Brick & Mortar Café — Restaurant in Albany

Well I’ve been absent from this for a while but I find It necessary today to review the Brick and Mortar in Albany Oregon ..Having been steered here by a friend of mine who thinks it’s Devine!..First I want to tell you a lot of people think the place is divine because It was packed and I arrived early just right after they opened and they sent me upstairs and the folks attending to the folks are fantastic I got a tel ja !!.. now before I go on I want to elaborate a little bit on my server and I want to tell you why first of all I don’t like naming people but I want y’all to experience Samantha because she is incredible and because I’m of the 60s she is a look-alike to a young Maria Mulder .... Believe it or not but again I want to tell you the service at brick and mortar is divine and Samantha is beyond !!!now let’s get into the food now the only reason I’m writing this is because it was said to be a great place and I have to tell you they’re standing on their laurels of their help and service the food was good but I wouldn’t rate it for the price point devine! I had eggs medium with potatoes rye toast and it came with butter and some jam...the Eggs were perfect no Complaint there!!The rye toast was interesting and more bold but was a little cool for that ice cold butter that came for it! The jam which I’m assuming is strawberry and homemade was somewhat of a strawberry Jell-O and it was ice cold too so your toast would’ve been even colder if you spread that on!!the Potatoes werent fried ,for once ,they had the apearance of bakers that had been sliced up but they were also mashed and there is a sprinkling of herb on Them! They could use some onions and peppers to jazz them up and since it was a simple breakfast why not ,pretty easy!!! Although I didn’t have the bloody Mary bar it looked divine but I opted out for just coffee and water because my trip last night from Vancouver got me in really late and I needed that coffee !!!now they serve sisters coffee and it was great but I had to use a lot of cream because it was evidently a super dark roast so if you’re into that you’ll love it I find the overall breakfast for the price was OK but I’d have to rate it and presentation a C minus ... but go see Samantha ....Aka (maria mulder )and experiences great service and I have hopes to come back and try the Cobb salad because I love cobbs!!And like everybody out there you should never judge the total quality of a restaurant by your first hit so to be fair I have to give them another time just to see how they are and see how consistent they are but go see the great help and pray for that great meal!!! But for sure the cooks here or chefs not to insult could use visit to the escape in Portland To know what home cooking is all about and that is the end...

My husband and I love dining in Brick & Mortar Café because of your delicious food, cozy ambience, and the utmost, EXCELLENT SERVICE. As a Licensed Master Trainer & Assessor in Customer Service in Tourism & Hospitality, I can be sure to say that “Brick & Mortar Café has excellent service in all aspects!” And we specially mentioned Monica 3 months ago. But breakfast today really gave us a bad day! I want to order food that I want and can finish. A 3-egg omelet would be too much. So, I asked the attendant if I could order the Kid Cheese Omelet with a side bacon. She said “Yes”. My husband remembered the apple juice that went with it (because we’ve been ordering a Kid’s Omelet about 5 times). The attendant replied sharply, “That menu is for a kid, and since you’re an adult, the omelet is all you get, and no juice.” But my husband insisted saying, “But in your menu it says with a choice of juice or milk. Your menu is misleading.” Apparently, she was upset and replied, “It is not misleading because it clearly says Kid’s Menu.” My husband replied, “Then put a note Not for adults.” I explained (and why should a customer explain though?), “I couldn’t finish a 3-egg omelet, but to make it fair, I ordered a side bacon.” The attendant went to get the glass of juice which was filled with ice and tasted like sweetened water. The worst, she put it on the table that expressed anger and said, “There… I am not charging the juice. The next time you order a Kid’s Menu you will have to pay for the juice.” Wow!!! The taste of the juice might not even be a dollar. The Kid’s Menu was $5.95 and the side bacon was $6.00. So that’s a total of $11.95, which is a price of an adult order of a Breakfast Platter with bacon, $8 plus $4, a total of $12.00. So why the fuss of her arguing with us who are your regular customers who pay well including tips? We heard her arguing too with customers beside us. Better rethink your keeping her. We believe she doesn’t have the appropriate personality to be a front line staff. We were in table 13 today...

Went this morning to meet up with some friends. Checked in at 9:06 for our group of 7 (5 adults, 2 babies in high chairs) the amount of people we had confused the host but she got it entered and said it would be about 20-25 mins. We wondered across the street to get coffee and sit inside and got the text that our table was ready at 9:24, which was perfect! We checked back in with the host and she confirmed our number as 5, and I clarified 5 adults yes but 2 babies that would need high chairs. She apologized and said it must have gotten entered in wrong because she had us listed as 3 adults, with 2 high chairs and with the corrected number she didn’t have a table ready for us yet but should have one shortly. We waited outside and at 9:40 I went back in to check to see the status since the texting service wait list was no longer updating. She said she was just waiting for a specific table to finish up (and pointed at which table) and that it shouldn’t be much longer. We went back outside to wait and a few minutes later, the group from the table she pointed at left the restaurant. Knowing they’d need time to clear and reset the table we patiently waited outside knowing we’d shortly get the call that our table was ready. 10:00 am quickly rolled around and we still hadn’t heard so I went back inside to check the status and see how much longer it would be. As soon as I walked in I saw the table we had been promised was now taken. The hostess seemed flustered and said she would see if any other tables would be available soon. After leaving us waiting once more, she returned and let us know that all tables were used and she wasn’t sure when she’d be able to get us seated.

After an hour of waiting outside with 2 babies, we left very frustrated. If you can’t accommodate, or forget to seat a group just be honest. I’ve loved the food for years, but this experience has left a sour taste. Likely won’t be returning for a while after...