Excellent diner service needs to be revamped . The bus boy was more helpful then the waiter . Food on point perfect..

Whenever we're at the shore, we go to Brandl for dinner. Good menu selection and the food is delicious and excellently prepared.The Soufflés, while a bit pricey for a dessert, are a must try. If you make a reservation online I suggest that you call to confirm. read more

Very pleased with the food. Shrimp Scampi was as good as my wife's old family southern Italian recipe. Had the Tapas special and it was all very good to excellent. Price fairly too. Did not know it was a BYOB place. They need to improve their communications with potential customers. That said, the limited wine selection was very nice and not marked up a lot. Had not heard of the California winery - and I have a 530 bottle cellar - but the wines were quite nice, and good with the food. I see the complaints about the service especially the head waiter/manager the tall blond fellow. Not a lot of warmth, but really the service was fine and uneventful. Maybe they read the prior reviews and decided to make some changes! Definitely recommended. My wife said we will go back and she is always right, read more

I'm already planning our next night out here. Loved everything--the food, service, atmosphere, location--it was exactly what we had hoped for. I recommend the escargot, the honey lacquered bacon and you HAVE to try the souffle. Make a reservation and BYO. I can't wait to return when it gets a little warmer and sit outside on the patio. read more

Decent food, but nothing special. Went with family to try a new place but we were extremely disappointed with the service. Some of our party ordered a special they offered for tapas, but only knew about it because we checked the menu out online beforehand. It was not advertised on the menu at the restaurant and in my opinion, I doubt we would have been charged the special price otherwise. Because some of our party ordered the tapas deal, the restaurant refused to honor a coupon we had, even though the rest of the party ordered full priced menu items and the coupon did not say anything about being not being able to be combined with the tapas deal. When we asked for separate checks so we could use the coupon, we were, in my opinion, very rudely told that it was the owner's policy to never give separate checks, even if it was a party of 100. Long story short, okay food, and in my opinion, very poor service. I think the situation could have been handled in a much more professional manner. read more

Went here for Christmas Eve dinner with my wife and daughter. Extremely , extremely overpriced; couldn't emphasize it enough. Mediocre food, at best. Waitress did not even know they were out of certain specials until the arrogant manager took our order... unprofessional staff. Took our bread and butter five minutes after it was put down on the table? Had a reservation at 8:15pm and finally got seated at 8:45pm, good thing we weren't too hungry or we would have left. Lastly, how could they possibly compete (with those ridiculous prices) with restaurants in the area (asbury park!!!!!!) Never going back. read more

A+ for food. Really high quality tasty food. The host was cold and dismissing. The waiters were a bit cold as well. With such great food, such customer service leaves a bad taste in your mouth. read more

Wanted to find the best restaurants at the shore area. Traveled almost an hour to try this restaurant. Both ordered soup, which was very nice. Ordered a few appetizers and one dinner. This way we can try different items in one trip. One of our appetizers was not hot, it was mentioned to the waitress, who shrugged her shoulders & walked away. My husband and I thought that was entertaining. Nothing was exceptional, just ok food. Some pairings seemed "off" for the entree. Portions were small, price was high. I don't mind spending $100 for two if the food is good, but this missed by a mile. read more

So disappointed! We are locals who had some friends down for the weekend. Wanted to go somewhere special and thought we would try the "new" Brandl's menu. First impression is the host/manager is not very friendly. Not even sure he said hello and never came to check on us. Server was so so pleasant, but ok with her attentiveness to our table. Food is way overpriced as I can go to a NYC steakhouse for those prices. Our appy's (2 of the 4) came out cold and had to be sent back...also delivered by kitchen staff who basically threw them on the table. Entree seared tuna was over-cooked and had to be sent back. I will say the NY strip was very good and cooked well, but shd be at $60! The lamb chops were also very good, but slightly under cooked as i ordered them med-rare, but that was fine. It wasn't crazy busy so no excuses could be made. Happy it was BYO. Will not be back anytime soon...if ever. read more

We enjoyed a Saturday evening dinner on Brandl's enclosed outdoor patio. It was a lovely evening. I had Brandl salad which is fresh burrata cheese & seasonal accompaniments. The burrata was tender and creamy. My husband had the roasted beet salad with haricots vert with goat cheese drizzled with a delicious champagne vinaigrette. For entrees I had the peppered tuna done the base on the chef's suggestion on a bed of cauliflower rice. The tuna was a bit rare in the center, cooked to perfection. My husband enjoyed the salmon special which was pan seared with pick de gallo, avocado mousse and a tequila-agave reduction. Our plates were licked clean. To end our meal with shared bread pudding with a Jim Beam sauce...yum! Consistency and a warm friendly staff keep us returning to this local gem. read more

TERRIBLE SERVICE! COLD AND CHEWY LAMB CHOPS. WAITED 30 MINS FOR SOUP! This was by far one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. The server took our order and never came back. The servers had no regard for our inconvenience. I ordered soup before my meal and it never came. I asked about it when the entrees arrived and the server replied, "do you want it or not"? Once the entrées (lamb chops & filet mignon) arrived, they were cold and chewy. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE. read more

Service was very good, however it was extreemly warm and uncomfortable inside. The lobster was overcooked, risotto undercooked, and watery and the chicken was over cooked. read more

This was my first time and my last time eating at Brandl. Upon entering the cold atmosphere and cold (temperature wise) restaurant, our greeting was not friendly. We were seated by the busboy (only 2 staff people were in the dining area). The menus were on the table and we all decided on what we were having (we were 5 women). It took 20 minutes before the waiter came to our table (after trying to get his attention) and then he proceeded to tell us the specials and walked away before we could order. I could understand this if the restaurant was busy, but there were only 2 other tables occupied. Two men walked in and the waiter sat them, told them the specials and took their order right away. Again, I attempted to call him to our table and was ignored. I finally got the busboys attention and he took our order. Our appetizers came in a reasonable time and were enjoyed by all. The dishes were taken away and never once were we asked if we enjoyed them. When our entrees were served, we were never asked if everything was okay. No one ever came to our table during our meal to see how things were. We all found the food to be good, except not hot enough. The portions were average leaning toward the small end. I tasted my friend's steak, which I found to be tough. Again our table was cleared of the plates and the dessert menus were given to us again without a word to find out how are meals were. We all ordered dessert and 3 of us had cappucino which not even warm. We didn't even bother trying to get the waiter or busboy since we felt like we were being ignored. I finally got the busboy's attention for the check. We paid our check with an undeserving 20% tip. We never got a thank you or a goodbye. We found the restaurant to be overpriced and not friendly. It's obvious that Chris doesn't read these reviews. If he did, he would do something about his waiter (a tall young blond man) with a real attitude problem. Some staff changing and/ or better training could possibly improve this restaurant. read more

I have eaten at Brandl dozens of times and can honestly say I have never had anything other than a spectacular meal. The service is amazing, the food is delicious, and the setting is elegant. I can say this is one of my top 2 choices for the Shore area. read more

This review will be a first for me since I cannot review the meal since having been summarily ignored by the staff and not only did we not stay to order, we were never seated! Upon entering Brandl last night, 7/16, a restaurant that I had enjoyed previously, there were only two tables in the patio area that had seated guests. Inside there was a larger table of older women to the left of the host/hostess stand and only one table of two to the back left. Clearly, NOT a busy night. There was a shorter worker dressed in black and a tall man in khakis and a white button down shirt in the"bar" area. Both looked at us repeatedly, never greeted us, never approached us, etc. We were two well dressed women who were not in a hurry but were not pleased at not having been acknowledged. After waiting several minutes, we left. Went to another Belmar restaurant, we were greeted immediately, seated promptly and had a wonderful meal. Brandl, I'm a local and if you keep this stupidity going you'll be sorry in the dead of Winter when the Summer people are long gone! Could I have given zero stars? I wonder.... read more

Made a reservation over a month ago, arrived there on time. Our options were sit outside in a cold canopy or wait 45 minutes for a table inside. We thought we would book for Saturday since during the week is tough, so much for celebrating mine and my husband's first Valentine's dinner together. Not worth it, we walked out... Why offer reservations with you can't hold it. Hostess could careless when we left, it was like she was used to hearing it. Maybe take less reservations and there wouldn't be a problem... read more

Just horrible. It used to be a pretty nice restaurant but now there is nothing good about this place. It is more than a little tired visually and, in fact, I think it is a little dirty. The host is unbelievably rude and the service is terrible. To be fair, the server tried hard but she was handling far too many tables and was overwhelmed. The presentation of the food is horrible. I had short ribs which were too disgusting to look at, much less eat. Forget about having a conversation, the noise is deafening. There was a couple behind us clearly on a date. I hope this wasn't the end of them. Just awful. read more

We've gone to Brandl for over 15 years now. And I'm sorry to say that the quality and portion sizes have continually gone down hill. Along with that the product - quality of the food- has diminished too. There is only one server, and he be quite arrogant at times. Unclear if that's just his personality or mot because he does smile at a chosen few. It almost seems as. Though the chef isn't there all the time because its not consistent enough. I hope they resolve they're issues and it comes ack to the great local gem it was. read more

Dollar for dollar the worst place I've eaten in years - if you want to feel gross for 24 hours order the Thai shrimp dish only eat half and pay $34 for the privilege! read more

I have been to Brandl's several times & have enjoyed good meals. However, something seems to have changed. In Sept I had an occasion w my husband & decided to go to Brandl's; I hadn't been there for some time. It was a slow evening & early, 530, when we were seated. The maitre d' was incredibly rude. We were rushed to make a decision & felt rushed to leave throughout our meal. In fairness, the food was good, but eating out is as much about the experience & this was not a good one. Now move fwd to my dinner there last night w friends. This time it was the waiter who was rude & abrupt. We were told we had to place our entire order at one time & because we were not ready in the allotted time it seems you get, he disappeared for roughly a half hour before our order was taken. It was restaurant week & it was busy but they should have been prepared. 2 meals had to be returned because they were lukewarn, one had to go back twice. My soup was cold. Only one person in our party ordered from the 'special' menu & the reg menu is not cheap. A waitress named Tina, who would have made our dining experience much better, brought us our bill. Our waiter should take a few pointers from her; she was a pleasure. There are too many good restaurants in the shore area for me to spend my money here. I will not be returning anytime soon & by the looks of some of these reviews I am far from alone. read more

Even on a cold Wednesday night, Brandl was warm and wonderful. Sous vide fried chicken was superb as usual. Tempura blackfish special was fresh and well prepared. Service by Paul and his assistant was great. Amazing how much ground they cover. Never disappoints. Very nice middle of the week choice for our daughter's birthday. New York quality food and service. read more

Looking forward to celebrating my birthday with my dearest friend, at a local restaurant I had chosen, isn't it an awful shame that a rude and condescending host or maitre de, or whatever Paul calls himself, had to ruin our evening? He immediately refused my friend when she said she was concerned about wind or flies in the outddoor seating I had chosen by saying he would never roll down the sheeting, and when flies became extremely evident and we chose to move inside, Paul warned us that this was our last move. Please note: the restaurant was empty! Both of us felt belittled by this nastiness and I mentioned to him that this treatment was most disappointing since we were first time clients. Paul walked away. Food was very good, and we had a delightful waitress, Tina. But, the initial and lasting treatment by Paul truly ruined the evening for us and as locals who dine out weekly, and professional educators, I think we will be choosing other establishments to patronize. read more

Had not been to Brandl in a while. It did not disappoint! My short ribs were amazing and the Lazy Lobster was perfect!

We made the mistake of ordering one of the price-fixed dinners. Mine was composed of a fairly good bowl of cauliflower bisque (which was really not thick enough to be called bisque), a pretty good but incredibly small (six mouthfuls) portion of mako shark with a sprinkling of vegetables, and a tasty, but undersized dessert ... for $32.17. We paid $14.00 extra for a pitifully small Grilled Caesar Salad which wasn't as good as I've had at the local diner. My wife's dinner was different but not any better. Sigh. Feel like we were cheated. read more

The new chef, Chef Anthony seems to be turning around this restaurant. We had the garlic oysters, roasted cauliflower soup, Pumpkin Agnolotti with sage butter, ginger cilantro marinated Monkfish, Chinese 5Spice Papardelle....All delicious! The service was impeccable by Tina. I'll def be back. read more

Here's my dilemma: the food was excellent, however, the wait service by Paul was ATROCIOUS!!! Wow!! Without question the worst service I've ever had AND it wasn't even crowded. He basically put us in a corner and never came back. When we asked to to check on our food, he kept giving us excuses and was frankly pretty rude about it. Doesn't really have a personality for the service industry. As good as the food was, there's no need to ever go back... read more

Went to Brandi for first time w/boyfriend. What an awesome place, so comfortable, great customer service and an a wonderful creative chef, chef Anthony. I had fettuccine w/clam sauce and my boyfriend had mako shark w/kimchi.. Outstanding, I recommend Brandi wholeheartedly. read more

I'll start by saying that we enjoyed our meal again at Brandl. However, we were horrified by the behavior of the man in charge of the restaurant. Within view and earshot of our table we saw the manager slap a young male busboy in the back of the head. We heard him call someone on the staff an ahole. After the boy was hit - we noticed that the rest of the staff were upset, this led us to believe that these types of outbursts and abuse are a common occurrence for the kids who work there. We have seem similar behavior issues with the manager in the past and we won't be going back unless we hear that a change is made. We encourage more people to document this mans' behavior read more

We made reservation here for restaurant week. The food was good. We tried the onion soup and burrata for apps, the lamb bolognese and the pork flat iron with a side of Brussel sprouts followed by the chocolate doughnuts ( which were just doughnuts holes with a dish of chocolate sauce on the side) and white chocolate soufflé. Though everything was good I have had better food for less, portions are a little on the smaller side. The waitress we got was very well spoken and knowledgeable but it was confusing when the tall blond guy ( we assume is the owner ) comes to take our order seconds after our waitress walked away from the table after telling us the specials and how restaurant weeks menu works. It's also confusing because we got there as they opened at 5. I could understand if they were swamped but just weird in this case. The bus boys were odd as well. They seemed to be too attentive if that's even possible and mumbled when they spoke to the point neither of us could understand them. It would seem they want to be a higher end restaurant then they really are. I don't think either of us plan on making this place one of our regular spots but for a different place it was ok. read more

The food is great, the bus boys, hostess are very nice but because of the manager It will be a while until I return.

I was so excited to try Brandl's menu for my mom's birthday dinner. My younger siblings work at the restaurant and have said wonderful things about the food. We entered the restaurant and the manager, Paul, immediately began berating my sister for combining coupons on a bill the previous night that she had worked. He began with "yo, I'm pissed at you." I guess a hello was not warranted? We were coming in as a family for a reservation and he knew this. I was and still am absolutely disgusting by his behavior. My mother pulled Paul aside to explain how totally unprofessional his behavior was and he proceeded to tell her that he did not mean to come off like that. I don't know what he meant to come off as besides a complete jerk, but that was all he succeeded at. He soured the positive mood instantly and we left the restaurant after realizing how upset we all had just become. I suppose it says a lot about how excellent the food is that this restaurant is still in business with such pathetic management at the front of house. But hey, for anyone else who has this experience, just head down to Ocean Ave and enjoy a meal with lovely staff at La Dolce Vita! read more

Once again disappointed! I've gone to Brandl many times over the years and each time I vow never to return. This time I mean it. The restaurant requires a credit card confirmation yet they do not honor reservations. After waiting a half hour for our table we were told "It's Summer" so basically reservations don't matter. We were lied to by the snooty owner when asked what time the previous customers at our table had their reservation. We were told they were seated at 6 when in actuality they had a 7:15 reservation ( ours was 8 pm). My husband was once scolded by the owner for requesting a change to a dish and last visit they ran out of clean wine glasses on a Saturday night ( maybe wash some). We dine at fine establishments where if treated badly amends are made. Here you are treated as if they are doing you a favor. The food is fine but it's not the only game in town. They wouldn't accommodate our guest with vegetarian needs as she was told to order lots of vegetables. They wouldn't even make her a vegetable late. Absurd!!!! When my tuna tartare tower came disheveled on the plate the waiter told me it fell. So to sum it up, they don't honor reservations, they are rude, the ten year old busboy looks in fear, they don't accommodate food needs and they are dishonest. read more

My wife and I came to try their restaurant week special menu. We made our reservation on OpenTable and we arrived on time. The food was all very good: warm and crispy bread, crab cakes, asparagus soup, beet salad, buffalo and roast chicken. All were fresh and presented beautifully. The desserts were nice as well. The real downer for us was the service. Truthfully it was downright dissapointing. The one highlight was the Hispanic waiter who has been with them for a long time and the young girl who poured water. He knows what service is and she has real potential with proper training. The hostess did not greet us as we walked in and other staff walked by without even looking at us. When she did finally acknowledge us, she was rude and unapologetic about the expected 30 minutes wait for an ontime reservation. It was actually more like 45 minutes. When we finally got seated we had to find someone to take our order after waiting 15 more minutes. He never checked on any of our food even once. A different person brought out our starters and entrees and a third person brought out dessert. The owners walked around (at least we think they were owners, everyone there is dressed differently) but they never said a word. The whole staff looked miserable on their busiest night of the week. Busy is one thing, I can accept that but they just have no polish at all. If possible we would leave a higher rating for food than service. But it just wasn't enough to compensate. Once again my major pet peeve with NJ Shore restaurants: New York style menus and prices and service that cannot match. If you go to the All Seasons Diner in Eatontown you are treated like a king everytime. If you eat in Dish or Red in Red Bank, the level of service matches the menu. If you go to Avenue in Long Branch you are treated even better. In this economy, we choose more carefully where we go and sorry but we will not be returning to Brandl anytime soon. read more

I was torn between giving this place 3 or 4 stars; I really do wish we could rate on a half star basis! I was home for Christmas and my sister who lives in San Mateo was craving foie gras (it's illegal there now) so we were trying to locate an upscale restaurant around central NJ to satisfy her foie fix. A basic google search led us to Brandl in Belmar. In general, the place is very quaint and intimate and the food and service were very pleasant. I tried the foie gras du jour which was seared foie gras on a mini blueberry crepe (though it was more like a baby pancake) for an appetizer. This was very good. The foie gras was rich and creamy and seared perfectly and it was very complimentary in flavor with the blueberry pancake. For my entree, I had the duck with gnocchi and wilted greens. The duck was juicy and pretty tasty and they pre-sliced the meat for me which I guess I liked (I kept going back and forth about it). The gnocchi was a bit heavy and reminded me more of the dumplings in chicken and dumplings but that didn't offend my sensibilities at all. I also tried some of the short ribs which I thought were flavorful and the lazy lobster dish which I thought had too much of a vanilla flavor. I ultimately went with a three star review based on the comments of my family. My brother-in-law felt the lobster bisque was a bit salty and my dad was neutral on his cod (although to be fair, he doesn't impress easily). I enjoyed my food though and would return to Brandl again for a "nicer" meal around the Jersey Shore area. read more

The food at Brandl's is excellent albeit a bit high priced. It's a big open room which can get rather noisy. I would have given it 4 stars except for the staff. We overhead two members of the wait staff trading smart remarks about one of the patrons. Very unprofessional. This really turned us off about the place. Hmm. What are they saying about us? read more

WE had stopped going there for a long while after some poor service, but after Sandy, we started going back as the owner did a lot for the town, and we appreciated it and wanted to support the locals. Now we eat here again often, so most of the time very good, and last night perfect. The new sourdough bread is wonderful. I ordered Mahi and my partner ordered the Tuna. Both cooked perfectly. We ordered fried calamari and mushrooms for appetizers. The fried calamari is huge portion and the sauteed mushrooms are actually a side dish that I loved getting as appetizer. If you go during the free concerts sponsored by Belmar and eat outside you will also get to enjoy entertainment, which we had on this beautiful Saturday night. The lava cake was great end to meal. We also like that it is BYOB. Very reasonable price for quality food and attentive service. We noticed that there was quite a mix of ages eating there, which was nice. From late-twenty couples, thirty-something couples and up. read more

Food was good but very small portions and expensive. Not sure who our waiter was because three different people asked us if we wanted dessert and they never gave us our side order with our dinner. Left very confused and disappointed in the service. read more

A little pricey, but the food is amazing. worth every penny. We had the Filet Mignon, Lazy Lobster, Fried Chicken, and various appys, Everything was delicious, Oh we also had the pitcher of white sangria too. Wonderful dinner, great service. We will be back. We were too stuffed for dessert, but did get the pecan bread pudding to go. read more

Brandl knows how to do things top notch. They hosted my 40th birthday dinner and it was first class all the way. From the first course of lobster bisque and green field salad. To the braised short ribs, sous vide chicken and lazy lobster risotto. All the way to the creme brûlée, brownie sundae and apple tart. This was as perfect as perfect could be. Friendly service, great atmosphere and all around professionalism. We are never disappointed when we come here. They know what they're doing and they know how to do it right. read more

Brandl's has amazing food. I have eaten there several times and I want to keep going back. Every appetizer, meal and dessert has been amazing! The owner is awesome and the service is awesome! I highly recommend this restaurant! It's my favorite restaurant in Belmar! read more