Brothers — Restaurant in Norfolk

In my 20 years of restaurant experience, I have never had a dinner visit where I was so disappointed. My friend and I reserved Brother’s for our Christmas celebration dinner. As we were sitting, our server introduced herself and asked for our drink selections. My friend asked about certain wines and if they were sweet. The server seemed as if she was not familiar with the restaurant’s wine list. Second, she did not ask my friend if she wanted to taste it before ordering. The staff just brought the glass of wine out and of course my friend was dissatisfied with the choice because it isn't sweet enough. Since my friend did not like the wine, she asked for a Moscasto and they brought a sample of that selection. When it was time to order the restaurant was out of certain sides at the peak of their dinner rush. I chose to order the lamb and I was told that the restaurant was out of lamb at 7pm. This is unacceptable if your goal is to run a successful establishment and maintain a following. Because of the lack of menu items, I had to order something that I really didn’t want which was the next aspect of service that made this experience not enjoyable. Towards the end of the night we were ready to pay our checks and I had two issues: I was charged an automatic 18 percent gratuity for a party of 2 which was definitely unacceptable. By charging the gratuity without a disclaimer, the restaurant not only cheated the server out of a larger tip, but they took away the consumer experience from me. Second, the restaurant claimed they had a house rule that you still had to pay for something that you didn't like. My friend did not drink the first glass of wine presented without sampling or recommendation. I asked for the manager to come to the table and she gave me the same reasoning. The restaurant was so adamant about keeping an eight dollar glass of wine that they missed the opportunity for hundreds of dollars in the future. One thing I was unsure about was the restaurant's hours. The doors were being locked at 8:20pm and I thought the restaurant closed at 10pm; therefore, the staff in charge is possibly closing early and ownership is missing out on potential sales. Customers were still coming to the restaurant door to try to dine that night and the staff proceeded to shut the curtains in order to ignore them. I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone as a top tier dining experience. The staff still has things to learn about restaurant service, hospitality, and rush readiness. Being out of food at 7pm is not acceptable in any restaurant setting. If you do not have product to sell to your customers, you shouldn't be open. I expect a follow up contact based on this experience.

Update: Management decided to reach out after almost 3 years, moving locations, and maybe making some adjustments. The review popped up because I added photos from my visit. Instead of offering an apology to accompany your explanation for service I may have deemed unsatisfactory, management decided to stand on "their" principles and not attempt to win back a customer. It is a shame what customer service has become. I could have given this restaurant another chance, but since they're standing on principle, I'll stand on mine....

I decided to dine here and host a birthday celebration for somone. Though, I had a bad experience at the previous location, a friend suggested that there had been some improvements. The atmosphere as it pertains to the live artist was superb and the decor had a modern elegant flair. Our waiter was pleasant and apologized profusely about the experience. Which is why I'm even able to give two stars. I made the reservation and was told by whoever answered the phone that there would be a $25 hold per guest, due to the party size. If someone didn't show then I would be charged, if they weren't given notice prior to arrival. I had two people cancel(Who decided not to come because they too had a bad experience previously) and I called the day of to let them know about the adjustment. When I entered the restaurant and gave the hostess my name, I was instructed to stand to the side until more of my guest arrived. I decided to arrive few minutes before the guest to set the table, since I was told via phone that they may be running late with my reservation due to previous large parties. However, when we got to the restaurant it was no where near full. Once I waited a while one of the guest entered with the cake. That's when the host that I spoke to multiple times about this birthday celebration says, "oops I know I didn't tell you, but there is a $3/person fee for bringing a cake." Which wasn't listed on their website. Now, we're able to be seated the host literally points to our table and we seat ourselves. We got our food at different times and some of the items were prepared incorrectly or paired with the wrong side items. No one sent any items back, because most of us were just ready to leave. Once dinner concluded the waiter comes over and sees the cake and says. "I'm sure you didn't know, but there is a $8/person fee to serve the cake." That they weren't going to cut or serve. Essentially, I was paying roughly $70 to cut a cake and serve to guest myself. The reason given was because they have desserts on their menu and want guest to purchase those items. I told the waiter it wasn't originally communicated to me, until I arrived and that I was given a $3 quote first. He apologized and stated, he wanted to speak to their management to get more clarity and though I didn't hear the conversation, the body language spoke to us all. When he returned, he basically told us the fee stood and that she was doing us favor by not charging for the two guest that didn't arrive. Of course, I purchased the cake to serve and instructed him to bring plates, but my guest refused since they thought it was quite ridiculous. I won't be returning due to both of the detestable experiences I had and unfortunately the other guest felt similar. I believe if you market a business as a fine dine establishment, it needs to have more than just an aesthetic. The service, staff, the attire of the staff, the food and drink presentation should...

10 months ago, I wrote an excellent review for this restaurant. I have visited a few times since then and loved it. Today was different. It was extremely disappointing. My mother, a friend, and I went for our annual Christmas meet up. So many things got in the way of us going in December. We were seated by the door, which wasn’t too much of an issue for us, although every time the door opened we could feel the cold. Our server, Danielle, came to the table and we ordered appetizers. When my mother’s lollipop lamb chops came out, my mom asked Danielle for mint jelly. She was also supposed to be bringing us lemons for our water. She then visited 5 other tables as well as the kitchen and bar area. My mother looked in Danielle’s direction and tried to get her attention. Once she got her attention, she asked again if she could get the mint jelly. Too much time had gone by where my mother’s food was just sitting and being by the door and cold air didn’t make it any better. Once my mother asked if she could get the jelly, you’ll never guess what Danielle’s response was. You’ll never guess what it was because her behavior was not in line with this type of upscale establishment. Danielle’s response was, “When I get it!” UNBELIEVABLE!! UNACCEPTABLE!! DISGUSTING!! POOR TASTE!! She then proceeded to walk over to the manager to tell her what happened. She then came to the table and told us they didn’t have any mint jelly. My mother asked her if she said, “When I get it” and she said she did. My mother told her it was very unprofessional and she said it was very unprofessional for my mother to yell across the restaurant to get her attention. She then stormed off and said, “Forget this!” The manager then came to the table and we also explained what happened. My mom explained that she wasn’t yelling, she just wanted to make sure Danielle heard her because she was moving so much back and forth and she was a ways away from our table. The manager explained that they didn’t have mint jelly. The description on the menu did say mint, however, she said the lamb chops are cooked in mint. 1) As my mother explained to the manager, nothing out of the ordinary happened prior to this incident. We weren’t giving Danielle a hard time. We didn’t ask her too many questions. So her response BLEW US AWAY. 2) It isn’t my mother’s job to be professional, but it is the server’s job (so I thought). 3) We did not receive an apology or any indication that Danielle’s behavior was unacceptable. This totally changed the mood of our dinner and left a disgusting taste in our mouths. We’re not unreasonable people and totally understand that many restaurants are short staffed. My mother just wasn’t sure if she had forgotten or not because it had...