Brown's Country Kitchen — Restaurant in Portersville

AVERAGE FOOD, SERVICE IS WORSE

My wife thought it would be nice to have some country cooking and make a picnic of it. We decided we'd find a place that had good fried chicken and go to Moraine State Park to eat. My wife googled and found that several people complimented the fried chicken at Brown's Country Kitchen, so we headed to Portersville on a sunny, pleasant Sunday afternoon. We took the scenic route from Pittsburgh's North Hills and arrived after a good hour's drive, only to be told there was no fried chicken available because "No one made any today." It was disappointing that they didn't have what appeared to be their signature dish, but we placed our orders and waited in the lobby. My wife noticed that we were charged an additional $7.98 + tax for two side dishes (tossed salad @ $4.99 & vegetable of the day @ $2.99) that the menu said were supposed to be included with the entree, so she went to the register to inquire about it. Meanwhile, the woman who took our order brought the takeout bag to me in the lobby. She asked me if I wanted anything else, like extra napkins and I said, "Sure, that would be great." My wife returned with $8.50 in cash and said the woman at the register - apparently the manager - said we should not have been charged for these side dishes. This was more than 20% of the correct cost of $32.97 before tax. NOTE: None of the employees were wearing masks: none of the wait staff, counter staff or kitchen staff. I can understand customers not wearing them when seated. But food service and hospitality workers should be doing everything possible to protect customers during a pandemic. We arrived at Moraine State Park and unpacked our meals, which were contained in thin, cardboard paper-type boxes. We did not receive ANY plastic silverware - no forks, knives or spoons - nor did we receive any napkins at all. I repeat: No forks or napkins. I know places may be short-staffed and busy, but I don't think there is any excuse for failing to provide any eating utensils and napkins for a takeout order. The food was mediocre, at best. I liked the gravy on my meatloaf, but overall the food was bland. My wife's side salad was tiny and my fries were a bit soggy. My wife ordered Chicken Marsala and there was very little Marsala sauce, and her green beans appeared to have come from a can. We...

We must have caught this place on a bad attitude day... Our first experience will be our last experience. The food was well enough. Very homey place, clean, but the rushed attitudes just made our party of five feel totally unwelcome. From the time we walked in it seemed like all anyone there wanted was for us to leave as soon as possible.

On a busy day, I would understand. However, most of the tables were empty upon our arrival... and stayed that way throughout our visit.

Our waitress was pleasant enough, however I went to the restroom to wash my hands when we entered-- as I do anytime I eat a meal. I did that, came back and sat down, hadn't touched my menu yet and was already being asked if my table was ready. We were not, and the following three minutes later we were still browsing the menu when we were asked again. Once we were ready, she took our orders and left.

The food was prepared quickly, and it was of decent quality. My boyfriend ordered mac n cheese instead of fries, got fries anyways. When we told her, he was told to keep the fries and got his mac n cheese about 2 minutes later which was nice. My brother used Heinz ketchup on his fries and told us he didn't like the ketchup: something was wrong with it. It tasted like beer to him! We all tried it, out of both bottles on our table, and yes... The ketchup tasted AND smelled like beer. Very off putting.... So needless to say we did not use anymore ketchup. (My family is a strict Heinz ketchup only family... We have never had this issue before.)

We got our bill, went to the counter and the woman there was TERRIBLE. My mother paid for herself and my brothers ahead of me, and this lady had me hand over my bill before my mother even finished writing out her totals! Then, she practically balled up my receipts handing them to me and asked for the NEXT customer!! My mother HADN'T EVEN SIGNED HER NAME YET! I had to step aside and wait for the ONE pen they had...

Once I finished, I immediately went out the door. I didn't wait for my party, I just walked out. That's obviously the kindest gesture I could've given these...

Returning home from a camping trip, we decided to stop at Browns Country Kitchen, which we go to frequently. In the past the food has been great and prices fair. During Lent we have gone there every Friday for fish, and other times throughout the year. Lately however, prices have increased quite a bit and service has become poor. There were three in our party and they were somewhat busy, being the end of lunchtime, around 1:00. We were seated within 10 minutes and given menus. There was a party of 5 or 6 in the table next to us. The waitress was at that table maybe 7 times and never once turned around and even acknowledged we were there. We waited for over 1/2 an hour before we were even spoken to. During that time 2 other couples came in and were seated. We still did not even have placemats, silverware or drinks. Finally one waitress took our drink orders, and the other tables’ and proceeded to take drinks to the other tables first, presumably because they were closer. At this point I had had enough. We started to leave and asked to speak to the manager. A man came over and asked what had happened. We started to tell him and his response was that he had been out cutting grass and didn’t know anything about anything. He then dismissed us with a wave of his hand and began to walk away. After going there for years and regularly taking others with us, we will no longer be eating there. The place has become poorly managed and the staff needs to be properly trained. When cutting the grass is more important than assisting the staff, clearly priorities have become confused. We like to frequent small town businesses, but this is one we will no...