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Went for dinner last night with my 3 friends and had an excellent dinner! We had the robata and some rolls and everything was delish! Very excited to go back!

Terrific grilled dishes (we especially liked the chicken meatball). Sushi was fine though not really stellar. Price was reasonable for what we got. And our service was excellent, extremely attentive. The highlight of the evening was the black sesame pudding for desert. It was truly extraordinary. Highly recommended. Looks like a nice bar scene as well.

The grilled stuff here at Butai is some of the best in the North East. Gyu Kushi, Teba, chicken meatballs, lamb chops with miso paste, everything is delicious!!! best robata style i have ever had.

I went to this restaurant with a group of 8. Everyone at the table was ready to spend money and enjoy themselves. I understand that the idea of this restaurant is to order as you feel like it and to enjoy your meal slowly. However, there was a 90 minute gap between our appetizers and our entrees. The waitresses (yes, we had TWO) disappeared. We could not find them, and they did not stop by to ask if we needed anything. They forgot several items when we did get our meal, and they were less than apologetic. They actually accused us of not ordering them in the first place. Everyone at the table would have ordered more food and drinks, but we could not be sure that it wouldn't take another 2 hours just to get a plate of sashimi. This was particularly annoying because the style of the restaurant is to share very small portions, so we left hungry! I do not recommend this restaurant, even though the food was pretty good. It is just not worth the headache (or the money).

I'm a neighbor, almost a regular since Butai opened. The service was always bad, the prices were always astronomical and the food was always good- but the last time I went to Butai the management was so awful it ruined the meal. Shortest form: the manager cranked up the music during our meal- with only us and another couple in the room upstairs so loud we could not speak to each other and when we politely asked him to return it to the level it had been for the hours we had been talking while waiting for food, he was rude- in addition to leaving it loud. The manager also allows staff to smoke at the entrance. There's never a need for reservations, this place is always empty- guess why? This is Union Square, it's not the price- its the suffering and punishment factor from management that is surly and incompetent- and apparently the owner likes it this way. I phoned and faxed messages to the owner and never got a response. We ran up a big bill waiting for food that we couldn't enjoy. There's so many fabulous restaurants in Union Square- give this one a pass in favor of one that serves food with a good attitude.

Passed by this place on our first night in town. It was me and my three children. (who all LOVE Asian food) We sat down and ordered a little bit of this a little bit of that....when we were finished with that we ordered some more...it was like a Japanese Tapas!! We all shared and had a blast!! And the servers were GREAT with the children. They did not snear their noses up when we walked in, which I get a lot in other places. In the end I would go back again.

I'm sorry that the reviewers tend toward the stereotype of big Americans with big appetites. This type of Japanese food is typically served in petite portions. Also, it is the type of food you (as one reviewer put it) spend a lot of time with. You can't really takeout... in fact don't takeout anything grilled! The food is fantastic, a bit pricy, but delicious. Maybe not the ideal place for a super hungry person, but you can definitely fill up on 30 bucks including a drink and tip. I'll go back for sure... and I'm not rich. Its worth spending a couple extra bucks.