Butter is Better Diner & Bakery — Restaurant in Chiang Mai Province

I give 2 stars. One for the food and drink the other for some of the staff.

In the restaurant I was using my phone to leave a voice message to a friend in a different country. I wasn't loud and this was for like 1-2 mins.

An old American lady then started complaining to the waiter that I was calling someone on my phone and the restaurant should have a sign, no phones 😂. A. I wasn't. B. I was not being noisy and it's not illegal to use a phone at a table. The couple next to me were chatting and louder than me. The people in the kitchen were louder than me. The music was louder than me.

She then confronted me and we went back and forth on this issue. Then as she was leaving, I heard the waiter say to her, we will try and get a 'no phone sign'. I was 😂😂😂, imagine that in Thailand of all places. So I found this a place I wouldn't go back to again because of this incident. They obviously want to support their regulars, which I understand, so fair enough.

Decent enough place though, just watch out for Granny Goggins. 🧓

*Updated to owners response. I am very sorry for the problems in your family, I'll pray for you. I too lost my close family to cancer recently so know how tough it is, especially the end of life care, so I'm truly sorry.

However this review regards how I was belittled in your restaurant, insulted and my whole experienced ruined by one of your regulars. So it's not about me changing my review because that actually happened. It's about you instructing your staff, if you wish, to protect other customers from aggressive customers. That of course is your choice whether you do that or not. As I said, I enjoyed the food and drink and most of the staff were great. To be made to not feel comfortable though, likely because she thought I was Thai and then was shocked with my British accent, is not what I expect in a restaurant anywhere in the world. I wish you...

My partner and I have been traveling through Southeast Asia for the last four weeks and were really looking forward to a meal that reminded us of back home. After a web search and based on the great reviews seen on both trip advisor and google, we decided to have lunch at Butter is Better on July 29, 2019. I was born and raised in New York City so when I read the menu and saw the corned beef with its the catchy description, I had to give it a try. I ordered the Skyscraper lean corned beef on "rye." The corned beef tasted like it had been heated in the microwave and was not lean at all. What made it worse is that the menu claimed to taste better than any corned beef sandwich anyone can currently find in N.Y. This was an insult to a restaurant like Katz Deli in NYC that really serves freshly cooked corned beef. The coleslaw was horrible, no flavor. The 4 potato wedges that came with it had no seasoning. My partner ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara that claimed to be pasta shipped from Italy and imported cheese. The bacon was undercooked, the pasta tasted bland and the sauce tasted worse than a store bought can. The best part was a random piece of toast with butter to help get rid of the spaghetti taste. The service had a few points that need attention: A male server kept wiping nose and not washing hands as he continued to serve food. The female servers continuously looked at us and giggles (very awkward.) Another female server was picking up a cat and playing with the cat and then serving people (again without washing hands.) A male and two female servers were seeing eating behind the counter and serving food (again without washing hands.)

In closing, we would be willing to give this place another try in one of our future visits but not before these concerns receive the proper attention. We also highly recommend the staff receive new customer...

Is Butter really Better? There are some mixed reviews for Butter Is Better. People seem to love it or hate it. I am not sure I am going help clarify the situation given my review.

On the positive front - the food was generally good (with exceptions noted below). The decor and atmosphere was definitely 'American diner chic', which is nice to see in Chiang Mai because it's a bit different. The service was pretty good and friendly despite it being a busy Sunday brunch service (with one exception noted below).

Food - we had the crepes and a pastrami sandwich with onion rings. The crepes were excellent and the sauce they came with was good. The sandwich was nice, with the pastrami cut relatively thick. The home cured (I think) meat was tasty. However, the coleslaw that came with it was insipid. It lacked seasoning or vinegar, or both and was very watery. (1/2 star off). For an 'American diner' it should have been a lot better. On the positive note the onion rings were amongst the best we have had in Thailand.

Service - it was busy with every indoor table occupied. Despite this our order was taken quickly and without fuss. However the crepes came out WAY before the pastrami sandwich, so my lunch partner had nearly finished before I even got my food (she had to start since the ice cream on the side was melting!). This is a pet peeve of mine, and I value kitchens that can get the logistics of orders right. So one star off.

Overall - I would give Butter is Better 3.5 stars, but I rounded up since this is not possible. Will we be back? Yes, but maybe when it's less busy and now that we know the extensive menu a...