1 /5 Trish: On the way out of the mountains coming back from hanging out with lots of family and friends (as always) We stopped at our usual favorite brewery in the town of Sonora. We found that it had changed hands over the past couple months. Wanting to continue to give our business instead of eating out on the road, we stopped at Bigwood Brew Works. Unfortunately, Our expectations were high due to the Previous owners. We would like to go back but only if we hear from our family and friends that they have improved. Ill explain..
There were 7 of us with a total of 6 eating.
I ordered A pretzel and cheese for an appetizer, hamburgers (specifically , well done) and their garlic fries, thinking that they continued the garlic fry recipe from the previous owners. 2 of our party of 7 That didnt order on our tab got their food about 20 minutes before The rest of us got ours. Our Appetizer , pretzel and beer, Cheese came out the same time as our hamburgers. I ate a french fry, and it had seasoning on it. I told the server that these were not garliic fries and that they tasted just like my daughters seasoned ones. The server apologized and said that she would bring us out a plate of garlic fries. When she left, I cut my burger in half to eat it and it was completely pink inside. We cut the other two burgers and they also were pink. The server returned with a small bowl of I think, garlic oil Instead of the plate of fries we expected. I decided not to say anything more and said thank you as I took the small bowl of garlic oil, only to find that it was cold. I asked her if she could heat the oil up so I could put it on my fries. She replied, OK and then I told her that our burgers were ordered all well done and I showed her how pink they all were. She responded with "our cook is new" but I will let him know. At that point, I was wondering where the plate of fries were and had he told her that he wasnt gonna replace our seasoned fries with the garlic fries that we originally ordered. Our bill was $70 for 3 burgers and a pretzel. I wanted to get on the road so I paid for the bill when I ordered and added a tip. This experience taught me a valuable lesson. Never pay for food ahead of time when youre staying to eat, no matter how quickly you want to get back on the road. I dont blame the server. She was very nice and doing her best. However, the cook should have made our burgers as ordered and sent an inexpensive plate of fries out, with garlic as the menu stated. All I ate was the pretzel. This is one place 8 people plus will not be going to again unless they are able to make some small changes. I am hopeful because, we eat there at least once a month when we go up to the mountains and were usually bringing people with us. If I hadnt paid the bill early, I would have asked for compensation (Which I never do) However, You would have thought that they would have offered. Sidenote, to dog lovers- It was 100° outside. We were hoping to sit in the Brewery side with the 2 dogs at our feet, but this place does not allow pets (Im not sure if the old place used to, but I thought they did) We were understanding with that and didnt ask to sit indoors and sat outside in the front however it is not user-friendly. They have wine barrels as tables, and Its difficult to eat on them because you have to face forward to the street and eat to your side. They need to bring in some high tables and high chairs, Especially if they want people with dogs to sit and eat out front. This way the dogs can sit at our feet and stay out of the walkway. Lots of people walking by crossed at the street without passing this restaurant just to avoid our dogs sitting on the sidewalk, but there was nowhere else for them to sit. This place needs to do better if they want customers to come and to remain loyal customers. Lastly, I noticed 12 people commented and they had 4.9 stars. I am hoping that its not just friends of this establishment and that is why I am giving you my honest opinion. I hope to be proved wrong in the future. Cheers!!
