Ladies' Night Cleveland
Budapest Blonde
Ladies' Night Cleveland
Budapest Blonde
Budapest Blonde
6901 Rockside Road
Independence, OH 44131
216-328-8780
Day- Tuesdays
Time- 7:00-9:00pm
Ladies' Night Special-
*$4 martinis, $5 glasses of house wines
NONEXISTENT
Rating:
0 out of 5 glasses (based on 2 reviews)
Review by Rachel
Alas, we knew it would happen eventually. After several delightful ladies’ night specials, we found a real stinker; one so bad, we felt it appropriate to give it a pathetic zero out of five martini glasses. (We would have dipped into negative numbers if our rating system allowed. Oh wretched, self-imposed rules!) Why zero, you might ask? Because the ladies’ night special at Budapest Blonde was nonexistent! That’s right- it was just a ruse to get you to wander into the bar and flop down a chunk of cash at inflated prices. After less than a month of having directly spoken with not one, but both owners about the specifics of their special (and yes, we DO have it in writing), two of us decided to hit the scene and check out the purported deal for ourselves. We met up a short while before 7:00pm- hitting the tail end of happy hour. After a round of dodge ‘ems in the packed parking lot, we expected more than a handful of patrons inside. At any one point during our two hour visit, there were no more than three other customers in the bar - an obvious bad omen. Between the two of us, we had a variety of mini-martinis and a single glass of wine during happy hour. We were not overly impressed with the happy hour special, which coincidentally, was the exact same “special” (and I use the term loosely) as the ladies’ night offer. Apparently, in the several communications with Budapest, they must have forgotten to mention that the martinis were not full-sized martinis… And for anyone who doesn’t get out much, paying $4 for a 5 oz. martini is nothing to get your panties in a bunch over, however tasty they might be (the martinis, not the panties!). Pickings were slim on wine- we had a choice of one red or one white; the red had us thinking a glass of Carlo Rossi’s Cab Sauv would have been a better choice. Without inspecting the label, we suspect by “blend”, they apparently meant red wine blended with Aquafina.
As 7:00 pm approached, we casually asked about ladies’ night. After a peculiar moment of deliberation, we got a “nope, no ladies night”. Um. Ok. We explained that we were there from Ladies’ Night Cleveland, and there must be some misunderstanding, because we had just spoken with the owner about the special. {Down to three martini glasses} He told me he was the owner, but his wife, the second co-owner, handled this matter. At this point we were thrust into some good-cop bad-cop routine. The wife came over, and our repeated inquisition was met with unexpected aggression. She snapped that they did in fact have a ladies’ night, but that we didn’t ask for it the “right way”. {Two martini glasses} Apparently the code word was lost on us, and we went into a rather ridiculous circular argument about whether or not they actually had a ladies’ night special or not. (Well, one of us argued- the other just laughed. In her defense, it was rather amusing.) We were told to look around- that there’s nobody around to get the special. We argued it was because they didn’t have one. No, they had one- if you asked right. {One pitiful glass} We were point blank told that it was our fault at Ladies’ Night Cleveland that nobody was there for the special, and that we should have printed off cards (at our expense) for their tables advertising the special! We explained that we were there for the good denizens of Cleveland, matching ladies’ with quality bars and restaurants, and as not as volunteer promoters. {Zero. Zilch. Zip. Not a lone martini glass in sight.} After an apparent revelation, our credentials were demanded as though we were only masquerading as reviewers. Evidently disappointed after a business card was produced, she told us “Yeah. So you can have a special. Whud do ya want? We got martinis for five dollars”, pointing to the happy hour postcard. “Uh, aren’t they only four? It says four dollars right there.” “Yeah, fine. Four bucks.” You had to have another drink after that argument!
So, Budapest Blonde, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to associate your empty bar with devious advertising practices and literally insulting service. So save yourself the aggravation- and skip this one. If you happen to have a craving over in Independence, we recommend hitting up the Winking Lizard right next door (most people seemed to already have that thought- the Lizard was packed). The drinks are far superior and the service isn’t offensive- always a plus!
11/16/07
Because Every Night is Ladies' Night!
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