Brio Tuscan Grille

WORST EXPERIENCE ever. I would actually give less than 1 star if possible. Was waiting to be called for about 45 minutes. When we finally went up to ask the clueless host, he informed us that he had taken our name off the wait list because we did not respond to a text via the restaurant saying that the table would be ready soon. First of all, how is anyone supposed to know to respond to this ambiguous text?! They didn’t call our name but expected us to read their minds that a text saying a table would be available «soon» meant that they weren’t going to call the reservation name, but instead we were supposed to go up and let them know about the text or would be removed from the waiting list. Ridiculous. Secondly, both the incompetent hosts and the woman (for lack of a better word) general manager were COMPLETELY unapologetic about the entire misunderstanding! Even though it was due to a lack of communication on THEIR end. Completely unprofessional and will never be going back. You’ve been warned.

Great place for Sunday lunch with your family. We loved sitting outside during the summer. Great break from shopping at mall.

I love the artichoke dip. The food is amazing there. Very classy and close to the mall so when you are done shopping you can have a nice dinner. ¹⁰⁄₁₀

We won’t be going back! We walked in and were told 30 minute wait which we were willing to do. At the 60 minute mark we still were not seated. Shortly after they sat us. We had to ask for knives to spread the butter because the table was set up with out them. My daughter ordered the half chicken dinner only to find out they were out of chicken at 8:30 on a Friday night! I ordered a salad but it had soooo much dressing that I couldn’t even eat it. The waitress was very nice but… with so many options in the area why would we ever go back.

We had the red pepper bruschetta which was delicious! I had the salmon Fresca. It wasn’t what I expected but it wasn’t terrible. Everything was cooked well I just had imagined a different dish.

Not going back again. Two weeks ago I found paper in my main entrée and my hot coffee cup had lemon seeds from the previous diner because it was not washed. The manager gave us a gift card to come back. We tried again yesterday. Shortly after we finished our meal my wife started feeling ill. She has been sick in bed because of the food poisoning she got from the place.
Updating my rating. I spoke with the manager about what happened and feel that they take this sort of issue very seriously. They reviewed their food preparation procedures to try to identify the cause and issued me a refund for my meal. Although I would feel uneasy going back there in the future, I felt comfortable with the response and professionalism of their staff.

I rarely give only 2 stars but I was pretty disappointed with the service here. No one is rude but everything is slow and delayed — it has to be some operational inefficiency.
We picked this place since it takes reservations on open table and with two kids, waiting is not an option, we showed up for a 7:30pm and were told to wait, with no estimate of time. We were seated 25 minutes later. Then waited for our wine. We even had to request knives and wait long for those.
The food was pretty good though not too hot by the time we got it. We were here once before with slow service. That time a manager came out and apologized. It made a difference. Nothing redeeming this visit,
It may be fine at a non– busy time (this was a Saturday evening).
It’s a nice looking space and has a good menu with several lighter options included. They just need to figure out how to be more efficient and plan seating.

Food is pretty decent but the service is horrendous! I have been to this location 4 times to constantly give them the benefit of the doubt… But it is literally EVERY time that the service sucks… Won’t be coming back. Bah Felicia!

My husband and I went here for lunch on a weekday and was very impressed with how upscale it was. The pricing wasn’t overly expensive but we loved the décor. Most people there were also on lunch from work. We ordered the calamari for appetizer which came with 2 different dipping sauces, garlic aoli and the normal tomato sauce. The garlic aoli was very creamy and tasty! It made a great dipping sauce for the bread. I ordered the pasta alla vodka which came with ravioli in vodka sauce. I was thinking it would be penne pasta but the ravioli worked well too. They put small bits of bacon on top of each ravioli which I didn’t care for much. Other than that, that sauce was excellent. My husband ordered the campanelle carbonara, which was very salty. We didn’t have time to reorder another one as we needed to head back to work so when the manager came by, we made sure to let them know. They apologized and offered to give us another dish but we declined. They did give us a free coupon for an appetizer though. Despite this, we would definitely go back again.

The food was average. I had the Brio Burger. It was a frozen patty. The service was slow and the menu is pricey. I would avoid this place. It’s another themed chain restaurant. We’re in New Jersey. We have plently of mom and pop authentic Italian restaurants that are much better than here. The best part about this place are the free refills on the Ginger Ale

You see these themed-​based restaurants everywhere else in America: TX, FL, OH… But why would New Jersey ever need a restaurant like this?
I had the lighter fare Mediterranean Shrimp which came as a haphazard tumble of overly– rubbed grilled shrimp with overly-​seasoned pile of grains, pasta and veggies.
The décor is fine. The service was too overly-​intrusive with «how is everything?» and then too slow to get check.

If you like Carpaccio, this is the place. The presentation is fabulous. Just the way it was served was exactly what Carpaccio lovers like, not too many capers just the right amount of Parmesan and the arugula front and center. The meat itself thinly laid on a plate made for the dish. A large portion at a very fair price. The bread was warm and delucious. The wait staff pleasant and able to make a perfect Cosmo.
The managers follow up of already excellent service an added bonus.
Nancy Pelicano

This place makes us feel like family! I am proud to say my husband and I are weekly regulars– maybe even twice a week ;). Service is always on point and food has deep rich flavors that equal comfort for us. Would highly recommend the shrimp and eggplant appetizer and a meal wouldn’t be complete without the signature pasta brio dish. Have to give a shout out to the innovative tie clips the bar crew wear.
Only thing I would like to see improved is the quantity of lettuce in salads– please just a little bit more!!!

OVER PRICED FOR WHAT YOU GET
Even though our server was nice – service was sooooooooo slow.
And the service we did get was poor – had to forage at other tables for extra clean silverware – an extra clean plate-​more napkins.
We would ask for a refill on the ice tea and our waiter would disappear for what seemed an incredibly long period of time.
I was dining with my girlfriend and her two year old granddaughter — the wait for our food was interminable. When they set up her high chair – they never removed the fourth chair which was in the way – I had to do that.
If I want good Italian food at reasonable prices there are plenty of other places to go – and I won’t have to keep jumping up from the table and doing all the work that the server should have been doing.
Will not go back!

Great addition to this area, a place where you can take a special date to for its ambience and price.
I had one of the flatbread pizza and salmon with angel hair pasta that tasted average however for the ambience, location and price, I can’t complain much.
Service is great, staff is helpful.
Dessert was awesome had the crème brûlée and something else (forgot the name but got the picture), loved how they bring the dessert to you so you can see what it looks like and pick out your preference.

Came here for Easter dinner with a large group and had a fantastic experience! We had two servers and they were both great. They made great recommendations and were very pleasant. I highly recommend the marscapone cheesecake.
My only complaint is that my Gorgonzola beef medallions were a tad more overcooked than I would have liked, but they were still delicious.

We went here couple of times and always had a pleasure dining experience! The ambience is nice, cozy and elegant … The servers are all nice and always with a smile. I know it’s a good place because my girls, who are really hard to please, lobe the place so much! Last time we went was for my daughter’s birthday and she enjoyed her food so much! Her fave was the desserts, of course! I had the Bistecca Insalata which was uniquely plated with a knife stuck on to the lettuce wedge. The combination between bacon, gorgonzola and parmesan dressing were just perfer. But then again, you can never go wrong with bacon … Lols.
My husband had their steak, Filetti Di Manzo Toscano which was surprisingly really REALLY good! The meat was tender and grilled to perfection. The server actually suggested him to have the steak, he told us that their meat supplier is the same supplier with Morton’s steakhouse. It was really good!
Overall it’s a really nice family oriented restaurant. Really great ambience, service and food … With reasonable prices.
If you haven’t, you should definately check them out

A typical Brio. I’ve been here for lunch, dinner, and happy hour times. The staff is always friendly, and thus far I haven’t had any problems with the food!
The bar area and dining area are both clean and comfortable. It’s a nice set up.
It’s definitely worthwhile to go for happy hour, and to catch some games without a bar-​feeling environment.

Unfortunately, as I update my initial review, this Brio Tuscan Grille’s rating has been reduced from the previous 4 stars to 3. Once again, the food was delicious, but there were service issues that stood in the way of a better review and rating. While I recognize that this is a chain restaurant, local management is responsible for its success or failure.
Our server Dhouglas was quick to introduce himself and ask for our drink order. He said that his aim is to provide us with exceptional service. That was a very nice way to start off our dining relationship. Arlene had a Vodka with Lime and I ordered a Samuel Adams Summer Ale. Along with the drinks, Dhouglas delivered a bread basket to our table.
For dinner, I ordered a Pasta Brio with a small shrimp add on. The dish consisted of rigatoni, grilled chicken, seared mushrooms and a roasted red pepper sauce. Arlene ordered lobster bisque along with a shrimp dish. Before dinner was served, we ordered another round of drinks. That’s where things went south. After about 15 minutes, I had to flag down Dhouglas, who is also a bartender, to remind him that Arlene was still waiting for her drink. He finally brought the drink, set it down in front of Arlene and took off. I had to flag him down again to let him know he forgot the lime. I would have given him the benefit of the doubt had the restaurant been busy.
To complicate matters, he offered a half-​glass of Sam Adams Summer Ale to me, told me they were completely out, and ran down the list of bottled beer. The manager came to our table to explain how the bar ran out of 1, of only 2, tapped beers.
I found none of this to be acceptable. While Dhouglas’s original aim was for exceptional service, sadly he failed. It’s a chain. They are just OK. We likely won’t return for a revised review for quite some time.

Arrived at an incredibly PACKED parking lot with useless reservations for 7:15. We were seated 35 minutes later, the place was abuzz with servers sweating trying to keep up. Sadly it seemed like they were understaffed BC our server was flustered, racing back and forth to tables.
Bruchetta:
We sat down, starved and thanks to the eternal wait, knew exactly what to order. Our appetizer of a variety of bruchetta came out quickly and was the highlight of the night. There were 4 different kinds ranging from toppings like prosciutto and onions, steak and Gorgonzola cheese, mushroom and spinach and one more I can’t remember. We were so impressed (and starved) that we decided to order another appetizer of calamari, having seen a plate pass by and was that the biggest waste of money ever! It was bland, luke warm and just completely boring. Thank god for the warm sourdough, or else that 1 hour and 5 minute wait for our steaks might have been unbearable.
Primi:
As we looked over at the open kitchen plates sitting there for up to 5 minutes waiting to be taken to their tables, a manager came over to apologize and offered us deserts on the house, which is well noted. We ate our lackluster lobster bisque and then picked at our gorgeous steaks that finally arrived 65 mins later! Sadly after trying to fill our empty pits for that long with prosecco, appetizers and soup… we did not enjoy the steaks as we should have.
Dolchino
For dessert we ordered the Brio Trio, which came highly recommended by our server — who almost dumped the entire dessert tray on me… It was a crème brûlée, a cheesecake and bread pudding. Thank god for the 3 options because the bread pudding was like a stale, cold marble pound cake from Acme. The crème brûlée was a simple custard with a nice top, and thankfully the cheesecake was delicious with a cinnamon & sugar topping.
Service is an easy 60% of my experience and sadly this place did not deliver. I hate to be so grim considering it was only day #2, but like Kim G. said, with such a spectacular ambiance all over the restaurant and the ridiculous menu prices, you expect 5 star experience. They had a decent looking menu for happy hour, that ends awkwardly at 6:30 pm… but I just might make the attempt.
Ciao Brio!