Bruno’s Restaurant

My family grew up in this area and told me great things but the service is really lacking. My friends and I went to get the milkshakes that we heard such great things about and the glasses they served them in were filthy. We overlooked it because we were there for a fundraiser but we told them at the end that the glasses were dirty just so they were aware and they said «oh yeah sorry» like it was something normal.

I order the Father Casey Special minus the sauce… The first time it came out when I cut the roll on half the uncooked scrambled eggs came pouring out… After sending it back, it returned minus the cheese. After asking the waitress (who was super apologetic during the whole process), I asked for them to just start over. The cook did and it came out still undercooked, yet burnt, but the closest to edible. Nothing was taken off our bill, not that I expected it, but after sending something back twice, even taking off the beverages would have gone a long way. I’d advise going anywhere else for breakfast… Even the trolley car… And that place is the worst.
I felt so bad for our waitress.

Salad and Garlic bread was better than 4 cheese macaroni and cheese which was watery for my taste. Awesome staff and service though!

This place is filthy. Went for breakfast and ordered eggs and hashbrowns, my partner ordered pancakes. The sides of the table was sticky and dusty. The hashbrowns were undercooked red potatoes, the eggs cold, and the pancakes must have had no baking powder as they were thick dense and tasteless. How do places like this stay in business? I also checked out their grill and it looks like it has not been cleaned in years. If gets a star because I can’t rate zero.

My first time here. What a treat to be entertained while having lunch.
Friendly staff and good food… What more would you want :)
Tim is a hoot…

I went here for my birthday. I’d been here 3 times previously because of their excellent 4 cheese mac and cheese but the service tonight put me off forever. Upon our arrival, our server did not tell us her name, nor did she say anything about the menu or even welcome us to the restaurant. I started off with coffee and water. I had to remind them repeatedly about my coffee. It was then time to order our entrees. I asked our server for the Mac and cheese with whole grain and she responded with a very rude, «Mac and cheese? With what?» followed by «it’s my first day.» Now, I understand not knowing the entire menu and being nervous on your first day, but it was glaringly obvious she knew nothing about the menu and spoke in a tone as if she didn’t want to be there. After ordering our food, our server went completely MIA and stayed that way the rest of the meal. 20 or so minutes later, another server came out us and asked if we were «ready for our food yet.» I couldn’t believe she actually asked that, of course we were «ready» for our food, isn’t that why people go to restaurants? We said yes, I asked for one more refill of coffee, and then the check. My mom had gotten a Groupon deal online and when she went to pay they gave her a hard time about using it and she had to argue with one of the employees before she left. No one in the group was told to have a nice night before we left. I work in the industry myself, I understand having off days and making mistakes, but the service was absolutely atrocious and easily the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.
At least the mac and cheese was good.

Bruno’s is fine if you are looking for a burger /​cheesesteak /​hoagie kind of place. My wife and I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a baguette with grilled red peppers, Swiss cheese and a good dollop of Dijon mustard… ok, maybe too much mustard. My step-​son had the cheese burger and loved it. We also had 3 black & white milkshakes, but all of us felt like they could have used another scoop of ice cream, or another shot of chocolate syrup… something was missing. Servers were good, attentive and quick.
The best things about Bruno’s is the location — at the top end of Fairmount Park’s Northwestern Ave. trail head to Forbidden Drive, and their outside dining patio. The history of the place is pretty cool too — It’s been there over 100 years. There are old b&w pics of how the old trolley line used to terminate right outside the location, and more recent photos of the Wissahickon Valley area.

I always have the spinach salad with grilled chicken. Balsamic vinegarette is the perfect compliment. Nice diner ambience. Wait staff is excellent.

Great location. Nice servers. Love sitting outside on the deck after a bike ride. But really terrible food — even for a diner. Stick to the basics, like soda, and enjoy the fresh air.

Bruno’s is always decent in the morning, the waitresses always get it right, but Bruno’s after dark is a whole different story! We just had dinner here and I watched 3 wait staff sit around and playing music videos and catch up on their snapchat stories. meanwhile one young attentive girl ran the grill, worked the fryer, rang people up for their checks, made salads and sandwiches while the other 3 still sat and did nothing. Mgmt needs to check his crew out at night because it’s crazy up in here! I wish I could give no stars but the morning service is awesome.

This place may want to change their menus and just stick with breakfast only. We tried their dinner menus and they are simply not good. Their breakfast menus are pretty darn good, but lunch and dinner menus are very questionable. Perhaps cleaner kitchen area would be nice. The kitchen could use some elbow grease and good scrubbing.

This is an American style dinerish stop. It’s usually busy when I’m there. This place is probably more well known for the employee dynamics (if your from the area) which I gotta wonder if it’s a show. Boss is always yelling. Also known for being next to the beautiful Valley Green park. The family usually only goes there for burgers which are delicious. Along with the fries and onion rings. They are perfect. Prices and atmosphere are as expected for a little restaurant /​diner type place. I found it to be clean (I usually do notice dirt .) I always stop by when I pass through.

I had breakfast with my BFF at Brunos this morning. This is a nice spot to hang out and get away from all the hustle and bustle. I really enjoyed my meal especially the make your own omelette.

January 1, 2015 12:01 AM: «I resolve to eat healthier in the New Year!»
January 1, 2015 12:01 PM: «OK, I’ll have the hamburger, well done, lettuce & tomato only, oh and with onion rings on the side.»
Hey, lettuce and tomato are healthy, and onions are vegetables, too, right?
Bruno’s is a small greasy spoon restaurant in a building that’s been along the side of Germantown Pike for easily 100 years. It’s directly across the street from both Chestnut Hill College and Valley Green Park (with the very much more upscale Valley Green Inn super-​close-​by). This means the ceilings are low, the layout is cramped (except for the enclosed porch and the outside patio, clearly both additions) and the parking is wedged on the lot.
This place is not beautiful. It was clearly last decorated probably 40 years ago. The inside dining area has a open kitchen that is not sexy and booths crammed in everywhere. There is a jukebox that is a replica from like the 50’s. The booths, however, are comfortable. The enclosed patio has tables and chairs that can be arranged from 2 tops up to however many you can string together in the space, probably 10 to 12 top. It’s light and airy.
Do not come to Bruno’s expecting healthy food. Do not come to Bruno’s expecting vegetarian food, unless you consider a salad good veg. Do not bother with the items they clearly put on the menu because someone thought they should broaden their menu, like the pasta or the chicken sandwiches. Go because Bruno’s makes some seriously amazing burgers — fresh ground meat, no foodservice pre-​made frozen patties — and some very good looking (and popular) cheesesteaks.
Faithful Dining Companion and I stopped in to Bruno’s, with a little trepidation because the Unilocal stars aren’t where we usually will be when going into uncharted territory. I’m glad we read some of the reviews, which, honestly in some cases seem to be low because of mis-​matched expectations. OK. It happens. We asked what the most popular items on the menu were, and our waitress told us hands down, the burgers. She was right. FDC got the bacon cheeseburger and I got the ‘healthier’ hamburger with L & T. She got the cottage fries with cheese sauce and I had the onion rings.
The burgers are awesome. They are fresh, huge, tasty and juicy without being greasy. The buns are good, could be a little firmer as they tended to kind of fall apart as you ate, but I didn’t mind. Fries & rings were delectable, cooked in clean deep fry oil with no funky after-​taste. This is good greasy spoon food, folks. Nothing fancy, nothing creative,
Service was prompt and friendly. It’s a greasy spoon, folks, and yes it could be a bit cleaner. I venture to say thanks to the Rev’s short time doing commercial kitchen cleaning that it’s about time for their kitchen to get a scrub-​down, however I did not feel there were any food handling or safety issues. It’s an old building and old décor. It’s also old-​style good burgers and sides. Prices were reasonable, we ate for $ 30 with tip.
So much for that resolution… ah, well, meant to be broken sometimes, right?

Really needs to be CLEANED! The owner screams and yells at the waitesses in front of the customers… Food is okay, not great but I worry because it is just so so dirty

Came here while family because it was on the way to their home. The food was okay nothing special. We came here for dinner around 7pm on a Friday. It wasn’t really crowded which was nice. We has cheese steaks and hoagies. The prices were reasonable for the area. Shared a carrot cake which was store bought. Again nothing special.
Our server was attentive and service was good. There is out door seating on the patio. The inside décor reminded me of a cozy diner.

My boyfriend suggested I go to Bruno’s because it was a beautiful day and their outside seating is really great and they have the «lite» fair I was looking for. Well, at least he got the first part right. I came in by myself and the waitress handed me two menus… er– «I’m by myself» I said. And the cook turned to me and said «so sorry! Here’s the Inquirer!» As if it were the first time he’d ever seen a twenty-​something eat by herself.
As soon as I opened the menu, I realized this was precisely not what I was looking for and I guess that’s mostly my (boyfriend’s) fault. I don’t know if it’s just me, but a beautiful summery lunch on a patio overlooking greenery and stables deserves something more than your average fried Philly repertoire… Large side salad with grilled chicken was the only thing I even considered, given the non-​descriptive, limited options.
Salad came quick and was a simple bed of romaine topped with giant chunks of tomatoes and cucumbers, maybe five total pieces of shredded carrots and some slightly sketchy looking chicken. The romaine was fresh as were the cucumbers but the tomatoes were mealy and the chicken under seasoned. The balsamic dressing was pretty watery and if you told me that it was just vinegar, I’d believe you.
That being said, I bumped this up to three stars given the fact that I probably should have ordered a specialty fried-​or-​fattening-​something and the service was pretty great. My waitress was very sweet and attentive. I also think the gorgeous weather helped move this one up too, although I don’t think Bruno’s had any control over that…
Oh and I guess it’s worth mentioning that my meal came out to a nicely overpriced total of $ 11.94 for a tossed salad and a diet coke.

If you have to check out a cheap diner, then this is the place for you.
This place has a cozy, old school diner feel to it with an open view to the kitchen and the long bar table to slide those root beer floats across and small booths lining the walls and even an outdoor patio/​deck area to eat but that’s where the pleasantries are going to stop.
My sandwich came out half cold and half lukewarm. Not sure exactly how someone can make a sandwich half lukewarm and half cold. My mom and uncle thought their food was decent (only reason I’m giving this 2 stars).
Service was a bit slow even though they didn’t have any customers and two of the waitresses were just sitting around chatting with each other. I asked for a water refill and it took them close to 5 minutes to get one refill and the second time I asked, they didn’t even come by to give me a refill at all.
Overall, make better tasting food and improve your service and maybe I’ll consider coming in again.
Parking: Very limited
Price: $ 8+ per person
Wait: None

My most recent experience at Bruno’s restaurant as a 3-​star experience. The first thing we noticed upon arriving at the restaurant was that there was a weird smell on the screened in deck. We decided to eat inside due to this smell. Inside it was like a older style diner which was interesting but the place needed renovation and some cleaning. We ordered bacon cheeseburgers and fries. The bacon cheeseburgers were good and the fries were also good. We brought our own beer so we did not need any of their drinks. We also tried a dessert which we were not as satisfied with as we were hoping but not surprised due to other reviews. Overall, I would say it is worth trying but stick to the grilled food.

We drive past here regularly, but the poor reviews were a turn-​off. We only ended up going because there was a daily deal offer and we were curious.
My partner and I arrived fairly late, after 8pm, tired and hungry after a long day, but thankfully not too picky. I went for the Bruno hoagie, which is just meat, meat, and more meat. Now that I check the menu again, there was supposed to be provolone on there as well, but I distinctly remember an absence of cheese. I had ordered the jumbo with the intention of taking half home, and the next day I actually added my own cheese and toasted the whole thing which made for a drastic improvement. My main gripe (apart from the overwhelming saltiness) was the cold cuts still had inedible plastic rind on them.
My partner had a burger that was good. We shared some fries, which came out before the rest of the food for some reason. We were hungry so I can’t complain. They were oddly not-​quite-​crinkle cut rounds, but okay. We also shared a chocolate malt shake, that was more cocoa-​ey than normal, but also fine.
We really should have cut our losses at that point, but ended up ordering a crème brûlée cheesecake that looked nothing like the photo and tasted nothing like the description. It was supposed to have a caramelized top, but there were just crumbles of something. It was supposed to be light and airy, but it was thick and creamy. I ended up eating most of it just because of my overwhelming love of cheesecake in all its forms, but my partner was very disappointed and ready to leave.
Apart from all that, the place looks kind of dull (at least at night), and the servers are chipper but not all that professional. So although I don’t think we’ll be back, nor would I recommend it, I’m glad we got to give Bruno’s a try.