Brassa 51 — Restaurant in Johnson City

My fiancé & I went for lunch today. It wasn't busy & we've been dying to try it! The location was nice, the restaurant was clean with a few crumbs on the floor, but nothing crazy. It's very bright & lively. I told the waitress my fiancé is Mexican & I'm Cuban, so we knew there would be some similarities in flavors.

My fiancé ordered the Royal burger with plantains on the side & a salad. The description said a sunny side up egg, however, it was fully cooked, & was loaded with onions (which my fiancé hates & the menu didn't describe having them on it). The burger patty was overcooked & charred (almost inedible). The fries were very greasy & not seasoned well. The portion was really good for a lunch size, despite them not having an actual lunch menu.

I ordered the Mahi Frito with yuca fries & abuela chicken soup. The soup was ok, but lacked seasoning (I added salt). The chicken in it was delicious & exactly what you want in a soup. The yuca fries were crispy & cooked well, but still under seasoned. The Mahi Frito was covered (I mean literally covered) with onions. I absolutely love onions, so if I say there are too many, there are way too many. The fish was overcooked & the chimichurri had no flavor at all. There were some herbs and spices in it, but all you could taste was the actual oil. The rice was cooked perfectly and was delicious! The portion was good, but more rice than anything else (I'm not complaining because of how delicious it was).

As a rule of thumb, even if the food is completely inedible, we never send anything back & we always tip because I know first hand how difficult the restaurant industry can be. The total was $41 and some change, which isn't too bad for lunch (I left $50 because the service was good). I took the rice, yuca fries, & plantains home. We were both very unimpressed & expected a lot more flavor & seasoning. We are glad that we went so that we were able to take it off of our list, but we probably...

First off, let me be clear - the food in this place is amazing. The chefs and owners obviously take pride in their kitchen and it shows in the flavorful dishes.

But, the reason for such a low review - even in light of the amazing food - is the service is the worst in the area. This is our second visit to this place and the service has been abysmal each time. The waitress today, just like the first time, was more interested in socializing and disappearing than actually providing service for our group. When we ordered, we ordered an appetizer and three entrees. But we got the feeling she wasn’t paying attention at all - so our appetizer never made it to our table. We received our drinks - once. She passed our table exactly one time, asked if we needed anything and when we said drinks and our appetizer - she walked away, not acknowledging our request. The next time we saw her, she was bringing the check. We were furious at this experience, paid and left. We will not be back, no matter how good the food is. After two experiences of the same exact treatment by service staff, it’s just not worth the price you pay. Sad because from what these reviews indicate is that the owners want this to be successful and the food alone is a great start. But not until their staff actually cares about the guest experience will they be successful. In fact, if they don’t address this, they will likely be like so many other Johnson City restaurants that go under because of service. Hopefully someone...

I was excited when I saw the first signs of a Peruvian restaurant not having had the food before. I was finally able to stop for lunch on my birthday. The restaurant was clean & nicely decorated. I was seated promptly, but my server took a while to arrive & was slow or absent the remainder of my visit. The restaurant is pretty new so I was surprised to see white handwritten stickers with higher prices over the majority of the prices printed on the menu. I ordered the mixed ceviche & yucca fries. After a bit, the dishes arrived. The presentation was not impressive. The yucca fries were good, not great, but at least hot & crispy. The ceviche was not the best either. The mahi component was delicious - fresh & properly 'cooked' in the ceviche. The shrimp were not so good - they were left whole. In addition to not matching the size of the mahi chunks which were smaller, the shrimp were too large to absorb much & were mushy & somewhat fishy in flavor. There was a third component to the ceviche, but I couldn't identify it in the dish & don't remember what it was supposed to be. I'm not sure if this is the best representation of Peruvian food, but I am sure I won't be returning for more of it here...