The Brick House — Restaurant in Butler

This is kinda long, but you need to read this if you're considering The Brickhouse for any kind of get-together. My husband and I had our wedding reception here. While the food was amazing, atmosphere welcoming, and DJ was GREAT, dealing with Larry (the owner) was a nightmare. Rude to everyone at the reception. Had anything else been open to reserve, we would have had our reception elsewhere. He wouldn't respond to emails, wouldn't call back, he was awful to get in touch with. When he finally responded to my emails, usually 2 weeks later and after a few phone calls, he would feed me a line of BS, and not even answer most of my questions. I didn't even get a menu until about 1& 1/2 months prior to the reception! An emergency came up and we had to cut our food budget by $1,500 and bar by $1,000 about 3 months before the wedding. He gave me extreme attitude and said “Well, Idk what you expect me to do with that, you're into the burgers and pizza dinners now!” He flew through the centerpiece ideas, not even allowing me to say anything in regards to what WE wanted, and blew us off for the rest of the meeting with attitude and ignorance. I CA N'T BELIEVE how he stays in business with his attitude and rudeness!! And at the reception, my mom found him and asked why the cookies weren't out yet, and his response to her was “And who do you think YOU are, to tell me when to put out the appetizers?!” Thank goodness my dad looks like a giant ex-con/motorcycle gang leader, he got him straightened out real quick. Larry was supposed to drive my husband and I to our hotel at the end of the night, and turns out he left a couple hours before, so here's my husband and I, waiting on the freaking sidewalk, wondering how the hell we're going to get to our hotel! (meanwhile, his bartender of all people is the one apologizing to us and saying that he's done this to brides/grooms before!) His girlfriend (idk how he ended up with one so nice) ended up coming to the hall at midnight to take us to our hotel. This man was a complete terror, and had I read the other reviews about him earlier, I would have been able to find a new reception hall. AWFUL experience with him, but our reception ended up being absolutely freaking amazing despite his attitude. Its been a little over a year since our reception and we still get compliments from people saying how much fun they had. Our DJ did an amazing job, there were always people on the dance floor (and no, not the random 3 old ladies dancing to oldies, lol). He played exactly what we wanted, and everything flowed seamlessly. He was amazing. DJ Todd, I believe.

*For the above "Service: Very good for the workers, Poor: for...

Butler Pennsylvania is a small gem in the Great Lakes rust belt area, a bit off the beaten path from the lakes, but discovering it yielded a wearily aged town that once was the birthplace and home of the original US ARMY Jeep, but has started to make a comeback as a haven for the arts and the next generation.

The Brick House is no exception, rather it exemplifies the soul of this town. The outside of it was a mystery, as the winding entrails of the business seemingly takes up three connected Buildings in order to entertain large parties be it a wedding or family reunion. The West Family reunion was in progress when we showed up, but we never even heard them until we walked around the block.

That’s the confusing thing: it’s like someone hiding multiple personalities they are ashamed of, but secretly prideful of too. There is no trace of the other parts of the Brick House until it actually affects you—like when you order food and it takes a long time because the reunion catering is unveiled at the same time.

At first the outside was perfect. Mild balmy weather, Simone’s song drifting from around the corner, and then you enter. It smells like smoked cigars and ash. Not entirely bad. It took a while to be seated because it was EMPTY. The bar room looked cool though. We ended up sitting in the game room, a room full of pool tables and half broken down games. Despite the reminder of Butler’s plight being echoed in the game room, we were comfortable. The server who was taking care of us was also helping with the reunion. He was awesome and cool. Love the guy. We ordered the crab cakes, jambalaya, hot dog, kids quesadilla, and grilled chicken. The kids items were surprisingly good! Our picky kids ate them up to our surprise. The crab cakes were fresh and used only claw meat and were HUGE! Super tasty too. The Jambalaya was out of this world! This far north and a Jambalaya like this exists! What a find! The andouille sausage was authentic and the shrimp was plump and cooked perfectly. The rice was perfection as well. The chicken was juicy and plump too! Overall the Jambalaya was a masterpiece. The executive chef came out to see us, and he is one cool dude who is proud of his food—and it shows.

The soul of Butler is a new resurgence of art and elevating life in the rust belt tucked away in the hills of Pennsylvania, and the Brick House is an oasis of culinary delight that echoes it’s home perfectly.

The next day, I am still mentally savoring that Jambalaya and the crab cakes. It was worth the wait and confusion due to the layout. Give this place a try, you will be confused, amused, and...

Husband and I sat in bar area since smoking is allowed there- 3 people at the bar and we're the only ones setted at a table- after 10 minutes or so waiter leans over railing says ...."what do you want " asked for a menu, waited yet another 10 minutes for it . Once we started to order, we were told there is no soup of the day, or any soup at all. ! ( this was at 6pm, not late. ) Husband ordered steak -no steak ! Ordered porkchop dinner- no pork chops ! Finally had to settle for a burger& fries. I ordered chicken marsala over noodles, no noodles ! - no pasta at all ! Not even with several dinners on the menu that call for pasta ! My choices were fries or mashed potatoes,that's it. Was not given a choice of vegetables, or even told what I was to be served . I ordered a house salad also. Husband asked for a draft beer- over half the tabs were covered by a cup (indicating the kegs empty ) settled for a bottle- which was room temperature at best ! After 20-25 minutes our dinners came out ...more or less slammed in front of us with a "here ya go !" No return visit to see if all was well, or that we needed anything ! Half way through the meal, I finally saw our waiter and asked about my salad..."Oh yeah " ! ? Soon some stoner with longer hair & beard and no hair net ! came out with my salad ( not the one I ordered ) cook said he didn't notice that I had ordered a salad since he didn't have his glasses on ! ! ? All of this and we are STILL the only table ! With all this " I don't care additude " . I remarked to the cook , " You realize you only get 1 chance to make a good impression and you all rather failed at that ! " His reply..." I DON'T GIVE A SHIT !" how flipping rude ! ! The tip ?? I didn't give a shit ..... I sure hope Larry gets his stuff together , or sells out to someone that does ! Needless to say we are not returning ( and will let others know not to...