Bread & Tulips

Eaten here 3 times since my last review and enjoyed myself each time. Love the alcove dining area. Eight to 10 diners fit comfortably. Arugula salad with steak=yum. Personal size pizza has a nice chewy, pillowy crust owing to the brick oven in use. Hearty burgers and addictive fries. Price point is slightly easier on the wallet than the competition in the immediate area. Beautifully decorated and peaceful making it a cinch to have a conversation in a normal voice.

I went out to dinner here with some friends from grad school during a week night and it as a nice place. The food and drinks were good and I really liked the atmosphere.
It is a great place for a quite intimate dinner.
I am not sure if it gets crowded during the week but if you want a more low key place during the week I highly recommend it.

This review is for the Bread & Tulips staff! I went to a wedding a few weekends ago at the Giraffe Hotel rooftop and the food/​service was done by Bread & Tulips. The food was great but the STAFF was amazing! They were all extremely nice, very accommodating, and most of all, FUN! Special shoutout to Alexandra, Ryan, Ashley, Alex, and Selena of Bread & Tulips and Emily of Hotel Giraffe for making the night so memorable and enjoyable! I highly recommend having weddings here and events for other special occasions.

This place was truly unmemorable in so many ways. Food was mediocre at best and ambiance was also a bit off as this restaurant is located in the basement. We were seated right next to the bathroom which I did not like. Overall, everything was just sub par. So many better options in the area — would suggest skipping this one!

Three stars for food, four stars for everything else. I came here for a private event and was really surprised with how nice the ambiance is. The restaurant itself is downstairs and it has a rustic charm to it. The service is excellent, I really do need to give a shoutout to the wait staff, they were great.
The event I was there for had about 20 people, so we had a fixed menu and everything was served family style. The food isn’t anything special, it’s fine, but nothing mind blowing. We had the burrata, kale salad, and assorted pizzas as our starters. The burrata was good, the salad I could’ve gone without, and the pizzas were decent. They thrn brought out a few bowls of pasta caprese, which weren’t that good and pretty basic (but hey, it’s a large crowd, they need to please everyone!). The main dishes were plates of salmon and plates of sea bass. I’m usually more of a salmon person but I have to say the sea bass was better. For dessert we had the option of a pear tart or a chocolate-​hazelnut mousse. Chocolate FTW!
For a Saturday night the restaurant was busy! The crowd is pretty mixed but the vibe is great, I think all 20 of us had a great time!

I have been lazy about writing reviews lately. However, I had a bad experience last night at Bread & Tulips that I need to do something…
Based on Unilocal reviews, made reservation and had a dinner with my friend. The place has nice décor and was quiet so we can talk. The seating was not too comfortable. I sat on a long sofa bench and my friend at a chair higher than me. We were quite close to the next table which we could hear their conservation. The table was also small but then there was no problem as their dishes were small :-(
We ordered cocktails. Mine was Applejack Manhattan and both of us did not like our drink. — 1 star.
The bread was not good. How can they name their restaurant Bread & Tulips if their bread is not good or great — 1 star. (BTW, if you want good bread, go to Chez Josephine in Greenwich Village.) They did have a yellow tulip on every table which was nice.
We shared the grilled octopus appetizer — $ 17 for 3 small pieces. The taste was pretty good — 3 stars.
We also shared pappardelle entrée. It was a small portion and SO SALTY — 1 star.
After we complained to the waitress, she did comp us two tiny glasses of champagne and a few tiny almond biscuits.
The bathroom was flooded too…
Summary, I will not go back again…

This is a solid modern Italian restaurant. If I didn’t live in the neighborhood, I probably wouldn’t out of my way to go to Bread & Tulips, but it’s perfect when I’m in the mood for a bowl of pasta and don’t want to go too far (I almost always order the Bucatini because I love me some guanciale, but the other pasta dishes are good, as well). The service is friendly. The food, while nothing special, is predictably solid. The wine list is not extensive but has good options across most price points. If you’re in the neighborhood and looking for a decent meal, it’s a good spot.

Went for a late dinner for a bachelorette party. We decided on it because we wanted Italian food and the place didn’t disappoint.
The antipasti was the perfect size to share (we got the burrata and tomato, grilled octopus, and meatballs in sauce and would definitely recommend all of these)
We also had the homemade pasta dishes– the bucatini and tagliatelle. even the pickiest eaters had the pasta and loved it.
Would definitely come back.

Initially this started with my telling my friend that I was going to walk north for exercise from the financial district until we had to go to a Unilocal Queens event earlier this week. She then insisted I come join her for her company’s happy hour session. I felt awkward but she insisted since a lot of people backed out and man was I glad I stopped by. The area in which we were situated was like a little alcove downstairs from the entrance of Bread and Tulips. The lighting is dim with old school lightbulbs and rustic warm wood tables.
The cocktail menu was both intriguing and held a variety of strong libations for everyone’s palate and the wine menu was pretty fantastic as well. Between the two of us we tried about half the cocktail menu. Stares awkwardly at feet. My favorites were definitely a toss between the Detox: Reyka vodka, St. Germain, Kiwi, Cucumber, and fresh lime or the Strawberry Mint Julep for those wanting something sweeter that still packs a punch. The Rucola Gimlet was interesting as well (a vodka based drink that uses arugula as its base) and the Rosemary Collins was quite refreshing. I feel like a lush.
For bites in between drinks the girls ordered mini grilled cheese sammies with soup (tiny but so flavorful and adorable!), Meatballs (really seasoned and cooked well, only tried a half of one), a spread of a variety of cheeses and meats with crusty bread, and a wide variety of pizzas that were cut into sixteenths for us. There was the spinach with ricotta, grana padano, garlic, meyer lemon, extra virgin olive oil; Mortadella with salami parmigiano, fresno peppers, pistachios, olive oil, fior di latte mozzarella; Margarita with san marzano tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil; and lastly and my personal favorite the Quattro formaggi with mozzarella, grana, fontina, gorgonzola, and caramelized onions.
Two pasta dishes also came out on the bar area that I tried a forkful of each. Both were cooked al dente and had very rich and distinct flavors. The Bucatini was smothered with a fresh light tomato sauce, grana padano (which is like a very rich parmesan), and guanciale (cured or smoked meat from pork cheeks) with red pepper flakes. The pork was succulent and amazing with the thick noodles. Though, the winner on flavor had to go by a narrow hair to the Fettucine in a veal bolognese sauce. I had to stop myself from wanting to devour more than a small portion. Also, both pastas came in very hearty portion sizes.
I had never been to Bread and Tulips before but their hospitality was warm and both the food and drinks were pretty well above average. They have seasonal menus to keep in mind that change around a bit, a valentines menu prix fixe, and are also participating in restaurant week.

Came here for my first time during last year’s Winter Restaurant week. My party of 3 and I had reservations and we were seated immediately. The ambience downstairs is warm, rustic and modern. Really perfect for a date or girls night out.
For starters I had a light arugula based salad with a prosecco vinaigrette and freshly shaved sheets of aged Parmesan. As my entrée, I went with their Quattro Formaggi Pizza (mozerella, granna, fontina, Gorgonzola and I asked them to nix the caramelized onions). Dessert, complimentary bread and cookies. I’m going back to the bread… it was delicious, warm and perfect. I get why their name is «Bread & Tulips»…
I also recently had the pleasure of my office hosting an event here. We had quite the impressive spread of meats, cheeses, pizzas, pasta dishes, grilled cheese/​tomato soup things and meatballs. I got to help figure out what things to order and I could not have been happier with everything. The quality of the food and cocktails here is seriously superb and Jonathan (bartender downstairs) was really awesome.
I’ve now officially tried 4 out of the 5 brick oven pizzas available here. Including:
+. MARGARITA — san marzano tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil.
+ QUATTRO FORMAGGI — See above.
+ MORTADELLA (salami) — parmigiano, Fresno peppers, pistachios, olive oil and fior di latte mozzarella.
+ SPINACH — ricotta, grana padano, garlic Meyer lemon and extra virgin olive oil.
Pasta dishes I’ve tried here include:
+ BUCATINI — San Marzano Tomatoes, guanciale, pepper flakes and grana padano.
+ FETTUCCINI — veal bolognese sauce with grana padano.
Both pasta dishes were fantastic portions, perfectly cooked and had rich delicious flavors. Personally, the veal bolognese fettuccini was the pasta winner of night to me.
The meatballs here tasted homemade and were delicious but could have been bigger. The sugo added a nice flavor though and they were saucy and also topped with shaved cheese (maybe more grana padano? Tasted a little different from Parmesan).
Cocktail-​wise I got to try 6 out of the 8 cocktails on their menu and some white wine on my first visit. I definitely recommend their Strawberry Mint Julep and their Detox as my favorites. The Rucola Gimlet with fresh flavors of arugula was also delicious and fresh — definitely a unique and creative way to use a salad base in a drink. Cheers to healthy drinking! Lol.
The management and staff were all friendly, warm, accommodating and awesome. Overall I really like this place and look forward to coming back again!

My friend and I came for Winter Restaurant Week. We were led to the downstairs dining area which was nice and inviting. I liked the wood tables, warm accents and intimate feel.
There was a yellow tulip on the table and we were given rustic white bread to start with. Our waiter, Ryan was amazing. He was so friendly and on top of it, even though the restaurant was quite busy that night. He answered all of our questions patiently and was very knowledgeable about the menu. He went above and beyond for us!
I decided on the house made meatballs for my appetizer, which I thought was pretty good. It had a hearty savory taste with yummy sauce, parmesan and basil leaves. My friend had the scallops and I think I actually liked this dish better. I normally am not a fan of scallops, but here it was delicious! It was pan seared to perfection, covered in flavorful juices and had tasty gigante (very large) and garbanzo beans on the side.
For my entrée, I ordered the strip steak tagliata, which came with both parmesan fries and arugula salad with parmesan shavings. The steak was served sliced into small pieces and cooked in natural juices, which was lovely. I really enjoyed the tender and robust taste of the steak. I had it cooked on the well done side, but it wasn’t dry at all! I liked the fries, which were slightly crispy, with fluffy potato taste inside. The salad was pretty bland though. I didn’t taste any dressing on it.
I decided on the dark chocolate mousse cake with hazelnut gelato for desert. The cake itself was a little small, but tasted rich and creamy. The hazelnut gelato was wonderful and paired with the cake very well. My friend loved the gelato so much, she ordered another scoop. Ryan actually gave her 2 scoops, so she was able to share some with me. AND he didn’t charge us for the extra gelato.
I also tried my friend’s dessert — The crostata di pere, which is like a pear tart. I think I liked it more than her because she let me have more than half! The crostata came with blood orange gelato, which was just okay but the crostata itself was a delightful mix of almond and pear. There seemed to be an almond base and pear baked into it on the side. The crust was so good as well. It was lightly sweet and a refreshing contrast to the heavier chocolate cake.
My friend and I had a great time here and I’m happy I finally got to try this place out!

Always a delicious experience. I love the food and the décor is perfect. The owner is such a nice person and the waitstaff is great.

One of my favorite dinner experiences in Manhattan thus far! I made a reservation ahead of time for my sister’s birthday on a Saturday night.
Though we arrive half an hour early, we were taken care of right away and led downstairs by the host to wait to be seated. As we sat down in the little nook of the lounge area, we thought to ourselves «we’d have no problem waiting here for half an hour!» While my sister went to use the ladies’ room, I asked our waitress if there was anything we could do for her birthday, she said she’d let our server know to place a candle on the dessert we ordered.
Service was excellent — Ryan took care of us most of the evening, giving some of his own food recommendations. The FOOD. We ordered and shared the fried artichokes that came with a yogurt-​type sauce. The balance was perfect. I also ordered us the burrata dish that came with sliced tomatoes in olive oil. I’ve had amazing burrata in San Diego (apparently it’s a thing there), and this was definitely up there in terms of quality.
For dinner, I had some of the Hen of The Woods (mushroom) pizza with arugula. It was excellent and not too much. The pasta dishes were also exceptional and just enough. I tried my sister’s bucatini dish and was in love.
For dessert, we shared the tiramisu (topped with a birthday candle), which was unsurprisingly very good.
The décor of this restaurant is so, so cute and refined. There was a lively communal-​like table in the middle downstairs that further added to the rustic Italian feel of the restaurant. Lots of different seating arrangements, for intimate dates, to family engagements. The waiting area by the bar actually was reserved for a private event, which is something to consider in the future. Will definitely be back!

This meal was EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED. it nails Rustic Italian. If that is what you are looking for, come here.
–Perfect date spot.
–Great place for a group of 8 as well as they have a nice table set off by itself.
–Octopus was very good. No char on it to speak of (which is usually how I like it) but still very good. The potatoes it was served with were well done also.
–Fried Artichokes were good but not something I would order again.
–Roasted Chicken was excellent how ever I would like to see a starch in addition to the beans (which were great).
–Pappardelle Pasta was very good as well.
–Hazelnut Ice cream over a Chocolate cake was really good too.
Our server, Alexandra, was awesome.

I came here with a few girlfriends during a weekend trip to the city on a Saturday night. It was surprisingly not as crowded as expected, and the setting was a bit more intimate than what we were looking for. However, as we sat down, our server was extremely welcoming, and the rather quiet ambiance did not take away from our positive experience.
We were happy to find several student budget-​friendly options on the menu, ranging from decently priced pizzas (around $ 13-​$ 15) to higher priced pastas ($ 20 – 25), although they were well worth it. We ended up ordering both pizza and pasta. From my friends who ordered the pizza, they said it was pretty good. I had the bucatini pasta, which was probably one of the best pastas I’ve had in a long time. You could tell that the pasta was homemade, and had the perfect «pasta chew». It had the perfect sauce to pasta ratio, and the portion was just right. Overall, a great place to go for some good Italian food. I will definitely be back!

I came here with a friend on a weeknight for after work drinks and a light meal. We both ordered salads which were good sized portions and delicious and we ordered some flatbreads (I forget which sadly) but both were good enough to take a doggy bag home!
Skip the cocktails if you’re thinking about them. Not enough alcohol and too sweet!

I’ve been here a few times so feel like in can now properly review the place.
First time I came here was with a work group. Reservation made fine, and we had a nice table. I did the price fixe which is a good value at the price point. I got the meatballs, steak salad and chocolate hazelnut. The steak salad was the highlight of the meal. Service was bleh.
Second time I did the prix fixe again. Was my myself. Though my waiter was super friendly, service from the kitchen was bad. People seated 20 mins after me for their entrée before, it took 35 mins to get my entrée after my starter, and the entrée after that long wait left me underwhelmed. Maybe they are having an off day, just don’t know if I want to give them another chance.

Came here not too long ago with a friend visiting from Sweden. My first thought was that it was nicely decorated. The servers even take your coat and check it in for you. It make sense if the servers would check your coat back to you when you left, I must have gone 2 blocks before realizing I had forgotten my jacket. Thank goodness I didn’t’ check in my shirt or pants.
Once the food dishes came out, the majority of the time was discussed about where we could possibly go eat next. We both had pasta dishes and both were a disappointment. Would not recommend.

Bread & Tulips. I’ve been a customer and friend since the first time I was introduced to this place by a friend through her networking group. I remember walking down the steps that it held an ambiance similar to something euphoric. There was something that I couldn’t place at the time, only to realize that it was beyond my expectations.
Whether you are coming in for their pizzas or for their delicious antipastos during their popular happy hour, Bread & Tulips wins at every turn. The pastas (especially the squid ink) is delicious and savory. The small bites are perfect for afterwork cocktails. Their family style serving is perfect for a night out with close friends and family (which even includes an alcove with a long wooden soprano table).
While food is definitely a reason to come in, I would say that the ambiance is beyond a date night atmosphere and there are a wide variety of reasons as to why one should have their event at this venue. Dimly lit, it always gives an intimate feeling, even while meeting someone for the first time. I’ve come here plenty a time to meet friends and colleagues and found myself staying beyond the meeting.
Riccardo, the owner, is gracious and treats me like family. Again, I can list a plethora of reasons as to why Bread & Tulips wins, but the real reason is behind Riccardo’s vision and what he created (and that includes the staff that he has chosen and vice versa). I don’t want to exclude the rooftop area of Hotel Giraffe, where B&T also serves.
Whether or not you, the reader, views this as biased is up to you. I came in here with an open and objective mind, as someone who harbors nostalgia for hole in the wall and spots that make the perfect cup of coffee that I frequented for my entire life. The thing is that I have found a loyalty to this place that I didn’t think it was possible if it weren’t for that level of care that Riccardo and his staff gave me — and I’m confident that Bread & Tulips will give the same to you.
So once again, FIN.

Food: 3 – 3.5
Ambiance: 4
I like the dim lighting, ambiance and décor here. It’s cozy — and that’s not a NY euphemism for cramped in this case. The place looks great for an intimate convo — if it’s not crowded, that is. (It was practically empty on the post-​holiday afternoon I was here, so I didn’t experience the evening rush mentioned by others.) Dining is on the basement level. There’s a rooftop bar, which I will totally come back to check out when it reopens in the spring.
I ordered the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with a PayPal/​MyCheck offer). The chicken was tasty, but the greens it sat upon wilted quickly. It was difficult to distinguish between the chicken grease and salad dressing, so ask for those items on the side. It also came with 2 slices of moist, rustic bread.