The Brick Tavern & Grille

Typically, I wouldn't chime in on others reviews, but I believe this one warrants such action. As a resident of the Capital Region, I love to support local businesses and often refer to Yelp and Facebook reviews before I visit a new dining establishment. Having been to the old Brick House and new Brick on numerous occasions now, I would like to offer my review before my review critique. The setting of the new building is very inviting. It has a central bar with seating, some perimeter high tops, a few booths, several side rooms for larger parties, and an outdoor patio area overlooking a pond. With the numerous large televisions, you'd think that The Brick would have a sports pub feel, but it definitely doesn't. Every time that I've gone in, there has been a good mix of families, parties, and friends just hanging out and watching the game. The outdoor patio is nice for the summer evenings and offers the outdoor ambiance that many look for during the summer months. Live entertainment is also a nice touch that The Brick offers. I would say that the only downside to The Brick, in terms of setting, is its location. Although not too far from many of the other restaurants in Clifton Park, many people may not to think to stop at The Brick initially because of it's kind of off the beaten path. However, once you learn where it is, it becomes an easy destination. Service wise, the staff has always been accommodating and friendly. When the establishment first opened, I experienced a few hiccups in terms of wait time, but that has gotten better with time. I've never experienced a bartender or server that has been rude to me. On one occasion I did have a grilled chicken salad, where the chicken was under cooked. When brought to the attention of the server, she immediately took it back to the kitchen and a new dish was made. A manager accompanied the server back to the table with the new dish and sincerely apologized for the mistake and made a slight adjustment to the bill. Now the important part; the food! Mostly, when I go to The Brick, I order pizza. It is, by far, their best food option. With so many options and styles, you can't get a bad pie! Each and every time I've had the pizza, it's been awesome. Easily, my favorite pizza in the area. I've had different menu options on a few occasions. Sandwich and salad wise, their selections were good, but pizza still remains king at The Brick. 'The Dirty Bird' sandwich is worth a try. Overall, a great place to bring the kids, or meet up with friends to watch the big game. Nestled back by Cliton Park Center and the Clifton Park YMCA, it's a locally owned restaurant that you'll definitely want to check out! Now for a critique on a post that I recently read with a 1 Star Rating. Apparently, a few days ago a customer was embarrassed as they tried to pay with a 1951 one hundred dollar and it failed the counterfeit pen detector test, turning brown/black when the bill was marked by the pen. You can read the review below, but basically the customer goes on to rip the restaurant/police for how the situation was handled. As a little background, a counterfeit detection pen utilizes a starch/iodine chemical reaction test for its detection of counterfeit currency. When a mark is applied to the paper, the iodine from the pen will react with the any substance on the surface of the paper, thus causing a visible color reaction. With genuine currency, a pale yellow/transparent color reaction indicates that the currency is legitimate. If the resulting color reaction is brown/black, then the currency is suspicious or counterfeit. The principle behind the color reaction is that genuine U.S. currency contains 75% cotton and 25% linen. Non-currency papers contain wood pulp, which contains starch in its base, or chemical additives of starch for sizing. Therefore, when the iodine from the pen comes into contact with the starch from the paper, a dark color reaction occurs. Traditionally, genuine currency consisted of 75% linen and 25% cotton. Shortages during World War I and II, however, led to a drop in the percentage of linen from 75% to 50% and an increase in the percentage of cotton from 25% to 50%. Finally, in 1956, the Treasury Department dropped the percentage of linen from 50% to 25% and increased the percentage of cotton to 75%. This percentage of 25% linen and 75% cotton is the standard for what is used today. Now, according to the review the customer insinuates that this is common knowledge and should be known by everyone. You learned this in eighth grade printing press class, didn't you? In reference to this process, the customer states "Apparently something the restaurant is uneducated on, then the officers obviously have no clue either." Apparently, being uneducated in sentence structure and grammar, the customer fails to realize that he is dining at a restaurant, not the United States Federal Reserve. Now, it may be my false assumption, but I'm assuming that the staff at the restaurant is trained to mark all high dollar currency with a counterfeit detection pen. So the staff marks the hundred bill and when the bill fails the test, contacts the authorities, as trained. Inconveniencing for the customer? Sure, but as with any business, proper protocols are in place for these types of situations. As a side note, with the current circulation rate of U.S. currency, older bills are not seen as often as they once had been, so one could understand how this particular bill could raise suspicion on looks alone. My only question is, if the failed pen detection on older bills was known by the customer, why wouldn't they make mention of the fact when handing the bill to the server, to at least acknowledge the potential negative situation? Then, to the shock of the customer, the restaurant examines the rest of their currency to see if it is deemed counterfeit as well. Who would have thought? The customer states that their party was embarrassed because customers of their family owned gas station were in the building. Look, I get it. You're trying to compile a list of how terrible your experience was. However, it's a gas station. People go there to get gas, not to attend a black tie affair. This matter will not affect your business levels. And if it does, lower the price of fuel to beat your competitors and your customer base will increase. Lastly, the customer states "the food we ended up needing to get as take out ended up being a raw in the middle grilled chicken sandwich..." Again, I'm going to try and decipher through the hieroglyphs of this partial statement. "The food we ended up needing to get as take out..." I'm assuming you ordered food at the restaurant and then decided not to eat it there, but rather take it home as take out food? Or did you order it as take out food? At any rate, you ordered a chicken sandwich that was raw in the middle. Firstly, I'm surprised you took the food home after this whole ordeal, as I probably would have just left the establishment in an unpleasant mood. Assuming that you did take it home as take out, you wouldn't have found out it was raw in the middle until you got home and tried to eat it. Did you call the restaurant to tell them it was raw and that you would like a new sandwich? If so, how did they respond? If not, you have no right to complain. The restaurant is in the business of serving food, not mind reading. In conclusion, your one star rating is skewed. You rated the restaurant on following proper protocol to the threat of a felonious activity, to which they complied to the fullest extent, following the steps they were trained to. As a business owner yourself, you can't blame them for that. Having the knowledge of the counterfeit detection pen not working on older currency, mention should have been made prior to handing the bill over and maybe this situation wouldn't have occurred. I'd encourage you to please proof read your future reviews before you post them, because as the restaurant seemed "uneducated on" counterfeit currency detection to you, you seem uneducated in sentence structure and grammar. This critique is not to have a condescending undertone, but one that points out the various circumstances at which you, yourself point out. As a side note, if you did call the news stations about the story on how "Local Restaurant Follows Proper Money Handling Procedure Despite Angry Customer", I would probably revise your rant with proper English and remove your Facebook profile picture of you giving the middle finger. It just displays a little less credibility to your character, wouldn't you agree? Oh, and as a disclaimer; I am sitting at the airport awaiting my flight, so yes, I had time on my hands to write this, and no, I really didn't have anything better to do with my time at this exact moment. Cheers.