Cafe Bari Soho

Te place is good, well located in Soho, but the cocktails weren’t tasty and the chocolate caramel crunch was a little dry. Wouldn’t go back there, there’re plenty of nice places in soho.

Really hated my lunch experience over the Memorial Day weekend. Here’s why:
1. My son’s slider burger came out RAW. Bleeding Raw.
2. When we complained, our server was less than enthused. Didn’t even apologize.
3. Manager took the burger off the bill, but kept the FRIES on the check! Really?
4. Here’s the kicker: This restaurant adds a 15% gratuity, no matter the size of your party. Thanks to other reviewers for pointing this out.
I’ll never dine here again. Avoid.

I’ve lived in NYC over 10 years and this is one of the most disappointing meals I’ve ever had. My mom and I split lentil soup, a beet and goat cheese salad and a fish sandwich. The bill came to $ 73 with a 15% tip included. I’m used to NYC prices but usually the food is worth it. This was totally bland and unremarkable. I wouldn’t eat here again of it was an oasis in a desert and I was starving. Bleh.

I don’t understand the reviews for this place. A coworker and I went here for lunch. Albeit a bit pricey (hey it’s in SoHo, maybe you should take back that $ 1,500 handbag if you can’t afford a $ 20 lunch) — the food was solid and the service excellent. He had a sandwich and a salad, and I had the cheeseburger.
Hands down, the best prepared and seasoned burger I’ve had in recent memory. It was cooked perfect (medium, cooked through with a warm pink center), juicy, the correct char on the meat, and the bun was perfect. The fries were solid, the spicy mayo was perfect, and the vegetables were fresh and the perfect proportion for the burger.
I don’t see what all the bad reviews are about — this place is great.

This place is a sad waste of space in such a busy part of SoHo.
Service sucks.
Portions are small.
So overpriced.

You know that feeling you get when your sick and everything taste bland? That exactly how the entrée’s here taste, only your perfectly healthy. I had the Penne alla vodka with chicken. Aside from the fact that it tasted like another flavor of EASY MAC, multiple things irritated me about this place.
1) The people seated next to us, ordered the same thing and received their food first; despite coming about 25 mins after us. Not to mention we were still awaiting out appetizers.
2) The drinks were horrible. it tasted like orange juice and coughs. That doesn’t make sense and neither did their cocktail making abilities.
smh never again. I was better off buying food from the trucks on the sidewalk but i really wanted to sit down. lmao smh

BEWARE ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES — Auto Gratuity is illegal effective Jan 1 2014
This restaurant is ILLEGALLY adding automatic gratuity unto the bill of unsuspecting customers. A new law passed January 1^st 2014 has mandated restaurants who want to automatically add tips to bills to call it ‘service fees’ in which they have to report the income as taxable income. Otherwise, the restaurant has to allow the customer to determine the tip (yes that includes large parties) Call it semantics, but it’s fair.
Today we dined at this restaurant and received lackluster service from a sour looking waitress who was not friendly or attentive. At the end of the meal tip was tacked on to our party of three. I suppose she felt no need to provide good service since she was going to be compensated regardless (albeit illegally). Hence the impetus for the law change.
When I raised that the practice was now considered illegal in NYC she feigned ignorance and blamed the management. My colleague not wanting to cause a scene paid, but I was very upset that they are getting away with this.
According to NY law restaurants who engage in this illegal practice can be fined $ 250 for it as this practice has tricked many patrons into leaving double tips. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS people.
If you do decide to eat there, make sure the tip is suggested not automatically added, and you are able to leave your own tip should you decide to. Otherwise, they need to call it a mandatory service fee as per the law.
Report this company so that they are rightfully fined and can stop conning unsuspecting tourists/​nyers and getting away with it.

Great service and the perfect grilled cheese on toast
Katherine the waitress was lovely and kept my water glass filled
I’ll be back
Stephen

Sad.
This restaurant is in such a prime location and yet, service is horrid! People are rude, unresponsive, and condescending
The food is actually okay in terms of taste, but portions are tiny and exceedingly overpriced.
The worst part about this is that everything written here is public knowledge. So many other Unilocalers have expressed similar sentiments, but nothing seems to have changed.
If you’re a tourist, please skip this one. There are so many other well-​run establishments in the area that are glad to take your money with a smile.

We came in to take a load of our feet after shopping in soho. We ordered one appetizer and a meal and the total was over 100 dollars. It was not worth it at all the food was cold and had way too much garlic. We came out after and we smelled of garlic. It was a terrible experience. Truly disappointed!!!

Got lost in SoHo one morning, and stumbled upon this wonderful café. I had the SoHo breakfast and coffee and it was absolutely amazing! The coffee was the best I have had in the city. The person I was with had the Nova Scotia omelette and coffee. She agreed that the coffee was the best we had had in the city. And the Nova Scotia omelette was to die for. An excellent place to enjoy a nice breakfast in SoHo. Bön’ appetite.
~Sincerely, Strayed in SoHo.

We stumbled upon Café Bari on my birthday while we were shopping on Spring Street, but our experience was very pleasant. The décor and atmosphere of the café was very modern and thoughtful; it definitely provides a more upscale dining experience than a typical breakfast/​brunch diner would.
1) Service: we were served by a young woman who presented herself extremely well. She was very well-​spoken (we could tell) and she was very fast and attentive with our orders. That being said, however, I actually received fries as my side instead of the mixed greens I had asked for, but it was delicious and truth be told, I would’ve preferred fries anyways (why try to be healthy on my birthday?)
2) Food: the food was actually fairly pricy. I think I paid almost 20 dollars for my chicken wrap and fries, and that’s… A lot for chicken wrap and fries… However, the wrap was packed with chicken and sauce (there were at least two grilled breasts in there; nice!) and it filled me up very well, so no complaints there. And it tasted amazing! Garlic mayo was tangy… Really good :)
Overall, if you’re looking to entertain your friends and wouldn’t mind paying a little extra for some good food and a nice experience, go for Café Bari!
Btw, as we were leaving, we saw couples sharing entrees… That would’ve been a good idea. The sizes could definitely be sharing plates ;)

How can a place so small and unassuming be such a major douchebag in terms of ripping its patrons off? While my daughter was shopping her way through Soho, my husband and I decided to take a load off and sit down to relax for a little while. Café Bari was right in our path, so in we went. Mistake.
Luckily, we had just eaten at Norma’s a couple of hours earlier, so we definitely weren’t hungry, but fool that I was, I thought it was important to give the waitress a little business so as to not waste her time entirely… the joke was on ME.
I ordered an iced tea… an iced tea that came in a smaller than usual size glass. My hubby ordered a beer. Two small iced teas and one beer later, we had to pay $ 20. The iced teas were $ 4.00 EACH… and the beer was $ 8.00…plus tax and tip. Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, who doesn’t give free refills on iced tea anymore… and with such small glasses. It wasn’t like it was even gourmet tea… just routine, plain brewed. That is just so rotten and lowdown. I know NYC can be quite pricey, and I don’t even mind paying it WHEN warranted, but to spend $ 20 on beverages, one of which was just iced tea? I feel confident in saying, I won’t be returning HERE.

Great tourist trap.
Stopped in for lunch with my girls. I won’t ever go back for the following reasons:
Limited menu, no refills on tea or soda’s, waitress was very «snooty» and the food was just OK… in addition the prices were Bari high for the quality.
Update — Oh darn, they went out of business, didn’t see that coming.

Pizza is tasty but the food is simply WAY too overpriced. Lunch for one on a normal weekday will run you $ 25 — $ 28 for just a personal pizza and soft drink. A plain individual-​sized pizza is $ 18 before tax. (Toppings will run you about $ 3 to $ 5 each.)
If you get a more substantial entrée like fish, you’re looking at a $ 35+ bill just for one person (not including alcohol.)
Not worth the cost — they charge 5-​star prices for standard café fare.

My husband and I had a lovely dinner here while visiting NYC! We were looking for someplace that was away from the hubbub of Manhattan — someplace with a calm, relaxed atmosphere and good food, but not overly fancy or high-​priced. We’d had a long day of walking and touring, and didn’t want to feel rushed while we ate. Luckily, we found Café Bari — it was just right!
We were greeted at the door by a lovely young lady named Katie, who greeted us with a warm welcome and a friendly smile. She seated us right away, on the main floor. The restaurant had a decent crowd (about ²⁄₃ of the tables were full) for a weeknight at 8:00 p.m. The music that was being played was contemporary and nice — volume level was perfect for sharing conversation (How nice! So many places crank the music up so much that people have to practically yell across the table in order to be heard!)
Our waiter was Mario, who came to the table and offered drinks, then gave us time to peruse the menu. The offerings were very nice — I liked the fact that the menu had nice variety, but was not overwhelming with too many choices. There was also a list of specials for that evening. I started with Tomato Parmesan soup — it came in a large bowl and was piping hot (Such a rarity! So often when one orders soup, it’s lukewarm at best…) It was delicious! Warm bread was brought in a basket as well. My husband had a Mini Cheeseburger appetizer that was tasty — the menu offers these little sandwiches in various quantities (one to four), with or without fries — a nice idea to give one the choice of keeping things «light» or going ahead and making a meal of it!
For my entrée, I had Penne Alla Vodka and my husband had Ravioli Alla Ricotta. Both were very delicious, again served hot from the kitchen, and within just a few minutes of our finishing our appetizer. Several times, both Mario and Katie checked in on us, making sure everything was to our liking. We never felt rushed, but felt as though the staff cared about our visit with them.
When we finished, dessert was offered — the menu features 4 desserts, and all looked heavenly (which made it hard to choose!) I had the tiramisu, which turned out to be a very large portion. I am a big fan of tiramisu, and am pretty picky — this was one of the BEST I have ever had! My husband had the crème brûlée, and was equally pleased. We ordered coffee with our dessert — it wasn’t just your average cup of coffee, but was superb, nice and hot, and each of received our own little carafe of cream (a very nice touch!)
Overall, this was a truly pleasant experience! The food was delicious, the atmosphere was lovely, and the staff was friendly, efficient, attentive, and took good care of us! We’ll be back, and will recommend to our friends who have travel plans in NYC!

I barely remember what I ate here, yet somehow my boyfriend and I managed to rack up an $ 80 bill.
We came here to kill some time and get out of the cold/​rain before catching the bus back home. We both weren’t really hungry, so we decided to order «lighter» food instead. We got the pita and hummus platter to share, and a salad each.
My salad wasn’t bad… but it wasn’t great either. Maybe the fly that I saw buzzing around our plates beforehand ruined my appetite even more. For ~$ 16 I was expecting more. To put it simply, I’ve had better (and bigger portions) at Saladworks.
My boyfriend seemed to enjoy his salad, although his chicken and avocado add-​ons together cost more than a Chipotle burrito. Why.
Maybe the other food here is better, but I’m glad we didn’t order anything else. From the prices on the menu, I expected something more like Busboys and Poets, but what we got was more like… yeah I don’t even know what. I mean, I could have made a better meal myself with $ 80 worth of ingredients from Whole Foods.
Service wasn’t too bad though.

The food is delish and the servers are extremely friendly.
I ordered a lychee vodka drink with my meal and they knew how to hook it up.
Will most def visit again after my next shopping trip around soho. thumbs uppp

Pros:
–One of the several cafes in New York that have two floors. Not really a coffeeshop as they also serve food. If you’re gonna eat food, you can sit upstairs, if not you sit/​order in 1^st floor (that is… if you’re lucky)
–Good choice of background music
–Location, Location, Location
Cons:
–Worst Takeout Americano Ever. One size (think Starbucks «Tall» size) that runs for $ 4.35 and taste like pure CRAP and didn’t have the ‘jolt’ I needed for my fatigue
–High School Kids or some Immature freshmen with attitude work here. Overheard them complain about another guest who wanted to sit upstairs but they refused to and the place was 80% empty at the time.
For a small Americano ridiculously overpriced at $ 4.35, would rather head over to Starbucks or even Balthazar for a cup of Joe

I’ve eyed Bari for a while now, but there are so many brunch places to choose in the area I didn’t go until this past weekend when I wanted to do something other than Dim Sum with my mom.
Bari draws you in with its prettiness, no joke. Like a dating profile where someone uses a picture that doesn’t actually look like them, the interior is beautiful. The lower level has a gigantic painting on one wall, modern lighting fixtures and furniture. The upstairs seating area has big comfy looking chairs and booths along with bamboo plants everywhere. One solid star for décor, oh Bari, you fooled me.
We were seated quickly and our waiter came over right away, a good sign. I requested water and two green teas while we looked at the menu. Several minutes later the water hadn’t come, the tea hadn’t come and we knew what we wanted to order. Our teas were brought over by a gent who wasn’t our waiter and we asked for waters again. They finally came over. At this point, my Spidey sense was tingling but we were committed.
I ordered a wild mushroom omelet with was said to come with potatoes, a side salad and toast. My mom ordered a turkey sandwich which was also supposed to include a side salad.
Our food came quickly enough, so here’s the rundown:
TURKEY SANDWICH
My mother said it was good, but only after we asked for mayo to be added in. There was no kind of sauce at all on the sandwich as it was. It’s a thick sandwich (not quite «deli style» but close) with fresh vegetables inside. The side salad was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. It was basically two leaves of romaine lettuce cut into small pieces with some tasteless dressing dumped on top.
OMELET
I judge a lot about a place by how well they execute an omelet. It’s a simple, yet relatively difficult thing to do «right». With wild mushrooms in it I figured the omelet should’ve been bursting with flavor. But first, the visual disappointment of the side salad already made my heart sink. I got the same sad romaine based «salad» as my mom and it was terrible. The potatoes? Not diner style hash browns — I swear they were four mini versions of McDonalds’ deep fried has browns. My immediate thought was «Did I order a school lunch and not remember?»
So anyhow, the omelet, how was that? Bland. Bland. Bland with a side of bland. Somehow, whatever natural flavor the mushrooms had were completely gone and the eggs themselves were a little tough. To punctuate this terrible dish, the toast was cold.
As if to put a fine point at the end of the meal, I asked for an orange juice from our waiter who had not checked on us once for the entire meal. I then went upstairs to the rest room, took time to take a picture upstairs, slowly worked my way back downstairs and the OJ was STILL not on the table. After I gave the waiter a few glares he walked over to the bar to ask them to pour it. It was poured from a jug of Tropicana — so something that should have effectively taken one minute took over ten.
I don’t give a lot of bad reviews, no less a *one* star, but yeah, this place earned it. Bari, you fooled me once, never again.