Brio Tuscan Grille

The happy hour wine which is their house wine is jug wine and the bartenders will tell you its horrible. Then they changed the menu, Salmon with angel hair pasta was spiked with red-​hot peppers and the menu does not state so. Beware! Also no one tells you they have a rewards program, found this online. After have visited Brio’s over a year. Big disappointment. New menu beware. Wines are horrible. The female bartender long blonde ponytail, said, its all corporate’s doing, she has no control over the menu. Well Corporate, then Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware, and tell the consumer that the new salmon with angel hair pasta is hot, with red peppers and your wine sucks.
MD & RN

Very slow — Reaturant was not crowded — over 1 hour wait for food on a Sunday night at 6:00! Had 3 rounds of bread.

I have been to this location a couple of times, and each was good. However, tonight was exceptional. Two things really made it so 1) the Restaurant Week Menu and 2) the server!
The Cream of Mushroom soup was fantastic, the 3 – 2 oz. medallions were seasoned and grilled to perfection and dessert topped it off perfectly.
My server was Kylie O. I am not easily impressed, probably because I eat out way to often, but she was exceptional! Make sure to ask for her.
I know it’s a chain, but it is a must do in Sarasota.

Went here about a week ago with my boyfriends family, our server was great, and another server, Parker, was attentive to our table as well. he helped clear the table, and even provided a new menu when crumbs got all over a women’s in our party. she has a gluten allergy and he was quick to act and not put her in any uncomfortable situation. Will be back.

The food is not good nor bad! Its just blend and not at all what i was looking forward to, prob wont be back here

Wonderful place! Awesome menu great friendly staff. The portions are large and the prices are reasonable. Very unique environment. To bad there’s no entrance from inside the mall. That was a mistake!
I had the calamari app it was delicious. The chicken Milanese was great too. I definelly recommend this place.

MEDIOCRE. This place is not terrible but it is just NOT good.
The flavor of the food just seems to be lacking despite some good use of ingredients. It is like you can tell it is cooked by a corporate chain restaurant.
In the end the only positive factor is the ambiance, which is nice — especially the patio. But the food is mediocre despite the menu’s colorful descriptions.

So mediocre. Service was adequate but highly sporadic. Caesar salad was full of iceberg lettuce. So average. The atmosphere was not so bad… More quiet than most big restaurants but basically this place is typical chain restaurants: they seem to trade quality for portion size.
I will give them points on their wine suggestion though.
Meh.

Very good but you’ll find better downtown if you’re looking for Italian. Plus one star for service and the outdoor seating.
Happy Hour menu during the week is excellent. Martini, cheese olives, six bucks. Spicy Shrimp and Eggplant (to die for), six bucks ($ 13 on the main menu).
Pastas are very good (a bit rich) but the grille and chef menu is where things go south. Too salty. I’ve had the Grilled Chicken «Under the Brick» twice and it’s way over seasoned. Calamari app always arrives overdone — crispy and dry.
Not too shabby for a mall joint so check it out after showing at the UTC Mall. Outdoor seating is great.

One of the best brunch bowls in the area! Simple but very well done. The bartenders also know how to make a fantastic mimosa— which means little to no oj!

Just like all the rest of the restaurants at the mall around happy hour. Bar bites go from 3:30 — 6:30 Monday through Friday, so be early or be prepared to wait. The burger and carpaccio are top notch. Drinks could be a little better as the happy hour price is still around $ 8 a drink, unless you want a Peroni, which is $ 4. Still a bit steep, but you won’t be disappointed in the food.

went on a date here– beautiful outside area. The starter eggplant dish was amazing.

Nice atmosphere and lots of menu items to choose from, but nothing amazing. I shared a featured entrée from the rotating menu — the cold lobster tail with shrimp risotto, which also had mushrooms, roasted peppers, asparagus, basil and Parmesan. Everything paired together really well and even half a portion was filling, however a piece of my lobster felt a little undercooked. It also could’ve used some more spices or seasoning.
They also have a variety of cocktails, but I would definitely recommend getting a sangria (like the white peach sangria) over the gin or rum based ones: the strawberry basil smash was very bland and watered down.
If you feel like dessert, I would share one from the rotating menu because it is cheaper and smaller than the regular ones but still delicious– the chocolate chunk bread pudding was rich enough to satisfy my sweet tooth after just two bites.
They have a great variety of salads and chef specialties which I am excited to try next time I come here.

I wasn’t that impressed with Brio. I had heard from word of mouth that this was a fabulous restaurant.
Pros: Gluten Free Menu, Nice décor, great drinks, delicious salad, big portions;
Cons: My dish (Brio Pasta) was not very flavorful.
Overall, I would try it again. The rest of my party enjoyed their dishes so maybe mine was a fluke. I’ll update my review if it’s better the next time.
Update: I visited the Tampa location and liked it, so maybe it depends what you get or which location you go to. Still sticking with 3 stars.

Beware of their happy hour lie!
I went in on Friday October 16^th around 6:00pm, the hostess asked me if I was there for happy hour. I responded yes and something to eat, we were quickly seated in the patio area. When our server (Robert) got there, we asked about happy hour specials. He quickly told us we were not sitting in the happy hour area (which was full), those prices were only allowed at the bar and under the covered area. We were not seated there or even given those prices after saying we were there for happy hour. We asked if a manager could make an exception, Robert came back and said NO!
We stayed any way and ordered drinks, my client had white wine that was the smallest pour I’ve ever seen in such a large glass. I had red Sangria that was a weakest drink ever, I sent it back and more wine was added.
On Monday I returned and talked to a Manager, to make sure I was being told the right reason from Friday. It turns out my server was correct, the manager also added they did that all the time. Because they could not give proper drink service to the rest of the restaurant. WHY NOT HIRE another bartender, or add staff during this busy time?
Needless to say I’ll NEVER return to this location for food or drinks!!!

Had to wait 45 minutes for lunch.
Place wasn’t that busy.
Waiter claimed the kitchen «messed up».
They «messed up» on the salads and entrée as well
Food was mediocre
If you have good money to throw away on a disappointing experience, this is the place.

I used to love Brio. Not a cheap restaurant by any standards, it used to have a great service and delicious dishes. But apparently not in Sarasota.
I went to Brio after a day at the mall (UTC). I choose Brio from lots of restaurants in the area and I was sorry for the decision I took.
This is the first time in a restaurant when the waiter did not return to ask if everything is fine after I received my meal. This is also a rare occasion when the hostess rolled her eyes when I told her I want to sit at a different table (the restaurant was almost empty). This was the first time in Brio when the pasta was bland and swimming in sauce. The soup was cold, and it took 15 min or more for the soup to be served.
I don’t give one star because I believe the restaurant can be saved, but I truly believe that they should take a look at both the quality of the food and the service at this location.

I want to really like Brio, but I didn’t love it. If I could ever get use of a half star, then Brio would be a solid 3.5, and if I was only comparing it to corporate chain Italian restaurants, it might get 4 or more, but compared to other Italian restaurants in general, its just okay.
Brio has a few things going for it. This location is very nice — the new mall in north Sarasota is very high end, and this location is at the front with a upscale outdoor patio with some potted plants and such to block the view to the parking lot. My brother and I sat out there. Service was also very good.
And there isn’t really anything wrong with the food, it just isn’t great. I got the chicken fra diavolo — spicy chicken pasta. I liked the pasta and the sauce. Wasn’t too spicy though and could have used more of a kick. I have certainly had Italian I liked less, but also plenty I have liked more. My brother got one of their fish specials, and he loved his meal, so perhaps I just didn’t get one of their better items.
Again, it wasn’t bad, and if you’re looking for a nice place to rest your feet on a Friday after a long week of working, I do love their patio. Seems like a good place to meet some friends and share some drinks and appetizers. Or, if you just can’t decide on where to eat and need a good fall-​back, Brio won’t do you wrong. That said, you also won’t walk out of there in awe of your meal.

After visiting the University Town Center (UTC) mall for hours, our legs are exhausted. We are dying for good food. The UTC has a few restaurants to offer and we chose the one that has the most reasonable price — The Brio. The Brio is the Italian Tuscany Restaurant.
We check with the host and she tells us we have to wait for 45 minutes for the tables. But the bar and the pizza bar are available and no wait line with full menu. Guess what, I love to see the action of the cook and we have chosen the pizza bar. We are sitting down and the waitress approach us with a smile immediately. We read at our menu and try to order and the waitress apologize the lunch menu at the bar was mistakenly place there. She switches out the menu quickly and we have ordered the Blacken Tilapia and the Chicken Picata. She brought out some of the flat bread for the pre-​meal item. The flat bread is sprinkle with rosemary, sesame seed, and cheese. It is good pre-​meal item and we ask for more. The diner was prepared for 17 minutes. When we were waiting, the pizza chef has the pizza station and appetizer station prepare the food in front of us. You cannot believe the appetizer that he prepared look very good. The bruschetta look yummy. Their bruschetta are the Roasted Tomato and Herb Pesto, Slice Steak, Roasted Red Pepper. We were planning on the next visit to try the appetizer only. I have took a few picture from the counter that is next to us with a arm reach.
My salad came out first. It is a wedge salad with the bacon, parmesan cheese and goat cheese sprinkle over it. It is interesting that they cut quarter of the lettuce and remain in the ball shape. Our main course tilapia is accompanied with grilled broccoli and sweet potato. The tilapia is great but not gives me a wow factor. The chicken picata is prepared with the white lemon butter sauce and caper. We added the angel hair pasta on the side and they are delicious to dine.
Overall the service is good and quick, we definite go back for the appetizer when we are near there.

We went in for lunch on a busy Thursday. Place was full but it didn’t felt crowded. Décor is outstanding and service was fast, but even better was the food. We tried the soups and they felt homemade which is a plus for me. Pasta dishes were also great, perfect al dente. I’ll come back for sure. Prices are good too, especially for such a nice time we had. Plenty pf wines and cocktails to choose from.
To finish, the best part, Ashley (our waiter) was super nice, corteous and efficient. Kudos for her.