The Brass Rail — Restaurant in Town of Oyster Bay

We arrived just after 4PM and noticed we were the only ones at the Brass Rail. After a seemingly long wait the waiter who saw us come in eventually greeted and seated us. We ordered appetizers and our waiter brought us the empty plates for the appetizers in anticipation of their arrival. Rather than place the plates on the table in front of us, he handed them to us one by one for us to arrange on the table ourselves. After eating the appetizers the dirty plates remained in front of us for 10 minutes and were still there when our entrees arrived. Thinking about it now, I guess since we had set the table ourselves, he may have thought we would have cleared it ourselves too. He left the entrees and disappeared for more than 10 minutes before checking on us. The whole time I was searching for someone to ask for grated cheese that my flavorless pasta craved. Service was definitely amateurish and the culinary skills of the chef marginally better. We had dined here before but...

The food is very good here, but the last two times my boyfriend and I went to eat here for outdoor dining, no one ever came to the table, in a more than reasonable amount of time. We walked away both times. Plenty of customers getting serviced with alcohol in the bar indoors though. Some people would actually like to eat food. Another time, I called in to make a pick up order and at the end of the call was asked if I want to leave a gratuity. That was nervy to be asked that straight up. If I wanted to leave a tip upon pick up that is up to the customer if for some reason they might want to, which I can't understand why anyone would. You're driving, sometimes from far, going to pick up your own food and spending gas. It's a pricier restaurant as it is, and the staff shouldn't be asking for a gratuity. It felt like being asked...

We've usually visited this restaurant for a number of years whenever we drive up from Brooklyn to visit this area. The food and service have always been good. This Columbus day we stopped by for lunch but were surprised to wait nearly 30 minutes before our main order came out, after we expressed our concern to our waiter. He never apologized and in fact served several other customers who came in after us, before our dishes arrived. Incidentally, one of the dishes was only lukewarm.

This inattention to customers we experienced is the main reason why we only give you three stars. Hopefully this is a one-time occurrence and you will have a talk with your staff to be more...