Under Brewhouse Whelming

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse
5929 West Waco Drive
Waco, TX 76710
254.776.0200 TEL

               

           I know I don’t normally review chains, but with all the hype this place has gotten since moving into Waco I decided I’d throw my 2 cents into the mix.  BJ’s is one of the largest growing chains in the USA, and this is attributed to 3 main reasons; 1) They are a publicly traded company, and expansion is a must. 2) Their menu caters to a large group of people.  3) Quality is pretty standard all around. There is an article on them in last month’s National Restaurant News about their expansion plans that was pretty interesting. I will try to post parts of that later on.

I almost never go to a restaurant during the first couple of weeks. This gives them some time to get their game together on food quality, customer service, and such. I nearly went one weekend, during the first couple of weeks but I held off, and good thing to. I later found out, through a coworker, that BJ’s nearly run out of all their food to serve, resulting in a very limited menu that night. I also heard that they were still having problems with service, great turn around & sitting time, but lacking in service. 

I finally made my way down there one night, my cousins just got into town, so we decided to hit them up and try it out. Both of them have eaten at other BJ’s before, this is my first experience for this joint ever.

My cousins arrive there before me; by the time I arrive they already have their brews. I look over the beer menu, and ask our server for a couple of the house beer samples. The ones I try are alright, a little too bitter for me and I’m in a liquor mood anyways. I order their Mojito, since it is their drink special for the night for $5; which begs the question, if $5 is their sale price what is the regular price? Ouch! Don’t think I will be coming here just to chill at the bar, not with those prices. Lets not forget to mention that it also took 10 minutes to get my drink, our server made it sound like someone dropped the ball.

                While waiting on my drink we looked through the vast menu that BJ has. I personally think their menu is too much, but hey they have made a great success out of it, so kudos to them.  Still, it made it a pain for me to decide on what to eat. After a while I narrowed it down to pasta, salad and a pizza; I knew right off the bat though I didn’t want a burger or sandwich. After much debate I finally decided on a pizza since my coworker had previously recommend it and the fact that the first BJ’s was a pizza joint, specifically deep-dish. I ordered a small cheese, pepperoni, and roasted bell pepper pizza; minus tomatoes. My cousins went with a salad and pasta.

Our food arrives in a timely manner, but once we start to dig in we realize that we don’t have our napkins or silver-wear. We hail our server and get our gear. Then I notice that my pizza is wrong, it has tomatoes and the wrong kind of bell peppers. Our server offered to take it back and have them make a new one, but I didn’t want to wait for a new one and just rolled with it. Besides messing up the toppings, which is fairly baffling to me. The pizza was alright; nice crispy crust, flavorful sauce, good amount of cheese…. really lacking on the amount of pepperoni. Totally not worth $10 for the small, wrong, skimpy topped pizza. 

 

                Overall it was alright; food decent enough, service slightly lacking, nice atmosphere. Really over hyped though and overpriced; $18, $21 with tip, for a small pizza and a single drink? Really? I could’ve had a decent night at one of my local bars (of better drink quality) or ordered a couple of medium Pizzas (of equal quality) from Papa Johns for that price. On top of my lone experience, I keep hearing plenty of complaints from friends on the service at Waco’s BJ’s Brewhouse. These factors combined, I really don’t plan on going back any time soon. Once Waco gets over the “new smell” hype, Wacoan’s will get tired of the higher prices and lacking service and move back to packing in Chedders, and hopefully some of Waco’s great local joints.

El Sabor Del Mar

Sergio’s – Fine Mexican Seafood
608 Austin Avenue
Waco, Texas 76701

www.SergiosWaco.com
sergio7mares@yahoo.com

            Before there was “Sergio’s” on Austin Ave there was “Siete Mares” on Dutton Ave and there was even a short time, between the two, when “Sergio’s” was located down on David Street. I have eaten at all 3 places, but my best memories are from my dining experiences at Siete Mares.

 My family and I used to dine there very frequently; for birthdays, random get together, even took some dates there. Siete Mares was a high light for Waco’s restaurant spread, introducing high quality authentic Mexican sea-fare. Not only did the locals love the joint, it spread to the White House. President George W. often had Siete Mares cater out at his ranch when he was down here visiting. Sergio (the owner) would come back all the time with presidential treats and knick-knacks, and would hand them out to kids at the restaurant. The press also liked Siete Mares and would dine there often enough while in town covering the Prez. I don’t want to go pointing fingers, but soon after the press starting dining there the food & menu started to change… it started to morph in to a more Americanized menu; small example- the meal started to come with white rice and you’d have to request Mexican rice. Then of course the economy tanked and the neighborhood took a turn, and Siete Mares closed.

            A few months after Siete Mares closed, I honestly wasn’t sure if Sergio was going to open a new joint. I had heard rumblings, and I knew he was working on other projects. He eventually bought a Mobile Kitchen and started taking that to Waco’s Farmers Market and other places around Waco. You can still find his Mobile Kitchen every Saturday at the WFM. He also eventually bought a little place down on Davids Street, with a much more limited menu and seafood only on the weekends I believe. I only ate there a couple of times, sticking with their homemade chicken Taquitos. That place didn’t last very long, with such a poor location. When I finally heard that he was looking into buying the place over on Austin, I was very excited.

            Once Sergio’s was finally opened we wanted to go try it out, but I have a simple rule when it comes to new places, even if it’s just a reopening. Always wait a couple of weeks to let them work out the kinks. It will save you a lot of trouble… example that is unrelated with this particular restaurant: When BJ’s opened here in Waco I knew they would be slammed, hard, so hard in fact that they were over whelmed/under-prepared and ran out of 80-90% of their food supplies one weekend. I almost went that night, but thank goodness I avoided that mess. Back to the original topic though, Sergio’s. After a couple of weeks passed, and heard some feedback from friends and read some reviews on WacoFork I figured it was time to dive it. Gathered up most of the family (about 12 of us), like in the old days, picked up some ice-cold beers and nice bottle of wines and headed out. My cousins and I arrived first, and had to wait for them to put some tables together for us all. Once all seated, we begin to browse the menu. He has many of his classic dishes and a few new things. I for one stick with my old standby, since I haven’t had it in ages- La Diabla, with mixed veggies and rice. La Diable is a dish of sautéed shrimp with a habanero sauce, MUY CALIENTE!

            The rest of my family places their orders, but of course we are crazy people so none of them really order off the menu. They all want to replace sides, swap one sauce of another, ask if they can get with that, etc. Not the easiest task for a waitress, whom in my opinion, hasn’t been in the bizz for very long. Our food comes out 2-3 at a time, and of course there are a few mix up and switches that need to be made, 10 minutes later it is all sorted out and we are ready to dig in. Everyone was very pleased with the food; very tasty, nicely cooked, hot… just like we used to remember it. Besides the minor chaos mix up, it turned out to be a great night with the family.

            I went again this past week with just my immediate family. This time I ordered a little something different; Blackened Mahi Mahi, with a Smokey chipotle sauce on the side, along with white rice and mashed potatoes… not the most colorful of plates, but I mostly just wanted to try the fish & sauce. I must say, it was pretty dang tasty. The fish was nice and flaky, perfectly cooked. The seasoning was just right and had a nice little kick to it. The sauce was awesome, Smokey, spicy, smooth in overall flavor… a little went a long way. If you like chipotles, you’ll love this sauce! The mashed potatoes were nothing spectacular and rice is rice… at least neither one was over cooked.

Over all I have had positive dining experiences both times I have been to Sergio’s and definitely plan on going back. The biggest disappointing thing about the new place is I have yet to see it full. I remember Siete Mares being packed and people actually having to wait for a table. Sergio’s is back and needs your support; Mexican Seafood lover unite and go try them out!  

I really want to go by for lunch one day and try the Crab Nachos that WacoFork wrote about, they looked mighty tasty

                                                * p.s. It is still B.Y.O.B.*

 This is a dish my brother orders: Shrimp in Green Sauce.