Am I stupid... I bought a groupon for this place thinking it was BrookFIELDS. OMG, why do these places have similar names? It tricked me. Well then I read the reviews for this place. I was hoping it would be ok.
The inside of this place reminds me of a lodge or cabin. It's got a rustic country look to it. It's quite clean too. The service is a little slow, but they do try to be attentive to the guests. When we had an issue with one of our entrees, they quickly and without hesitation amended the issue.
As for the food, everything was alright. It was like home style cooking, nothing super fancy. Overall, I wasn't wowed by the food or the place in general. Not sure that I would come back but that's just because this place is a little far from my house. I do think this place would be great to hang out and watch a game. I hear they have a good happy hour.
Delicious, fast friendly service...felt very welcome. Food was super. Â Best Burger I have had in a long long time...the bread was a smidge crispy but fluffy not your normal bun you get from J IN the B...A delish bun but not too much bread a perfect fit for a burger. Everything was fresh and there was actual roasted garlic on the burger. Came with french fries, the skinny and crispy kind (I hate the thick ones, If I wanted a baked potato I wouldn't have order French fries, right?) Â So, loved the Burger fries combo. Anyway, loved the whole experience. (saw some ugly reviews and was hesitant about stopping by before but the whole place is now upbeat and friendly under the new ownership. Also, I hear there is live music outside on Fridays. Looking forward to it!!
Review Source:It is always interesting to see reviews from previous patrons. My Wife, daughters, and I have been to the Brookside numerous times since the ownership has changed and we have been very impressed and happy with the service and the food. This restaurant is a destination, especially when one of the many awesome bands are playing!
Our last visit was on 6/15/13, where we were greeted promptly and pleasantly. We ordered drinks all around, I had a 21st Amendment ale (the draft beer selection is excellent) and my Wife had a perfect Lemon Drop. The girls thoroughly enjoyed their Shirley Temples (free refills). I ordered the smoked prime rib special, my Wife ordered the shrimp tacos, one daughter ordered the avocado burger with 50/50 fries, while the other the BLT (no mayo) with 50/50 fries.
The restaurant was very busy and it took a little longer than normal for our food to arrive, but that gave us more time to enjoy the band! When the food arrived, the plates were presented perfectly.The girls both loved their dinner, finishing every bite! The tacos looked good on the plate, tasted fantastic, and the side of black beans rocked it. My thick cut smoked prime rib filled the plate to overflowing with just enough room for the baked potato, but the steamed vegetables had to be on a separate plate. My dinner was amazing! The prime rib was tender and smoked to perfection, the potato was large with the fixings on the side, and the vegetables were wonderful. Â Â
After dinner we sat out on the amazing patio and I danced with both my daughters! What a great place to visit and I highly recommend this restaurant to all. Bring your appetite for food and fun!
I come into brookside a few times a week. Sometimes to eat sometimes just for a drink. I'm here enough to know people by name including the owner and servers. When ever I sit at the bar I get wonderful service. The few times I've sat in the restaurant it's been hit and miss. If any of the girl waitresses are working they're great but don't ever get the only guy waiter, his name is Fred. He is slow, very rude, and every time I ask for something it seems to be a bother. What's so funny is if I'm sitting at the bar he comes over and is half way nice. But you can tell he is just faking it. The food is always delicious and fairly priced. There cooks will make each dish just how you like them.
I'm giving this place one star though for one reason. I was recently in there when the owner was not and Fred, the horrible waiter, was completely drunk. I guess he was off the clock for the night but still. He was loud, obnoxious and kept putting his arm around me and the girl I brought in with me. Not only was she uncomfortable but it began to piss me off. He definitely has a drinking problem and does not respect people's personal space.
I will start with saying, if you are going here for drinks and a decent bar atmosphere you might be satisfied. With the happy hour my drink was well made and priced fairly. However that is one of two tiny good things I will be saying about my dining experience in this review.
When we first came in it was not busy but not empty like some other reviews mentioned. The staff seemed friendly at first but after a little while it was clear they put customer satisfaction last on their priorities. Without going into too much detail about the specific staff I'd rate the service a 3 on a scale from 1 to 10. Frankly I felt uncomfortable the whole time I was there.
We dined in the regular part of the restaurant and ordered off the full menu. We ordered the portabella mushroom sandwich, the so called "Sheppard Pie" and a to go order of the shrimp tacos. We also tried the bread pudding for a dessert.
The portabella sandwich was a good start it looked well prepared and tasted decent. It came with sweet potato fries as a side that were ok as well. It's not bad for the price but not memorable in the least.
The Shepherd pie was the kind of food you would see on kitchen nightmares if you know the reference. It was grizzly cheap steak swimming in a bland gravy with far to little veggies topped with ugly mash potatoes, cheese and a few tomato bits as a garnish. It was barely worth eating, however I was so hungry after the decently long wait that I picked around and ate what I could.
The bread pudding was clearly either prepared well in advance if not frozen. They microwave it  so the center is scalding while the outside is hardened and warm at best. They drizzle some caramel around it to add some looks to the dish but it does not help much. I've had better bread pudding out of a can frankly.
Last but not least the waitress brought our order of shrimp tacos to the table, and as she walked up I noticed the to go box was sideways in the bag as she carried it. She set it down clumsily and walked away. We had to wait some more for our check for some reason so in the mean time I unwrapped the tacos to take a look at them. When I opened the box I chuckled a bit at the ridiculousness of the dish. The tortillas where laid out across the bottom of the box and then on one side all of the ingredients for them had piled in a giant ugly mess. Normally I would say something and send them back but honestly we were so uncomfortable at this point that we decided to cut our losses and get out of dodge. I did my best to re-plate the tacos and closed it up.
The fun was not over yet unfortunately. The initial reason we tried this place was of course a Groupon deal which always makes trying new restaurants easier. I should warn future customers they do automatically add gratuity to the bill. So no matter how bad the service was we had no choice but to reward them. Bad business in my opinion.
The whole tragic meal ended up costing us 32 dollars with the Groupon. Money that would have been better spent at any random chain restaurant for food that is far better. As a follow up I tried one of the tacos later at home and it was probably the worst shrimp taco I've ever had. The waitress dumping them all over probably didn't help.
Good restaurants will respond to these bad reviews on yelp and try to make things right with the customer. This place does not strike me as the type to do so. Therefore this review is purely to warn people.
FOR THOSE THAT DON'T LIKE TO READ: HAVE A DRINK AT THE BAR MAYBE SOME POTATO SKINS BUT OTHER THAN THAT DON'T EAT HERE! YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!
I live nearby and have always known the place existed but had only been once or twice randomly with family. It's in a bit of a random location and not a lot of people know about it from my experience, so I think that affects business for them. But it's sad because it's a nice restaurant on beautiful property. In January 2012, I was planning my best friends bridal shower and looked everywhere from 5 star hotels to fancy restaurants such as bucca di beppo. My dad suggested to check out brookside. I thought it'd be nice to give a local business my support, so I checked them out. They had a whole private room that was unattached from the restaurant (PERFECT). Food was simple, something for everyone to choose from (PERFECT AGAIN) Prices were normal, so no complains there. They let us come in early decorate the whole room however we wanted, they had the tables all set up, they waited on us very patiently..lots of women in one room, so patience was a great help! The waiter did everything for, even helped us set up stuff we brought, he made sure that we were happy with everything, and any problems we had he was quick to fix (All problems were VERY minor, nothing to even complain about) At the end of the night I was taking care of the whole bill, and I was shocked to see that the bill was way cheaper than I had even expected (GREAT!) All the ladies ranted and raved for months (to this day) about how great the bridal shower was and how we had picked a perfect location! I truly appreciated all their help, they were easier to work with and helped us much more than any of the other places I looked at would have. I will definitely turn to them again!!!
Review Source:This is a great place. We went to the restaurant during happy hour and the deals were more than halfway decent with a halfway decent selection. The food was delicious and the service was more than sub-par although we were the only ones besides a couple of barflies whom were being well attended to by the bartender. It's worth a shot. I don't know why my review sounds so depressing. This place was fantastic.
Review Source:Was in the neighborhood so my wife and I stopped by on a Sunday afternoon around 1pm. Â We walked in and immediately noticed the place was almost completely empty. Â I think we even paused for a second because it felt awkward to be in a completely empty restaurant/bar. Â If not for the one guy at the end of the bar we would have been alone. Â No biggie because I just wanted to have a drink and watch some of the Cowboys game. Â The night prior was a little hazy so having a beer would be a good way to shake out the cobwebs. Â They have pretty good Sunday specials($3 Yager Shot, $6 pitcher of Pabst, cheap margaritas) and also serve Brunch. Â We decided on a pitcher of Bud Light for $7.50 which was accompanied by two cold, frosty glasses. Â I really do enjoy a frosty glass/mug. Â They have the NFL Sunday Ticket and it was pretty cool when they turned on the surround sound. Â Fred the bartender was a nice old man. Â Super friendly and even asked our name while shaking our hands. Â A few more people rolled in, mainly locals for a drink. Â You know what, I might come back in for a quick drink, it was good enough for that. Â Might have to try the appetizers because they were also priced low for Sundays.
Review Source:OMG!! I freakin love this place!! Hot owner, hot waitresses, bomb ass food, excellent service, and one of the best happy hours in Sacramento!! Plus live band on Fridays out on the patio...best idea ever...and the best of all..NFL package for all football games...this place is a heaven!! I try to go to this place atleast three to four times a week but I wish I can go all seven days...you must must check out this place!!
Review Source:I make the drive from Downtown Sacramento at least once a week to eat here. The food and service are top notch. There are so many things on the menu I enjoy, and the quality of the food is very good. I also find the prices to be very reasonable.
This is a must for anyone wanting a quick tasty lunch in a relaxed friendly atmosphere.
Came in here for happy hour because of the big sign outside. Â Thought we would kill some time have a few drinks while we were waiting for an event to start nearby. Â Well we were NOT acknowledged for over 40 min if not an hour! Â The bar was full with what seemed to be regulars and maybe it was only the bartenders so they couldn't get to us but the bar was super packed and most were eating so I wasn't going to go squeeze in between and try and ask for a drink or food menu so we just figured we will visit and maybe eventually they will come over, Â we were supposed to have dinner later anyway so no biggie but the drink specials looked good I think it was lemon drops. Â Eventually some more people came and sat in the seats in the bar area where we were (there was nowhere else to sit) and finally someone came out and wanted to know what we wanted, but there were no menus anywhere or specials written down so we had to ask for a menu and decide fast since who knows when she would be back again! Â The drinks were strong and a good deal for the money. Â That's where the star came from but if I wasn't trying to kill time in that area I would have left after 5-10min of no acknowledgment of us being there! Â Maybe it was a bad night or something but I was very disappointed.
Review Source:Nice setting in historic location. Changed to this name from "Rascals" recently. Â (New owner?) Service very friendly.
We had sandwiches and beer for lunch. Â Have had better. Â Mine had cheese on it that I thought was brie--checked the menu on the way out, and it was supposed to be cream cheese (I hope not!?}.
Maybe a good happy hour spot...Beer was super cold.
I have tried so hard to like this place for probably the last 12 years. Â It's literally 2 blocks away from where I work, and I would love nothing more than a cool bar to go to when I have nothing to do for a little bit of day drinking. Â My friends and I have had countless conversations trying to figure out what this place is missing. Â Back when it was called rascals It was a pretty awful place. Â Horrible tv's, mediocre food, expensive, and worst of all: boring. Â Thankfull, since they have gone under new ownership, many of these problems have been corrected. Â Nice, new big tv's, direct tv sunday ticket, much improved food, and a great happy hour. Â Still though, it just seems like there is an energy missing. Â I've been in there roughly 6 times since they have reopened and the place just feels bored. Â The restaurant is never very crowded and there is something about the ambiance that kind of sucks the energy out of the place. Â Having said that, its still the best dining option in the area and I want this place to succeed more than anything.
Review Source:Horrible customer service! Waited at the table for a drink for ten minutes. Stood up at the bar and waited another five minutes, and wasn't even acknowledged by the bartender.
This place was much better as Rascal's. It was run better, friendlier people, and much better service. I won't be back.
So, Brookside is right next to the VCA pet hospital and my puppy is recovering from broken arm surgery there. My husband and I went to visit her tonight, and after-wards we were going to go to Bandera, our favorite local restaurant for dinner. BUT, my husband and I were too exhausted to drive there, and decided to try Brookside instead. We should have just made the trip to Bandera.
The ONLY reason this place gets two stars instead of ZERO is because of the sweet and attentive bartender Wendy. Wendy needs to get a job at an up-scale restaurant and leave this horrible place behind and never look back.
The restaurant needs an up-grade. The environment feels cheap and cafeteria like. The prices are too high for this type of ambiance. But, HEY! You never know, and my friend told me they make a great breakfast, so, let's give it a shot. MISTAKE.
The Kings game was on behind the bar. There were six people at the bar including my husband and myself. My husband, the man sitting next to us, and I, were CLEARLY watching the game. There was also some good music playing in the background which I was quietly singing along to. An older woman who was also sitting at the bar said something about American Idol being on, told the bartender to change the channel, and then proceeded to make her way behind the bar to turn the music playing in the back-round off. The other woman sitting at the end of the bar told the older woman that I was listening to and enjoying the music. The older woman shrugged, (as if to say, 'who cares'), and very gingerly turned the music off with the slap of her hand on a button located behind the bar. It turns out that this older woman is the general manager, and apparently doesn't care about new customers.
The food was VERY average, and that's being kind. If you want to eat a block of expensive salt, then this is the place for you.
Luckily, the younger woman, and the man she was with, (regulars I guess), talked the general manager into changing the channel back to the game.
At this point my husband and I were in the middle of our salt meal, and she didn't turn the music back on. Now, I'm not anti American Idol, I've never even watched the show. But if I wanted to watch a reality show, then I would have stayed home instead of going to a BAR. As my fingers swell from the salt meal, I'm feeling more and more frustrated at the throwing away of the sixty dollar's for an unpleasant experience, and a horrible short rib meal.
I'm a small business owner myself, and I believe customer service is EVERYTHING. My husband and I wanted to relax after a stressful day of worrying about our baby, and instead we got attitude from the GENERAL MANAGER KATIE, and a not so great meal at a restaurant we will NEVER frequent again!
The regulars, and Wendy get the two stars. Katie and Brookside get ZERO!!!
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