Campfire — Restaurant in Bryan

I've recommended this restaurant to so many people the last four years I should be receiving royalties, but now I feel like I should contact them and issue a word of warning.

The place still has a warm and lively vibe that “could” make it the perfect place for celebrations. We've been here numerous times, including two Ring Days, birthdays, all of which I would have gladly given 5 stars. This time however, for the most important time we've chosen Campfire for a celebration, it really fell flat.

Prices have risen sharply, coupled with a mandatory 21% gratuity for parties of only 5 or more, and they won't split a check (unless done evenly all the way around).

Two months ahead of time I made reservations for 5:30pm to celebrate after our son's master's graduation ceremony. When I called several weeks before to give them the final headcount they confirmed the round table under the wheel chandelier was available and they would reserve it for us.

Just two weeks before graduation, I received a call to make me aware of the 21% gratuity for parties of 5 or more, and to make sure we were okay with that. The answer, of course, had to be "Yes" because where else am I going to come up with reservations that close to graduation in BCS?! Also, I didn't think it would be an issue because the wait staff has been great in the past (all of which are very young & appear to be TAMU students or recent grads), but we did not know how sharply menu prices increased across the board (prices are not included on the website), from drinks to appetizers to entrees to dessert. It's not a white table cloth restaurant, but they certainly have the prices! I expect a well seasoned maitre d' and sommelier for those prices & gratuity! ;-)

We arrived promptly at 5:30pm only to see a family with a baby and toddler seated at the table we had been told was reserved for us. Instead, we were seated nearby with two tables shoved together to accommodate us. I dd not say anything, it would have been useless, and just ruined our evening as well as the other family's, but it was a real let down & difficult to share in conversation at the shoved together tables because of the skinny length and being right next to a party of about 20+ people.

Appetizers were good (though overpriced) Tasty brussels sprouts, good biscuits. For entrees (very overpriced) four of us ordered the Blackened Salmon; flavor was good, but overcooked, one guest had the Snapper, and again flavor was okay, but it was grossly overcooked, extremely dry & chewy! They brought out 3 of the 4 salmons, the snapper, and ribs all at the same time, and then we ALL waited for the last plate of salmon to arrive a few minutes later, and our Guest of Honor was served LAST! Really?!

Campfire did provide a piece of pumpkin cheesecake (really overpowering on the pumpkin spice) with "Congratulations" written in chocolate syrup, and our un-intune server delivered it to the table when the guest of honor was in the bathroom. Had to ask server if he could bring it back when he was seated at the table a couple minutes later.

It wasn't the worst evening of our lives, but we specifically chose Campfire based on past experiences, this time leaving highly...

If I could give this restaurant negative stars I would. We were in town for an A&M visit and given my boyfriend is a Marriott Titanium Elite status Marriott member, thought we couldn’t go wrong based on Marriott’s impeccable service. This was the worst Marriott & dining experience of my life.

It started with a wait to sort out the two people we were adding to our 3 party reso - 10 min to sort out our table in an empty restaurant. We were advised 20% gratuity is automatic for parties of 5 or more. That’s fine.

We ordered the street corn appetizer which ironically the bartender said earlier was ‘fire’ but was delivered cold. Our meals (again in a not fully booked restaurant) took over an hour to arrive. The friend we were with immediately noticed her ‘medium’ filet was rare and could have walked off the plate. This was sent back and replaced.

Our redfish was charred and overcooked - barely edible but with one complaint already we chose not to make a scene and ruin the evening. Then our daughter bit into her pork chop and the meat was so tough she had to chew it extensively to be able to swallow it. Again - I would have made a scene at this point, but in an effort not to embarrass our daughter and friend we just met, I bit my tongue.

The bill arrived and although we were advised they could not split the tab, we expected to be able to advise on a dollar amount to put on one card versus the other. We were told only an even split was possible due to policy. This left us having our friend Venmo us and we put it on our card. Oh - and the tip was 21% not 20% - just one more final dig.

PS casamigas is $21 per drink - my advice: go to the Dixie Chicken where Casamigas is $7.75 and they have one of the best burgers you will ever eat. A $40 dining experience to die for compared to this atrocious $300+ experience.

Oh - did I mention the entire hotel is out of hand soap due to a supply chain issue??!! We check out tomorrow and I can’t get out of this hotel quickly enough.

Marriott...

I took my wife here for the 4 course Valentine's Day dinner with additional wine pairing. It was in total $325 for 2 people. What a way to ruin Valentine's Day. TLDR: don't go here...

First, let me talk about the food. The first course was a salad. Overall, the salad was okay; however, they included bacon that tasted like they soaked it in a salt brine overnight, and then added some more salt for good measure. After the salad was a soup course. The potato and gnocchi soup had 3 gnocchi and needed way more salt. The third course was a filet. This steak was good, but my wife's was overcooked, and the risotto that was served with it was crunchy and undercooked. Finally, dessert was a deconstructed cheesecake. The cheesecake and caramel were quite good. However, they gave a "chocolate graham cracker crust" with ice cream on the side that tasted like it came out of the Peruvian salt mines. This stuff was so salty that they could have put a little bit of it in my soup and I would have been a happy camper.

On to the wines: each course had it's own pairing, and in total it was an additional $55 per person. The bottles chosen were: Unshackled pinot noir (retailing $23 a bottle), Boen Chardonnay 2020 ( retailing $23 a bottle), Simi Landslide cabernet sauvignon 2018 (retailing about $40 a bottle), and Unshackled sparkling rose (retailing $26 a bottle). Now it is understandable that you don't get retail pricing at a restaurant. However, the total price was $110 for the wine pairing (8 glasses), and a total of $112 for just the bottles (at retail value). For the price of about $14 per glass, I would expect heavier pours (at least halfway full glasses); instead, each was a very small tasting pour that led to us being completely unsatisfied. At least the wine was hard for the kitchen to mess up and tasted better than the food.

All in all, if you want to spend $325 on dinner, go to Houston or Austin and get something that actually tastes good. Don't waste...