Budapest cafe — Restaurant in New York

Next up is a gem of a spot my friend and I stumbled upon on a warm Friday afternoon: Budapest Café — a name I hadn’t heard before, yet now won’t soon forget.

We were actually heading toward the donut shop next door when something made us pause. The window display at Budapest caught our eye—golden pastries glowing in the sun, delicate tarts and warm savories arranged with care. It felt like a gentle invitation, and we couldn’t help but follow the call.

Tucked quietly away in a manner that felt almost cinematic, this café gave the impression of an old Italian eatery from a ’90s film—unassuming, nostalgic, and beautifully slow in all the right ways. It’s the kind of place you might pass by a dozen times and never think to enter, until one day you do—and suddenly wonder why it took you so long.

The experience was nothing short of lovely. From the moment we stepped inside, the space offered a calm kind of warmth: soft sunlight, vintage accents, and that subtle hush that lets conversations linger. But what truly made it feel special was the staff. Eric and Erica were incredibly gracious—welcoming us with such natural kindness that it instantly set the tone for everything that followed.

Here’s what we ordered:

– Freshly baked cheese puffs – warm, flaky, and truly god-sent. Buttery in all the right ways, and melting on the tongue. – Apricot tart – delicate, lightly sweet, and balanced with a quiet tartness that lingered. – Raspberry & chocolate cookie – a bold, chewy delight with just enough depth to feel indulgent. – Spinach and feta pastry – savory, comforting, and perfectly crisp. – A flat white and iced americano – both brewed with a clear attention to quality and taste.

Every detail felt considered, but never overdone. It was the kind of visit that reminded me how much charm still exists in quiet, independently run spaces—those rare cafés that feel less like businesses and more like extensions of someone’s home.

A place I’ll certainly return to—grateful we listened to the pull of that...

I used to go to Andre's Café years ago and it was awesome. The whole atmosphere, staff, food, pastry was always amazing! I moved and didn’t go back there until this afternoon and had a pretty disappointing experience. I do like that they changed the name to Budapest Café. When I stepped inside they ran me down basically rushing me to order quickly, I was only going to buy pastries to go. It really bothered me that nobody spoke Hungarian, everyone spoke Spanish. They were constantly speaking Spanish to each other even though I was there asking them questions and they were annoyed that they had to stop their conversation because a customer dared to ask a question. To my knowledge, Budapest Café is the only Hungarian restaurant in Manhattan ( I could be wrong ) and to hire people that ONLY speak Spanish makes the atmosphere feel like I'm in a Spanish restaurant in stead. When I asked the woman working there if I could have a slice of dobos cake she asked me what that was. Of course she did, it’s not her culture she doesn’t know anything about Hungarian food! If I go to a Mexican restaurant I expect to get the Mexican atmosphere, and there are PLENTY OF THEM all over the city. Please do not ruin the only Hungarian restaurant. Please make it feel like home for us, Hungarians and welcomed. I don’t know what happened to the pastries either. They taste factory made, not from scratch/ home made either. I spent $50 on pastries but already regret it. Nothing about this place makes me feel like home. I hope this gives you a push to change staff and have a more homely atmosphere again like it was 7-8 years ago. I am not trying to insult anyone here but I’d love to come back to a new place that feels...

Visited Andre's today. Ignoring the fact that someone else's used butter container was in my breadbasket (not very appealing to say the least - and the waitress was not apologizing even when I mentioned it to her), the meal was relatively satisfying.

Was it AS good as Budapest? No. But was it a reasonable facsimile for North America? Yes. I order two entrees, one to take with me: the gulyas (goulash for the uninformed) and a Weinerschnitzel (pounded, breaded veal cutlet). The gulyas was tasty albeit a little fatty considering it was veal - the Nokedli dumplings were a bit too small and fragmentary. The schnitzel was typical, nicely breaded but not overly so, well cooked and not greasy; it came with some krumpli (potatoes) which was a bit overdone in places, and not as well seasoned as I would have liked. A side of uborkasalata (cucumber salad) would have been appropriate but it was not included and isn't actually listed on their menu. Sadly, the "Sacher" torte (torta) was a mockery of what an actual Sacher torta should have been; it was cut into square slices instead of from a round tort and was so dry, it was very fragmentary. No legit Sacher emblems to be seen, just some drawing of "Sacher" on each of the pieces. This was definitely the least authentic aspect of the entire meal; did I mention that the whipping cream was fake? For an $8 dessert, this was unacceptable.

Service was slow, considering that initially I was the only one there at 230pm, the two girls at the front were a bit too busy on their cell phones to be proper hosts, and none came over to ask how the meal was. After all was said and done, $50 for myself with a beverage, the two entrees and the...