The Bistro — Restaurant in Brooksville

Downtown Brooksville. The Courthouse, the county seat and of course, a Main Street. Nestled old buildings, huddling coves, door to door, brick to brick. What fables know these windowed walls? Storefront tales to tell. Visions of simpler times. Model T's and no a/c.

Number 10 South Main, overhead oval swings in the breeze, 'The Bistro', a beckoning beacon. Bearing one small footprint to the right of the stoplight off Broad, Number 10 might seem small. Diminutive. Minuscule. But it's not. The depth of this downtown den is evident as you amble through the door. Once inside, volume relates to size and not sound. Spacious.

Now that I have your attention, let's get to reviewing.... My Fab One and I first took in The Bistro for lunch. Announcing this was our first time, we were gleefully greeted by Luci, a bubbly blonde with team spirit. It really helps when you feel instantly welcomed and valued as a customer. Maggie took over to carry on the rest of our foodie quest, she took excellent care of our every request.

We started out with Fried Green Tomatoes. Picture these green seeded slices perfectly breaded and crunchy fried, drizzled with a pimento and BACON oooooh and a balsamic squiggle. The presentation was picture perfect too. It's always fun to eat a masterpiece....right?

Fab One ordered the We Got The Beet salad. A healthy spring mix with Beasley's Farm beets, roasted walnuts, goat cheese(YES!) and house balsamic. Her happy salad smile said it all. Delicious.

I got the Bistro Cobb Salad. All the fresh goodness you'd hope for and more. With a dab of Ranch dressing I was on my high horse! LOL

As we were thoroughly enjoying our food and the ambiance, both Luci and Maggie mentioned we might want to try their Sunday Brunch. Our next Chapter was coming into play, for Sunday...

And there we were, back at Number 10, at just after 11. Sunday. For the Brunch bunch. We strolled ALL the WAY back to the bar and took a comfy high chair seat. Yeah baby... This Bistro Brunch stroll was guided by her behind-the-bar-ness Felicia. I stepped out of my usual tea zone and ordered a Bloody Mary. Oh man! Tomatoes, celery, little oniony onions, BACON, spices and adult beverages have never combined more cohesively in any concoction!

Fab One, what did she order? OH! Yeah. She ordered the Eggs Benedict with the cheesy gouda grits. I am quite familiar with that sultry look of satisfaction on her face and there it was. She was happy. I tried those grits(not being a fan of grits). They were quite good! I'd order them!

I ordered something that I felt I'd never try. And I'm from the South... I got the Chicken & Waffles. What intrigued me was the country SAUSAGE GRAVY drizzled over the top! So you have these delicious melt-in-your-mouth waffles, some fried chicken pieces covered in a blanket of sausage gravy goodness...what MORE can I say? For me, that sausage gravy put this dish over the top.

And there you have it. My review. A little writer's inspiration. A lot of foodie investigation. I will mention that during our Brunch we talked quite a bit with the holder of The Bistro key, owner Catherine. Her enthusiasm was quite apparent. The fervor for her food, her work force and the folks that walk through that Number 10 portal brings truth to her slogan 'Where Friends Meet' on...

Not sure what to say. We had high hopes based on reviews. My wife and I went tonight for our anniversary. My wife ordered the beet salad and a margarita pizza. I ordered the merlot pot roast. Less than 5 minutes later my pot roast came out, but only my pot roast. A few minutes after that, my wife's beet salad came out. We thought it was a little strange to bring one entree out around the same time as the other person's salad, but figured that the pizza would come shortly. I started on my pot roast, and it was dry and flavorless, and the mashed potatoes weren't much better. It was borderline inedible. I only ate about 5 bites of it and set it aside while my wife finished her salad. After a fairly long time our waitress came out and said "are you all good?" I said, "nobody ever brought my wife's pizza." The waitress went over to the pizza oven, came back, and said "apparently we are out of a lot of stuff tonight, and they are out of mozzarella. We're out of hamburger buns, too." She said this as if it were a normal thing; to be out of something, and instead of interacting with that reality, to just not bring someone their dinner. I said, "It's fine, just bring the check, I guess."

When the waitress brought the check, it still had the unmade pizza on it and I had to point it out to her that it needed to be changed.

At no point did anyone apologize for basically ignoring my wife's dinner order. At no point did anyone ask if what we had received was okay. At no point, upon seeing that I hadn't eaten my entree, did my waitress ask if there was a problem with it. At no point did anyone even refill my water glass. At no point were we greeted when we came in, and at no point did anyone say anything as we left.

It wasn't busy. The place was only half full, and it appeared fully staffed.

I can't remember the last time I've had a more awkward evening....

The sign said seat yourself. We did. Only half of the tables in the restaurant were occupied. There were 3-4 ladies leaning against the bar on the bartender side serving. No one came to the table for fifteen minutes.

My mother tried to get the attention of a waitress that passed by. She ignored her and went outside. When she came back in, she looks at our table and said "Has no one got you yet?" Then she went to "get someone".

One of the woman chatting at the bar finally pulls herself away from the group and comes to our table. She put two paper menus in front of us and walked away without a drink order.

The paper menus were about a third of the real menu (I've been here before) and had no drink options aside from wine and beer. We got up and walked out.

The first time, I went as part of a group function in the second week of December. The waitress then (different from today's) was rude. She did not smile once, acted as though customers were an inconvenience to her, never checked on the table, and did not refill drinks. It took so long to be served that a few of our group members had to leave.

The food, when they choose to serve it, is GREAT. That's why I gave two stars. However, given how absolutely poor the service has been (even following giving them a second chance), I will not be returning and I do not recommend...