The Brown Dog Cafe — Restaurant in Blue Ash

The treatment my family and I received today at the Brown Dog Café at Summit Park in Blue Ash, OH was horrendous and left me feeling completely bewildered. After a nice afternoon at the park with my sister and our children, we decided to walk over to the Brown Dog Café for a nice lunch and a chance to warm the kids up from the bitterly cold winds. Once inside, I was met by a gentleman who asked me, “Can I help you?”. The tone of his question and body language made me question whether or not we had come in before business hours, or if dining was by reservation only. I looked around the restaurant to confirm signs that they were in-fact actually open. I saw a few tables occupied by patrons which gave me a bit of relief knowing I hadn’t walked in on an unprepared staff during off business hours.

The manager then asked us how many were in our party and went about pushing two 4 tops together to accommodate our group of 6. He never bothered to ask us if we would need highchairs or booster seats when we clearly had small children with us. In fact, my initial impression was that he was not accustomed to child patrons, which was odd considering our walkable proximity to a large municipal park FULL of children. My sister and I approached the table and began the process of unpacking the kids. We seated our 3- and 4-year-old boys at the table and stood holding our two smaller children. The general manager walked back over to us standing by the table with our babies and I asked him if he would bring us highchairs. He walked away to retrieve them, but not before scolding my 3-year-old for “rocking in his chair”. My son was sitting on his foot and rocking on his foot. The manager returned to the table with the highchairs, and just as I was trying to hoist my 20-month-old son up into the chair, the manager looked at me and sternly asked, “What’s in those thermoses?” We had put the boys insulated water bottles on the table for them. As I opened my mouth to assure him that they were just water bottles, he cut me off to lecture us that this was a health code violation and that with all the strict Covid guidelines in place, they had fallen under more intense scrutiny by the health department. Despite him continuing to talk over me, I assured him we would put them away. In an effort to reassure him of our mutual respect for Covid guidelines, I informed him that I too was in the hospitality industry and that I was shocked by how UNHOSPITABLE he had treated us since we arrived. He responded by saying, “If you feel that way, you don’t have to eat here…in fact I think you should leave.” My sister and I were stunned as we started packing our children back up in the wagons to leave, having been kicked out by the manager. Our server arrived at the table with waters in her hands and a smile behind her mask. Her smile quickly faded as she witnessed my sister and I frustratedly packing our children back up to leave. She asked, “Is everything okay?” I responded with a trembling tone, “No, we were just asked to leave.” I asked her if the gentleman at the host station was in fact the General Manager, to confirm my suspicions. The server confirmed that he was the manager, with notable embarrassment.

I have never felt so disrespected and discriminated against for having small children. This man, Max Pelkey, has absolutely no business working in hospitality, let alone as a General Manager. During a time in our history when no industry has suffered like hospitality, leaving so many jobless, I find it a true shame that this man occupies a position that could happily be filled by countless more deserving. My husband and I have opened two hospitality businesses in the last 3 years and have an intimate knowledge and appreciation for how to treat people with respect and the significance of a positive guest experience. I am appalled. Shame on you Brown Dog Café for entrusting Max Pelkey with...

I wish I could give this place a good review because I love the atmosphere and location. I also love the concept of the fresh farm-to-table local ingredients. Unfortunately I’ve had a 2nd sub par experience here (I’ve posted before about brunch - this time I went for dinner to give it a second chance). It started with us being seated and someone poured us some waters. She quickly disappeared and I assumed it was a hostess pouring water until the waiter arrived and introduced themself. We waited at the table a solid 10 minutes and in fact the same girl came back and took our drink orders (did not say she was our waitress or introduce herself). Sure enough, she was in fact our waitress so this whole time we had been sitting there 15+ minutes without it even being clear. For ordering, I knew I wanted something like a burger. My friend asked what the most popular/favorite item of the waitress’s was on the menu. Classic, she lists off the most expensive item(s) on the menu. I went ahead and ordered the Brown Burger, specifically said WELL DONE because I am pregnant and so is my sister, who was also there and ordered a burger. Prior to that we ordered mocktails and specified non-alcoholic because again, we said we are pregnant. The burgers both came out bright pink and juicy. Not acceptable on a hamburger when a pregnant woman specifies well done. This is ground beef, not a filet. We sent ours both back. I did not receive a new burger but rather the now soggy original burger I received that was tossed on the grill maybe only an extra minute because surprise surprise, it came back STILL PINK. Toppings I paid for were soggy and some missing (the cheese, the onion confit, the garlic aioli). I didn’t say anything the second time because our server was no where to be found after she dropped off our burgers the 2nd time. She checked on us a total of 1 time throughout the course of the meal and was not apologetic about the burgers. The one time she checked on us she was starting to laugh almost as if to sarcastically laugh at us for being picky or something? It was strange, she seemed out of it. Never came back for refills on drinks either, never asked if we wanted another mocktail. The best part is at the end for the bill they use the iPad and awkwardly hover over you during the option where you can tip 18-25% or manually enter a tip. I would’ve done less due to the poor service but felt so awkward with her standing right next to me as I’m on the iPad. I spend a total of about $30 on just myself on an undercooked burger and a mock tail. I’d rather just shell out the extra $ and go to a Jeff Ruby’s honestly. Either lower your prices or up the...

This is one that if I could give it less than 5 stars but more than 4, I would. Went here on a Saturday evening in October and the place was fairly busy. They have both an indoor seating area and an outdoor area and I found myself wishing we'd gone for the outdoor area, even though I typically prefer an indoor venue simply because we ended up seated directly under the AC vents and it was positively blasting out cold air so I ended up going to get my jacket from the car and wearing it all evening.

The food was quite good though. I started with a bowl of beef stew for an appetizer and it was quite good (except for the entire bay leaf that I accidently tried to eat) though it did have an unusual flavor I couldn't quite identify. For dinner I went with the braised boneless ribs with a rich brown gravy. It was wonderfully tender and very tasty. I substituted the mashed potatoes for the grits and they were quite good as well. The veggie was carrots and turnips - I ate the carrots and they were quite good. Desert was a credible but not otherwise special crème brûlée topped with a selection of berries. Others at the table were similarly pleased with their meals though one member of our party ordered the brie as an appetizer which came with a single small piece of bread to spread the brie on, which was far too small. We asked for another small piece of bread which, frankly, is what it should come with anyway. Surprisingly, that little 2 inch round of bread was, we found when the bill arrived, an extra $2, which is both a little much and wasn't disclosed when it was asked for.

On the service side, the service was friendly but a bit slow - something I'm told is not uncommon here. I'm ok with a bit of slowness, especially f a place is making everything fresh, but overall this was a bit more than that. Drinks went empty without refills for a bit longer than they should have and there was quite a bit of time between courses, even though they'd been ordered together.

So, overall, pretty good but not perfect. Certainly better than most equivalent chains so a decent pick if you're...