Hill Cafe

Exterior

Hill Café

17 Putnam Avenue

Brooklyn, NY

718-230-3471

www.hillcafe.net

            My boyfriend chose this restaurant for our first date anniversary. Needless to say I was super impressed with his choice! Upon entering we were seated immediately, unfortunately there was a party outside, so we were unable to sit outside and it was definitely the most perfect, gorgeous day for it. 

Interior

Our waitress did not speak very good English and did not know what we meant by “bottomless mimosas.” Luckily, one of the owners happened to be sitting behind us and informed us that they do in fact have bottomless mimosas for $15 each. 

Everything on the menu sounded delicious, it was so hard for us to choose our entrees.  But I decided on the chicken and waffles. My boyfriend had the steak and eggs. This is a French restaurant and the chicken wasn’t fried, it was chicken paillarde. Initially I was a little weary; however, it was delicious! And it was topped with a mix of tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Underneath was one of the best waffles I’ve ever had in my life.

Chicken and Waffles

The waffle was crispy on the outside, yet soft & fluffy on the inside and very tasty. Instead of syrup, it’s served with a delicious gravy sauce and a side of eggs and mixed greens.

Skirt Steak and Eggs

 The skirt steak was tasty and had no fat on it, which I definitely prefer. Overall, I was very satisfied with my meal, it didn’t look like a lot initially but I couldn’t finish it all.

        

Once the waitress understood the bottomless mimosas, she kept them coming. We even finished our meal within an hour, yet sat around chatting and drinking mimosas for another thirty minutes. My only complaint is that the mimosas were super weak. I could barely taste any champagne and never once got a buzz from them. Thumbs down to the bartender.

            The owners are a husband and wife team. The husband is the chef, he passed our table a few times and said, “bon appetit” to us.

Sign Outside the Kitchen Window

The wife is the hostess and runs the floor. We felt welcomed by them and the French atmosphere they’ve created in the heart of Brooklyn.

Bottomless 2

Food 4.5

Service 4.5

Overall Experience 3.6

My boyfriend made an excellent choice for our anniversary! We will definitely visit Hill Café again!

XOXO,

Brunch Chic

P.S. Thank you for a great brunch experience, and all that you do Marcus. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Marcus & I

Aria Buffet Brunch

The Buffet at ARIA

3730 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 590-7111

www.aria.com/dining/restaurants/buffet

         Aria buffet brunch is located inside of Aria’s Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brunch at Aria is rated one of the top brunch places in Las Vegas, so you know I had to try it out for myself. Needless to say, I think my expectations were too high. 

We waited in line for about 45 minutes, which was a huge turn off. There was even a long wait if you had reservations. However, it was Sunday, memorial weekend so I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. The price was higher than advertised on line, which is a huge turn off. We paid a whopping $52.99 for brunch and bottomless drinks, which I now know wasn't worth it. 

Nails Fi Done!

         The food was decent. Not as spectacular as I was expecting. The pancake station had all different types of toppings to adorn your food, caramel, whipped cream, nutella and syrup.

Tons of seafood to choose from, crab legs, clams, mussels, and shrimp. 

Furthermore, there were different stations with different ethnically inclined dishes like Asian, Latin, and European. Definitely eat from the Asian station; the General Tso Chicken was the best I’ve ever had! 

Best General Tso Chicken EVER!!!

 The dessert station was, by far, the best. There was tons of variety, from cakes, to cookies, to cupcakes and brownies, over ten different flavors of ice cream.

Yum Yums!!!!

         Service wasn’t impeccable nor was it horrible. The waiter would appear out of nowhere, take your used plates and ask if we wanted more drinks. I stuck with mimosas, although you could alternate between beer, rum punch, sangria and other cocktails. The mimosas where average, I had about four and did not have a buzz.

         People were dressed Sunday casual and relaxed. I even felt slightly over dressed in my backless yellow sundress and sandals. The girls didn’t have anything great to say about Aria’s either, at the end of the day we were happy to be enjoying a meal together.

Bottomless 3

Food 3.8

Service 4

Overall Experience 3.6

Would I go back? Definitely not. There is a tremendous amount of brunch places in Las Vegas and I will be trying a new one on my next trip.

XOXO,

Brunch Chic

Loved this sign! #BrunchChic 

Taj Lounge

Taj Lounge

48 W 21st St

New York, NY 10010

(212) 620-3033

www.tajlounge.com/

First Sunday's Brunch

            We were superrrr über excited to try our first brunch party. This was my first time at Taj and I've heard tons of things about the venue. The ambiance is beautiful, and the decor is very Asian influenced.  I definitely recommend making reservations at least two to three weeks in advance, they were booked completely up to a week before hand, but the host I spoke with said you could still be seated if there are open tables. We arrived around 1:30pm and were seated immediately. The place was still empty at the time, so we were able to sit in a booth.

Our waitress came over immediately, took our payments [$45.00 - gratuity was included] and brought us two pitches full orange & grapefruit mimosas. They write the time you are seated on your wristband to keep track of your two hours. Once seated you are able to join the buffet line at anytime and get your grub on.

        The buffet food wasn't anything to rave about. Many unhealthy choices and many entrees were way too salty.

        The mimosas were strong and anytime you needed a fresh pitcher the server was right there.

We had a few other people join our party later and their two-hour limit started upon their arrival. Once your two hours is finished and the next party arrives, you have to clear the table, but you can stick around and party all night. 

           We were seated until about 4pm (definitely got more than two hours). Got one more pitcher of mimosas and took it with us on the dance floor.

           

Around 5pm, the tables in the middle were cleared away, the lights literally turned off, music turned up and everyone started dancing. The DJ played a mix of top 40s, hip-hop and reggae. The crowd was full of hot young men and women.

            Before I realized it, it was 7pm. We definitely lost track of time inside of Taj and partied all Sunday. When we were leaving there was even a line outside to get in!

            Make reservations early, Don't expect a grand brunch meal, prepare to drink & Dance a lot, and make sure your party arrives on time (easier said than done lol). Dress chic and stylish. It is definitely a place to show off your fashion styles!

Bottomless 5

Food 3

Service 5

                                                                                    Overall Experience 4.3

I'll definitely be back again for the turn up!

XOXO,

Brunch Chic

Elberta Restaurant & Bar

Elberta Restaurant & Bar

335 Flatbush Avenue

Brooklyn, New York 11217

718.638.1936

http://www.elbertarestaurant.com/            

          All of the times I’ve visited restaurants on Flatbush avenue I never took notice of this restaurant, and I wish I had earlier. It is a hub for young, black professionals, the ambience is simple, yet romantic, service was excellent and you can tell from the hand written menus on the chalk board that attention to details are not spared. 

               Right outside there is a placard sign that states “Brunch served all day,” I think I

immediately fell in love. Not having to wake up and make it to a restaurant between 11am-4pm after a night of staying out late and still be able to enjoy my favorite meal, BRUNCH was fabulous! Although, it isn’t listed on the menu there is a bottomless brunch option, which brought an already content Danni to an uber excited Danni. Bottomless brunch is the only way to go. Our waitress was right on top of every single refill as well; she refilled my glass before I even realized I wanted a refill.

I was in the mood for a filling meal, something sweet and salty, so of course I ordered the Chicken and Waffles. My friend ordered the burger and two side orders of macaroni and cheese and an order of deviled eggs. All and all, I am not a big cheese person and probably wouldn’t have ordered the mac & cheese for myself, but boyyy am I glad that I had one of my own. This was literally some of the best mac & cheese I have ever had in my life. It’s extremely flavorful and garlicky and the top is toasted to perfection. The Chicken & Waffles was excellent until I discovered a piece of my chicken was still red inside. The mac & cheese definitely stole the show.

My friend loves every item served here and even ordered two entrees to take home. I will definitely be visiting Elberta's again; I need more mac & cheese and want to try the other items on the menu, like the Chef’s Pancake of the Day, French Toast and Shrimp Po Boy! If you go, just be prepared to wait, although we went pretty late, around 4pm, there was still about a twenty minute wait to be seated.

 

Bottomless 4.5

Food 3.5

Service 5

Overall Experience 4.3

Definitely check this place out, maybe you'll see me there!

XOXO,

Brunch Chic