The Braising Pan — Restaurant in West Bend

I use to love this place, but in the last 6 months something has drastically changed...(and please don't use COVID as an excuse...its all about managing your business properly) I always tried to get to the restaurant about every 10-14 days or so but in the last 4 months I have been disappointed 5 times...I normally order the Salmon Bacon dish....out of the last 6 times I had one good experience. The other 5 times bad experiences which included 1) Show up during normal hours to find the place closed not to mention no indication of closure on their website....If I lived around the corner might be a little forgiving but driving 45 minutes to find the place closed for no reason. This happened multiple times (at least 3 times in the last couple of months (recommend calling just to see if they are open) 2) Another time it took for ever to get served both taking the order and serving the food....the waitress said...Oh sorry we were having an employee meeting (what?) 3) Another time I sit down to only find that the restaurant decided to only serve breakfast that evening...ok decided to try a breakfast item....nope would not come back for breakfast 4) Two of the times the waitress was more in a hurry than to actually perform good service...twice no coffee refills...

I think you get the gist of it...something has drastically changed...if the negative changes are due to staffing issues then close the restaurant permanently for an additional day, note it on your website and perform great service on the remaining days...otherwise some serious sole searching needs to occur from the owners as to whether they want a great restaurant or just a middle of the road restaurant....what is really sad is that I always talked about this restaurant and did love coming...

We were in West Bend for the geocaching Cache Bash. We arrived at The Braising Pan on a Thursday at 11:15 AM. Lunch begins being served at 11:30. The waitress seemed put out that we wanted lunch rather than breakfast. Apparently she only works breakfast because we had to wait until 11:25 to get menus and drink orders from a different waitress.

The ice tea was mediocre the Coke had an odd taste. The lunch menu looked appetizing and diverse.

My wife ordered the BBQ chicken sandwich and upgraded the potato to onion rings. The sandwich was hot, it was generous, it was delicious. The onion rings with the horseradish aoli blew us away. I would go as far as to say best-onion-rings-ever! You must, must order these.

I ordered the saurbratten sandwich with the chicken and dumpling soup. The soup arrived well ahead of the entrees and was hot and good, but not outstanding.

Hot and generously portioned the sandwich was beyond delicious. It makes the word delicious embarrassed to be associated with it. The champagne carmelized onions, the tender yet well done beef with just the right amount of cinnamon, and the perfectly baked bun have left an indelible impression on my palate ruining me for all sandwiches to come.

In the end, our second waitress was delightful and efficient bringing our experience into the five star realm. We will return to The Braising Pan the next time we are even close...

Updated. Had breakfast there last weekend. First of all if you can't serve good coffee don't serve coffee at all. Second of all, if your cook can't make eggs he shouldn't be cooking anything. How can you screw up breakfast? Horrible waitress. Bad coffee. American fries were not fried potatoes, they were frozen dinner potatoes topped with an entire fried onion.... gross? Then my eggs were snotty... under cooked, couldn't even look at them without gagging. (Meanwhile, my boyfriends eggs were cooked hard LOL. ) Supper: A mixed review. I thought the atmosphere was pleasant looking, but the music ruined it. 50's music was a total turn off, thought I was in a "diner". Wanted to try 2 of the appetizers but they were over $8 each, same as any sandwich, so I went with the Reuben & Sauerbraten sandwiches instead. The reuben was average- one slice of meat to a pile of kraut was a bad ratio. The sauerbraten was missing the "sauer", it was only sweet. The same with the coleslaw & german potato salad- all sweet and no sour-they need to bust out the vinegar on these items. Also, the potatoes weren't cooked thoroughly & there was only enough cole slaw for my BF & I to each have one bite?? Weird. Anyhow- overall it was ok, but these areas need improvement. (bloody mary's do not look like the one pictured on their...