Tao is not so much a restaurant as a nonstop party interrupted by funny food. It is huge, a former movie theater that has been turned into an Asian palace dominated by a 16-foot-tall Buddha whose efforts to maintain tranquillity are severely tested. The social swirl spreads out over two large floors, each with its own dining room and bar. The noise is deafening, and the only way to rise above it all is to ascend to what used to be the projection booth and is now a private dining room.  – New York Times