Bud & Marilyn’s

I wanted to like this place based on the menu and the owners, but couldn’t give it more than 3 stars.
Service — subpar — it was a busy night, but took awhile to get even water and our order. Server checked in on a few times and refilled on the water. The food did come out relatively fast however.
Food
— cheese curds — these are delicious ball of cheese. A little too greasy, but comes with two savory sides: ranch with green onions and a smokey salsa. Preferred the smokey salsa.
— Campanelle pasta — mini veal meatballs with truffles. Portion was small and very rich. would avoid if you’re hungry.
— fried chicken — the portion is great for a hungry person. Half chicken, two biscuits and pickled zucchini. The chicken skin was disappointing — something was burnt in the oil and they must’ve never changed it. Biscuits are really good — crusty outside with a flaky center.
— funfetti cake — huge portion (1 giant slice) but overhyped cake that tastes like a sheet cake from your neighborhood super market.
Disappointing visit — some highs, but lows too.

I couldn’t eat a lot of things here (gluten, dairy, oh wow) but I have to mention it for the mocktails! Few places bother to list non alcoholic drinks on the menu, but Bud & Marilyns did.
The atmosphere is nice. There are tables for meals, or a wrap around bar with seating where you can see the kitchen and all the cooking that goes on. Really nice spot for a first date or after work nightcap.

Service sucked! Benjamin, though appealing to the eye, if you’re into the lumbersexual sort of thing, is a sub-​par server. Pushy, ignorant, and cocky are only a few of his charming personality traits.
Our entrees showed up only 1.5 hours into our visit, and needless to say, the food was DA BOMB DOT COM! Cheese curds app, skirt steak, and grits a la veggies, and 5 drinks later, and we are only too happy to leave.
Chef gets 1,000 stars. Benjamin though…

Ok, I’ve been here a few times and all I have to do is upgrade this establishment from 4 to 5 STARS!!! The quality and taste given to each dish, I can’t, it’s just beyond words right now. The cocktails are perfectly executed. Just keep doing what you are doing, praise your staff, they are wonderful and major compliments to the chef!!!
Must try’s:
Hot Buttered Buns
Fried Cheese Curds
NY Old Fashion cocktails
Any pasta and short rib dishes
Fried Chicken

We went here to celebrate our anniversary, chosen because of the great reviews. We started with the Nashville Hot Buns and the Crispy Cheese Curds. Both were excellent and we enjoyed them very much. A good start to our evening out!
For our entrees, we chose the highly touted fried chicken (it had been part of the Nashville Hot Buns and was great, so we already knew we would like it. We also chose a new menu item that was essentially a variety of seafood aka a low country boil, with a couple of raw oysters thrown in.
This is when things went downhill. The fried chicken was way overcooked. It should have never come out of the kitchen. It was obviously burned. We tried it (it was dark so we hoped it just looked burned because of the lighting) but it had the horrible bitterness of burned batter. Not only that — it was just dripping grease. We made a game try at eating it, but finally just couldn’t stomach it. Then there was the seafood. .. again, VERY overcooked. The shrimp, crab, everything that was cooked just had the flavor and joy boiled out of it — and, considering the amount of time it had been boiled, it was incredibly dry — almost as if it had been cooked earlier and set under a warmer. The raw oysters, which were honestly the tiniest oysters I’ve EVER seen, were very good.
Let me say — I NEVER send food back and rarely complain — I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve complained in a restaurant about the food — but we did decide to let the server know about the quality of the food. I let him know that we were NOT asking for it to be taken off the bill NOR were we asking for it to be replaced — we were just letting him know that these two dishes should not have been allowed out of the kitchen.
The manager did come over and was very gracious — and had already taken the chicken off the bill — which was nice. She also stated that the seafood dish was something new (as if that is a good reason for it to not be cooked appropriately).
Here’s the deal — if Philly only had a few good choices for eating out, I might take a second go at this place — but, that’s not the case — Philly is a foodie heaven, and after a bad experience, we honestly have no reason to give it a second try — there are plenty of other places to try.
To make up for a bad anniversary meal, we had brunch at Amada the next day. .. and, we were not disappointed.

Scored a reservation on Open Table on Friday for a Saturday night at 7pm. Went for a girls night with my two sisters. We arrived at 7 and only waited about 3 minutes for our table.
Service was quick and on point, but at times, I felt rushed. Our server answered our questions but always seemed to be walking away mid-​sentence. It was insanely busy, so I get that, and with that in mind, it seemed like the servers were just running back and forth, moving in and out of each other’s way throughout the meal. This was a bit distracting, but it’s a crowded, tight place, so it’s expected.
Anyway, I got a Marilyn’s old fashioned, which was perfect. We ordered the cheese curds, the shrimp hot buns and the chicken hot buns. Cheese curds were phenomenal. I preferred the ranch sauce to the smoky tomato. And I’m more of a chicken girl than a shrimp girl, so I was all over the chicken buns. Again, delicious.
We split two entrees between us, the fontina stuffed meatloaf and the scallops. I had been to Little Nonna’s and still dream of the fontina stuffed meatballs, so I knew the meatloaf was going to be delicious, and it was heavenly. The scallops were perfectly cooked, but I personally wasn’t digging the flavor combinations, which is weird because I love me some brussels sprouts.
The server told us this would be enough for us, and we felt like we could’ve used another entrée. (We all saved up for this and hadn’t eaten since breakfast). So, midway through the meal, we ordered some biscuits. I’d say they were just OK, didn’t blow my mind. The honey butter was good though.
Since we were indulging, we ordered the bread pudding to split. Both sisters looked at me like I was crazy for choosing that, but I had read a bunch of reviews saying to get it. And we were not disappointed. It was damn tasty. But that put us over the edge, for sure.
Overall, a great experience, awesome atmosphere, quick service, delicious comfort food. You’re going to have a hard time getting a beer down afterwards and you may need to go for a run… or take a nap.

Gotta say I was impressed with this place. My wife and randomly went down to that area at around 7pm last Saturday. I was ready to have no options since ya know, worst time to eat in CC ever. We must have time it perfectly because there were 2 open seats at the end of the bar. We even had the option for the chefs counter but being a bartender I stick with my kind.
Cocktails– Started with a Planter Punch and a Blinker. Well made and formulated, Not overly sweet, balanced.
Apps– Cheese Curds, Nashville Buttered Buns– Cheese curds are pretty true to the originals if a bit salty. If I had a beer with them I would have like them better. Contrary to most I didn’t love the ranch sauce but I did like the smokey salsa that came with them.
The Nashville hot buns were insanely good. Some other schmedrick on here said they were like chi-​fil-​a, Not true and that dudes crap palate can go elsewhere. I’ve had real Nashville hot chicken from Hattie B’s and this is legit.
Entrees– Trout dish and Campenelle Pasta– Trout was great, perfectly executed in a light lemon broth and some olive oil. Pasta was chewy and delicious. Could have done w/​o the truffle butter, I hate that shit. Ruins everything. Meatballs in the pasta were very good to although I only had one.
Dessert– Freaking funfetti cake– Get it.
Service– I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Bartenders give the best service. These folks were no exception. Very Attentive and had great suggestions meaning they knew the menu well and had a rockin’ busy bar to deal with.
Will definitely go back. Much more on the menu that interested me.

Kind of had a weird experience here when I came here with my girlfriend for a late lunch. Ordered to share a couple things: cheese curds, nashville hot buns, and meatloaf.
Cheese curds — Great! A little heavy, would get it again for sure.
Nashville hot buns — Interesting flavors but no better than some of the other chicken sandwiches you can get (think Chick-​fil-​a, Federal Doughnut, etc.)
Meatloaf — What a disappointment! This dish came out last. We each took a bite, the meatloaf was cold! Given that my girlfriend has never had meatloaf (. seriously), she questioned if it was supposed to be that way. I said sometimes… but I’ll check. Lo-​and-​behold, it’s not supposed to be! They took it back but didn’t remake it! They just reheated it; it came out dry and didn’t taste very good.
You’d think that a restaurant of this caliber would give you a new, fresh piece of meatloaf when they improperly cooked your order. It’s disappointing that an establishment such as B&M would think that this is an appropriate response to such an issue.

I visited Bud and Marilyn’s on Wednesday night and had a great experience. We had a reservation for three and were seated very quickly. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming and the staff was very friendly.
For appetizers we tried the steak tartare and the herb cheddar tear n share bread. The steak tartare came with a small arugula salad and it was delicious. I especially enjoyed the bread. The flavor was amazing for both appetizers. The only thing to note is that the serving size seemed a bit small.
For my entrée I got the fried chicken which came with zucchini pickles and two biscuits. The biscuits were to die for and I wish I could have more! It came with salted honey butter which tasted great on the biscuits. The fried chicken was so tasty and the portion size was huge so I was excited to take some home for lunch the next day. I tried my friend’s roasted chicken entrée and it also was delicious as well as the steak.
For dessert I had the chocolate peanut butter cake and my friend had the funfetti cake. The slices were HUGE! They were so good.
I highly recommend this restaurant! I’d definitely come back again to try the brunch or lunch menus.

We started our meal with lakeside cocktails which were very good and easy to drink. We ordered the cheese curds as an appetizer because our waitress said they were amazing. We all agreed they were good, but not amazing and we would try something different the next time. We ordered fried chicken, meatloaf, and short rib for entrees. Everyone enjoyed their entrees and there were no complaints. The portions are very big and enough for two meals or to share. We had the funfetti cake and chocolate peanut butter cake for dessert. These were huge slices of cake and they were a great ending to the meal. The restaurant is a bit loud, so don’t come here for a romantic date night. It would be a cool place to just grab a drink and some appetizers as well. I would love to go back an try some more of their dishes.

I really enjoyed eating here. This was the first time I have been to this restaurant. I liked the atmosphere and the whole vibe of the place. The food was excellent and our server was good. Our server was very nice and explained how everything came out as it was ready. The reason for 4 stars and not 5 was because when we first got there (5pm on a Sunday) there weren’t many people there and our drinks and first few food items came out relatively fast. But after we received our cheese curds and the pu pu platter my entrée and my sisters came out around 40 – 45 minutes later. I get that this place serves the food whenever the dish is ready but this was a really long wait especially since there weren’t a lot of other customers. Like I said this was my first time here so I don’t know if the wait is an issue all of the time. On to the food that we got
Cheese curds– delicious, such an airy crispy and salty bite.
Pu pu platter– really good, the spare ribs were fall off the bone deliciousness with so much flavor and the wings had such a unique flavor with whatever sauce they put them in and the tuna poke I think it was was ridiculously good.
Fried chicken– delicious (fried chicken is one of my favorite meals on earth) and this fried chicken had such a crispy crunchy crust and the meat was so juicy and cooked perfect. The biscuits that are served with it are some of the best biscuits I’ve ever had.
Miso glazed salmon– very flavorful and cooked perfectly and the greens that were served with it were really good too.
Our drinks were delicious as well– I got the lakeside.
I will 100% come back here I had a great time and the food was finger lickin good.

This was the first time that I’ve been to this establishment and I came during restaurant week, so it was a bit hectic. We arrived about 20 mins early for our reservation, and they didn’t have anything available yet (not big deal), and they suggested we get a drink from the bar. I was quite pleased with the drinks and since it was the happy hour special it was reasonable. We waited around until exactly the time of the reservation, not a big deal, but the host/​hostess could have been a bit more personable, they never once gave us an update when we were 5 feet away.
Waitress was very nice, and she was very willing to help us choice between options, specifically dessert as we had trouble deciding between 3 different ones.
First course was cheese curds and Nashville hot buns. The hot buns were awesome, I would happily have had a couple orders of them as they were very flavorful (might be the star of the evening). The cheese curds were good, one of the sauce was good, but the other was just awful. Luckily they were for dipping so we just didn’t bother with the bad sauce.
Second course was a bit of a mixed bag, we had the fried chicken and the shortrib. Fried chicken was good, but parts of it were a tad dry, but the biscuit and salted honey butter were fantastic, as were the zucchini pickles. Hot sauce was a nice touch, but a bit spicy to just slather on (I would like it with chicken and waffles, as that has sweet to balance it). Sadly the shortrib was just plain bad, I would wager it was just overcooked with how crowded it was, but we couldn’t eat. I really enjoyed the brussel sprouts that came with it and the cheese grits were pretty good as well. The fantastic waitress offered to get us a replacement entrée, but we declined as we would not have wanted to wait, we just wanted to pass our feedback along.
Lastly it was time for dessert. Our wonderful waitress brought us out all three desserts that we had trouble deciding between to help make up for the bad entrée. We were really glad that she did, as they were all amazing. The cranberry slab pie was just awesome, my only desire would have been just a bit more candied ginger. The bread pudding was very good and you could taste the whiskey without it being overpowering. Lastly, the chocolate mousse was really good, it was like a high end PB&J dessert.
Overall, I would definitely come here again, maybe for happy or brunch to try out other types of food.

Everytime I have walked into this establishment, the staff I have interacted with, have rubbed me the wrong way. The first time we visited without a reservation, the hostess let us know it would be a 3 hour wait. I suspect it was because we were with our toddler daughter. There was no «our next official opening isn’t for 3 hours but you can hang around and something may open up.» There are better ways to communicate to the customer. This tells me they don’t appreciate the business of families and really don’t deserve my money in the future. The second time, we arrived super early for a 7pm reservation and we decided to grab drinks at the bar while we waited. My fiancé was by the entrance when the bartender asked me for OUR ID’s i gladly grabbed his for her. She went searching for him and asked me where he was. When I found him, the hostess had directed him to our table. I wasn’t trying to get one over on you with happy hour pricing, get over yourself. When I explained that we were waiting for a table when I was placing my order with her she growled that someone would be with me at my table. Okay.
On to the food:
*Hot buns* — were fresh, spicy, sweet, and I liked the crunch of the pickles.
*Cheese curds*- the batter is light but tastes similar to plastic, if thats your thing. If you haven’t already, try the cheese curds from The Cow and The Curd.
*Fried chicken*- was cooked nicely, crunchy and not oily exterior and juicey center. They should have used the rosemary they used to garnish the dish to add flavor the the batter. Unfortunately, it was bland. While the homemade hot sauce was good it was too spicy to have as the only sauce option to the heavily breaded chicken.
*Braised shortrib*- tender, juicey, and all the accompaniments were spot on. Creamy grits, crunchy roasted brussel sprouts. This was my favorite.
*The apple cranberry pie* was not even worth eating.
*The whiskey-​butterscotch bread pudding* was on the dry side but the ice cream made it edible.
If you are forced into this establishment, try the hot buns. Their cocktails, beer, and wines seem WAY over priced. No thanks. I wish you the best of luck, but first, learn how to treat your customers.

LOVED IT HERE! Such a cute, dark and romantic place for date night or a good girls night. They have a bunch of signature cocktails with whiskey and bourbon. The slush drink I wanted to try was all out so I opted for a glass of wine. The boyfriend tried a cocktail which he enjoyed then got the yards beer that is only made for 13^th street. He also gave a thumbs up for that! We went on the last night of restaurant week. Definitely need a reservation because it was super crowded! We got:
Cheese curds — delicious but you get a lot. I only ate two bc that’s all I could handle.
Nashville hot buns — best. Thing. Ever. SO GOOD! The pickles and slaw balanced out the hot fried chicken.
Fried chicken — boyfriend got this as his main entrée. Loved it! The biscuit was delicious and you get so much chicken.
Braided short rib over grits — amaze. It was so delicious with the roasted Brussel spouts.
Peanut butter moose — it had whip cream and berries on top. So good! And a good balance of peanut butter and chocolate.
Whiskey bread pudding — the best dessert we had. So good with the Carmel crust. YUMMY!!!
We cannot wait to come back!!!

Went here for lunch during restaurant week, it was A, Okay lol. I’ve only heard great things about this place, but it was average. I do not have any complaints, I have just been to better places in the city.
I ordered the nashville hot buns (they were actually very good), I ordered their double patty burger (it was average at best, definitely way better places for burgers in the city) and for dessert I had their apple cranberry slab pie which really didn’t do anything for me.
I would definitely go back, but I would make sure to order something different. Although I would have their nashville hot buns again!

Just went to Bud & Marilyn’s last night for dinner. First off I loved their version of a whiskey sour, the Blitzer. Whiskey, grapefruit juice and raspberry syrup. I highly recommend getting the crispy cheese curds and hot buns for an appetizer! The cheese curds were lightly battered so you won’t feel too guilty eating them haha! Next if you do get the fried chicken, be committed. The serving is LARGE. They serve it with two bisquits, heaven, and the Bud & Marilyn’s homemade hot sauce. Oh yes, the fried chicken is amazing too. Juicy and just enough flavor to devour the whole plate.

Our server Tom was amazing! I visited last Friday wish my mom and my sister for the lunch menu for restaurant week. We had the vegan chili, cheese curds, salad, fried chicken, trout, peanut butter mouse and apple pie. The cheese curds were delicious!!! The fried chicken came with a biscuit that would make you smack your mother lol. Also the apple cherry pie was delicious with the vanilla ice cream.
Overall I loved the food and service. I recommend anyone to go because even during non restaurant time the prices are doable. Oh, don’t forget to ask for Tom!

I came in here for lunch with coworkers. Although we did not have a reservation, they were able to seat us right away. The service was good throughout, and the atmosphere is modern, yet comfortable. I really enjoyed our selections, though the food is pretty heavy and could undo any diet.
We started off with some shareable appetizers: the crispy cheese curds and the pork ‘n pickles. The cheese curds were like bite-​sized mozzarella sticks — crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. They were super oily, but absolutely delicious — served with a smoky salsa-​like sauce and an herby ranch-​like sauce. The pork ‘n pickles were an eclectic mix of ham, pâté, cured meat, cheese, biscuits, pickles, and mustard, embellished with a crispy pork rind.
For my entrée, I had the pastrami patty melt. I was curious about the fries, so I picked that as a side, but after taking a few bites from this delicious, but greasy sandwich, I realized I should have picked a side salad. The sandwich itself was huge, stuffed with beef, pastrami, and melted gruyère and raclette — a combination that tasted as awesome as it sounds. Combined with the fries, it could easily have fed two people. The food was well-​executed and I would definitely come back for dinner and a drink, or even to try some other lunch items.
The only thing that didn’t impress me was the iced tea, which came as a glass of ice and an Honest Tea bottle that I could pour into the glass. It was not freshly brewed tea.

Had reservations on Saturday night. The place was packed but we were seated right away which was nice. The atmosphere is small & dark and the tables (for 2) were fairly close together but overall it was cute inside.
We started with the warm, pillowy, cheesy balls from heaven. oh I mean the cheese curds. Amazing. I could sit at the bar and drink the cranberry moscow mule and eat baskets of cheese curds all night. After the cheese curds sadly ended we had the meatloaf & the fried chicken. The chicken was great and the hot sauce was really good too. The biscuits and pickles were to die for and again, I could make a meal of just those alone. The meatloaf and mashed potatoes was also excellent. I was a bit disappointed that the brisket stroganoff wasn’t on the menu because I was looking forward to that but the meatloaf didn’t disappoint so it was fine.
We ended with the funfetti cake (& a box to take half of it to go, it’s a seriously huge portion).
Overall we loved everything and will be back to try other menu items.

YES:
–Happy hour. They have a killer happy hour. Get the buns, the curds, the cranberry mule. Set.
–Cheese curds. They deserve their own bullet. Seriously, I don’t know how they managed to pull off such a fantastic menu item.
–Dessert. Whiskey bourbon bread pudding is delicious. Need to try that funetti cake.
–Cocktails. They seem to have the mixing game down.
–Bathrooms. Super cute and private stalls. There’s only three unisex stalls, however, so you may need to wait.
–Tiki bar. Bring it back! Such a lovely reprieve from the winter. From what the host said prior to its December closing, the owners are considering re-​opening it each winter as a seasonal pop-​up. I really hope they do! It was adorable and so welcoming.
–Bar seats. So cute, retro and comfy!
NO:
–Beer. Do not bother. My requested $ 7 brown ale was a grand cru. I pointed it out and the server told me I was wrong. I was actually not wrong. Small pour too.
–Fried chicken. I don’t understand. The chicken was dry and boring. The bun was dry and boring. How do all the critics love this dry and boring plate? Or did I just get a poor plate courtesy of Restaurant Week?
–High tops behind the bar. I made a RW res at the beginning of January, so when we were pointed to the first high top in front of the door, I requested a different table. Hostess replied by staring at me without using words. I then said, «Um, can we have this one then?» (Aka the high-​top one back). She hesitantly said okay, but it didn’t matter anyway. As a chronically cold person, I froze the whole meal. And the seat was painful.
VERDICT:
No to Restaurant Week. Yes to Happy Hour. I’d gladly go back and eat/​drink their entire HH menu whenever possible. If I did go back for a full meal, I’d request a table in the dining area away from the door. And order a cocktail. Lesson learned.

I came here for brunch on Saturday morning. The restaurant is fairly small. The staff is very friendly.
You can make a reservation for brunch which is a pro! The homemade cinnamon bun to share is everything I thought it would be and then some. It can easily be shared among 4 – 5 people. I ordered the shashuka and was not impressed. They don’t have an omelet selection so I thought I would give it a try. I would return but likely for dinner because the menu looks amazing. If I returned for brunch I would order the cinnamon bun and probably the tofu veggie hash.

Came in on a very busy Friday night with one other but got quickly sat together at the bar which we prefer anyway. Bar tender was pretty friendly and attentive, but the cocktails were so-​so. A little on be sweet side and tasted like they could use a bit more booze, although the slow gin fizz was quite good.
We split the pupu platter which was out of this world. We moaned with every bite. Specifically the skirt steak and tuna macadamia nut dish was amazing.
We’ve already been back since (ordered the pupu platter again. Because how could we not) and decided to stick with classic maragaritas which were made perfectly!
We will continue to come back. You guys rock. My mouth is watering now just thinking of that pupu platter.

Made a reservation for two here on weekday, we were seated right away. Our server was very nice and accomodating, he was very attentive, during the dinner my wife and I were both dropping our dinner napkin, and utensils. Our server brought us new napkin and utensil without asking…
Both of us order cocktails, both were very good and strong! The one that my wife ordered came in a fish bowl like glass, it was very reasonably prices for the portion that we’re getting.
For appetizers we ordered, fried cheese curds-what’s not to love. It’s cheese and deep fried, it also comes with two different dipping sauces. One of them was kinda smoky and over powering, it wasn’t a big deal since the cheese curds were so delicious by itself.
Hot buns-​it was good, comes on a potato roll, served with a vinegar based coleslaw.
My wife ordered the bone-​in short rib special, I was so shocked when it comes to our table. It looks like a giant dinosaur rib, according to our server that it took about five days to make it since the short rib was brined for 48 hours, then air dry for 24 hours. The bone in short rib itself was so rich, I know the chef was trying to pair with some Mediterranean flavor profile, green olives, roasted red pepper, pickled lemon rinds and white beans. We couldn’t finish it since it was so big. The only thing about this dish, it’s missing an actual sauce to bring the dish together. When I reheat it at home, I added some chicken stock to the beans, olive mix. It surprisingly the solution that I was looking for. Also, the short rib was way too fatty.
Our favorite was the Short Rib Stroganoff with house made pappardelle. It’s so hard to describe how delicious it is. So do yourself a favor and order this dish next time you’re at B&M.

I think I had reasonable expectations for Bud & Marilyn’s after hearing nothing but phenomenal reviews from friends & in reviews. My expectations were set a little low, perhaps, because my friend and I had a near-​perfect extravagant lunch yesterday.
The space itself is fun, kitschy-​with-​a-​wink, and sleek. The service staff is young, but fiercely excited about the menu (maybe it was just our server), and happy to offer advice on ordering.
We ordered:
— Cheese curds
— Vietnamese Chicken liver pâté
— Chop Suey
— French Onion Grilled Cheese
I’ve heard raves about the cheese curds, and they did not disappoint. Light, salty, fried delicious morsels of cheesy goodness. I had a huge smile on my face after the first bite.
The Vietnamese Chicken liver pâté was a delicious riff on a classic — the added pickled vegetables & peanut notes add great new flavors to the already flavorful chicken liver.
The Chop Suey was fun and rich in flavor. Somewhere between classic Lo Mein, Fried rice, and a collage of other Asian flavors, it was rich and decadent with the egg & pork belly.
The only real mis-​step for me was the Grilled Cheese. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but not something I will probably return to. The bits of french onion that I got were delicious, but overall I found the sandwich to be a bit one-​note.
I liked everything so much, I already have a reservation for later this week to return!

I would love to meet Bud and Marilyn. They are killing it!
Our server was a little slow, but it was pretty busy for a Monday night. Some of our favs– the cocktails (duh, most specifically the Marilyn’s O-​F, NY style O-​F and cranberry mule), biscuits w salted butter, short rib stroganoff (the short rib was just perfect), mashed pots and the beautiful slice of FUNfetti to round out the meal. It was the sweetest ending to a wonderful night w my man.
Oh and don’t forget to try the homemade hot sauce. Its perfect!

FYI– the Tiki Bar entrance is right next to Lil Nonna’s. Follow the path to the back.
The Tiki Bar is really cool. Bright décor in a comfortably chill setting, but I got to say that most of the drinks are surprisedly terrible.
The painkiller (reminiscent of a piña colada) was insanely sweet.
The singapore sling was just awful. It was like fruit punch with the cheapest alcohol possible. haha it was almost like jungle juice.
The hot holiday grog wasn’t too bad though.
For $ 10 a pop, I would never return for the cocktails.
That being said, I’m a huge Bud & Marilyn’s fan. I would return to try some food, have a beer, and update my review.

I’m in love. This was one of the best meals I’ve had in a while, on all counts.
The atmosphere is perfectly dim but loud as hell so it doesn’t veer too far into «i’m trying really hard to be a sexy bar» territory. Décor doesn’t matter that much to me in the grand scheme of things, but the bathrooms were the cutest ever. #apartmentgoals.
I’ll start with the drinks, only because I was AGAIN, very impressed. They have a signature Yards brew, which is really cool, but I wasn’t the biggest fan– was too heavy to drink more than one of, and I’m a fan of over-​indulgence. I ordered a few glasses of merlot and they were generously poured. More wine = better.
Onto the food. The mancandy and I got the cheese curds (because really, how can you not) as a starter, and then split Marilyn’s fried chicken and the fontina & chard stuffed meatloaf. Insert approximately 10 billion heart-​eyed emojis here.
The curds were fluffy pillows of heaven sent from the cheese gods, and came with a ranch dipping sauce and a spicy salsa. I am a sucker for a few things, including cheese and ranch, sooo this was a no-​brainer. Could’ve eaten 17 baskets of these.
The fried chicken though. As a child I used to eat the crunchy stuff off of the pieces of fried chicken and leave the chicken (disgusting but true), and this chicken did not disappoint my inner-​crispy-​skin-​eating-​child. The chicken inside the crunchy deliciousness was moist and flavorful. Biscuits and honey butter accompanied this dish and OH MY GOD this is every carb lovers dream. I also used to eat pats of butter as a child (why I’m telling you people my inner fatty secrets I have no idea) and this butter was good enough to bathe in. There was also a side of pickles involved which were eh but who cares because FRIED CHICKEN.
Onto the meatloaf. Anything stuffed with cheese is a win in my book, but the meatloaf itself was reminiscent of mom’s, in a good way. Comes with a ketchup glaze on top and a side of carrots and mashed potatoes with gravy. For fear of going to overboard with my praise, just hear me when I say it was all really effin good. And we somehow had enough restraint to bring home a liiiiil bit of leftovers to share the next day, which were just as good.
OKAY finally, our super nice server convinced me to order a gigantic piece of funfetti cake to go, and we microwaved it last night and the icing got all goopy and melty and it was so indulgent but so very worth it.
It appears I’ve written a novel, my sincerest apologies.
Marcie Turney & Valerie Safran, you’ve done it again.

Bud & Marilyn’s brings out the best in the nostalgia of your Grandma’s cooking.
PSA: They take OpenTable reservations but only for parties under 6. It’s actually pretty tough to get a res for 6 (they limited me to certain times) so you might need to cut some friends out of your life (or maybe just out of your dinner plans).
Service was awesome. Our waiter (Benjamin) had great recommendations for everything from drink pairings to how many dishes to order and what not to skip and was not shy about telling us when he thought we made a bad choice.
Drinks– didn’t love the blinker (too sweet) and as my friend said they need to step up their ice game with big cubes if they’re going to offer fancy cocktails like that.
4 ladies with healthy appetites shared:
The Fried Cheese Curds.($ 8) Get them. They’re delicious and great to share and the dipping sauces don’t hurt either.
The Nashville buns: ($ 10) 2 per order. Bite sized. Reminded me of Nashville in an awesome way (lil bit of a kick). Would come back just for these at happy hour ($ 3.50 instead of $ 5 each– pro tip: they also have a late night happy hour). Get them.
The PuPu Platter. ($ 26) I’m a sucker for an appetizer sampler and this one had a lot of things: tuna poke, beef skewers, pork toast, shishito peppers, ribs, and wings. Large portions (more than 1 each), and everything was good, but nothing was mindblowing, and the wings were pretty ordinary. I’d probably skip this.
Short Rib Stroganoff. ($ 18) Maybe my favorite dish of the night. English peas, fresh pasta, tender meat. Get this.
Sea scallops ($ 22) 3 large scallops layered with corn cakes and veggies. Good but not great. Skip.
Local greens. We ordered a lot of unhealthy foods. These were good to balance that out. Pleasant surprise and made us feel healthy.
Funfetti cake. Massive and the fluffiest cake you will ever eat. Oddly topped with a fortuneless fortune cookie and surrounded by some strawberry thing that tasted like the inside of a pop tart.
Apple donuts with chai cream cheese. So good. Must get these.
We were very full by the end and packed up half the desserts. Prices were reasonable for how much food we got (with about 1 drink each it was $ 50).
I don’t know about you guys but my Grandma did not cook like this. Recommend for a dinner date, drinks and apps with friends, catch up dinner with mom, etc. Great atmosphere, food, and service.

I was wondering about this place awhile and finally got to try it. Got cheese curds, short rib stroganoff, fried chicken and lobster buns.
I always wanted to try cheese curd truck but never got to wait to get to so this was perfect. Was little salty for me but if you skip the sauce then it’s bearable.
As other reviews said, short rib stroganoff was definitely winner of the night. Was delicious and I love it very much.
Lobster buns were pretty good too. Decent size of lobsters in it. Not heavy on sauce. Yum.
Fried chicken dish was huge. Big two pieces include breast. I prefer white meat part so it was perfect. It wasn’t Korean fried chicken style, it was more like Blue ribbon fried chicken in NYU. Otherwise fancy KFC lol
Most dishes were little saltier side than other restaurants but maybe good with drinks. Will go back.