Humphrey Pete's — Restaurant in Brownwood

Ok. I have to be honest, this has always been one of my least favorite restaurants in Brownwood. When we first moved here the look of the place really caught my attention. I thought it was really a neat atmosphere, inside and out. We were here for my daughter's birthday in 2016 and the ribs were pretty good. So, we returned 4 more times, and were disappointed at each. This most recent visit sealed my opinion in stone. Every time we visited we ordered ribs; and they were dry enough to sand the table with. Not much of an exaggeration, truly. The service, also extraordinarily dry. A smile or two wouldn't hurt, ladies! Now, usually I am pretty happy as long as I get what I need and the staff is timely. I don't hold a lot of judgment because I know servers are not often well treated - by management, or by the customers. I am typically easy to please and very forgiving. But snobby servers are unpleasant. If you don't like your job, fine, but please learn to hide it so you get a better tip. I don't like feeling like asking for silverware is putting you out. However, lackluster food and unhappy servers are no match for the last 5 minutes we spent there...on our anniversary, I might add. We were sitting in the booth looking at the writing on the side facing us, when we were greeted by a cockroach. Not the huge water bugs that Texans are used to seeing, simply because they are part of our world here; but a smaller, red-brown cockroach - the kind you find in places you'd never eat...and that's why you'd never eat there. It was quite a shock. I couldn't get my phone out fast enough to get a picture, unfortunately. And even though this time we were served up MUCH better ribs, by a significantly happier waiter/waitress than the last few visits, I cannot forgive this. I just can't. I want to know that where I eat has high standards of cleanliness, and I need to be able trust that. Heck, I don't even see roaches in places where it wouldn't surprise me, let alone a places that charges nearly $30 for ribs! We got up, paid, and left. That'll be the last opportunity Humphrey Pete's will ever have to change my mind. I can't help but feel disappointed. I was hoping one day they'd pull through and prove me wrong. Other than the nasty little visitor, it's a really neat atmosphere that deserves better food and a good quality staff to back it up. And possibly a good pest control guy...

UPDATE: ZERO STARS! So, we went back to Humphrey Pete's. I know I promised not to, but all the other steak houses were closed for the 4th of July week, and some friends of ours really wanted steak. So, we agreed. I didn't tell them about our prior experience because I didn't want to ruin their evening. And...AGAIN with the bugs! Except not just around our food...but IN our food! We had a couple missionaries with us, and the poor guy was eating his beans only to find a dead fly near the bottom! We showed our waitress who was clearly disgusted but really didn't offer a solution, other than to get him another bowl. He, of course, refused. I don't know what to think. I know so many people who love this place, but this is too much! Do you know what you might be eating that you can't see? It's not a question we should ever have to ask.... Pick up your game Humphrey Pete's. This is your responsibility...

My visit here today was a total disappointment. My party of six got sat quickly, but at a dirty table, literal food residue on the table and chairs. The table top itself was loose and very wobbly, quite annoying to say the least. Our server was friendly enough, but saying scatterbrain is being nice. 5 sweet teas, 1 water.....simple, yes? Took several attempts to get it right Appitizers ordered, arrived at the table with no plates.....my wife needed a refill, it came to the table with large food particles floating in the tea. We never got rolls to the table. Entrees served....two had mashed potatoes as a side, which were cold, and frankly looked like sheet rock mud not mashed potatoes. My wife's side of fried okra was literally more burnt crumbles of breading than actual okra. The server pointed out that my side of fried okra was being cooked, but it never showed up at the table.... She had a whole other entree that we didn't order that she seemed confused as to where it belonged, ultimately realizing it wasn't ours. Our visit was for a birthday dinner, which I informed the server of in the very beginning. 20th birthday.....she had to be told 3 times who's birthday it was, and then told us the birthday person could get a free shot......obviously, we said no.... The second option was a literal frozen cupcake. The bill had to be sent back to remove the mystery entree.... I didn't make an issue of it, but noticed I was charged for a house salad, instead of the side salad we ordered.... I'm not just nit picking here, I have had great service and food here before, this time the place wasn't very busy, and there was plenty of staff, so I genuinely feel there was no excuse for all the levels of failure.

It will take awhile for me to bring my family back, I was very disappointed, I voted to go here for the birthday dinner and after, we should have...

Our first time going here a few weeks ago, and we had a waitress that was new as well. She made a point to tell us that about 15 times while we were there, as she didn't know the menu, the sides, or basically anything. Instead of looking at the menu or finding out the answer to our questions, her response was always "I don't know, I'm new". Three of us came to dinner. One of us didn't get our food with the rest because they served the wrong dish and had to remake it, then they forgot all of the sides. Of course the waitress didn't know any better because she was new, lol. Then the kicker was the $8.00 slice of pie at the end that was about the size of a doorstop. I could buy an entire pie for that price. I could understand if it was the best thing I had ever eaten but it wasn't. Not even close. When I asked about it, the manager came over and asked if there was a problem with a huge attitude, and no desire to try to make anything right, even after our lovely experience here. I didn't realize this was one of those places where you pay to get bad attitudes and horrible service, or I would have chosen a different place. I will NEVER go back here, nor would I recommend...