Brabo Tasting Room

Excellent food and portions. The server suggested that I not order so much! I have never had that happen, but glad she was looking out for me. I had the charcuterie board — enough as an appetizer for 3 – 4 people — and the chorizo mussels — flavorful and light. The outdoor courtyard was beautiful and perfect for a nice enjoyable dinner.

I wandered into this place as it was close to my hotel and I needed a quick lunch. It was great, terrific food offerings, fresh daily specials, and libations. I had one of the wood-​fired flatbreads and it was terrific.

Brabo was great. I tried scallops and spinach. I would recommend. I was offered peppers that were way too hot. The waiter was very gracious and removed them from my bill. I would say you should try the tasting bar as well.

I am not sure the Belgian moniker is correct as someone who has lived in the Benelux, but maybe having mussels constitutes the minimum baseline here. I digress…
We are here on business and got tired of the constant tourist traps sprinkled in the area. We wanted mussels and this place seemed like the best choice. We found the place lightly filled with patrons and quickly were seated.
Service was okay, not amazing, but sufficient. We started with a charcuterie platter which was great. For our entrees we had the pork and mussels. The pork was a bit too dry, but it could have been an off night. The protein itself was a good selection.
The French-​style mussels were phenomenal. Sufficient bread was provided to soak up the wonderful white wine and Gruyère cheese sauce.
The beer menu is the real display of this not being a Belgian restaurant as it included only one or two from the region. A tasty Trappist beer with the mussels would have been great.
Overall for the experience it was great and a welcome departure from the usual of King Street.

A staple in the brunch rotation because every time I’ve been the food/​service is great. No reservations, but I’ve gone on the earlier side (10ish) and haven’t had to wait for a table. Just went to dinner last night and meal was just as good as brunch. Bread pre apps was surprisingly hot and I always judge the meal to come based on the quality of the freebies. Had the meatballs as an app and sauce was great (I’m Italian for context). Chicken club was awesome — flavorful chicken and bacon + avocado. #getinmybelly

The food is delicious and the employees are attentive, but my friend (from out of town) and I never had food poisoning this bad. I’m not sure if our fish was not stored or handled properly.

Great breakfast and great service.
Pork Bellies, very good. Waffles with a delectable Chantilly cream that will keep you coming back for more. Even the choice of sparkler for the mimosa made them especially guzzleable.
If this carries through to dinner would advise anyone to forgo BRABO, and head to the Brabo Tasting room.

Per usual with me, if you have good mussels, you will win my heart and stomach and this place has some of the best. Beer, wine and service were fantastic. There was a miscommunication with timing of seating, which they rectified with a round on the house. We had the Thai mussels, which were amazing. Order some extra bread to soak up the left over broth.

Go in knowing that what you see on the menu is basically what they have stocked in the kitchen. For example: want goat cheese in your omelette instead of gruyère? NOPE. Gruyère is listed on the menu and gruyère is what you’ll get! What about a side salad instead of potatoes? NOPE! How about some fruit instead, because fruit is on the menu? Sure, no problem.
You get the idea. ‘Tasting Room’ is no misnomer.
Having said all that, I enjoyed my brunch experience here. It was a quiet Sunday morning, no wait to get seated, food came out quickly. I ordered the Spinach and gruyère omelette — which was packed to capacity with delicious spinach. Oh how my heart swells when that happens! The entrée comes with a potato cake, which I substituted for fruit — a beautiful medley of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberry on a bed of apple slices.
Prices are high. $ 3 for coffee, $ 18 omelette. Toast was one slice of bread — which naturally meant we had to order more. I wouldn’t mind eating here again, but at that price point, it would be nice to throw in a complimentary brunch drink #JustSaying
Parking: metered street parking. Plentiful.

I come to the Tasting Room for breakfast most Saturday mornings. The staff always bends over backwards for me and my fussy companion. Especially Krystal and Dyusha. Very nice servers.
The food is always excellent!

I’ve been to the tasting room several times. It’s a smaller more casual version of its brother restaurant Brabo next door. Both are connected to the Lorien hotel. Several items that are my favorites include the cheese boards, flatbreads, French onion soup, and the mussels. The mussels are the reason I come back. They give you a huge pan of them and they are perfectly cooked and cleaned and few if any are broken or missing «meat». They also have really great cocktails. Happy hour is at the bar /​community table so keep that in mind if you’re there during those hours (5 – 6:30pm everyday).
Tip: they don’t take reservations so get there early or come late if dining with a larger group.

What a cute dainty small and cozy restaurant the bravo tasting room is.
The moment I walked in I was greeted with many friendly hellos and greetings from the staff. I sat down and waited for my friend to arrive. The waitress instantly poured me water while she gave me time to wait for my plus one.
The menu is so cozy and to the point. The food option start from wood fried tarts to the Robert signature mussels to sandwiches to meats and cheeses to salads to soups. The menu is so easy to read and it makes picking your dishes that much easier.
The main dishes range from 16 to 20 $. It is a very reasonable menu and it’s pretty cheap regarding the restaurant area and the great atmosphere the restaurant embodies.
You need to order their classic mussel! It’s so delicious! There is minimal fishy smell and the sauce is spot on. The sauce is perfect for dipping their soft French bread with! The classic mussel was definitely my favorite!

What I miss most about California: Trips up to Napa Valley for great food and wines. (After friends, of course.)
Well, Brabo just made me feel at home. The Tasting Room’s menu is relatively short but the quality and execution of each dish are outstanding. Case in point: My pictures received no less than twenty likes in the last 24 hours, and I didn’t even use filters!
Among the three of us, we shared the endive salad, the duck tart, and classic mussels. Each vegetable in the salad worked perfectly with each other to deliver tart, sweet, and freshness in each bite. While my friend thought the candied walnuts were a tad too crunchy, I thought they were five seconds away from being burnt while achieving a beautiful caramelization.
The mussels were plump and plenty. While I would have preferred less butter in the broth, I thought the chef was going for a more subtle focus in the broth to highlight the fresh mussels. Plus, EVERY mussel had opened up. I don’t remember the last time I ordered mussels where I didn’t find at least one dead mussel in the pot. I really appreciated the freshness. The duck tart was interesting. I expected more of a braised duck on top of a quiche-​like tart, but it’s actually marinated duck on top of margherita pizza. Regardless, I enjoyed it.
We finished the meal with a peppermint white chocolate mousse for dessert. While I never eat white chocolate because I lack the sufficient sweet-​tooth for it, I thought the mousse was quite excellent. It was fluffy and well-​contrasted with the chocolate sauce and peppermints as well as the dark chocolate cake.
Finally, the service was impeccable. Aside from the personal staff, our waiter thought to separate our salads into individual plates without us asking, and checked back a few times without being overbearing.
Brabo is another reason to fall in love with Alexandria. I highly recommend it!

The service was very good both times I’ve been. They are friendly and informative. Something interesting was that the servers do not tell us their names. If we ask they do… just a fun thought.
I can’t remember what I had the first time but I remember it being good. Their presentation is definitely very nice, clean and fresh.
It was lunch time and I really wanted classic mussels so here we go I ordered the only size. They were big and fresh and cooked to perfection. I just couldn’t finish them and there is no take out for shellfish wish they had a smaller lunch size! Everything was delicious but I felt that it was slightly under season. May be my taste buds. Maybe next time I’ll explore the othe flavors.

If you’re a mussels fan, you’re going to love on this. Their mussels are HUGE, available in several flavors, and super filling. They provide tons of bread to sop up the delicious sauce, and man oh man, did I leave full and happy.
Brabo Tasting Room is like the hipper, younger brother of Brabo. It’s a more casual eatery, with a more limited menu, but still covers all its bases anytime you’re craving something to eat with a bit of American flair. Mussels, flat breads, salads, soup, etc. Brabo itself is only open for dinner, so the Tasting Room is a great option for breakfast or lunch when the main restaurant isn’t open.
The only thing they’re missing is the ability to serve up some fries with their mussels for a good ol’ helping of mussels frites!

Treat yoself Sunday… my bf and I had an amazing time sitting and chatting for hours in the tasting room. We were seated at a table which we usually opt out of and go for the bar but all the seats were taken so we gladly took the table. They were participating in their «restaurant week» because they missed the other one? I can’t remember exactly but the menu was your choice of tart, mussels, and dessert for $ 35. We actually went with the regular menu because we weren’t feeling dessert. To start, we had the duck tart– OH HELL YES. Give me all the duck, and all the tart. SO good– by far my favorite part of the meal. We then went with the cheese and bread plate– I have to say, my cheese knowledge is just about zero and I wasn’t took crazy about any of them; even the cheese lover wasn’t blown away, but the bread was bomb!
I had a bottle of wine, and my bf had just about each of the beers on the drink menu– we were there for about 5 hours I want to say. at one point our server was getting off so we paid out and moved to the bar. The bar starts their Happy Hour specials which are really awesome at 5, we moved to the bar at that point but just chilled for a while and didn’t end up trying the mussels which even now I’m regretting. We had a really lovely, relaxing time and I can’t wait to come back.

My oh my, the medley of aromas that hit you upon entering this establishment is pure bliss. Brabo Tasting Room may be the small, younger sibling to next door’s Brabo, but it certainly packs a punch. The restaurant is essentially a dozen or so tables/​booths and a bar, but a full food & drink menu is offered, and it is much more affordable and laid back than Brabo. The two menu options that MUST be ordered when visiting this place are one of their woodfired tarts and one of their mussels selections. I was with a group of friends on my first visit and we tried the pork belly tart, the roasted mushroom tart, the bacon & bleu cheese mussels, and the chorizo mussells. Everything was out-​of-​this-​world delicious. I still catch myself day dreaming of those woodfired tarts every now and then when I have a pang of hunger.
I’m also a big fan of Brabo Tasting Room’s wine menu. It’s not too extensive, but all of the choices are solid and you can order by the taste, glass, half-​bottle, or bottle. The only negative with this place for me is the fact that they don’t take reservations. Considering its size, that is a little bit anxiety-​inducing for me. However, I believe they just recently opened up a back patio, so that should allow for some more room for guests. Patio or no patio, I will surely be returning to Brabo Tasting Room many times in the foreseeable future.

DISCLAIMER: I did not have any food here. I only had a Bloody Mary which was pretty good. I had read a review that it was spicy, which is how I like them, so I was disappointed when it wasn’t very spicy at all. It was flavorful and came with Absolute so I still enjoyed it.
The place was super cute and very cozy. I would give them more stars but the service was not impressive at all. When we walked in no one greeted us, they just let us stand there. We asked the gentleman behind the cooking station if we could sit at the bar and he said yes. We sat for a few minutes before a man came behind the bar and asked if we would like something. I knew I wanted a Bloody Mary but my fiancé had no idea what he wanted so we asked for a menu. Kinda weird they asked us what we wanted but we didn’t even have a menu to look at.
The bloody mary debacle — I ordered one and the guy behind the bar looked for it for a minute then decided it was in the other Brabo restaurant next door and he would have to go get it. A few minutes later he comes back into the restaurant without it and starts helping other customers and completely ignores that I am still waiting on him. This is brunch time on a Saturday and you don’t know where your bloody mary mix is?
A few more minutes pass and a different guy comes behind the bar with a plastic container that is marked ‘bloody mary’. I just assume it’s for me. He pours it and hands it to a man a few seats down from me. I ask him if that was all the bloody mary mix they had and he said ‘Oh did you want one too?’. Ive been waiting at least 15 minutes by this point. Meanwhile, the original guy who took my order is just going about his business like I didn’t notice he never returned with bloody mary mix like he said he was going to. Eventually, I got the last of the mix and the bartender started searching for the recipe to make more.
Also, a woman who I assume to be a manager or something did not keep it quiet that she was frustrated with the bartender. I kinda felt bad for him. She wasn’t very friendly.
Bottomline, this place turned a really simple order and brunch-​time staple into an unorganized mess. Not to mention, we didn’t get the warm and welcoming feeling a place that charges that much should give off. It almost felt as if we were bothering them.

Stopped here for a quick bite while strolling through old town and really enjoyed it. The restaurant had a relaxing, Napa-​esque feel to it. I ordered a veggie tart (somewhere in between a pizza and a flatbread) and it was great. The crust had this lovely and uniquely crisp texture to it, which I think comes from them sprinkling (sea?) salt on the bread before adding toppings and throwing it in the oven. Plus, the vegetables were very fresh and not scarce at all. It was a bit expensive but filling and a solid option nonetheless.
Also, ask for some bread and butter because I think it only comes upon request and it is quite good. They season the butter with salt and pepper to give it a little something extra.

I’ve been to the tasting room twice now, once for breakfast and once for lunch and I left full and happy!
Brabo runs a RW menu which is paired for two, but with all of the food, three people could easily split. The RW menu included a flatbread, mussels and dessert of your choice. The mussels were my favorite part and these bad boys must have been on steroids. I’ve never seen mussels the size they were at Brabo before!
Breakfast, is truly a treat at Brabo. Be sure you have ample time, because there wait staff isn’t on point this early in the morning. I ordered the French Toast, and a colleague of mine got the All American Breakfast, but looked and smelled wonderful. From my colleague’s review her breakfast was equally as delicious as mine tasted, too.
The food is spot on, but if you are in a hurry, this isn’t the place for you.