Brandl

Although I hate to give negative reviews, this is the second time I’ve been to Brandl and was extremely disappointed. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is the only thing that’s appealing. First of all, there is only one waiter for the entire restaurant, so whenever he gets to your table there is a rushed feeling (can’t really blame him). I ordered the Mahi Mahi. It was a nice piece of fish, slightly overcooked, but I requested No Butter and it came out glistening and greasy. My daughter ordered the gnocchi with lobster sauce special and it was so heavy, dense, and tough, if you cut it with a knife it stuck to the blade. She also found herself chewing on pieces of shells! When you eat at a pricy restaurant you expect an equivalent level of quality and attention to detail. . I love fine dining, but Brandl’ is definitely not fine at any price!

Not what we expected - waiter was pleasant but the only one for the entire restaurant. Food was just ok - nothing special - use lots of salt. There are other restaurants much better.

Wife enjoyed the grilled NY strip steak. The lady man's lobster was absolutely delicious. Finished with a chocolate souffle. Very tasty.

They have become a steak house.. which was new vs the last time I visited this restaurant. I eat at steakhouses regularly and have pretty high expectations of meat quality and preparation. Also, the prices are quite high vs other quality steak houses so ... I expected it to be fabulous! I was disappointed! I ordered their special Ribeye. My expectations were that it would be nicely marbled, some fat around the edge and tender. I ordered it Medium Rare... I expected it to have a cool red center. It was medium.. just slightly pink .. and they had trimmed all the fat!! They also didn't come back to the table immediately after it was served to be sure the prep was as we expected. The other sides and appetizers were quite tasty, but very small. We had crispy Brussel Sprouts, Burrata and Grilled Romaine. I won't go back again .. at least until next summer... and.. I won't order steak there again.

Excellent customer customer. The food was excellent. Highly recommend this restaurant.

Totally unexpected. a tasty T-bone steak for two for dinner. cooked perfectly + good service. it was very quiet and relaxing, but we always go early at 5-5:30. just busy when we were leaving. Plus its a BYOB which we like. we will go there again.

Limited menu for my taste. The $59 steak was less than prime with some gristle and some white over cooked for medium rare. A side dish was an additional eight dollars and a sauce was an additional three dollars. There was a complementary 1/4 of an iceberg lettuce wedge.

Goodbye party for grandma who is going back to Florida.

Good food and service. Nice ambiance a bit expensive but generous portions

We continue to return to Brandl's for the consistent, high quality of creative and inventive dishes they create. The staff is very hospitable and welcoming. We have been regulars here for many years. The menu is updated seasonally and recently the restaurant received a makeover which enhances the overall experience. It's also a pleasure to be able to make a reservation for this restaurant, as a few in our area still don't offer this service.

Outdoor dining was so loud with guns and roses...
Food was soooo salty - every dish was over salted.

Last time I dine here

Server was super nice though!

Everything was great. All points were met. I brought my daughter there for her birthday. Very nice. Can't wait to return. Thanks to a great staff

Our server Vincent was terrific!!! Food was, as always, was very good. The only issue was my filet was under cooked and had to be sent back (twice). Problem was corrected when they prepared a whole new steak that came out perfect! My meal came with a wedge salad( one the best I have had). We shared the grilled shrimp appetizer which was quite good. And to make up for the steak snafu they provided dessert and coffee. We shared the apple strudel and creme brûlée, both made in house, and very good.

We had a 7:30 reservation on a Sunday night for eight. Got sat at a table that by rights should seat six. It was ok though. Instead of wine glasses, we were given what looked like glass fruit cups. Apparently they ran out of wine glasses. Given the level of wine we were drinking for our celebration, that was disappointing. Eventually we did get real wine glasses. Five pieces of bread for eight people? We asked for more and got it. I think fresh made so maybe we were between loaves. Food was very good. Service was so so. I’d go again but only off season. Don’t seem to handle busy very well.

If properly managed this could be an outstanding restaurant. The food is generally very good to excellent but a number of things make the dining experience less than optimal.

Brandl is one of our favorites. Consistently great food and service. Tuna was cooked perfectly as was the scallops special. Highly recommend.

Vincent while efficient was a bit abrupt at times. Good but got the feeling of being rushed. Good attention and should be a bit for calm and friendly. Slow down the customer decision making process and smile. Relax and enjoy.

Food is really amazing. Ambiance is great. The server Vincent made our night. The steak is a must. And the bacon OMG. Only complaint is the Manager had too much attitude!

The food and atmosphere were wonderful. The menu was interesting and different. It was my first trip and I hope it was an off night for the staff. The waiter was officious and unhelpful- dinner was not well paced and service was inattentive. It was clearly not busy but hopefully it was just one of those nights.

Always a great dining experience at Brandl. Great food, service and atmosphere,- it’s our favorite ‘go to’ place in the Belmar area.

Always a good experience. Byob pricey but good food ambiance

Always a pleasant experience. We will be back before long..

It’s been awhile since our last visit and the menu still had wonderful choices for everyone.
We were not rushed and since it’s BYOB lots of time to enjoy our wine.
The white soufflé ordered at entree ordering was absolutely great!

On a Saturday night the restaurant was understaffed and the manager was conspicuously irritable, snapping "What's the name!" to incoming guests and conveying his displeasure to the few waiters who were racing about. His curtness was not offset by his tasteless jokes, as in his reply to "where is the lady's room", "We don't have one, ha ha". His vibe spoiled the dinner.
Additionally the purportedly 1 1/2 pound lobster that made up the "lazy lobster" dish was not remotely close to that weight.

For an expensive selective menu the food was mediocre. Short ribs were amazing. But the Mahi Mahi was too buttery. The bread given at the beginning was stale. I thought the Voss glasses were tacky granted the prices of the menu.

My wife & I have eaten at Brandl for many years. The air conditioning was not operating properly and made an otherwise enjoyable family evening, unpleasant. This is unacceptable for a high end restaurant as Brandl is. Should this occur again, and if we are not informed prior to arriving, we will not stay for dinner or recommend Brandl again.

Sunday's Lazy Lobster specials are fabulous. This special includes a 3 course meal for a nominal prix-fixe. I have had it several times and have never been disappointed. An appetizer, main course, and dessert is a steal!

The menu offered a variety of exciting choices - starters and entrees. The food was outstanding and prepared perfectly!!

Never a bad meal! Food is always perfectly prepared and served quickly and with smile!

Brandl is my favorite restaurant at the New Jersey shore! While there are many places to dine this restaurant offers a very unique experience. Menu changes and adjusts regularly to the seasons and always includes a new special item. Highly recommend the escargot oysters, short ribs and souffle! No matter what you choose Brandl will be a special dinner! Check out their special gift cards at Costco, too!

Aug 10. 2019
Had a 7:30 reservation on Saturday night for 4 people. We brought wine and cocktails. The waiter gave us appropriate glasses. He then came to the table and went over the dujour specials and left. We placed our apps selection and didn’t see him again til came back and told us to place our dinner selections,otherwise we’d have to wait forever for our dinners. Dinners were excellent. Then the waiter forgot to tell us about the soufflé for dessert. It takes 49 minutes for a soufflé.I was disappointed. The waiter made good on comping our desserts because of soufflé mishap.

Excellent food... We have been to Brandl about 10 times over the part 3 or 4 years and we have NEVER been disappointed. Highly Highly recommended.

Great as usual

We had a very good meal with good attentive service. The sea scallops were very good and there was at least 10 of them. My husband had the Mahi Mahi on crab risotto and it was delicious. It was not to crowded during the week and the bus boy was as good as our waiter. It is pricey but we had a 20$ coupon on two entrees and it was worth the money.

The food is always wonderful. I love the lazy lobster!

We were greeted by the owner who didn't seem happy to see us. A party of 6, we asked if we could sit outside, there was plenty of room. He said no tables for 6, but he could have easily put 2 four's together with no problem.
The waiter was somewhat blase , did not smile. Just took the order.
The food was delicious. The waiter did not return to check of we needed anything.
Most of our party felt although the food was good, the service and greeting was not. We will not return.

If you can tolerate their many operational issues & lack of attention by the management to provide real customer service the food IS delicious. We made a specific reservation for Saturday evening dinner for 8:15pm, arrived on time and were told it would be 15-20 minute wait only to wait almost 45 minutes. Why did I make a reservation? Once we went past the 20 minute wait time we had to inquire from management when we'd be seated especially when we saw several empty tables. Shouldn't that be the job of management to keep us informed? Then we're told the "kitchen needs to catch up" that we can sit but it would be a while before our food would come out. Long story short we finally sat and the food was delicious, however it wasn't so good that I'd go there again to encounter the same operational/customer sat issues.

Worth the wait for superb food!

Sat us 1/2 later than our reservation when there plenty of tables open. Service was horrible got our food over an hr later it was cold. Manager didn’t really seem to care

Our waitress Samantha made the entire experience a true delight! She was knowledgeable and friendly- and gave us excellent recommendations. Thank you Samantha!!!