Make no mistake this is an appalling shambles of an establishment, overseen by an equally rude and arrogant restaurateur. To coin an American phrase they suck big time. So quite how bad was our experience? Well never in all my forty-five years have I walked out of a restaurant. That we ended up in McDonalds when we left, tells you all you need to know. This was the second time we'd visited this place. On the first occasion, the food was mediocre and the service at the low end of acceptable. Oh, and as another reviewer has already mentioned, the owner totally ignored us too (despite the place being virtually empty). Anyhow, we foolishly decided to give them another try, being Tastecard members, finding ourselves in the area, and due to it being our young child's lunchtime. We arrived at twenty to one on a Sunday. As we walked in and waited to be seated, I noted the restaurant was three quarters empty. The waitress came over, and I asked if they accepted Tastecard. She walked over to ask the owner. I watched him as he looked us up and down like something that had been dragged in off the street, before making a face as if I'd asked to sleep with a family member and telling her next time we'd have to book. The waitress came back over and conveyed this message. It was empty for goodness sake! And how rude. I felt like walking outside, dialling in from my phone and making a booking for one minute's time, just to make a point at how ludicrous his attitude was. Frankly we'd have walked out there and then the only reason we didn't was because our child was tired and hungry. Now here's where the fun starts: American experience? Let's just say I could have flown to New York and been fed quicker. The one positive I would say in how incompetent they were, was that I had ample time, a wasted hour in fact, to survey the tacky décor. As someone has already commented, this place reeks of cheap imitation toot. A poor man's TGI. There are no Wurlitzer jukeboxes, Fender guitars, signed pictures, baseball shirts or indeed any items adorning the walls of any cultural or significant value. No, ladies and gentlemen, that might have cost him some thought and money. Think mass-produced, cheap eighties laminated posters of Marilyn Monroe, The Blues Brothers and James Dean. Let's be frank here the bungled attempts at an American dining experience are as fake, soulless and uninspiring as the service. Brook's Diner is a tawdry cliché, nestled in an equally drab secondary suburban location. Rebel without a Cause? More like 'restaurant without a clue'. Anyhow, back to our attempts to eat here. Our drinks order was taken at twelve-fifty and our food order at twelve fifty-eight. At five past one a different waiter came over to the table to tell me they'd lost the drinks order so we reorder again. The original waiter then revisited us at thirteen minutes past one to tell us that they had now lost our food order! So we've now been at Brook's the best part of thirty-five minutes, and they've not only lost two orders, but the owner hasn't even had the decency to show his face and apologise. (Bear in mind that this was the man, so pedantic about Tastecard terms, and had a broom up the proverbial about us not prebooking. Personally I think someone needs to get their priorities straight). No one once came over to ask if we wanted more drinks, or starters in the meantime. Shocking. Eventually, almost one hour after we'd arrived and without sight nor sign of food, they hit the final nail into the coffin when they served a table of four who'd arrived quite some time after us. As it happens, these four men who came in actually got a handshake from the owner when they sat down. Given how unfriendly he is, I can only assume they're mates of his or are so unbelievably masochistic they've returned enough times to finally warrant some form of acknowledgement from him! Either way, they got served before us. Which means the kitchen staff/owner are either incompetent or, worse still, they treat new customers (or Tastecard Customers) like second class citizens, shunting their order to the back. At this point, I decided to call time on this culinary carbuncle. We left and made our feelings known to the waiter, loud enough for the owner to hear. Again, he didn't even bother to apologise, or come to see what the fuss was all about. Par for the course it seems. Honestly, why bother requesting that people 'like' you on Facebook and follow you on Twitter if, when you're going to actually have a face-to-face experience with your customer, you're going to leave them feeling that they'd rather gouge their own eyes out than ever return. As for the food, I can only on this occasion pass comment on their milk shakes that one reviewer laughably describes as 'to die for'. They are of inferior quality and taste to those provided by mainstream burger chains (if you want to know what a good milkshake is, go to Serendipity in Hertford an English tea room with a twist of read more
