Briarwood Inn

10/23/09

Owners need to renovate to maintain expectations

by daveinbroomfield at Citysearch

Seven of us visited the Briarwood for dinner last night. Nice restaurant, but certainly not up to some of the effusive reviews I have read. This is a place badly in need of a head to toe refurbishment. The concept of the restaurant is probably solid: good ambiance, quiet, very well prepared food. The value for the price is not good.

The owners need to close down for a month or so to bring the place back up to good condition. The floors need to be refinished, the copious amounts of wood needs to be cleaned and revitalized (the wooden lazy susans with the appetizers were greasy to the touch and the wood around the edge of the chairs was dirty), the upholstery on the booths needs to be replaced – in most of the booths it is torn and the stuffing is coming out, and the place just smells, well, old. The fireplace was nice, with its copper housing, the carpet helped keep the ambient sound level very low, so we could converse easily, but it too is well worn. It was a bit dark for older eyes to read the menu out in the open part of the dining area, after they dimmed the fixtures.

The food was very good, but not worth the prices. The crackers for the appetizers were somewhat stale, but a good variety. The cheddar cheese spread with port and the olive tapenade were both excellent and I was told the pate and spinach spreads were also very good. The shrimp were enormous and cocktail sauce very tasty. The spinach salad was somewhat limp with too much dressing and not tossed at the table as the menu suggests. Even though I asked for no onion on the salad, they included it anyway.

My wife and I had Chicken Rochambeau – very very good, but not worth $48 – and the sauce was excellent, as were the yellow squash, carrots, and sugar peas. Others had filets – perfectly cooked, wellington – excellent, and seafood au gratin – perfect.

The desserts were ok, nothing special. The coconut covered bananas were not fresh. After dinner coffee was very weak.

Service was exceptional; our server – Ray – was very attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly. Water glasses and ice tea were kept full.

I cannot with a clear conscience recommend this restaurant to anyone. Not until they refurbish it and lower their prices to provide a better value. The good food doesn’t quite balance out the shabbiness of the interior.

• Pros: Good food, good service
• Cons: bad value, shabby accoutrements

02/16/09

My mother loved it for Valentine's weekend

by JedZeppelin at Citysearch

I have found the service to be very good. I never ran out of coffee. If you know me, that means the service was attentive. I branched out and tried the Eggs Columbia, which was salmon in a pastry shell, topped with a couple of poached eggs. I didn't find the salmon to be top notch... But the key draw for most people I think is the traditional romantic fine dining atmosphere. Some places shouldn't change with the times, and this is one.

• Pros: Pastries at brunch are phenomenal
• Cons: Should've stuck with the prime rib

11/25/08

Management needs to quiet down staff

by bobbbbyy at Citysearch

I've been going here for 4 years now for my Birthday and anniversary. The service and food always stood out so much. Our waiters were always so kind and food was always prompt. But things i notice have changed ALOT. We had a booth by the kitchen entrance and we were very surprised and FRUSTRATED at what we heard. We heard waiters or all of the staff talking loudly, cracking pretty nasty jokes, etc. One of the waiters started to argue quite loudly with one of the bussers right in front of our table!!! It was sort of embarrassing. And it happened again right when we were about to leave. Food and Service was very prompt and very good but just the arguing and the loud talking really made the night bad. At least our waiter was very kind and talkative. Hopefully for Christmas, i can post a better review.

• Pros: food, service
• Cons: loud talking of staff, arguments between staff,