The Place 2 Be — Restaurant in West Hartford

This place is tailor made for Instagram, and they did accomplish that well, but that was about it. Key notes: The place and all the menu items are very photogenic, but pretty much nothing tasted as good as it looked. Everything was way over priced for what it was. There was for some reason really loud club music playing during brunch, which to me was just weird and made the experience not as enjoyable. The delivery of the things we ordered was very poorly paced. If you want your coffee to come before your food, you should order things in waves. We ordered two coffees and two brunch mains. My main arrived only like 5 min after ordering. Our coffee arrived 10 min later, and my husband’s main didn’t arrive for another 5 to 10 min. I was almost done with my food by the time his food arrived, which to me is ridiculous. The portions are unnecessarily huge. Looking around most everyone had piles of melty food & drinks leftover so I can only imagine how much food waste this place must generate for photo sake. Not a great sign tastiness wise that so few people actually finished their food or drinks either. The egg swing chair was cute and comfy, so that was nice. The servers were nice and attentive. It was nice to be able to order through the phone but also limited contact with them which was a bit odd.

Specific things we had: Fried chicken and waffle sliders with a side of hollandaise: the fried chicken was basically chicken tenders, akin to ones you’d buy in a bag from Costco. The waffles were ok. The hollandaise was gross - I thought it was weird they hadn’t drizzled it over top but when I tasted it I was oh so glad they hadn’t. The portion size in this looked more reasonable than the full chicken and waffles so I was glad to get these instead. Sadly it was absolutely not worth $19 plus tax. California omelette with fruit side: This was actually pretty solid. Based on how long it took to arrive I think it was cooked to order which was nice - it was huge and full of toppings. The fruit bowl was really nice - usually you just get melon and grapes but here they gave pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries which was lovely. This was the best thing we tried, and was at a more reasonable price point. Still nothing to write home about though. Lemonade: this was honestly absurd. It was basically water with a slice of lemon in it. Not lemonade. Don’t get this, it’s terrible and a rip off. Maple Walnut latte: has caramel dripped all over the side, making it look delicious, but doesn’t taste like much. Bougie coffee: this was pretty nice. Basic but good.

Overall, I’m glad we tried this place. If the food were better, the music less aggressive, and the menu more reasonably priced, I think this place could be a winner. In current form, I would not go back or particularly recommend going. Its definitely designed for Instagram zoomers, but didn’t live up...

It took me a long time to get around to posting this review because it comes with story time:

My last experience here was absolutely terrible. The food and everything was good, but our sweet, but probably very new waitress messed up our checks, so I accidentally paid my friend’s bill and apparently no one had paid mine. We didn’t know this at the time because I handed the waitress my debit card to pay my bill and saw the transaction on my bank app.

The waitress came over to tell us one check was not paid and it was mine. I said mine was paid and showed her the transaction on my bank app and reminded her I gave her my card to pay and signed my receipt. She didn’t know what to do so she grabbed who I assume was the manager who proceeded to come over and speak to me directly in a very accusatory manner about how I didn’t pay my bill. I showed her the transaction on my bank app and said I clearly paid and I’m not paying twice. There was a lot of back and forth and persistent rudeness from the manager. It was over a $15 bill so it really should not have been a big deal. Not to mention it was not our mistake.

They both walked away and went in back to discuss or I don’t know what. While they were gone my friend group took matters into our own hands to figure out what the hell happened with our checks. After process of elimination we realized my card had been applied to my friend’s bill and my friend had not paid a bill because hers showed up paid when she went to pay online. When the waitress returned we told her what we figured out. After that we got no apology from her or the manager and our entire brunch felt ruined.

A good restaurant would have just eaten the $15 bill and called it a day to make sure we had a pleasant experience and would want to return. A great restaurant would have at least apologized for the mistake, would not have immediately blamed us from the jump, and probably would have comped us in some way or done something to earn our business again. The Place 2 Be is not that.

I’ve never been treated so horribly in a restaurant, especially for a mistake that was not mine! My friends and I left with such a poor taste in our mouths and unanimously agreed we’d never go back there. About a week later the news began to emerge about the financial issues, rent issues, and all that shady stuff about the owner. Karma or coincidence? I don’t know, but I strongly suggest you skip this...

I am so disappointed in this place. The first time are here I ordered takeout early on a Monday morning (not busy) and it was phenomenal, so much so I didn’t mind traveling 30 minutes from my home to pick up breakfast/ brunch. I am 8 months pregnant with twins and this quickly became a favorite in my list of cravings.

However, when this place is busy it is HORRIBLE. The first time they disappointed me was Mother’s Day 2022, my husband drove all the way out there to pick up breakfast and ordered in advance. He was literally the first order and they forgot half of the food, which we paid extra for. Of course we didn’t notice until he got home. Thanks for ruining Mother’s Day breakfast.

The second time I decided to pick up brunch on my way home from a doctors appointment today 5/13/2022 and again the sides that I ordered (scrambled eggs with cheese which are an additional $5) we’re not in my to go bag. So I walked all the way back to the restaurant (8 months pregnant) and met with the manager. He proceeded to check my bag and then my receipt only to ask me “which order was missing eggs”….I only had one order with eggs so….I guess that one. He disappeared to the kitchen and came back with a hot togo box of eggs, i then asked him if they had cheese on them (which again I paid extra for). The manager responded by telling me that I “didn’t say anything about cheese on the eggs” which I though was a joke because he literally asked for the receipt that clearly shows I paid extra for cheese. He asked for the eggs that he just gave me back and took them in the kitchen and sprinkled cheese on top….really? Next I got home and realized that the churro French toast that I had ordered was BURNT and so was the churro. The actual churro was so burnt that it was hard to bite into. Lastly I ordered a grilled chicken wrap and paid to add bacon, the bacon was RAW. Literally they didn’t cook the bacon at all.

I will be taking a break from this place I’ve spent over $200 at this restaurant in the past week and all for them to be this careless with my food. It’s unacceptable. It seems like when they are busy they slack on the quality, especially for the take out orders. Maybe they think you won’t notice until you get home? Whatever it is they’ve definitely lost a customer in me AND my friends and family that I’d previously...