brioso

The Story:

Well, well, well...
On the recommendation of a friend, we decided to give this place a try while waiting for a movie to start.
So, we walked in to the very nearly empty restaurant and stood there for a few minutes, clueless, about what to do next...do we seat ourselves or wait? There was a girl behind the counter, but she seemed busy flirting with the one person who was sitting at the bar...who turned out to be the manager, I think...really not sure.
We elected to grab some menus from the basket of menus located at the front door and seat ourselves.

By this time, we had been in the establishment for about 3 minutes with no recognition from the staff. As we looked over the menu, we noticed that the staff (who was busy standing around and talking) would walk by and not acknowledge our existence...we started a stopwatch.

A few minutes later, one of the waitstaff had the wherewithal to come up and ask if we knew how the place worked...we had been in the place for nearly 10 minutes, by this time.

We said "No" and he explained that we should have order at the counter (where the girl was still flirting with the one person at the bar). Then, after seating ourselves, the restaurant is full service.

After explaining that there was nobody greeting, and no signage, to explain this, we suggested that the waiter tell the management that they need to improve the joint...and he offered some free desert...okay.

After going up to order, and standing in line (in the cramped entry way), behind some un-sober people who were taking WAY too long, we elected to leave and go to Travinia, where we had an immensely better experience.

The Verdict:
bad, Bad, BAd, BAD...UGLY even.
I'm a little disheartened that a restaurant, in Biltmore Park, would have SUCH crappy service...also that it's been such a short time between adding places to the "Ugly" list.

I am mildly considering trying the place again...since I now know that it's more of an overpriced cafeteria, than a restaurant. But, don't really think that I will.


EDIT:
Word has it this place as done away with the Cafeteria-style and has gone to a full-service restaurant. We actually came close to trying it once...Standing outside and looking in at the nearly empty place before deciding to go across the street, to Brixx.
Perhaps, someday when we're feeling objective, we'll try it again. If we do, rest assured that there will be an update here.