Most times we drive by, Brothers' parking lot is packed, which should be an indication of a good restaurant. We finally got the chance to go this week. I wish we hadn't.
We went early in the week, Monday or Tuesday, and the parking lot was mostly empty. We were excited to find parking and knew we wouldn't be lost in the shuffle of a busy dinner service. We went inside and followed the signage to seat ourselves in the dining room. A server promptly arrived with menus and took our drink orders. We both got water because fountain drinks are a dietary problem for both of us.
When she came back with the water, she asked if we were ready to order. We said we needed a few minutes because we needed time look over the menu. She backed up about 8 feet and stood there, staring at our table, waiting until we were ready. Maybe going on a slow night wasn't the best idea after all, as this was very uncomfortable having the server staring at us while we talked amongst ourselves and deciding.
When we were ready, we nodded to her and she came over. Hubby ordered for us: garlic knots and a pepperoni pizza. She said, 'What else?' I said that's everything... we are sharing, and can we have the garlic knots out first please? She looked annoyed we did not order more food, then nodded and walked away.
After about 10 minutes, another table came in, a couple who sat nearby. They had a different server. They ordered & got soft drinks, ordered dinner, and were served their food before our garlic knots came out. It was easily 20-25 minutes after we ordered. I figured the knots must be getting made fresh because of the lengthy wait time. I was wrong.
The long-awaited garlic knots were hard and almost burned on the outside, although the centers were a little softer. They were obviously made earlier and reheated - probably far too long. And they are very small and tight, maybe slightly larger than a golf ball.
Our server brought the knots with side plates, forks and knives, and then she walked to counter area of the restaurant. She immediately returned with the pizza. So, in fact, she did bring the garlic knots out first. But a minute earlier? After 20-25 minutes??? No bueno.
The pepperoni was evenly applied to the pie, which had a smallish area of crust, so the pizza maker did not skimp on the sauce or topping. But when I tell you the dough was overworked... It was thin & wet and quite difficult to cut with a fork and knife. To eat, it was gummy and challenging to chew. In terms of taste, it certainly wasn't the worst pizza we ever had, but it was just not a good pie because of the way the dough was prepared.
Meanwhile, our server stayed on her perch, watching our entire meal from 8 feet away. I don't know if she's new or if she's family, but you need to do some side work if you don't have any other tables. Staring at diners thru the whole meal is just weird and creepy.
When we'd had enough of the tough pizza, she came over with a box which we politely declined by saying we had errands to run and didn't want to leave it in the car. She shrugged and took the empty box back to her perch where she drafted the check.
She came quickly over with the check which charged us $3.85 apiece for our water as 2 itemized root beers. Think about that: about $8 for 2 cups of water. At that point, she conveniently disappeared. We knew she knew she gave us water because she had nothing else to do but serve our table. She just chose to bang us $8 for tap water.
Since she was not around, we did not dispute the bill. We paid at the counter and left. I'm guessing all the folks whose cars congest the parking lot regularly have a different experience than ours. Maybe they don't order garlic knots. Maybe they don't order any pizza. Maybe they order an overabundance of items that satisfies the server that you ordered enough things that don't warrant a $4 upcharge for each glass of water. And maybe they order fountain sodas. I don't know. read more