Brick Oven Pizzeria & Gastropub — Restaurant in Fruit Cove

Normally I like to make jokes and find humor in the worst visits to bad restaurants but tonight is not a joke to me. The list of problems with this restaurant is long and numerous but I’ll start with the dangerous problem. Outside of the wait time for seating (55 minutes) and getting food (62 minutes after placing the order), the health hazard posed by what they served was astounding. Accompanying the pizza was a basket of Deep Fried Buffalo Wings that pose a danger to humans. I’ve never before seen bloody deep fried chicken served to a customer before tonight. The outside looked like your normal piece of fried chicken but it bled when bitten into.

The chicken was returned when my very disgusted friend spit up the food on his plate. The waiter returned and stated that there was a problem with the batch of fried chicken due to the deep fryer turning off during cooking. He offered a new plate at no charge but the allure of another plate of improperly prepared chicken lost it’s shine after the first 62 minute wait as well as the blood spilling forth.

Later, after upset friends who were angry at a 2.5 hour “dining” experience complained to the manager (after paying the full bill… you’ll understand the rest in a minute), the apathetic manager stated that he examined the chicken and could not find a problem with the preparation. Our friend from Maine (very laid back guy… who was driven to complaining) stated that properly cooked chicken shouldn’t be bleeding! The response (no joke) was “that piece had a big vein in it.” I had to leave after that and decided a report to authorities was more appropriate.

Now that the truly bad stuff is said, let’s cover the rest of this bad comedy sketch like experience. I expect a line on Saturday night but 52minute wait after being told to expect 20 minutes was not a good start. The waiter had to be tracked down six times to get refills. Evidently we don’t eat with utensils here in the U.S., or it is part of their standard procedure to let customer find their own silverware. I’ve never seen a pizza place that didn’t put cheese in a container on the table but this was sincerely a foreign concept to the befuddled waiter that had no idea people put cheese on their pizzas! Three napkins for a table of six… etc… etc… I sincerely can’t even remember all the problems.

The amusing part of the night was the entertainment. Unfortunately it didn’t come from the TV’s in the room but rather the family sitting across from us. They were upset at waiting an hour to get their food and were walking around trying to find staff (not many of them tonight) to express their dissatisfaction and demand recourse. We’d already been there for 90 minutes and had no food at all compared to them getting one plate of food at that point. We figured they were way ahead of us. It was fun to watch one parent after the other get up to demand the staff actually make food and deliver it.

The lack of concern for customer service, the hazardous food and the near contempt for customer satisfaction makes this place not only a bad place to go for food but a health hazard. Not much comedy in this post tonight but I’m still concerned for my roommates health at the moment. Please do not danger yourself with...

Apparently Monday is Bingo Night. This is not posted on the website. Bingo night has a very-very loud speaker playing so loud you cannot have any conversation at your table (Im talking shouting). As soon as our drinks (non alcoholic) arrived I asked the server if the music could be turned down a bit and was told “we have asked many times and he won’t do it” we decided it was time to leave as this was my Sons 21st Birthday. I was willing to pay for the drinks, (even though we didn’t drink them) however they should not have charged me the 20% gratuity especially after our server dumped a coke on my daughter. This place got $38 from me and that will be all they ever get!! Where did customer service go? This place should be ashamed….

Reply to owner; You may want to revisit your own website because I can assure you that Bingo Night is not listed anywhere. You have an “Events” tab that would have been perfect for listing Bingo Night. We DID receive our drinks before placing a food order because we didn’t order any food. I was very clear that the music was way too loud and If you had a suitable table to be moved to, why wasn’t it suggested when I asked to check out? I never said the server didn’t apologize but gratuity is by definition is a tip for good service, which we did not receive. Honestly, a better business would have comped the drinks to ensure repeat business. The fact that 3 of your staff said they have asked you to lower the music because of complaints and were told no, speaks volumes for your restaurant. You take no responsibility for your establishment and place the burden on your employees. Like I said before you received payment for drinks that were not consumed and a 20% gratuity (by definition; for good service) that was not provided! I can clearly see why you need Bingo to...

I stopped by this place for lunch the other day while on a bike ride after craving some pizza and wanting to catch some of the football game going on. Brick Oven Pizzeria & Gastropub fit the bill.

The restaurant is located in the heart of Fleming Island with plenty to do and see nearby compared to the quiet surrounding towns. That makes this a great location to grab a bite to eat while running errands or doing shopping.

Since moving to the area last year, I've been looking for a good local pizza place. The place was rather slow, I chose to sit at the bar in hopes of receiving prompt service. It took a while to be greeted by staff, but service improved after the initial interaction aside from the bartender not being familiar with local offerings on tap.

The atmosphere of the place was like a typical local bar. There's plenty of seating and TVs available for watching sports. They seem to have good visibility no matter where you choose to sit within the establishment.

As for the food and drinks, I chose a tasty pumpkin ale and a variant of Hawaiian pizza. The beer was the best part of the meal. The pizza took, in my opinion, a bit too long to come out for a place that specializes in brick oven pizza and maybe had 15 patrons total in the restaurant. The food was decent, but there was nothing spectacular about the taste.

For a better pizza and similar atmosphere, give Mellow Mushroom across the street a try if you haven't done so before.

As for me, I'm still on the lookout for a great, local,...