Brownstones Coffee Centereach — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

I’ve visited Brownstones Coffee in Centereach several times and have always enjoyed the food, ambiance, and decor. The menu offers delicious options, and the atmosphere is charming, making it an ideal local spot for a quick and satisfying bite. However, my last two visits were marred by poor service, which overshadowed the otherwise positive experience.

On this visit, I ordered a coffee with half-and-half, an omelet with Swiss cheese and mushrooms, and three strips of turkey bacon on the side. Unfortunately, the bacon was added to the omelet instead. While I mentioned this to the server, I decided not to make a big deal of it. On the bright side, the French Toast Bites were exquisite and cooked to perfection. My husband ordered a Bloody Mary, which was delicious, and the Avocado Benedict, which he enjoyed thoroughly. The hash browns were also scrumptious, as always. From a food perspective, Brownstones Coffee continues to deliver, but the service leaves much to be desired.

When I arrived, the hostess, Gianna, did not greet me and appeared preoccupied on her cell phone. A gentleman behind her eventually asked if I needed a table, and I let him know I was waiting for my husband to join me. Once seated, we had plenty of time to review the menu, and our server, also named Gianna, came over to take both our drink and food orders. When she brought the water, I requested a lemon, to which she responded, “I’m busy right now, let me take care of these other tables,” in a tone that felt unnecessarily curt. While I was willing to wait patiently, her attitude was off-putting.

Things went downhill from there. When the food arrived, my French Toast Bites were served without syrup. I decided to start on the rest of my meal and wait for Gianna to check on us to request it. However, she never came by. When I eventually flagged her down while she was near another table, she said she would bring syrup but then turned to the hostess, rolled her eyes, and exchanged laughter and remarks. The hostess ultimately delivered the syrup without saying a word.

This unprofessional behavior was disappointing and uncalled for. I am not a demanding customer and kept my requests simple, so the lack of courtesy was surprising. When we requested the check, I politely mentioned to Gianna that rolling her eyes in front of a customer was unprofessional.She responded, "Oh, Sorry about that." Her apology felt super insincere, and she dropped the receipt on the table without another word.

After leaving, I called to speak with the manager, Victoria, who was professional and apologetic. She assured me that she would address the issue with her staff. I appreciate her response and effort to resolve the matter.

While I love the food and ambiance at Brownstones Coffee, service is an integral part of the dining experience. I hope these concerns are addressed because this could be a standout local spot if the service matched the quality...

My friend really wanted to try this place since she passes by it ever so often. So I figured we could go there for the first time. When coming in, atmosphere is pretty nice. Interesting Steampunk style decorations and every worker has a rather casual dress code. Not the biggest place, but not the smallest. They have unisex bathrooms which also have condiment bottles for soap. I thought that was interesting/different.

Food wise, not really the best experience. I had what was called, "The Gatsby." A rather interesting dish. The potatoes seemed to be what stood out the most as your standard crispy breakfast potatoes. The Gatsby dish itself was not appealing in the slightest. It was appealing toppings and whatnot, but the concept fails miserably. Though rather obvious, nobody told me not sick my teeth into it like a burger. What was the point of having it in a burger bun then? I was suppose to cut it up like a pancake with the bun? When I bit into it like a burger, the yolk went all over my hand/arm/watch. Which was very much unexpected. Again, what was the point of the bun then? I went to the bathroom to wash up. I'm glad I didn't have it all over my shirt. I was then cutting it up with the knife which seemed just as messy of an experience. AGAIN, what is the point of the bun? An airy bun on a dish like this serves no purpose. It serves as an inconvenience for the consumer.

My friend ordered the fresh fruit crepes. Please define fresh for me. Those strawberries were not fresh and the banana almost tasted fake. I felt like I was having those artificial banana candy flavors or something. The crepe was extremely lacking on the Nutella spread. Just a thin small layer wrapped inside. The whole point of having a decent amount of Nutella is for the fruit to wash down the texture/taste of the Nutella. All you really get is crepe and fruit though. Making an imbalance. As my friend said, more like, "Notella."

The saving grace was the hot Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Which was very tasty and less pricey compared to a Starbucks. It could have been a bit hotter, but taste wise it was still a great beverage.

Overall, I thought the people were nice, the atmosphere was nice, just the food could've been better. Also for some reason they have a window with blinds to control, but the blinds are restricted from going all the way. I am as pale as a ghost, folks. I can't have my arm turning into hickory smoked bacon by 30 minutes. I wanted to put it all the way down, but I had to move the seat. On what planet does somebody restrict that from a customer or any household? Thankfully price wise, it wasn't that bad either. I just hope they do better and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, take The Gatsby off the menu. It's a new dish for a reason and it does not work. That or take the silly bun off of it. It's not a burger. It's an over...

On a recent visit with my Mom, we decided to get some breakfast before needed grocery shopping. I'd read mixed reviews before going but, Mom wanted to try Brownstones in Centereach so that's where we headed after a phone call to confirm they're doing inside dining & their hours. Quirky decorations in an antique/steampunk theme but, nothing overwhelming or tacky. We had a 20-25 minute wait and that was their estimate. If you're not a fan of giving out your mobile number, you won't like their texting system to be notified when your table is ready. If it helps, I haven't noticed an uptick in spam calls/texts since our visit. After the "ready" text, we were seated & waitstaff made their way to our table without much delay. Our server was pleasant, as were the other staff members who assisted. There's no secret CoViD-19 has brought certain changes to our dining experience. Among them, the digital menu, and almost certainly the bane of every elderly or visually impaired customer. Fortunately, Mom had her reading glasses and I was able to help her look at the menu on their website, as she doesn't have a QR reader on her phone. Not a big deal but, something of which to be aware. Here's the most disappointing part of our meal. One would expect a place with "coffee" in the establishment's name to have either a variety or a great cup. Neither was the case, they offer only their house brew or "press pot coffee" (French press?) and their house blend was underwhelming, to say the least. I asked for another cup and it, too, was less than flavorful. Just not good coffee. They do offer espresso drinks as well as flavor syrups but, both my mom and I prefer a classic cup. As for the food, it definitely had potential but, as I'd read in many other complaints, it arrived only moderately warm and was cold less than a few bites into the meal. Had it been served hot, and potentially on a warmed versus ice cold plate, it would've certainly made up for the sad brown liquid in my mug. At this point, months into being open, they can't be unaware of this issue. Eggs are notoriously difficult to keep warm without greatly affecting the texture and flavor. Serving them on a cold plate will draw all the heat right out of them, same for bacon strips and sliced ham (Canadian-style bacon). It's such an easy fix that either they don't pay close enough attention to what customer reviews are trending or they don't care enough to implement a solution. I wanted to like this place, as it's close to my home & they're a local small business with a few locations and not some out-of-state mega-franchise. With so many options on Long Island and, more specifically, within a 10-15 minute drive of the Lake Grove/Centereach/Selden area, I don't think I'll be back unless I read some new reviews lauding both the coffee and the...