Long Running Lesbian Bar Rubyfruit Swaps Identities, Now Budhu Lounge

The current identity of the space at 531 Hudson is Budhu Lounge, and the slogan is “Eat-Drink-Love.”

Landmark West Village lesbian bar Rubyfruit is no more. Well, actually, it hasn’t been since 2008, when the name was changed following financial and legal problems reported in The New York Times. The place was bailed out by a patron, Annetta Budhu, and the name under the new owership changed to RF Lounge.

Rubyfruit — with its related restaurant, Rita Mae’s — was founded in 1994, named after a lesbian feminist novel by Rita Mae Brown, who now writes mystery stories about cats.

The new place, Budhu Lounge, retains much of the same décor and layout, but the downstairs restaurant has become much more ambitious, helmed by chef and Chopped contestant Yoanne Magris, who most recently cooked at her own East Harlem bistro, Yo In Yo Out.

The restaurant is now called Budhulicious. HIghlights of the new menu, which is filled with comical misspellings, include foie gras terrine marinated in sauternes, Maine Lobster deviled eggs, and chipotle chicken skewers with avocado and yogurt dip (that list alone required three corrections).

An employee I spoke with at the door assured me that the institution’s lesbian-bar status would remain intact.

Budhu Lounge
531 Hudson Street
917-262-0836

Next: The new menu

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