Welcome back: We have moved to Triburbia…
The home of the yuppie, helicopter mommy, nanny galore, celeb central, restaurant heavy downtown area of Manhattan. What were we thinking? Having our first baby (it’s a girl!!) meant more space and in our case- a trek on the 1 train or a schlep passed the Midtown Tunnel, as my Jewish father likes to put it, down to Tribeca. And here we are..all three of us. Our youngest is busy eating her fingers and having a view of her own at Tribeca’s finest and not so finest restaurants not to mention all that Manhattan’s eateries have to offer. No better place to start at 3 months and counting with Bubby’s, a downtown kid food institution on N. Moore Street.
The wait for brunch in Manhattan is most always nauseating. Throw in a stroller, a hungry toddler and an elitists Tribeca crowd and you are at Bubby’s. Welcome. After showing up a half an hour early and waiting over an hour to sit down, our party of 5 +baby was seated in the dark depths of the restaurant next to none other than the restrooms. Pissed and hungry, we kindly or quite honestly snappily asked the hostess to speak to the manager-Vinny. Vinny, a very nice tattooed fellow took to our grievances and promised us a new table. So we waited…and we waited..and we waited some more and were finally whisked over to a more superior spot in the northern part of the restaurant by the sunny windows and the deluges of people downing pancakes. We proceeded to order and quickly as we’d been sitting and waiting in total of 2 hours at this point since we had first arrived at Bubby’s door. Drinks were needed ASAP and our crew ordered bloody mary’s and coffee with the assumption that after all this time and annoyance they’d be on the house. Our drinks came out immediately; we shortly ordered after- eggs and burgers. Our huevos rancheros (a house favorite), their specialty of the day- a goat cheese and pear omelets and the boy’s burgers came out fairly quickly and correctly- still no coffee. To our surprise, the food was actually quite tasty and ample despite the terrible service and original hassle of waiting and table. But how hard is it to make eggs or burgers, really?
Upon getting the bill, which was pricey for brunch (think: 20 dollar omelet’s and $ 7.00 side of bacon for a three year old), to our chagrin nothing had been deducted for the poor service and crazy wait. Overall, a bust! Nice manager, short staff and utter chaos. What a way to welcome us to the hood’. 120 Hudson Street | at North Moore (212) 219-0666
JSR