Restaurant Bricco — Restaurant in West Hartford

Sadly Disappointing

My wife and I or entire family go out to dinner 3 times a week and I rarely write reviews but after this evening, felt compelled to share this disappointing experience.

My wife and I live in MA and its been awhile since we’ve dined in West Hartford. We made a reservation for 5:30pm specifying a table outside next to the metal fence on the sidewalk to celebrate her birthday. My wife accidentally forgot her face mask so I went in and told one of the gals up front of our reservation (we were 5 minutes early) and inquired if they had a mask for my wife. They said they did but after searching couldn’t come up with one. I had my wife come in with a cloth covering her face and while a table was free up front by the fence, they seated another customer in it whose party wasn’t there and didn’t arrive for half hour. Another guest and spouse along with us were both then waiting for an outside table and we were asked to stay outside because my wife didn’t have a mask. This sounds fine but the feeling and tone of the manager up front was we leaving us feeling like were were a second class citizen. While waiting outside I saw two tables available and decided to head back in to ask the manager for one...she ushered me back outside instructing she would let me know when it frees. Of course the couple waiting with us received the one by the fence and we on the inside. Small item but annoying. What was more annoying was this couple’s guest hadn’t arrived and didn’t arrive for another hour. Why is Briccos seating folks when their whole party hasn’t arrived making others like us wait and then deliver the wrong table? While our waitress was nice she was fairly absent leaving the experience ok. Bottle service initially was good but we wound up refilling our own glasses twice. On a positive note, the food was spectacular between caesar salad and grilled artichokes, cedar plank salmon, and chicken milanese. Kudos to the chef. To try and save the evening I excused myself from my wife to ask for a surprise cake or pie or something with a candle for her to blow out....not to be cheap but usually that is complimentary on a special occasion but not here. One of our waitresses assistants brought it out with no candle plunking it down in front of me. Really? Where did the communication break down here? I asked he bring it back as the surprise was blown up and poorly presented. Our waitress brought it back with a candle but again the surprise was toast. We left promptly after, paid for the meal, mediocre surprise cake and bottle service with the customary 20% tip on the whole bill. All in all it was $170 and I would have gladly paid $270 for a more welcoming dialed in experience. I honestly feel they owe me the $170 for ruining the night. Sadly, not coming back again. Hope management prioritizes tables whose entire party is there on time, treats customers with a little more courtesy and instills better communication amongst staff. Maybe your experience will...

My husband and I went out to dinner at Bricco last week. While we were there, the staff bussed a table immediately next to ours and did not realize they had placed a menu directly over the flame from a candle on the table. Moments after they had finished cleaning the table, the menu was completely in flames and my husband and I noticed it. My husband was able to put the flame out by stomping on the flame. This of course after having to grab the menu himself and resulting in a burn on his finger. After that, a young female brought us over our appetizer (who we later learned is a manager at Bricco) while simultaneously speaking to a staff member and shouting “I did not notice it was in flames, it’s whatever okay”. She did not apologize for the inconvenience. After our subpar meal, our waitress brought us our check. We spoke with her and asked to speak to a manager because we were flabbergasted at the fact that no one had tried to make this situation right, even by offering an apology or simply providing a round of drinks on the house. The same manager came over again and verbatim spit back what I had just said to the waitress and took one round of drinks off. Zero compassion or gratitude was expressed for the major inconvenience that we experienced. We are very disappointed with the way this situation was handled and would not recommend this place at all.

Updating my review based on the owner’s response to us to provide more clarity:

This confirms this place does not actually care about their guests. Yes one round of drinks was taken off our ~$200 dollar bill only after we expressed our concerns and simply stated that the least that could be done was to take a round of drinks off after my husband’s hand was burnt putting flames out over dinner..

to the owner: it’s very interesting that you choose to say you’re glad we’re okay over a public platform to preserve your reputation when 0 sincerity or compassion was shown when the situation actually occurred. We won’t think twice about going back to a place that undermines guests safety and treats them like complete garbage. Please also take some time to review your customer...

I was at BRICCO‘ S Restaurant on this past Saturday evening. We were a table of four had a reservation everything worked out we usually like the restaurant the food is good the atmosphere is nice never had any complaints. Until NOW! After dinner I had gotten up to use the ladies room, on my way to the ladies room A table of about five young females, obviously had a little too much to drink, for this behavior. They must’ve not like something about me because they called me the C Word out loud, the whole restaurant had to hear it. It was inappropriate they Were Obnoxious , It was very embarrassing for me to walk back to my table. The owner did come to the table and Simply said she was sorry. I feel that a good businesswoman, restaurant owner should have done more. We weren’t looking for any compensation however, our bill was around $250. She did not offer to even buy an after dinner drink. Nothing was offered, nothing was done except a simple I’m sorry. And the more I think about it it’s now Monday I would have expected her to do more for us being good customers there. We drove 45 minutes to get there, and go there once in a while, maybe every two months or so. The more I thought about it, is what motivated me to leave this review. I feel that the owners apology was nice of her, but not enough. We are older in our 60s and these girls were clearly in their 20s. It was very embarrassing. To be called that in the middle of a restaurant out loud where everyone heard it. I feel it was not deserved I didn’t do anything they just were or had to have had too much to drink to act like that to a perfect stranger. And again disappointed in the owners behavior! We were not looking for anything until the more I keep thinking about it can’t understand why she did not even offer an after...