Brüdergarten (Brü) — Restaurant in Leonardtown

I can't believe I'm writing this review. We've gone to the Brudergarten for about two/three years now. Every single time, the experience had been phenomenal. Unfortunately, we won't be going back following the experience we had last Saturday (16 Mar 24). We went with our whole family and children. We were informed that we couldn't sit in the middle partition of the outside dining area because "that is an adult only area." When we asked where we could go, we were informed that we could sit in the left most area with children, and the reasoning we were provided by the manager was "because people smoke in the middle, and our waitstaff might trip over children." Okay - that's a generally reasonable response. I get having a portion of your restaurant sectioned off to adult patrons only. The real problem lies a little deeper...

The kids area is an actual danger to children. It's has no grass or astroturf but rather has rocks and stones as a walking area. There is rusted furnaces, an almost broken swing, a giant can of GASOLINE, and shares the area with the AXE THROWING venue. Furthermore, there is exposed electric wires, AC piping, a fire pit, and two loose 20ft ladders propped up on the building. To top it off? We were informed by the wait staff that people are also allowed to smoke in the kids area as well. I'm actually astounded. When I asked if the staff were able to provide a more logical reason as to why this is the childrens area, the manager simply said "this is the way the owners preferred the outdoor seating to be arranged."

Look - we've been going here for a long time, we have two mugs purchased, and have even purchased a hat (picture attached), but I'm not kidding - the tone deaf response to this dangerous excuse of a childrens area has resulted in us never going here again. I strongly discourage any family looking for an outing going to Bru, and encourage you look elsewhere.

Please see the attached pictures. The pictures with astro turf is the ADULT AREA. The rocky area is the CHILDREN area. Astoundingly tone deaf and...

If you are a DD or just looking to have good food with a great atmosphere, look elsewhere after the market closes and the bouncer comes out. We had no issues getting in (aside from the TSA style scrutiny of our well over 21 IDs), but leaving we had problems. The bouncer physically blocked us from leaving and directed us to leave our soda purchased from Smash House (who do not sell liquor) at the bar. His reasoning was we could’ve dumped liquor in there from the bar and tried to leave. Considering we never visited the bar and had a bag of food in our hand I found it difficult to believe anyone would buy that. Unfortunately, the only way you can get food from Smash House after the market closes is to enter and exit through Bru, so you are at the mercy of their bouncer. So if you are picking up great local food for yourself or the family, do not get any drinks, or you’ll be out your drink and money like I was. It’s a shame Bru apparently supports this posture and discourages sober patrons from returning to two otherwise great businesses because of a lousy...

We read the reviews before going, and most seem very positive, so we decided to give it a try. We walked in and were seated in front of the bar. We were given menus by the waitress and she said she would be back to take our orders. It didn't look very busy for a Saturday afternoon, so we thought we would be served pretty quick. We seen our waitress maybe once after she seated us. We waited for at least 20 minutes before our son approached the bar to ask if we could order from the bar. The bartender told us the only way we can order from the bar is to be seated at the bar. He said that our waitress will be with us soon. We waited another 15 minutes, then decided to leave. As we were walking to our car, we seen our waitress leaving in her car as well. If she had to leave, I think it would have been proper for her to inform someone that she still had...