Brooks Tavern — Restaurant in Hendersonville

VERY SHOCKING EXPERIENCE, ......still can’t believe it! We went to eat at Brooks Tavern, off Main Street tonight with friends & let me say, the food was good, but that wasn’t the problem. We experienced something we’ve never experienced in ANY RESTURANT directly or even as a witness. We had all just finished our meal, spouse had just received a 2nd draft beer in a tall glass. As he went to raise his glass for third sip, the thick glass bottom broke away from top half of the glass, breaking more as it hit the table, beer flowing onto all of our laps. Now accidents happen, no worries there as our Waiter quickly brought a replacement beer .....all was good again. We order a fried cheesecake with sauce for four. The check comes & we see the replacement beer was charged to us. Still, we’re thinking,..... ok, oversights happen, maybe a beer inventory tracking thing reason for charge, ......still no worries. Spouse inquired about the charge & ............that’s when everything began to take a turn. Waiter said he had asked the manager for a comp on the replacement beer, saying he had reminded Mgr that it was because of the glass that broke......while in a customers hand,......Manager immediately stated to waiter, “No Comp, Nope, No Comp.” When the waiter told spouse what the manager had said, spouse asked to speak to the manager. Very soon the Manager came out to our booth. The four of us quickly noticed his body language was tense, stern like. He actually seem to “plant his feet a couple of feet apart” as he aggressively crossed his arms tightly against his chest, hands were in a fist. Spouse asked about the charge, the Manager leaned in a bit over table, sternly replying , “No, No Comp and how much beer was in the glass anyway?” Spouse replied, “That’s not the point.” (Keep in mind, all of our laps are still wet.) Manager (still leaning over edge of table) immediately stated sternly, “It’s not our fault the glass broke, no break was from anything we did......(Manager began raising his voice) no break was from anything we did, WE’RE A BUSINESS......A Business To Make Money, so No, No We Won’t Comp For You.” As we all sat in shock, thinking our mouths may actually be on the table, we noticed all the other patrons in the booths & sitting at the bar turned to watch & started saying to each other, “Wow, wow, did you hear that?” The Manager was staring at my spouse, I spoke up asking, “Are you aware all of our laps are still wet?” Mgr just shrugged his shoulders, then waved us off, turning & aggressively walking away heading back into the kitchen, waving his arm & hand at us one more time. Many of the other patrons began to express to us their shock. Quite a few double checked their beverage glasses for sturdiness. None of us expected such an encounter, never saw it coming, ......It was unbelievable. OVER THE COST OF A BEER, at least 4 people will never return. Brooks Tavern is relatively new, less than a year old & before tonight thought so much potential but with only 5-6 booths & approx 10 chairs at the bar, .......one would think the daily goal would be to have the best possible customer service creating much of their advertising by positive word of mouth. Again, OVER THE COST of a beer, we won’t be returning & possibly the others that witnessed such horrible behavior by, of all people who work there, THE MANAGER. It’s too bad, as they make one of my favorite sandwiches.......oh,......we never got our cheesecake.

Signed: Still shocked...

Food was very good. Home cut fries, good fish.. But I was surprised with such a small eating area (Maybe 8 or 9 booths so be ware) that the service was not better. There is NO hostess to greet you so you remain standing at the doorway for maybe 10 minutes not knowing what to do. When a booth finally opens you are told it is promised to other folks when you try and run for it? You ask how to put your name on a list and a waitress says she will put you down. You finally get seated and get no menu for another 10minutes as the waitress whizzes by to her 4 tops. She had maybe 3 other booths. Here is where I don't get it?? I would think the owners could afford a greeter/hostess with such a large bar crowd and the very high marked up drink prices people seem happy to pay?Perhaps the owners could be greeters themselves on busy nights if times are tuff like we still hear everyday from the 3 yr old tired pandemic excuse? But alas you are forced to fend for yourself as others look on feeling your pain.. Anyhow, our waitress appeared. Appetizer came out before a simple draft beer which sat waiting 20 minutes on a bar. Waitress seemed flustered when we asked for a new cold one. (Nothing worse than a hot draft beer right?) Defeats the purpose of a cold beer order. Long story short: food good, service very scattered and disorganized. If they could straighten out their service issues the place would be worth visiting again. REPLY: ABSOLUTELY NOT ACCURATE to say the Beer arrived in 4 minutes. It sat on the bar while other drinks were picked up for approximately 15 minutes . The waitress (whom I assume is your daughter) was in the kitchen and delivering food to tables. Clearly overwhelmed with not much help. She also told us her 14 yr old sister worked as a hostess for awhile but people didn't realize she was the hostess even with a Tshirt on. After reading several reviews it seems we are not the only ones who felt lost when entering your restaurant. Also your bartender never greeted us at the door as you insinuated. After finally figuring out we needed to put our name down we sat ourselves at the bar. Your bartender was very busy and greeted us approximately 10 minutes once we were SEATED at the bar. As an owner in the restaurant business, I would simply put up a sign "wait to be seated"so many others who also seemed confused understand how seating works in...

UPDATE 8/20/24: My wife and I have eaten at Brooks Tavern three times in the last 30 days. One of them was a takeout. Things seem to be back to what they were originally, which is very exciting for us. We loved the food and ambiance at the little brick tavern. The food has been great and Chris, our waiter was fantastic. We're Back and so is our 5 Stars! Plus, organic ketchup!

UPDATE: Every since Brooks Tavern has switched ownership the food quality has gone down hill. I've changed my 5 star rating to a 1 star. The last time we ate here we sent most of our food back, some twice. What was one of our favorite places to eat in Hendersonville has become the last place we would eat. Sadly, we have eaten our last meal here. This review was posted sometime in October 2021.

Update 5/29/22: I responded by email to the owner's recent reply to the above review posted about 7 months ago. As I stated in my email, we would love to change the review back to 5 stars. Please, give us a reason too! Respectfully, Ron

Original Review: Very impressive! Great ambiance, great service, great food! First timers but just the first of many visits to come. All the food coming from the kitchen looked incredible but we had the Big Brooks Burger and the Southern Fried Chicken sandwich. You have to see the pics of the chicken sandwich. Wow! I'm not a chicken sandwich guy, just not my thing, but once you've eaten this chicken sandwich all others are wannabes. Hamburger was very good as well. Brooks Tavern won't disappoint!

Update : this is now our fifth time eating here at BrooksTavern since our first visit and I have to say that we love it! My wife just ordered the Turkey Apple Brie Sandwich with Carmel dipping sauce and it is incredible! Run don't walk to try this sandwich! I had a New York Strip Steak and it was incredible as well. This has quickly become one of our favorite spots in...