Brick Oven — Restaurant in Provo

I want to start off by saying Brick Oven has a great welcoming presence and friendly hosts. I was blown away to find a restaurant that actually had a large waiting area with plenty of seating room and artistic designs drawn across the walls to provide a rustic Italian vibe with large parties and families being a big focus for their market. I was seated immediately and it didn't take the server John long to find me and provide me with a friendly greeting as well as a list of drinks to get me started. After being reccomended the Housemade pasta over the unlimited pasta due to the fact I could bring the rest of what I don't finish home, I quickly ordered the housemade pasta expecting a higher quality meal. The salad bar was large enough to accommodate two lines, very important because it was easily the busiest section of the restaurant which is saying something because the pasta line was at least 10 people long during my entire time at the restaurant. After being treated to a satisfactory vinegar and oil combination, I quickly devoured my salad and not too long after received my spaghetti. I was delighted at the size of the portion and timely delivery of the food and my mouth watered at the sight of plump meatballs sticking through the marinara and the artistic garnish of grated cheese surrounding the noodles. I quickly dove in and one bite shattered all of the high expectations that had been building up to that moment. I could quickly taste that this exact combination of spaghetti noodles and marinara was no different from the unlimited pasta bar, and a bite into one of the meatballs was disappointing to taste the distinctive flavor of frozen meatballs without seasoning. While I had a sneaking suspicion this might be the case and wasn't too disappointed by the quality, the worst part of all was the food was cold. It was as if after boiling my noodles, it was left to cool before topping with lukewarm marinara at best. With the unlimited pasta bar you're guaranteed to receive piping hot noodles to top with the sauce, allowing both the noodles to cool and the sauce to warm up to the perfect eating temperature. While this could have been remedied by a quick trip to visit Chef Mike in the back, after receiving my meal I was not contacted by my server at all. I thought maybe he couldn't see I needed help because everything seemed fine so I quickly drank the rest of my apple beer so I could ask him to warm up my meal when he came to refill my drink. I sat watching my meal grow colder eating garlic bread and oyster crackers with nothing to drink until the end of my "service" when I quickly paid and left the rest of my meal. My experience at Brick Oven Provo started off great with high prospects but ended in disaster. I highly recommend just getting the buffet meal and serving yourself, it seems like they train their servers to be food runners and bussers and not restaurant servers as in service to...

!!! WARNING COLLEGE STUDENTS !!! If you use the 50% student discount, you WILL get treated as a second class customer/NOT A PRIORITY. I ordered 3 pizzas on Saturday at noon to be picked up at 6:30pm. I then called at 6:00pm to ask if I should still expect to pick them up at 6:30, to which I was told, "yes, they'll be ready." So I show up at 6:30, and the pizzas weren't ready but I was told that it got busy and it would be 5-10 minutes. Whatever, right? I get it. I paid, left a tip (big mistake lol), and sat down. Well, 15 minutes go by and nothing. Everyone in the to-go area disappeared. Finally, after 20 minutes a worker came out of the kitchen and called me over saying, "I'm so sorry but it actually looks like your pizzas just got put into the oven, is that okay?" No, it's not okay, I was deliberately and knowingly lied to 20 minutes earlier. BUT WAIT, IT GETS WORSE! I ask to speak to the manager, only because I wanted to express my frustrations to someone who is actually "responsible" and not a normal worker (I know it wasn't her fault, so there would be no point in getting upset with her). A manager comes over and I explain the situation to her, and by the time I'm finished explaining, 2 other supervisors/managers come over and are listening in. They look at my receipt and then go, "Ohhhh, he used the college discount..." To which I interject, "What is that supposed to mean? Are you treating me different because I got a discount??" (It was obvious that's what they were getting at) They insisted that I was wrong, and I wasn't getting treated different, and then ACTUALLY TOLD ME, "It's just that our boss told us last week that if an order has the student discount, and something goes wrong with the order, then 'oh well.' " THAT IS LITERALLY THE DEFINITION OF BEING TREATED DIFFERENT THAN A NORMAL CUSTOMER. Lol. I insisted that they just admitted to treating me different because I had a discount, and they just stood there, speechless because they knew I was right. After and awkward silence from them, they fought back, doubting that I was even a student or had 2 other students with me. Are you kidding??? Eventually got my pizzas and the manager hands them to me saying, "As promised! Your pizzas." What a slap to the face. By far the worst service I have ever received at any restaurant. OWNERS/MANAGERS: If you are so annoyed by students using the discount, and are going to treat us like trash, then JUST STOP OFFERING THE DISCOUNT! Pathetic leadership, pathetic organization, and pathetic...

I feel like the Brick Oven is so hyped up and recommended (Literally anyone from Provo/Orem will say you have to try it) due to nostalgia. I feel like it has been a staple in Provo, right next to BYU for so long, people just have good memories coming here. First date after your mission or in college, where you were proposed to, the last meal before your mission, first job in high school/college, Friday night family dinner, staple dinner after prom/football games, etc.

I feel that due to that, everyone loves it. Coming in not from that mindset, I have a different perspective. I am not from the area nor did I go to BYU. The only memory I have was not a good one, but I was a little kid, who was very picky and pasta is not good for picky kids, and I had no choice in the matter. Now as an adult, the food was fine. It wasn't the greatest food, but it was still good. As I'm writing I keep going back between 3 and 4 stars for the food. I'll say a solid 3.5. The pasta was fine, the salad bar is a salad bar. The garlic bread was good. The small pizza was perfect to share. If you get the "dinner for 2" you get a crap ton of food. The cookies were very good. I've had far worse food for a higher price and I've had better food for a cheaper price. I feel that the prices are reasonable for what you're getting (amount, flavor, etc.).

The service was great and there were a ton of employees ready to help. We were helped promptly and everyone else seemed to be helped all around us.

It is old, you can tell it hasn't been upgraded in quite some time, but I think that might be something that people like (again nostalgia). But you can tell that it is in dire need of an upgrade to the interior. A remodel would be great. But it wasn't the worst restaurant I've seen!

The root beer was really good. I do love a good root beer and theirs is made in house and it was a solid mix between A&W and Barq's. That's a great root beer! They should sell the cool glasses they come in. They'd make a killing.

I am not going to be craving the Brick Oven, but I would go again. If you like pasta I'd...