Brasil

11/11/09

Shitty service, good coffee

by Wera at Citysearch

Coffee is good, desserts are good, some food is great. Most of it can be made at home with $5 and some time and effort.

Mostly Brasil is annoying. The staff is just really atrocious. I guess they're too cool for customer service. I dunno, I'm old school - when I was waiting tables/slinging drinks/working the espresso machine, we earned our tips. I mean, it's not rocket science, what the eff are you getting paid for? Not politeness, clearly.

Follow the advice of the Brasil staff and head to Agora. They're often rude there too, but at least they're open later and the coffee is hot.

• Pros: Coffee when it's hot, some food
• Cons: Really awful staff

09/08/09

Duck Salad to DIE for///

by Mobetta at Citysearch

I appreciate all opinions, but must say something to counteract the negative review i just read...., I frequent this place and have for a while now...I also waited tables for over 13 years while attending college and grad school...my server experience goes from slinging hash to 5 star restaurants...I feel I am very high in my standards when I go out to eat...I think you should give this place another chance...maybe you had a bad day.

They have some of the BEST pizza in town...ever...i have been to Fuzzy's, Star Pizza and New York...they cannot compare...their duck spinach salad is to die for, you even select the temperature you would like on the duck...i recommend medium rare...and it is just a simple little cafe...some menu items are better than other items...but that is the game in most restaurants. I have had excellent service...EVERY time I go...one time I went with my 11 year old daughter...who loves it...and she and i were celebrating something special in her school...they came over with a free dessert for her to pick out...this is a cafe...no waiters...all staff have always been great and eclectic in their own way which blends in with the place.

It is located in a very eclectic area of Montrose...my neighborhood, and it resembles that in all aspects...it definitely did not deserve your horrible review...

• Pros: Pizza, desserts, and salads
• Cons: Some breakfast items

08/06/09

get a drip

by bellaire at Citysearch

I read a number of comments and they center on attitude of staff/owner/dogs...I think it is pretty funny, actually. The place caters to people who really take themselves seriously. The staff is "on stage", they are the show, the defenders are sensitive people who like dogs and voted for Obama. I first came to Montrose in 1970, It was really unique. Since then, it is a bit over populated by people who think they are unique. Don't worry about it. In a few years, it will change and there will be new high school drop outs exercising control over the temperature of your eggs. Whatever...

• Pros: different
• Cons: predictable attitude

06/25/09

Yes, this place is awful, never come here

by aroon49759 at Citysearch

OK, I really hope that all of the idiots who wrote bad reviews never come back because I love, love, love this place and would like the lines to be shorter. THIS IS NOT A WAITERED RESTAURANT!!! This is a cafe, you order at a counter (counter service) and they deliver your food to wherever your number is (like Whataburger but not disgusting). Don't complain about the service, the ones at the counter are there to make coffee and drinks mostly so taking food orders can slow them down (so can people complaining about food they can't eat because they failed to read a description on the menu). They do amazing things with breakfast and one of my favorite items is the marscapone brushetta. If your high maintenance please go to La Strada for brunch, if you are a normal decent human being then I won't mind waiting behind you in line for good food. PS, I've been going here forever and I've never run into a dog in the building (patio yes, but they have always been well behaved).

• Pros: umm, everything edible
• Cons: parking

03/15/09

A Long Time Fave

by waxdragon76 at Citysearch

Well, I have read a few of the reviews. I do not think I have ever even seen the owner. I have nothing bad to say about him.

I have never received bad service here. This is not a place they "wait" on you. You order at the counter and sometimes get a # placard for them to know where to bring your food and/or drinks.

Brasil has had some awesome music here. I mostly come here at night, often on the weekends.

Seating is limited. If you plan to camp a table for 2 hours plus, please buy something. This may be the reason some people in the past felt like they were being rushed out. Where does patronage end and loitering begin? After 2 hours with no purchase.

Parking is also limited. Wait. There is none. lol Plan to park on the street and even up to two blocks away.

I oftentimes get the large mochachinos here. Frothy, rich, and delightful. Also, who does not love those gorgeous little Danesi Caffe cups they come served in? The desserts are a perfect pairing for a nice cup of coffee here. In the colder months they tend to have a selection of three brewed coffees readily available.

If you do not have much of a sweet tooth, fear not! The pizzas are scrumptious, as well. They also have a decent wine selection. I do miss miss the days where there was a wall of beers on tap, though. In place of the wall o' beer is a much needed improvement: CLEAN (and stylish) restrooms. Well, I can only assume the men's restroom is as nice as the women's. (: What they do still have adorning the walls is local art.

Enjoy the local music and art. Enjoy the patio. Enjoy the food and drink. Nothing is perfect. There may not be enough seating or parking, but the coffee and friends you bring should make up for it.

• Pros: Coffee, Desserts, Pizzas
• Cons: Parking, Seating

01/29/09

To those who can't hang......

by maniaak at Citysearch

Maybe those that complain about the rude service should check themselves. If the service is so terrible then why is it so freakin packed ALL day EVERY day. I know about the service, know the owners, and am used to the staff....it is a downtown coffee shop and those that can't hang should go back to the Starbucks they came from. I love this place. The food is great, drinks are great, music is great. Go there during the week about 1-2pm for the best seats.

• Pros: Serve beer/wine, in the heart of Montrose, Live music
• Cons: parking

01/20/09

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!!!

by tellitlikeitisreviewer at Citysearch

I came there the other day to meet up a friend there for some coffee and decided to get some food and appetizer as well...i told the cashier that i wanted an iced coffee...which he made and placed on the counter.... and then as i was going to order some food... some woman who had her food already came right in front of me and started complaining she does not like her food and that she wants something else... standing there taking a million years to order something else and then paying with a credit card and taking forever to do all of this... I was so aggravated from the fact that this grown woman had cut in front of me while i was ordering....and then the cashier was being SO RUDE to me while he was taking my order. Later on after i had sat down already when he brought out the food i told him i could not eat that stuff with parsley, since it was a mediterranean dish i did not know what was in it, so i had asked him to bring me the other one that didnt have parsley in it and he was being so RUDE once more and started telling me some stuff...until finally he took it back and brought out the other one i had wanted. Wow....i had never been spoken or treated like this by anyone in a restaurant before. The food was okay, the atmosphere is alright but the service is NOT good! They treat you badly there and do not care about good customer service. Do not come there if you do not want to be treated with disrespect. The staff is disrespectful and rude. Do not recommend!

• Pros: dessert is pretty good
• Cons: parking, customer service

01/01/09

Stay away....

by kenwilliamson at Citysearch

That's right I said stay away. That way I can enjoy the great food and awesome coffee without someone complaining . I love dogs , people not so much. i had the best breakfast ever there this morning and the band was really good.

• Pros: everything
• Cons: ?

11/05/08

Ridiculous, Stay Away

by JeffGordon at Citysearch

It's crazy to go to a restaurant/coffee house or any place where food is served and have dogs in there too.

You see people bring their dogs in all the time. And I'm not just talking about the owner's dog - who freely walks around this place like it owns it.

The owners must think it's cute to have their dog walk around and sniff and rub up against people while they are eating. Not so cute to have to look at a dogs behind when you're the customer.

Oh, and as to the owner's attitude. . . there's no excuse. They both walk around this place with a Hitler like attitude.

This place is rather dirty too. On occasions I've gotten dead things (apparently the appropriate words are filtered out of this review) in my sandwiches.

But my main complaint against this place and why I will never come back is the owner's attitude and the whole dog thing.

No more Brasil, no more.

09/16/08

Stay Away

by AnnMacNaughton at Citysearch

Brasil Cafe's location is convenient to my office and home, and its food is often acceptable. Perhaps it's because I've spent so much of my own money there over so many years, and brought so many friends and family, business colleages and clients as new customers, that I have not ~ until today ~ been on the receiving end of the rude customer treatment for which the place is deservedly famous.

Or, maybe I've just been lucky. Anyway, for years I dismissed that constant background drumbeat of ongoing complaints about owner Dan Fergus as the result of confusion, perhaps a misunderstanding of his wry humor, or maybe even the result of bad behavior by the complaining customers, and continued to tolerate and excuse cold eggs, burned quiche, and slow service.

No more. Based on what i experienced today, I'm inclined to think that Fergus has a genuine and serious anger management problem.

Yes, perhaps we are all a little on edge after Hurricane Ike's passage through Houston. But that doesn't excuse his foul-mouthed attack on me today as I sat waiting for my friend to pay at his cash register and join me for breakfast. Worried I have unwittingly encouraged friends, family, colleagues, and clients to expose themselves to similar out-of-the-blue abuse by encouraging them to patronize this restaurant, I am posting this message today to urge them to stay away.

Not only does spending money at this place expose a customer to risk of Dan's attack. But in addition, the owners bulldog Stella, it burns out, does bite. When the dog, who often is permitted to freely wander around the restaurant, bit a customer yesterday, I couldn't believe my ears hearing the owner's wife scold the customer for extending her hand to pat the dog's head. Who woule expect a restaurant to keep on premises a dog who bites?! Bet that won't be the last they hear from that unhappy customer.

• Pros: bad parking, rude service, biting dog