Red Dot Restaurant & Bar

I came here with a few friends for drinks and small plates on a Saturday night. The menu was underwhelming but what we ordered was pretty tasty (would recommend the mussels). All of our drinks were very tasty! Big ups to the bartender.
My biggest complaint was the service. Despite the relatively empty restaurant, our server treated us like an inconvenience. I asked if they had a cocktail menu and she snapped at me, «we make cocktails.» I responded, «yeah, I can clearly see the bar from my seat but I don’t drink cocktails often and was wondering if there was anything you’d recommend.» «Well people have been ordering cucumber cosmos recently so I guess those are probably OK» (it was indeed delicious!). She acted as if every question was idiotic and rarely checked in on us. Even ignored a couple attempts I made to get her attention.
Honestly, I’d rather have just saved the money and gone to a dive bar for the level of service we got. I’m sure not every server there is as surly and unpleasant as ours but I have no plans of finding out on my own next time I’m in Hudson.

While this is a cool place for drinks the food is not up to par for dinner: burgers undercooked, fries way too salty, beets in salad did not taste fresh. Lobster roll was good though. Wait staff was attentive in busy crowded room. Need new or upgraded furniture in garden, otherwise a nice outdoor space.

The back yard is a lovely space. We just sat there drinking (which I totally recommend) but the food looked good too.

Really friendly staff, decent food, nice casual restaurant. Glad we tried it for dinner. No pretense, just good decent food and nice menu options.

I went to the Red Dot on Easter Sunday after spending an awesome weekend in Hudson. Food was great and our waitress Connie was extremely sweet and attentive. The only problem that stopped me from giving it 5 stars was the rude and nasty women behind the bar. I am assuming she was the owner but the way she treats her staff is unprofessional. It made for an uncomfortable experience at times. A word to the owner you catch more bees with honey than you do vinegar. Treat your staff with respect and they will go the extra mile.

I ate here with my family on Saturday night and had the seafood stew special (minus the sausage) and it was absolutely unbelievable. I usually don’t go for seafood stews because I’ve had so many that were poorly done. But this one blew me away. It included scallops, jumbo shrimp, fish, and mussels in a savory broth that I could not get enough of. The whole thing was served with frites (handcut, twice-​fried, skins-​on french fries) that were equally delicious. I was almost embarrassed by how much I enjoyed it.
And overall, we all had a great time. The place is cozy and charming in an old rowhouse that, fortunately, retains its original bones. The guest are clearly locals (which I always look for), and the atmosphere felt very festive. Highly recommend.

I love this place! Food is fresh and hearty, bar is stocked perfectly to my liking (with an assortment of craft beers and whiskey), and the atmosphere is so much fun, especially when the crowd picks up. The place has a family atmosphere and you can tell the locals love it.
My wife and I spent a few days in Hudson exploring the area and we ending up eating three meals at the Red Dot during our time in town (two dinners and a brunch). Some of the food highlights were the steak and frites, the seafood and sausage stew, and the beet salad. The chocolate pudding was also a hit. We ate a couple of meals at other local restaurants, but we kept going back to the Red Dot because we felt the food and experience was better.
I’ve seen some criticism in other reviews about the quality of the service, and all I would suggest is to be assertive with your server to make sure that your expectations are met. That’s what we did.

Delicious Delicious Delicious.
Extremely wonderful Chef.
Duck Tacos. Yummy.
Attentive staff.
Loved the soups.
Very nice.
Speckled Hen
and Guinness on tap.
:)
Going back next Sunday.

The food was mediocre, the menu rather limited. It was nothing to write home about considering the restaurant is so highly rated. I am starting to have my doubts regarding the sincerity of those reviews.

The Red Dot is a hip place, but the night we went we experienced terrible service and mediocre food. We visited while on a weekend getaway, and our entire party was pretty disappointed we didn’t select another spot.
The place was crowded when we arrived, but a table was open and one of the servers seated us immediately. We then proceeded to wait for ten minutes even to get menus much less order drinks. One server, who had a deer-​in-​the-​headlights look, kept checking in on the table next to us and ignoring us, and when we finally asked if we could get menus, she looked startled at the request.
Then a server who clearly has seen too many Russ Meyer movies and thinks surly passes for quirky arrived. One of our party had questions about gluten-​free options, and it was clear the server didn’t know and had little interest in checking with the kitchen. At one point, she arrived to take our order, but when someone had a moment of indecision, the server turned and walked away.
The food was forgettable. The fish and chips was just okay and my friend’s swordfish special was disappointing.
It takes more than quirky ambiance and quirky servers to make a meal worthwhile. We’ll be back to the Hudson area, but we’ll skip Red Dot next time.

My husband and I just spent a great weekend in the Hudson Valley this past weekend. We went to Red Dot for afternoon drinks and ended up coming back for dinner because Alana, the owner, was great. Yes, she has a tough attitude, but it was all part of the fun. We’re New Yorkers, we get it. If you don’t, get a sense of humor.
The food was yummy and the vibe was nice. Definitely check it out!

This place has one of the best egg Benedict I have ever had.
The potato latke replacing British muffin and citrus mayonnaise replacing the heavy hollandaise sauce makes it surprising light and tasty!
The outdoor garden in fall was breathtaking! It’s a place perfect for brunch, dinner and afternoon tea.

Decent food. Great courtyard. Overpriced for the quality of the food. Not worth the price.

All 4 of us were just very pleased with our meals on the back patio. From the cod cake appetizer to the T-​bone special, we had great meals. Only downside is no microbrews on draft. But the patio meals make up for it! And amazing cheesecake made by the waitress base on her grandmother’s recipe!

We came here on a recommendation of a friend who lives in Hudson (she came with us). This place has a great atmosphere and fun décor. They also have an outside eating area that looked like a nice place to eat. We opted for the inside to avoid the heat. I split the calamari appetizer with a friend and the Hudson resident ordered the corn chowder. She was disappointed by the chowder (as was I). It was watery with the consistency of milk; chowder is normally heavier.
I ordered the burger as my main meal as I was in a «burger and beer» mood. To be honest, it was just okay, nothing special.
Overall, I was happy with my experience here. This is the breakdown of my rating:
1. Atmosphere — 5 stars
2. Service — 4 stars
3. Food — 3 stars
4. Price — reasonable 4 stars
If I come here again I’ll order the fish and chips. Our Hudson friend ordered it and highly recommended it.

Located on one of the main drags of Hudson NY, you enter from the street directly into a bar area.
Don’t. Give. Up. This place is so much more. Keep walking to find much more expansive seating and an outdoor area that will make your deck feel inferior. Because it is.
This was my second visit here, and I’m impressed with their food. I had a very unassuming salad with grilled chicken on top. I’m not sure what seasoning they lavished on the chicken, but WOW. Really good. Very fresh greens as well and a very attentive server made this lunch stop exactly what it needed to be.
Seriously, worth going to.

Red dot is one of the most awesome brunch spots in Warren St. Their clam chowder is the best!

After a wonderful first day of Spring walking up and down the main drag of Hudson, we were hungry and thirsty. The back patio was not yet open, but we were seated in the front window table and got to do some good people watching, which is always entertaining.
Having already consumed a large breakfast at the B&B, we went to the lunch menu — three burgers, one Salmon BLT, and beers (a nice selection).
Service was friendly and efficient. Food was exactly the comfort food we wanted and everything was delicious.
We all needed nap afterwards.
Go. Enjoy.

Fantabulous! Great great great brunch! My Croque Monsieur was the best I have ever had and I’ve had Daniel Boulard’s yummy version. Hubby had a very pleasing brioche French Toast with slightly too crispy bacon. Orange juice was so fresh it tasted like farm fresh oranges. Coffee was cold but we did walk in at 5 mins to end of brunch service and a new pot was brought out later.
We actually felt bad when we stuck our heads in after striking out at the closed French bakery our friends recommended. 5 mins to closing I should know better (rude industry move but we were starved) but they were totally welcoming and very kind about telling us the kitchen was closing in presently so we should be quick with our decisions. Friendly staff, great vibe and décor.
Oh and the prices are incredibly reasonable! Alana (damn I hope I spelled that right) the owner, proprietor and our bartender keeps her prices reasonable from a remembrance of a simpler time in Hudson before 2 ounces of Chickpea and celery root salad cost $ 4.99 at the gourmet so and so.
Alana is pure entertainment and you can tell it’s a place where you can feel like a regular the moment you walk in the door. We eat out every time we’re in Hudson and we plan to make it a regular stop!

let me start off by saying this. I am not hard to please, in fact i am more likely to enjoy your food than to complain about anything. having said that, there were certain things about my meal experience at the red dot that i could not overlook. before we even showed up we had called to see if we needed a reservation for the night or if they had tables available. normally when you ask that the hostess or whomever answered the phone would realize you are asking if the restaurant has available tables or if it is a packed house and would politely say yes or no. for some reason the person on the phone felt it was necessary to tell us that ‘normally you should call earlier than the day of,’ as if she were annoyed to have potential customers calling the restaurant.
snide comments aside, the place itself is a kind of hipster nightmare of pretension. while there was one really nice piece of artwork, the rest of the place was just confused. besides the décor there was loud dance music playing from the bar and in the back room it sounded like a concert were going on with ambient violins squealing in the background. while neither choice of music would be considered good music, it still would behoove a place to only have one source of music for the dining room.
now i read a lot of bad reviews mention the service, but for us the service was just fine, good even. despite the rude lady on the telephone, our server did a good job and was attentive and seemed to care when she noticed that i could not eat my food.
so with that, i will move on to the food portion of the review. to start the meal i ordered the split pea soup and my better half ordered the corn chowder. The corn chowder was average, a bit bland but at least palatable. The split pea soup was a disaster. it was basically crunchy not all the way cooked peas in broth that sort of tasted like split pea soup with a tiny cube of bacon and a lot of crutons in it. the server told us that the cook likes to keep the peas al dente; well split pea soup is split pea soup, and if the peas dont break down and create a creamy texture then the soup isnt cooked long enough, whether or not you want the peas to be al dente.
after the soup we got maine cod cakes. these were fine, the slaw they came with was pretty good actually. they were cooked well and the fish tasted nice. this was the only redeeming part of the experience.
the entrees were a comedy of errors. my girlfriend ordered cheddar on her medium burger, and received swiss cheese on a well done oily mess. the bun was especially gross. it seems as though the cook decided that instead of butter the bun and toast it, they would rather use canola oil. it was terrible and made the whole burger taste of oil. the fries were not any better. its like they havent cleaned the oil in a good year or two at this restaurant. they tasted like oil and were brown without being crispy. terrible.
for my entrée i ordered the fish and chips. a relatively easy meal to get right and since the cod cakes were ok i wasn’t expecting to be as horribly disappointed as i was with the meal. the fish was so overcooked that there were black spots on the breading. you could not break through the crispy bread shell of this hunk of dried fish without a knife and fork; and when you did what you found was a slap in the face to fry cooks everywhere. how the chefs at the red dot managed to ruin a piece of fish this terribly and then not even think twice about serving it is truly despicable. its rare you actually walk into a restaurant with a chef that unwilling to put out a good product.
the only good thing about this experience was that they didnt make me pay for disgusting food i didnt get to eat. otherwise, avoid this place like the plague. there are better places to spend your money.