bernadette Restaurant

Review summary

1. L

   Lauren

   New York City

   11 reviews

   4.0

   11 reviews

   Dined today

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Beautiful place. Very interesting tasty small and large plates. Fun drinks!
   

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2. L

   Lindsay

   VIP

   Tampa

   3 reviews

   3.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 14 December 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 2

   We were seated 30 minutes late for our reservation, without much attention or insight from the restaurant during our waiting period. The martini was not great, but other craft cocktails were tasty. Food was good, and while it is tapas, the portions are very small for the price point. The set up and vibe of the space is a little strange.
   

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3. F

   Flynn

   VIP

   New York City

   16 reviews

   4.0

   16 reviews

   Dined on 12 December 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Gorgeous decor, creative yummy tapas, fabulous team. I can only guess pricing is what is keeping more diners away. Had the place practically to ourselves. Not exorbitant but multiple small plates per person adds up. $21 per glass for house cab.
   

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4. S

   Shannon

   VIP

   New Jersey

   7 reviews

   1.0

   7 reviews

   Dined on 6 December 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   Resturant is beautiful and I wanted to love it, but there were too many problems for the price charged for the experience. I reserved a high top since tables were booked. High Tops are generally small tall tables in the bar area. In this case, our seats were across from each other at a very wide community table that had a father/child pair seated on one end and a family of three seating at the other. The seats in the middle of wide table between these two parties was very close on each side to strangers but too far away from my husband for any chance at talking privately. I can't image trying to share tapas across that width comfortably. We decided to leave but was moved to bar. If High Top was advertised as "Community Table" I would not have booked that option. The curved wide bar is beautiful and a much better seating experience for couples who want to share tapas. The bartender was attentive and helpful. However the food service was outrageously too slow. It took 2 hours to recieve three plates. We were warned that the last dish could take 25-30 minutes to prepare (pasta with shellfish on top really), but it was well over an hour or more for something that really is not a complex plate. We ordered 3 total glasses of wine in that time. The bartender apologized for the slow but deducted nothing for the inconvenience. The bill was over $160 with the tip. I walked away annoyed that we paid a massively large bill for three small pates of food and two glasses of wine and at least an hour of wasted time. An apology for bad service doesn't make bad service good. We will not return.
   

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5. a

   allison

   New York City

   11 reviews

   4.0

   11 reviews

   Dined on 6 December 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Delicious food. Tried a variety of tapas including croquettes, tuna tartar, pissetta, patatas, cheese plate and profiteroles. The only disappointment was the cheese plate. Everything else was outstanding. There was a group of 7 women that was very loud which made it difficult to have a conversation.
   

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6. D

   Deborah

   Charleston

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 30 November 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   A New York style restaurant in Scotch Plains NJ? That's weird, but good. The food was also good. We had the squash salad, brussel sprouts and bacon-wrapped dates. (We weren't very hungry.) All yummy.
   

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7. k

   katie

   VIP

   New York City

   6 reviews

   2.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on 29 November 2024

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 2

   We waited at least 30 minutes to receive our drinks after ordering. My drink was inaccurately described and tasted terrible but there weren’t enough servers to really even ask to send it back. The food did taste good!
   

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8. E

   Erika

   New Jersey

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 22 November 2024

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   We had high expectations based on other reviews but left disappointed in Bernadette. Our reservation was for a “high top” but only when we arrived did we find out this was an oversized communal table in the middle of a lounge area. The distance between our seats was awkward and made it very hard to have a conversation especially with the loud club music blasting in the background at 6pm. If you’re planning a date night then look elsewhere. The restaurant markets itself as an “elegant, city-like dining experience” but it really feels like a noisy hotel bar in a strip mall space. And the food leaves something to be desired, literally, we had to go across the street afterwards for a satisfying meal. The grilled Caesar salad was two soggy pieces of lettuce and unfortunately ours came with hair in it, gross! The tuna tartare is served in a tiny dish by itself without the typical chips or crackers to go with it. The croquettes were mushy and lacking flavor or any sauce. The menu makes every dish sound special but it’s mediocre at best and the portions are small! Even for tapas-style, we couldn’t even find a tasty bite. The staff tried to make up for the hairy Caesar by comping out drinks, but overall the service was lousy with one server running circles around the dining area and another who seemed to only pay attention to our table when repeatedly asking to clear a plate of bread that was clearly not finished. Maybe next time we will have to go to the city for a pricey meal that’s actually worth it.
   

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9. K

   Kyle

   VIP

   New York City

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined on 16 November 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Bernadette was a perfect spot for a date night - drinks were fantastic, food was delicious, and the atmosphere perfect to sit and have cocktails and tapas.
   

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10. N

    Nicolette

    New York City

    3 reviews

    2.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on 16 November 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4

    I’d go back solely for cocktails- the food was lacking in flavor
    

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