/pdfs/Dovetail.MondayVeg.pdf though not strictly Italian is another nice alternative. Unfortunately, Babbo and I need to call it quits.
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