Scarlet Begonias

I have a strongly updated review — read the updates below.
INITIAL REVIEW
My family has eaten here on at least five occasions. Each time, I get the American Beauty burger — a delicious cheeseburger with their homemade Russian dressing. I’m a high-​standards burger guy, and I can say this burger is phenomenal. My kids get their pizzas, and the waitstaff is always willing to take off one or various ingredients my picky kids don’t want. My wife always gets the spicy Scarlet Harlot pasta dish. We all love our meals, each and every time!
The beer is excellent, and the food is also top-​notch.
The only suggestion I’d make to the establishment’s management is to offer French fries with your burgers — a great burger (such as you offer) needs two things to go with it: a great beer (preferably one of the excellent IPAs you already offer) and thick steak fries. Potato chips don’t cut it, not even close. They just don’t cut it. Offer good steak fries with your burgers, and I’ll rate you five stars each and every time I visit your establishment!
UPDATE
My family ate here on Saturday night after the Bowdoin hockey game. The food was glacial to arrive, and the waitress was slow to take our order, slow to provide our drinks, slow to get our meals to us, slow to respond, and slow to bring the check. When she checked in on how my burger was, I was four-​fifths done with it. What does it matter at that point whether it was cooked to my liking? «No, not really, how about you bring me another one cooked a little more??» I tipped accordingly. The waitress should probably consider another line of work.
There’s a new high-​end pizza /​burger /​beer joint in town — Portland Pie Company, just a couple blocks down Maine Street. That’s your market, Scarlet Begonias — good pizza, good burgers, good beer. They’re already a successful local chain. They wouldn’t be successful if they’re not providing really good food and service. If you continue to provide solidly mediocre service, you will watch your audience walk down Maine Street to Portland Pie Company! I can’t really imagine coming back and trying you again at this point.
SECOND UPDATE
Indeed, I’ve been to the new Portland Pie Co. just a few walkable blocks down from Scarlet Begonias, and it is as good as I’d heard. Downright fantastic, frankly. Portland Pie’s pizza and burgers are as good or better than I’ve had at Scarlet Begonias, at the same price, but served much faster and with overall more responsive service. If you’re a super hipster wanting to impress your sweety over a reaaaally long date where service doesn’t matter, maybe this is your place. Otherwise, no. I’m sorry, Scarlet Begonias, we won’t be back.

The location is right near the Amtrak station near the Hannaford market. The place is small but cute. I ordered a Caesar salad and thought it would be chopped up into bite size, as most salads do. I was wrong. They literally tore the leaves and placed them on my plate, I couldn’t fit it in my mouth. I really didn’t want to cut my salad…
The burger was delicious. The Tiramisu was wicked strong! I should have just ordered a shot of Vermouth, it was way strong. Very little lady fingers, lots of whip cream and alcohol.
I will not be back sadly.

I ordered the shrimp skewer app and a spinach salad. The app was supposed to come with a dip, which I requested. When the bill came, there was a charge for the dip which I asked be removed. The manager came to our table and said she’d take it off this time but never again. We did our best to explain it to her but she was firm in her rude resolve. Never again!

Still serving outstanding dishes… since 1999. Go to spot. Excellent pizza, pasta dishes. Love the sourdough, roasted turkey, chipotle, and spinach. Quaint, cozy spot, although some may not appreciate the noise… not a problem for us.

We didn’t go on a busy night but the food was amazing and the service was prompt. We will definitely make this a regular stop when we come back. Best place we ate at in the area.

Really like this place. Great, fun bartender. A bit on the expensive side, but everything is really delicious. It was a bit hot in there, but amazing lighting décor and good music. I left very happy and plan on celebrating my birthday there!

Been here three times, all were excellent experiences. The atmosphere is lively which for some reason people on here seem to give this place lower ratings. This place is not pretentious by any mean, go here get great service at a very reasonable price, with a wide array of food options. The wine and beer options are excellent, and the bar tenders are much better than others in the area. If you want to sit in a quiet room, drink an overpriced bottle of wine, stare vaguely into your couples eyes, and have light conversation about how large your 401K is over a plate of foie gras than you probably won’t like this place. This restaurant is perfect for people who want to have great food, have a few drinks, and leave with $ in your pocket.

Mixed feelings about dinner there recently. It’s a cute space but boy was it LOUD. Our server was friendly and we were seated promptly but it took a while to get our food– probably about 40 minutes from when we ordered. Not sure why the delay– the restaurant was busy but not overwhelmingly so. Food was reasonably priced, my pizza and salad were both good, but my mother ordered her burger medium and it definitely came out pretty rare. Hate to give it only 2 stars, and I would give this restaurant another shot, but our experience was pretty uneven.

I have eaten here before and have enjoyed their pizzas but my recent visit was not nearly as positive. My father and I had lunch here last week and both of us got the Reuben sandwich and it was good but unremarkable … The balance of meat and sauerkraut/​dressing were certainly off. The sauerkraut and dressing completely overpowered the corned beef. The flavor was good but I definitely would have liked a little more protein in the sandwich. The service was pleasant, yet a little unpolished… waiting for someone to take their last bite in order to clear their plate was probably a little over attentive, especially since there was only ONE other table occupied in the restaurant. No need to rush us …

Always a cute place for a date night! Love the ambiance, the food is delicious, and the service is always great! Simple but delicious. The pizzas are always my favorite.

We must have arrived on a not so good day for service. Our waitress was slow and disorganized. The other waitresses did not appear to be much better. I had heard their pasta was good but we did not have any. The food was okay but not great for lunch.

Two stars: one for the good food, one for the good service, and MINUS THREE for the absolutely ridiculous restaurant policy for charging additional money for parmesan cheese for my $ 15.00 individual pizza and for the slice of onion that the table next to me requested for their burger.

Back again for lunch this summer, and it’s still one of the best restaurants in Brunswick. Literally the best Caesar salad in the state, period. Garlic bread is obviously fresh and homemade to order, and explodes with just the right amount of garlic goodness. Pastas are the highlight of the place, and I’ve tried almost all of them — this past visit I had the Stephen’s Dilemma, chock full of chicken, sausage, veggies and a tangy red sauce that you want to drink. Soups are all delicious and served piping hot, loaded with fresh ingredients. I dream of eating here — it’s that good!

Our favorite place for good food — when we decide on a whim to go out. Great selection of pasta and sandwiches.

OMG my GROSS dark & stormy cost more ($ 9.75!!!) than my man’s meal! This place is way overpriced and the food is just mediocre. Plus the people next to us that came in after we ordered got their food first, after we waited an eternity. Meh.

From the moment we were «greeted», to the moment we left, service was a battle. Inattentive service and cuisine that falls way below standard given the ambitious menu. Restaurant has great potential, but must listen to both verbal and non-​verbal feedback.

Came here for date night, with really high expectations on service having met the bartender months prior.
It may have been a long day for our waitress. The service was really questionable. She was a mix of condescending and fake, I couldn’t really put my finger on it. I had sparking wine and the caesar salad, which how can you go wrong? My date had the Rose Begonia, a pasta dish that had a reputation proceeding itself. He liked it, but definitely didn’t see the value in the $ 15 dish.
We haven’t been back, as there are better restaurants in the area in that price bracket.

Stopped into Scarlet Begonias on a recent Saturday night looking to grab dinner and a drink. Went solely based on Unilocal reviews, as our ‘regular’ place was too busy and we were hungrier than a 35 minute wait would allow. So we wandered town with smartphones in hand looking for our next place to try.
The place is cute, we were seated right away. I like the kitschy décor for some reason. Beer menu was good, had a good selection of local brews on it.
Anyways, on to the food. We ordered a gorgonzola garlic foccacia for an appetizer. When it came out we began to chuckle as the word ‘deconstructed’ should have been on the menu. It was a pile of bread (untoasted), a pile of garlic, a pile of gorgonzola, and a cup of olive oil. It was kind of odd. At least toast the bread, right? We ate it anyways (I mean, it’s bread and cheese, can’t be bad) — spooning some gorgonzola and smashing our garlic onto the bread then pouring olive oil all over it… and proceeded to order.
We split the pesto linguine, which costs an extra dollar to plate separately. That’s just FYI, I didn’t have a problem with that, I think that is typical among some italian places. Pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, sauce was okay. Garlic bread that came with it reminded me of garlic bread from Spaghetti Day at school. Just a plain breadstick with some butter on it. Meal was alright minus the disappointing round 2 of bread.
Since Unilocal designates 2 stars as «Meh» I think that adequately describes my experience — our server was awkward, appetizer was weird/​not worth $$, meal was okay, beer was good.

Love the pizza here and this is coming from a resident of NYC/​nj!
Amazing food overall and great service. The owner/​chef is a very nice man who is focused on making his hungry customers happy.

The company I was with made excuses for Scarlet Begonias, but just because they are located in an area with a slim selection of good dining options doesn’t make it better in my opinion.
The menu was very limited and the staff (2 different severs) weren’t knowledgeable on the food (ingredients) or wine (no clue).
It used to be a BYOB from what I heard, but they that isn’t the case anymore. Wine selection was weak.