MUD — Restaurant in New York

I visited Mud aka Mudspot on Saturday morning with my two business partners as we were seeking a chilled out place in the East Village for an early breakfast. Upon walking into Mud he immediately get a sense of laid back, healthy, coziness, characteristic of places in the West coast and rare in New York City. The breakfast menu did no disappoint. Plus the coffee was very very good and served in big cups. Some nice healthy variations of classic breakfast dishes - lots of egg, avocado, grapefruit and salmon. Both the grilled chicken citrus salad (sliced grapefruit, navel orange, red onion, avocado, goat cheese, toasted almonds over mixed greens) and the Buttermilk Banana Pancake were delicious. Mud features an outside garden eating area with 6 to 8 tables which are great for a larger group or a sunny morning. While the food took longer than expected to arrive it was worth the wait given the ingredients where freshly cooked. The service was laid back and proactive. Before I would ask, one of waitresses has dropped a spoon in my coffee and handed me a napkin. The only consideration is that Mud is cash only, so make sure you hit the ATM before visiting. Mud also offers a Weekend Brunch for USD 18.50 which includes a Mud Coffee, Tap Beer, Mimosa and a Fresh orange juice plus a main breakfast dish. In short Mud is the perfect spot for breakfast and brunch if you are looking for quality food and a chilled out atmosphere with...

Went on a Saturday, they do a required brunch special for weekends which wasn't clear to us until we had sat at the table. The hostess told us about the special as she was setting the table up but we were under the impression that it was just a special they were offering, not a limited menu. The special is a meal and two drinks for $23. The 4 of us weren't hungry enough to have all those drinks and meals so after several minutes of waiting for the server to greet us, we asked if we could split 3 between the 4 of us. From that point on, the server showed so much attitude towards us and little attention throughout the meal, I guess assuming we'd be cheap with the tip. We ordered our food when the server first came to greet us and then someone else delivered the food. We didn't see our server until our table was cleared and it was obvious that we were waiting for the check. She also had only given us 5 drinks out of the 6 and since she never checked on us throughout the meal, we asked for that last drink in a to-go cup (it was a mocha). She gave us so much attitude as we were ordering that too. I do also think we were charged extra for the to-go cup even though it was due to her not checking in with us that we had to order to-go. We left a 16.5% tip because the service was objectively bad but we also aren't bad people.

The food was pretty okay, no strong...

This is the first review I’ve ever written -and I’m only doing it because the experience was that bad.

I came here for breakfast with friends, and it was hands down one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had, not just in the U.S., but anywhere I’ve traveled. After asking for the check because we were ready to leave, we were completely ignored for over 30 minutes. No one followed up, no one cared. We finally had to walk up to the waitress station ourselves just to get the bill. That level of disregard is unacceptable.

Despite this, two of my friends still left over a 15% tip. I left 8%, which in hindsight was far too generous for the service we received.

As we were walking out, a waiter I hadn’t seen before stopped me outside to aggressively question why I tipped “so little.” When we calmly explained that we waited half an hour just to pay, he dismissed it and told us to never come back. I’ve never been spoken to like that by staff at any restaurant in my life.

This was an unbelievably unprofessional and disrespectful experience from start to finish. If I could, I would leave zero stars - and I absolutely would not leave a tip at all if I could go back.

Avoid this place...