Laughing Buddha

Weak, even by Sudbury standards

Everyone seems to like the atmosphere, but I go to a restaurant for food -- and the food here is bad. The pizza has little flavour; the toppings totally overwhelm the thin, soggy crust. The famous chick pea salad has a gritty texture. They are clever in coming up with new flavour combinations, but many of them just don't work. And the service -- ouch!

We've order lunch to go from here on many different occasions and the food is always great and the service is prompt. The orders have always been ready when I get there to pick them up.

I come to Sudbury once or twice a year (not to...

I come to Sudbury once or twice a year (not to mention I was born and mostly raised here) to visit and when I came to the Buddha for the first time I was pretty impressed with what had been done with the place. A nice patio was there, an incredible beer selection and some really tasty menu items (though pretty limited). As time went by each subsequent visit was better and better, with more variety on the menu (when ajoined to Sportsbury's) and great service and then soon an expanded patio and back seating area. There was even some entertainment from time to time. Lately, however, I've returned to Sudbury with hopes of a yet better Buddha experience and was thoroughly disappointed. I like some of the new beer selections. I'm a little disappointed at the loss of some others but I can deal with it. The service has become quite terrible. I don't mean a little slow, I mean terrible. There are some good days when I don't have to wait 15 minutes for one bottle of beer but others when it's 15 before they even come to the table and then another 10-15 before I get the beer. Very hit and miss and always sloppy. The food is still very good but it's sad that some of the old fare is gone now that Sportsbury's has closed. Somehow when I'm out drinking beer and chatting up the gang, a ham and apple sandwich with hummus is not what I really crave. Some wings or a basket of fries is good. One could say "well if it's a sports bar you want, go there" but I don't think that's fair. I like the Buddha's menu in general and the food has always been made well. I just think some of the basic drinking food could be there too. Things to try: the chick pea salad is absolutely amazing, as are a number of the sandwiches. The pizzas are incredible. Just the smell of them makes me crave one immediately. I just don't dig on pizza all the time. The hummus is lovely (I miss the red pepper one). I think in general there could be some re-working of the menu. Maybe instead of 20 pizzas and 20 sandwiches and some other stuff, you could pare down some of it (or have "build your own" options) and add some more interesting things, as well as some old bar staples. The place is looking good and expanding but the menu and service thus far are not expanding along with it.

I enjoyed our visit to the laughing buddha. We...

I enjoyed our visit to the laughing buddha. We were seated outside, and their outdoor patio looks so cool! We all loved the casual setting, and it was nice because of how intimate the seating is. The food was very good, lots of garlic though, be warned! ;) It was very tasty, we all had different kinds of pizzas, but I would've loved to have tried some of their appetizers. Hummus looked really good. I'll definitely be going back again. The waitress recommended a berry smoothie for a drink, so we all tried it and loved it! The waitress was very polite and was around as much as she could be with how busy they were. I will be returning to the laughing buddha, it's a cool new restaurant and a bit of an unpolished gem in the root of sudbury's downtown area. Loved the experience, can't wait to return!

This place used to be amazing, but quality and...

This place used to be amazing, but quality and service have slipped recently. I usually go in the evening after 9, and it's always packed. The servers are always on the run and it takes a long time to receive food. They seem to be understaffed. The deep fried pickles are awesome, but other things are hit and miss. The pizza is ok but on my last order the crust was sloppy and I couldn't even take a slice without the toppings falling off. Very disappointing when you're paying around $12 for something that isn't very filling in the first place. I recently ordered nachos, and they came with all the toppings on the side with a giant portion of sour cream in the middle over bare nachos. I don't know who's idea this was, but it's hard to dip toppings. They should just keep putting them all over like they used to. Lastly, I ALWAYS order the nachos with no onions, and they always have them. I have to also question the cleanliness of the place; the roof was covered in dust last I checked and when I was paying near the front counter, I saw a cockroach there. I try not to think about it when my friends drag me there. Bottom line, they need more staff and better standards for quality in the kitchen.