Brick Alley Pub & Restaurant

Reviews 3

RI

Richard O

Reasonable prices, okay food, decent environment, and... cozy seating. I felt a little claustrophobic. This unfortunately turned out to be one of the worst dining experiences Ive ever had, though it was kind of a perfect storm of events and not entirely the restaurants fault. At lunchtime at about 2:00, our party of 4 was surprised to be given a 40-minute wait time for seating (it was only half full with no line when we left around 4). It made our afternoon plans a little tight, but without a backup plan, we stayed. There isnt a good, out-of-the-way waiting area, and you need to stay inside to hear when your name is called. Bad start. I had read somewhere else that there was outdoor seating, which was part of the draw for us on a beautiful day, but apparently they had to give that space up a couple years ago. We were eventually led to the back of the restaurant and seated in the furthest corner where the tables were too small to comfortably fit 4 people and their dishes. This led to problems. First, my wife knocked my moms fork off the table while moving a piece of the tablescape out of the way. Then I dumped a glass of water on my mom, trying to turn pages in the larger menu. Again, not entirely the restaurants fault but definitely aided by the lack of space to even open a menu normally. Later, a spoon got knocked off the table getting soy sauce on my wife, and our waitress dropped a fork on my dads shorts, getting soy sauce on him as well. One final drop of a knife from the waitress that hit my dad in the leg capped off the laundry list of accidents. And we arent normally clumsy people, really. Putting the wait and the accidents aside, Ill continue with an objective review of the food we ordered, the ambiance and service. We tried the Ahi Tuna Sliders based on another reviewers recommendation. They didnt disappoint and turned out to be the highlight of the meal for me. I sampled my parents clam chowder, which might have been one of the best Ive ever had (I wish I had ordered it myself). My wife and I decided to split an entree and though I wanted to get the Lobster Ravioli, being the wonderful husband I am, my wife got her choice of Mikes Clam Pasta. Im not crazy about clams, so although I didnt enjoy them, they were prepared well and there were a bunch of them. It was more like a soup than a pasta with the clams coming in the shells, which was surprising to me, and frankly I didnt enjoy it, but my wife did. The broth did taste complex and nice. My parents got the Lobster Mac and Cheese, which they thought was okay. The place didnt skimp on the lobster, but I expected to like it better. I thought it was only marginally better than the clam pasta I didnt enjoy. For a drink, I wanted to try something new so I got the Sweet Heat Margarita thinking I like margaritas and hot things so why not. Dont do it. It was god awful and no one at the table could drink it, not so much for the heat but for the taste. I did something Ive never done before and sent it back asking for a different drink. Service was pretty good. The waitress had a good energy, checked on us regularly, provided seltzer for my dad after the fork incident, and took away the charge of the drink we couldnt stand. She was not able to completely hide how weary she was of us by the end, but with the number of incidents and the growing displeasure from our table, I didnt blame her. As for the ambiance, I was hoping for a little more of a pub feel - this slanted a little more restaurant. The decor was interesting, the background noise was fine, and the bathrooms were very clean. Of course, space again is the one big issue, at least where we were seated. True, it was a very disappointing way to start our vacation, but I wouldnt discount the place entirely on my one bad experience. I would be willing to return one more time to try dishes of my choosing, and hopefully get seated somewhere else and in shorter time. Erring on the side of kindness, 3 stars.

EL

Elise D

We have been going to this restaurant for years. Unfortunately the food and the service have gone downhill substantially over the past few years. This past Sat, we arrived at 3:15 and were told it was a 30 minute wait for a table. We came back 25 minutes later and were not seated until 4:25. As in one hour and ten minutes (or 40 minutes after the quoted time) I have had this happen before, and do understand that these things happen, but usually? I have received a free ap or something to compensate us for waiting with a hungry child for double + the stated time. Its customary for the restaurant to do something to try to make the guest know that they appreciate that they made a mistake and appreciate their business. But that didnt happen. Anyhow, we sat down and waited a full TEN MINUTES before anyone came over. Another surprise was that over half the tables were empty? They are quoting these ridiculous wait times and there was plenty of seating available? The wait staff was running around looking flustered but no one came over. When the server finally did come over, we asked for a hot chocolate. 2 years ago my daughter got this there and it was great. It was served in a mason jar, with a cinnamon stick straw and whip cream. Last year, it went to a smaller cup, with a cinnamon stick straw and whip cream. This year, small cup, no cinnamon stick and whip cream, instead of cinnamon stick - 2 coffee stirrers to use as a straw... ?? Really?? When we ordered, the chicken parm came out with the cheese burned onto the plate. Again, the service ( and our servers first 3 letters began with MEL - I have the receipt ) was awful. Water wasnt refilled - we asked for bread and butter (supposedly included in our meal ) and that never came. Our server had an attitude that really acted like she was doing us a favor by waiting on us. I understand the holiday season can be busy but as I mentioned, we were the only table I saw her waiting on, and there is no excuse to at least not make an effort to be welcoming around the holidays to your guests. We asked for a dessert menu, 20 minutes went by and we never saw our server so at this point we just flagged down a bus boy to ask for our check. We wouldnt return here. There are too many nice places to eat in Newport to have to return. Its unfortunate as we did like this place but it has really gone downhill.

AB

Abby

Stopped here on the way to Connecticut. Cute little pub. Very cool venue and atmosphere but would not necessarily recommend there food. I came here with my family and the food didnt live up to the expectation that we were hoping for. We got the fish and chips which were clearly specified that they were not beer battered. Tasted like a beer batter but was not crispy whatsoever and was soggy and bland. Got the gourmet burger which consisted of a burger with Bleu cheese, bacon, horseradish sauce, lettuce and tomato. Burger was cooked almost to perfection but was bland. The Bleu cheese was way too overpowering and just took over the whole dish. We also had a bacon chicken ranch pizza. They have individual 10" pizzas to enjoy by yourself or with a friend. It was pretty good and consisted of chicken, ranch dressing, cheese, bacon, scallions, and apple slices. It was pretty greasy but better than the burgers and such we had. The best thing of all was the lobster soup. It was very creamy and delicious. The flavor was on point and was not overpowering. It was very good. The reason I give this place 3 stars is because the food was a little on the pricey side ($15 about per burger). Also the food didnt live up to the expectations. Probably would not recommend but the atmosphere was pretty cool with vintage things hanging from the ceiling. Waitress was nice though so that was good.