Brady's — Restaurant in Leominster

This is my first restaurant review ever. However, my experience here was so bad that I felt I had to leave a review...

First - The service was terrible. My gf and I arrived at the restaurant a few weeks ago on a Saturday night and the host (who I'm pretty sure is the wife of the owner) was talking to a couple at the podium. The couple weren't asking for a table, they were asking questions in regards to throwing a party there. That's fine, but the host didn't even acknowledge us when we got there and continued to talk to the couple for about 10 minutes until they were done and left. When the host finally spoke to us we told her that we wanted a table and she said that she needs to go look first, since she didn't know what was available. Odd for a host to not know that. So she left us, for an additional 5 mins, came back and proceeded to say that it was an hour wait for a table, but we could go sit at the bar and order off the menu there. Knowledge that would have been useful to us prior when we showed up. Upon sitting at the bar, the bartenders weren't that attentive (a little understandable for a busy Saturday night) but they also seemed a bit clueless when it came to the food.

Second - The food was mediocre and pedestrian at best. We ordered an appetizer off the bar menu, pretzel bites with cheese. My gf thought that the cheese tasted a bit fake & processed (like cheese whiz) and I didn't think so at the time because it did have a richness to the flavor, but in hindsight, this could have been possible since it was a really bright, unnatural looking orange/yellow. For entrees, my gf ordered the zatar salmon. It was supposed to come with fennel but neither her nor I tasted it in the dish. The whole entree looked like something I would make from one of those food box delivery services (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, etc.) My entree was a complete disappointment. I ordered the "Pan Roasted Loin of Cod." The fish was bland, kind of on the small side to be considered a "loin" and didn't seem like it was roasted at all. The 4 pieces of cubed potatoes that it came with were also very small. The broth was fine, but probably shouldn't have tasted the way it came, because my dish was missing the chorizo. I noticed that the chorizo was missing about halfway through. So I pointed this out to the bartender when I could, and she asked if I wanted the chorizo...kind of weird thing to ask since it was, yes, supposed to originally come with the dish. When it did finally come, it completely changed the flavor profile of the broth. It's kind of amazing that the kitchen would miss the chorizo, since the whole dish is pretty white and the red colored chorizo would be a hard thing to miss. Should tell you something about the quality control of the food leaving the kitchen...

Third - The prices. Both our entrees were close to $30 each and certainly not worth that money. When I go out to eat, I expect the food to be better than something I can just make at home for much cheaper.

In summary, my gf and I will never come back here and I highly advise other people to think about it before coming here too. There are other, better restaurants...

My husband and I tried Brady's for the first time on 6/4, we had reservations for 6:30 and stopped at Bar 37 for a cocktail. I am going to share the negatives first, I am not taking any stars off because the experience in the restaurant far exceeded the not so great experience in Bar 37.

When we walked in there was one group sitting at a table by the window, and one couple at the bar. The bartender was what made the experience less than desirable. First she didn't even greet us, simply walked up and said "can I get you a drink", I said "do you have a drink menu", she turned and retrieved one and put it in front of us and walked away. Now this is a beautiful bar, it is an ideal set up for a really nice craft cocktail bar, something that isn't very prevalent in Leominster. When she came back we ordered are drinks, I got the Basil Jalapeño Margarita. The effort in making this was just not there. She added the ingredients and didn't shake or stir the drink, it was served in a rocks glass and there was no salt on it. Not once during our time there did she ask how the drinks were, or if we needed anything else.

What really bothered me about this bartender was the fact she openly complained about the fact the other bartender called out and she was alone and how she was so busy, etc. I have no clue what she would have done had the bar actually been busy. She was clearly flustered and it showed. She could have really sold this bar to us, had she been enthusiastic and passionate about her job. Instead she chose to complain to the young man (busser) about how dismayed she was and doing so in front of patrons was not appealing. We would have had a second drink had she been even remotely interested in waiting on us. Instead we chose to check in early for our reservations and were accommodated.

Our experience in the bar was great! I feel badly because I cannot remember our servers name, but she nailed it! She introduced herself, explained the specials and asked if we had any questions. The food was delicious. My only issue in the dining room was I ordered the same drink I ordered in Bar 37, the Basil Jalapeño Margarita and it was completely different, something was missing and it was difficult to drink. It also came in a pint glass vs the rocks glass which was odd. I did mention it to the server, the next one I ordered was much better, but we were still charged for the one that wasn't right.

My suggestions for Bar 37, hire someone that wants to work and won't vent to/in front of customers. Hire someone that can make that bar shine, I am sure it won't be hard to figure out who the bartender was based on the date and time we were there. Hopefully she will get some additional training, or at least be made aware how her behavior reflects on your establishment. All in all, we would recommend the restaurant highly and we look forward to...

We had heard the chef from the original Sonoma (formerly in Princeton) had opened a new restaurant in Leominster. While a 30-minute drive from us, we took the time because of our previous great experiences at Sonoma. It was very much worth it.

Despite the now usual coronavirus precautions (which they handled very well), we made our way to our table and the night began on a great note with some delicious house cocktails. The pomegranate rum punch was perfectly balanced. Not too sweet or tart.

We chose the lollipop chicken for an appetizer. The sweet and spicy glaze had just enough heat to let you know it was there. The 7 "lollipops" were huge and satisfying. A great start!

We then shared a rather large bowl of lobster & corn chowder. It came out smoking hot so we had to bide our time a bit before we could fully enjoy it, but it was worth the wait. The bowl was larger than expected so my wife asked me to finish off. I happily complied.

Our entrees were absolutely stunning. I had the pan seared scallops with mushroom tortellini in a mushroom cream sauce. The tortellini were bathed in the mushroom cream sauce and the scallops were perfectly seared U-10's. The sweetness of the scallops and the richness of the mushrooms was a perfect pairing. My wife had the za'atar spiced salmon. The salmon was topped with a delicious tzatziki. The veggie side was rather plain, but the salmon was perfectly cooked making each bite melt in your mouth.

Let's not forget dessert. I didn't think it could get better, but it did. I had the sticky toffee pudding and my wife had the mixed fruit mousse. The mousse was delicious, but let's focus on the sticky toffee pudding. Sticky toffee pudding is one of my favorites. I've had it in so many great restaurants that I consider myself a somewhat accomplished critic of the dish. I must say it was one of the best I've ever had! The sponge was stunning and the caramel sauce was perfectly sweet and creamy. The candied pecans were a great addition. It was accompanied by a cinnamon rolled sphere of vanilla ice cream and dollop of whipped cream. The perfect scoop of all components was just heavenly.

The service was very friendly, informative, and prompt. We could not have picked a better venue. Thank you to everyone at Brady's for the...