If you are in Budapest’s Jewish quarter, chances are you have already heard about the famous ruin bars in the area. Known as one of the most famous ruin bars in the area, Mazel Tov definitely has more infrastructure than the category “ruin bar” would elude to.

From the outside, you barely get a glimpse into the courtyard, with vines hanging from exterior walls as the setting sun pours through the partially open glass ceiling. As you enter the arched entrance and are greeted by the host, it’s hard to look into the bar and main seating area and describe it as a “ruin”.

As we entered the room off of the main, the elegance of nature taking over the industrial building faded away into a warehouse/loft style seating area with unique lighting and white brick arched ceilings.

Normally I would recommend getting a reservation if you want to sit in the main area, which has a great open feel and view of the bar. However, we were happy enough as Thursday night walk-ins that we were able to be seated at all. Though this seating area was a little less… breathtaking shall I say? - it was still a great experience thanks to the high-end service of the staff and the food itself. 🫶

The food is described as middle eastern cuisine. It felt reminiscent of the Israeli-style food I could get in Brooklyn.

We aren’t really drinkers, but with each drink order that walked by us, we realized they looked too good to pass up. Alex ordered the Opera GT, which was just like an Italian gin and tonic. Alex labeled this as “the good stuff” so I assume it was.

I was attempting to find a drink with mescal. When I asked our server to recommend something, I saw the familiar blank stare that I too would get when a customer asked about a drink rec for a liquor that would not go with any of the signature cocktails 😂 But, total credit to her, she kept it cool in recommended the most popular drink on the menu which was the Jewish punch. This is basically just a high-end college jungle juice, which I was totally happy with. Would I go and order this with mescal again in the future? Absolutely not. But it wasn’t bad.

For food, I got the hummus plate with falafel and Alex got the falafel sandwich.

I will say, going with a plus one to the destinations that contribute to the food blog/account, is a helpful privilege. I am the worst at making decisions at a restaurant, so it is always so helpful to have a second person who can order something else on the menu that we can also review!

In this case, though the meals sound very similar, they actually were quite different. The only commonality is that they both had falafel.

The standout dish for us was a side salad we ordered. It was hands down the best beet salad I have ever had, though it was just beets, spices (I think cumin or zatar), and parsley.

***Unlike some major cities in Central Europe where tipping is really up to the customer, it is highly expected in Budapest to tip around 10% of the bill if you enjoyed your meal. A great way to see if this is something expected from the restaurant without asking is if you pay and are then asked “Did you have a good meal? Did we serve you well?” or something like this, it may just be genuine kindness 😂 but most likely they are also trying to sus out what they did wrong for you not to tip them. So if you are a tourist, do the right thing and give a tip 😁

A Reason To Celebrate 🥂