My friends and I had been talking about finding a great place to eat nearby that served beer and fries – after all, Jared hates hard liquor and my other friend Charley has to have his fries before 8pm or else he gets cranky.
But where to go? We had been walking for hours taking photographs of graffiti and talking about the art show we got drunk at last night, and we found ourselves in this new part of Oakland. Not knowing where to go, we decided to take a chance, throw caution to the wind, and fire up Yelp. Sure enough, Yelp found a smattering of great spots nearby (thanks to GPS! How did we live without this before?). I punched in “beer and fries” to narrow the results and sure enough – the “Brews and Fries” shop showed up. I then called the place to confirm they were open, and let them know we were on our way!
When we got there, well that should have been my first sign this wasn’t going to go well. First, it was crowded. There were about five large groups of people waiting for a table, so we went up to the host, where we were told it would be about an hour before we would be seated! Ridiculous, considering we had called and told them we were on our way. However, we were determined to get our beer fries and give this place a chance, though I had to dock them a star for the long wait. After all, they must have seen me furiously begin typing on my iphone and didn’t want this review to get any worse – so within about 45 minutes they seated us. I wonder if they treat all their customers this way? Seems unfair to seat us just because we were reviewing them. Too bad for theme, I was able to save my progress for later!
Once seated, we were handed menus, which looked a little dated and old. Who uses comic-sans anymore? My eyes strained to sort through the menu, which really did not look that appetizing. I am allergic to anything but walnut oil, and it was difficult to determine weather or not the fries which oils the fries were cooked in. When the server came back 2 minutes later, I asked her and she said they use peanut oil, which is most definitely not walnut oil. I ordered a beer and my friends ordered beers and fries, but I was really disappointed I wouldn’t be able to enjoy fries with my friends. Even they agreed it was really inconsiderate for this place not to offer different oils for their fries (seeing as how they “specialize” in fries).
They had over 35 different beers on tap, so it was a tough choice, but I finally had settled on a bottle of “Corona”. I had never had a Corona before, but I was in the mood for Mexican and have to say I did not enjoy it. They had wedged a lime in the bottle, so it was extremely difficult to drink. I was really disappointed they even offered this beer.
I asked my friends about the fries and they said there were pretty good. However, the group of people next to us were really obnoxious and annoying. The seven year old kept looking at us and the couple were just talking quietly to each other. I mean why would anyone come to a beer and fry place and just sit rudely, never talking to anyone else? We asked to be reseated to some place with cooler patrons, but were told there were no more seats.
Finally, we decided to cut our losses and leave. When we got our bill, were aghast at the fact that the sales tax was an additional charge! Why didn’t they just include it in the food prices? This was just the nail in the coffin, as I just couldn’t see myself returning to a place that had such shady business practices. We left exact change on the table and most definitely did not leave a tip.
Wouldn’t go back ever again.
Yelp me.