Zagat Survey Discussions

I read the great book ‘Heat’ by Bill Buford and wanted to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in restaurant Babbo, the place where Bill Buford took an internship… So romantic at Washington 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 constantly 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 green 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 (Sex 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.

Not the first time I've heard or read of this kind of experience at Babbo. My only question is, if the service was fine, why leave a 6% tip? The tip is not for the food, it is for the service, and your post seems to suggest that the service was, at least, adequate. Certainly the serving staff was aware of your being seated late, and you indicate that they engaged in problem solving (returning the burnt vegetable and bringing a new one). The problems you had were with the taste of the food and the failure of management to compensate you adequately (at the very least, a comped round of drinks at the bar, some nibbles, and a personal appearance by the manager). Why punish the waitstaff?

As you stated, having read the great book, "Heat" di d you not remember Bill's info on coming in for an 11:00ish dinner - that the chef comes off the line at 10:00, the beer begins to flow in the kitchen, the pasta water looks like a science experiment as their policy is not to change it, and most importantly, with a kitchen crew that's been prepping and cooking nonstop since early/midafternoon, do you honestly think at that hour, your meal was prepared with love? You should have heeded the advice of the author and thought twice about sitting down to eat at 12:00?? And shame on you for a $10 tip! I don't care what the food outcome was, absolutely no reason to penalize the server. I ate at Babbo last year for a special occasion, ordered the tasting menu and thoroughly enjoyed the complete experience. 

It's sad to learn of your experience, because I LOVE Babbo. I've only been there twice, but enjoyed both occasions. The first time I was there was late in the evening too, but we had a good experience...I even remember what I had...veal cheek ravioli. My husband and I went there last October and had a great experience - even with NO reservation! We were a bit crammed but had a great dinner including Papparadelle with Black Truffles. My husband had Osso Buco for dinner which was a little dry, but everything else was great. 

My only complaint about Babbo is their reservation process. I called a million times and the phone was never answered. My hotel concierge rolled her eyes when I asked her to call the restaurant (thinking I was doing something wrong) and explained that Babbo has one of the worst reservations systems in NYC.

Sorry to hear of your bad experience - that's never fun especially when you're spending a lot of money.

STRONGLY AGREEEEEEEEE!!!!!
What ever you do, please dont go to Babbo!!!
“THE WORST NIGHT OF OUR LIFE” 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 Rankers: Be objective!. Don’t loose the credibility to pamper Mr. Battali…, without that this is only a restaurant directory.

I agree (with the knowledge of hindsight) that the tip for the waitstaff was too low. My apologies to whom it may concern. It was not our intention to punish the server, or what so ever.
I'm afraid it has mainly to do with 'tipping culture' .... we are Dutch :-)
Thanks for your eye opener.

My question is: what would have been a reasonable tip in this case?

Erik,
Appropriate tipping in the USA is a minimum of 15% (of the subtotal), although in New York City 20% has become the norm. You can choose whether to deduct the cost of the bottle of wine from the subtotal, or tip based on the lowest priced bottle on the list. Again, since you found the service to be unobjectionable, it would not be unreasonable of you to tip at least the minimum. Better yet, next time leave the restaurant as soon as it appears you will not be enjoying yourself. Being seated more than 1 hour past your reservation time without any recourse or even apologies from management is a sure sign of an uncaring restaurant.

There are many threads on the Zagat site that discuss tipping.

I will apologize in advance for sounding harsh, or even rude, but as a traveler in this country, it would not be impolite of you to at least read up on appropriate customs and traditions. They are usually listed in the first few pages of any recognized guidebook.

Thanks Jeremy for your kind advise. I probably overlooked that part in our ZAGAT :-)

Eriks,
While I agree that one tips for service and not for the quality of the food, I think that the service experienced here was terrible.

1. 10:45 resy being seated at midnight, and no free drinks from the bar or manager

2. A burnt vegetable being substitued with another burnt vegetable. The waiter could see it was burnt. He could get them a vegetable that's not burnt ot tell them it's not possible and substitue something else.

3. Manager told them bill would be adjusted, but then it wasn't.

All this is bad service in my book!

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Favorite Toast: May the best days of your past be the worst days of your future. (Opinions expressed on this forum are my own and not a reflection of Zagat management)