The Buren — Restaurant in New York

So I usually never write a review on a coffee shop or restaurant, especially a bad one because I always want to support a local business. However I left this place so infuriated that I feel the need to express my experience on here. I would be giving this place 1 star. However I thought that the chef and barista were really nice, so I just want to make it known that this review is not for them but the manager on duty and his skills as far as hospitality and customer service goes. I have ten years of experience in this business. I do no consider myself an expert by any means but I think I know a thing or two about hospitality. So here’s where the problem started...

It’s was mid afternoon, the place was not busy. Maybe at most ten people in the restaurant. So this wasn’t a situation where the manager could use the excuse that he was under a lot of pressure due to a rush or something of that nature. A man, young (mid 20s), and African American walks in to order a coffee to go. The barista begins making it, and the manager walks up and decides to take the transaction. The man wants to pay cash so he hands the manager a $20. The manager looks at it and responds in a very loud, harsh tone “Do you have a real one?!” The man just stares, clearly confused. You can tell he has no idea what this guy is talking about given his facial expression. So then the manager repeats the question in the same tone. Still the man looks confused and even a little nervous because he’s probably feeling a little attacked for no reason. So then the manager tells the guy that his $20 is fake, so then the man NERVOUSLY apologizes, explains he had no idea and then hands him another $20. This $20 was real, so the manager (an this part made me so infuriated) practically threw the fake one at the man. His barista I could tell was very uncomfortable as well, and then handed him the coffee and his change and the man left. As the man was leaving, the manager then went on to explain that the last time someone tried to pay with fake money at their restaurant he sent that person to jail and that man is still serving time.

As a person who works in this industry, and has literally been in the managers situation so many times. The manager so badly handled this situation on so many parts: He began by using a harsh disrespectful tone, rather than treating the customer with respect by saying ”I’m sorry but this $20 is fake I can’t take it, do you have another one?” He assumed the man knew it was fake and was purposely trying to screw him over. He threw the fake 20 rather than handed it to him The manager caused a scene. He threatened the man by telling him he could call the cops and send him to jail.

It would be one thing if this guy continually came in trying to pay with fake money. I know how people can be, I know that there are a lot of difficult people in customer service. But using my own judgement on how this situation went down I would assume that this was this mans possibly 1st or 2nd time coming in here. He didn’t seem super familiar, and he clearly had no idea his money was fake. And I don’t mean to point out the obvious but it looked like the manager was being prejudice from my point of view, and I read some of the other reviews and I’m not the first to say it. I wouldn’t recommend this place to any of my friends, especially POC as long as that manager is...

Food is great customer service could be better

The day time male manager is extremely rude and aggressive. I used to live on Greene Avenue and I used to come here for two years straight never had a problem I use to buy food and eating here all the time which is why im surprised. I recently came back in the male day remembered me. So I usually just sit down because you know at most cafés you sit down with laptop and you start working especially once you build your relationship after being there all the time. He comes up to me and asks me if I’m going order anything so I kinda got the gist that he didn’t want me just sitting there so I told him to give me a second. I decided to just leave and not stay since I didnt want to buy anything.

The manager proceeds to follow me outside and tell me never to come back and that he is “tried of my ways”. Talked about how I leave plates (please keep in mind. This is a restaurant with tables) Which is confusing I would dine in and also tip very nicely.

He then proceeds me to call me a victim and a slur and I thought that was very strange. Again, I didn’t even feel this coming because I never had an issue with him. But to be honest, I had to write this review because I do not feel like he should’ve talked to me that way and It was extreme. Keep in mind when he told me “never come back” i said it very calmly “ok no problem I wont come back” The reason why I’m writing this with so much passion is because I’m genuinely confused why he did that because I usually am very considerate of people to be spoken to like that. It’s just a little bit weird maybe he was having a bad day but I will definitely not be coming back. Please proceed with caution since this person

The food...

Don’t let the photos fool you. Street bodega quality at twice the price. I live around the corner from this place and visited frequently. The dirty Buren will charge $9 for a juice and cut it in half with tap water (photo below). The chicken sandwich is one of those stiff breaded chicken breasts made on Monday and left in the fridge to serve throughout the week. Best to save your money and go somewhere else. This is not really a place to grab a quick coffee or a beverage unless you have cash on hand due to the hefty card limit. Beware that the menu is not as pictured on Google (different prices & dishes), the tables are dirty and the owner is a bulldog, no refunds, no exceptions, deal with it. Good luck. Update: I noticed a comment from the Buren on this post. It is misleading. During my last visit I made several attempts to kindly rectify the fact that the orange juice I was given was clearly half tap water. No amount of stirring would change that fact. Either way, the flavor was heavily diluted or the oranges were expired. The owner/manager began screaming at me when I asked him about the ingredients, I thought there was a simple mistake and it wouldn’t be a problem. He reacted by screaming and was visibly angry, I remained calm and I kindly asked for a refund on the juice or a replacement. He threw me out. This is extortion not customer service. He kept my money and gave me sour tap water with pulp on top. I stand by my original post. Best to avoid this place, there are many great alternatives in Bushwick that will not cut corners to try and cheat...