Cootie Brown's Campus — Restaurant in Johnson City

Figuring it was a student hangout with bar food, I hadn't yet ventured to Cootie Brown's in my four months in the area until yesterday. I had heard they had good thin crust pizza so I thought I'd check it out.

The young man seating folks was so friendly and he gave me my choice of a table, high-top, or booth. When I chose a booth, he showed me which one and said he'd be right back to clean it for me. During his fast and efficiently-performed task, he asked me about my day, listening and responding like we knew each other! It was lovely to see such social skill in a person so young! He explained that he had over seated the section and that it might take a moment for our server to get to us. I took my seat and immediately was greeted by our server who has every bit as nice as the host! Our order was taken in a timely manner, our beverage service was immediate, our food didn't take any time to prepare, and we were on our way easily within an hour.

The menu is extensive! Though we came for pizza, we reconsidered as we passed diners with a beautiful salad and a plate of mouth-watering nachos on our way to our seats.

I can't even do the math on the number of combinations they have for pizza. Three choices of crusts, probably half a dozen bases (sauces), several cheeses, and loads of toppings. We started simple because we're all about the crust and flavor of the sauce. The crust was truly thin, crunchy vs. crispy, with good, yeast-bread flavor. Overall, we liked it but have found better in town, though we plan to come back here for pesto-based choices; in fact, we plan to make our way through all the bases and likely all the crust choices. The pizzas are pricy -- $25 for a 14-inch, but two of us ate lunch and still took 1/3 of it home with us.

We finished with a piece of chocolate cake that was, in my book, truly exceptional. It took me back to my childhood, as the sides aren't iced -- only the layers. I like a good balance between the cake and the frosting so this delivery whas just how I like it. Rich devil's food (bless his heart, the server told me they don't have devil's food; only chocolate cake) with the lightest-flavored chocolate cream cheese frosting I've ever had. Garnished with a dollop of whipped cream to add a little extra something to the decadence.

I haven't had green chile and cheese tamales since I left Arizona so I may be heading back over there today for lunch! Hubby will likely try the smoked wings. Told you they have an expansive menu!

The last positive to mention: the booth benches are independent, so you won't feel the kid behind you kicking your seat, and you can move your bench where you need it to be a comfortable distance from your table!

Note to management: the lovely vines on your handrails have aphids and need the landscaper's attention. I couldn't get past them without brushing by them and was hesitant to get bugs all over my hands on the...

The Stages of (salad) Grief...

We've frequented Cootie Brown's for decades and we LOVE it. It's a family favorite. Last week, however, in the spirit of trying simething new, I decided to veer off from my standard menu option of nachos and try the Warm Goat Cheese and Pesto Salad. In theory... it sounded delicious! But be warned...read the fine print (which my companion and I did not).

The salad arrived as a bowl of greens. Just greens. No goat cheese... no pesto... no warm...just greens. We were both quite confused because the title of the salad is Warm Goat Cheese and Pesto and yet none of it existed.

We stared at the bowl of greens wondering if we were seeing things right. We were. Nothing there.

So I inquired with the server as to if we had the right salad. She said yes. Baffled, I asked where the goat cheese was as she brought us a second dish which had large pita slices and a small bowl of baked pesto and sun dried tomatoey paste with very little crumbles of goat cheese on top.

We asked for a menu to read the fine print and found that yep! With the "Warm Goat Cheese and Pesto" Salad comes a side of the above. The "Warm Goat Cheese and Pesto" Salad is not a warm goat cheese and pesto salad. The warm goat cheese and pesto salad is, in fact, an appetizer on the side.

Politely, I brought this to the servers attention and asked if I could actually get some goat cheese ON the salad. She later returns with a small plate of warmed up goat cheese which I scrape (rather smear)onto the greens.

And it tasted FANTASTIC!

As I ate,I thought, mmmmm... dried cranberries on this would be GREAT!

So...yeah...I went there...I asked for some dried cranberries. Sure, it was an upcharge but I threw those suckers in and raised the quality of that "bowl of greens" exponentially.

No worries! I left a nice tip!

The service was great, everyone else's food was fantastic, and after adjusting mine by recreating the menu....lol...it was chef's kiss!

Moral of the story? Read the fine print because a Warm Goat Cheese and Pesto Salad isn't always as it seems.

Still great meal. Great place.

Below are the stages of: The...

Over all, Cootie Brown's campus location is a good place to go. Very casual atmosphere, very friendly staff and the food is usually very good.

Tonight I ordered the butterflied shrimp dinner as a take out meal.

The shrimp was the best part of the meal and tasted delicious. And the quantity was reasonable, in my opinion.

The menu said this meal came with Cole slaw and I could choose two regular sides for the listed price, which was $15.95. For an extra dollar I could choose a higher level side. Brown rice and grilled asparagus were the items I chose. The asparagus cost that extra dollar. Normally, if you buy this side by itself, they would charge $5.95 for this side.

Ok first of all, the Cole slaw it comes with is a freaking thimbleful. It is shown in the middle of the attached picture next to the red sauce. What there was tasted great but I was horrified at how tiny the serving size was. Seriously, what's the point of serving it at all if your serving size is a tablespoon? A serving size of asparagus, in my opinion, should be AT LEAST a half a cup.

I was seriously horrified at the grilled asparagus. These are pictured on the far left in the attached picture. The diameter of these asparagus is about a quarter the diameter of a number two pencil. So not only was the quality of the asparagus horribly poor, the serving size, again, was unbelievably sparse. Had I paid the full $5.95 for this as a separate side in the restaurant, I would have given it back. There wasn't much asparagus flavor either. All I could taste was the smoky grill flavor, which was fine but if you didn't know this was supposed to be asparagus, you never would have been able to tell.

My husband got the pulled pork sandwich. That was unsatisfactory as well due to the bun. The bun was SO thin, it began falling apart immediately after only two bites. My husband ended up having to take all the meat off the sandwich and eat it without the bun.

Cooties, you failed...