Brewbakers Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Lenexa

If I could give zero stars I would. HALF way through our Sunday BUFFET brunch the waitress asked us how old our children were. We thought that to be odd we've never been asked that at brewbakers before. We said two sets of twins, 2 that are 10, 2 that are 8. She said ok and picked up 4 plates and walked away never to be seen again, we had to flag her down to get our bill. Our bill was 90 dollars! Our bill has never been 90 dollars there ever before. We said 90 dollars, we are used to the kids being charged 5 dollars, now 2 of them are charged as adults!? She said yes, the cut off is 9. Then upon looking again she added 12.00 gratuity to a party of 6. We've never been changed gratuity there ever before. We were never handed menu informing us that 10 year olds will be adult pricing and that a party of 6 or more gratuity will be added. I've been a cooperate trainer for wait staffs over 15 years. If you don't hand out a menu clearly stating charges then the responsibility falls on the server to say, ok just so you know we charge 10 year olds adult pricing and parties of 6 or more gratuity is added. At the start of the meal, as soon as they learn the kids are 10 not after we have all started eating..(we would have quickly done the math and either would have decided for ourselves ok, usually it's 60 bucks to eat here, now it's 90, do we still want to foot that bill?) We may have stayed, we may have politely left. We know how much our kids eat, and it's certainly not an adults portion. We were never given a chance to decide if the price was worth it. When the server saw we were clearly sticker shocked when we recived the bill she should have said you know what, let me fix this for you, let me comp one of the kids meals, I should have told you since your kids were 10 that they were going to be charged full price. She didn't say anything, she just walked away. She never got management she never did or said anything when she saw we were clearly upset. I couldn't let it go, I felt a responsibility since being a corporate trainer to let her manager know what happened so it wouldn't happen to anyone else I called the manager 10 minutes later to let her know of our experience. Stated my complaint, and she said, we'll I'm sorry that happened to you, it's up to our servers to charge gratuity for parties of 6 or more so it usually depends. I said she came by and picked up 4 of 6 plates, never had to fill up our drinks, we each ate one plate for food, one dessert each, during which time she only felt the need to come around once we even had to flag her down to pay our bill the restaurant was empty besides one other two top.... manager said sounds like theirs nothing I can do to win your buisness back. However, I will speak with her and tell her to inform her tables better. She didn't offer to fix anything either. Apparently no one from the top down cares that you left their restaurant upset, the staff doesn't care, the management doesn't care and I bet the ownwers will never hear of it so they won't even get the chance to care. The waitress, the manager, had every opportunity to say, let me fix it for you, this time I will fix it for you, and next time you'll know because our servers will be trained to inform our customers better. We don't as customers have a magic crystal ball that let's us know what their pricing is for children, or that they charge gratuity for parties of 6 or more, if theirs no menu handed out it's up to the wait staff to let you know, it's up to management to make sure their wait staff is informative. Every other restaurant like theirs does inform you like Granite City they always give kids pricing they always say if their will be a gratuity on parties of usually 8 or more. At brewbakers, the staff doesn't care that you left upset, the management didn't care that you hung up upset. That's no buisness I want...

Our family moved to the Lenexa area June 2019. Given the proximity of our home to Brewbaker, it didn’t take us long to find this establishment. It has become a go-to for especially my husband and I for lunch. We have also taken various configurations of our 4 kids there. We have yet to dine there as a group of 6 however.

Brewbaker was my choice for a late lunch/early dinner when extended family recently visited due to the variety of their menu.

Hoping my memory is accurate (which after spending the last 23 years raising kids, still at it, my “mom brain” is definitely in control these days ::wink wink:: parents will understand) ANYWAY....as I was saying....so far, after multiple visits over these last 9 months, the food has been delicious every time!

This most recent visit, with extended family, some in our group took special delight in the fried pickle - spears! Usually served as slices, this was a pleasant change of pace for what has become a common bar/grill appetizer.

The only suggestion I have for the owners/managers is to continually make sure staff understands the importance of a balanced attentiveness to customers. A few times our wait person seemed to disappear for longer periods of time than ideal.

“Keep up the great work” (so good speak). Our family looks forward to visiting this “regular spot” for years to come! Oh, and...

Visited here for Restaurant Week lunch most recently and had a fantastic experience overall. I have been here a few other times and have never had a bad meal or drink either. We ordered off the Restaurant Week menu: two orders of Carlsbad Soup, the Creamy Spinach Artichoke Chicken Cavatappi Pasta & the 6oz Salmon, and two orders of the Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

The Carlsbad Soup is seriously one of the best soups I've had. The spice level is perfect and the soup is just top tier. I would have had multiple bowls if able. The pasta was a huge serving and had a great spinach artichoke flavor but could have used some other salty seasoning to really make it stand out. The salmon and rice were a great combo with the savory/sweet mix really working. The strawberries were decent if not lackluster. The strawberries are obviously not in season with the chocolate being the star - I do feel they could have provided a better dessert option but overall, not bad and light!

Our server was a younger gentleman and he did a terrific job. He was extremely attentive, friendly, and we had no complaints at all! Overall, this was not high on my list for a Restaurant Week stop, but I am glad...