Bud’s on the Hudson — Restaurant in Town of Green Island

I recently had a disappointing experience with the service and food at Bud’s.

I order a lot from buds, and while I've had issues with orders being wrong, the issues were always small and the service was always amazing, until this time.

I ordered a Sean's Special with no vegan cheese and a hot latte with oat milk. When it arrived, the sandwich had everything taken off besides the tofu and sausage - not just the vegan cheese. Two coffees arrived: a cold one that had writing on it stating it had oat milk in it, and a hot one that had nothing written on it. I’ve had orders come wrong before, but never this wrong.

I am vegan. not just for the animals, but also because my body can't process meat and dairy properly - I end up in a lot of pain.

So I called them because I wanted to make sure it was my order and that everything was vegan. I also wanted to know what happened with the sandwich, if this was my order, as I paid $15+ for it.

When I tried to ask my questions, the person on the phone talked over me and didn’t even listen to my questions.

They didn’t even let me finish stating what the issues were before they pulled up my order and told me that I had ordered it without vegan cheese. I said that’s correct, but I didn’t order it with everything off. Otherwise, I would have ordered the breakfast sandwich.

I could barely finish any sentence without being interrupted.

It seemed like that person answered the phone already ready for a fight. At one point, they interrupted what I was saying to say "I know you’ve ordered before" — Like that mattered.

I was not upset to begin with because stuff happens, and I really love Bud’s. But this person was so rude, it made me upset.

I wasn’t going to ask them for a refund or for it to be remade — None of that. I know I would do that through the delivery app.

I wanted to make sure it was vegan, and to let them know the order was made wrong, so they could figure out why. It was not an inexpensive sandwich.

I felt I was being talked over so much, I did get rude — Which was not appropriate. I said something stupid like "thanks for caring, I’ll care about myself.” I did also hang up. I was not expecting this person to be so defensive.

I’ve only ever called them before to make a change to an order because an app wouldn’t let me do it, and they are always so understanding. When I go in, the service is always great.

So, I will not be going back. If this is how they treat customers when they mess up an order (and I’ve had many orders mess up, I could just always tell it was mine), then I would personally prefer to go somewhere else. While I don’t think I was rude to start with, maybe they felt like I was. I still don’t think that justifies talking over and not listening...

Update: I went back and had a Nitro Cold Brew and Sean's Vegan Special breakfast sandwich and it's ridiculous how good the food and drinks are here! Plus, to no surprise, the service was again a highlight of the visit - everyone seems genuinely nice and you can't go wrong when you get service with a smile!

I'm ready for my next visit back!

Older: I've been to Bud's on Jay in Schenectady a number of times when I go to the Green Market, as soon as I heard Bud's on the Hudson opened nearby I went running as soon as I clocked out of work. The cold brew here is one of my top cold brews around, so they already have me as a repeat customer for that alone - now bring their food and atmosphere into consideration and I'm sold! The food is incredible, and a decent amount of vegetarian/vegan options, on this trip I had The Vegan Holland and side of Bud's Spuds Home Fries the quality is just as on point as on Jay! I also tried the Arnold Palmer this time around and it was pretty good, definitely more on the sweet side for me but it was refreshing and will be ordered again!

This place is larger than Jay Street and they serve alcohol, and they have a bunch of tabletop games to pass the time while you enjoy yourself. As for the staff, they were incredibly friendly and personable, they definitely created an environment that makes me excited to make this a frequent stop for me - which is my experience at the other location and further cements the culture that they create. I see myself making lots of detours, and excuses for those detours, just because I know I will not be disappointed here!

I made myself hungry writing this so I'll probably end up there again today!

Great location, easy to get to, ample parking, and nice views of the water around it!

P.S. the customers had it right, Team Luigi...

My first time here and ordering was fast, friendly and welcoming. I ordered a cold brew to start and the girl at the counter informed me of a choice to add a flavor. My caramel cold brew was good and I like that they had a small fridge to access different types of milks and choices for vegan options of food as well. My French toast with bacon and real maple syrup was delicious. You could taste the smoked flavor in the bacon. My only request next time would be crisper bacon for my side. My friend got the the The McNulty which is eggs, American cheese and a choice of protein, bacon 🥓 on french toast buns and would agree with the crispy bacon request. Plenty of seating on the inside and little gaming tables such as PacMan etc to sit at. If your tall your going to have to lean over the table 😄 The smaller coffee tables in the middle feel a little unstudy to eat at so next time I'll sit at a real table. They have larger family style tables through out. Overall I loved the vibes and will...