Brio Tuscan Grille

Fantastic meal and fantastic service! This was our first visit here and everything was excellent. Joseph, our server, was wonderful and took very good care of us.
I highly encourage visiting here!

This would be a 3 star «A-​OK» review, but for the price point, I expect a smidge better. The food itself is all right. It’s the standard Italian grill concept. Heavy on steak, chicken, and seafood and exceptionally light on pasta. If you’re looking for traditional Italian classics, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Having said that, I liked my grilled chicken breast with marsala sauce and mushrooms. Bluntly though, the mashed potatoes were very lackluster and uninspired.
The real concerns I had came from the service. First, the hostess was thoughtless to say the least. My father has a mobility impairment and uses a cane. She clearly saw that we were having a hard time keeping up with her and insisted on trying to move us to a booth in the back of the restaurant until we were adamant that he’d have a hard time stepping up into the raised booth. Then, she insisted on going to a table back at the front of the restaurant. Next, our dinner took well over thirty minutes to come out. Neither of these would be a huge issue except for the fact that we were only one of two groups in the dining room.
With the slightly elevated prices, uninspired quasi-​Italian menu, and indifferent service, Brio feels more like a hotel restaurant at a resort with a captive audience.

Oh Brio… You have so much potential. It’s a nice, brightly lit and clean space that’s certainly a popular place for:
— people having an office lunch gathering
— a lady’s baby shower or birthday
— those fleeing the wait at The Cheesecake Factory across the parking lot.
I’ve been a few times, but only because of a group gathering (i.e. not my choice). Last week, our wait person seemed mostly distracted/​disinterested. Like if they were a little short on staff, and a manager had to wait tables but was thinking about six other things the whole time. Oh, well, she did perk up at the «here is your check, so now is the time to tip me» moment of the meal.
We had two apps for the table… The spinach/​artichoke dip was a little cooler/​congeale-​y than we’d prefer, and there was at least one comment that the bread served with it seemed a bit stale. And I feel like the of inclusion of peperoncini didn’t enhance the «calamari fritti», and more just made me feel sad the part of the dish I enjoy (the actual calamari) was substituted (seemed like almost half the dish) with a cheaper vegetable.
The entrees were «A-​OK», but there isn’t a lunch menu here, so expect that even a plate of just plain fettuccine alfredo will be $ 11, and the breadstick/​flatbread basket was far inferior to that-other-Italian-fast-casual-place’s unlimited garlic breadsticks.
Overall, I’ll have to rate this place as «I’ve had better».

Been here a few times food has always been good.
Came for my birthday dinner and service was spectacular. The two servers for our group were amazing. They both did an extraordinary job on keeping drinks and bread filled for the amount of people we had. No hiccups in our order at all, food arrived in a timely order and everything was hot still. Desserts were decadent and delicious.
I took my friend here for lunch one day while she was in town. It has now become one of her favorite spots so we come here much more regularly now. There is always a good selection of food for everyone.
I typically get the Pasta Alla Vodka. I got the Pasta Pesto recently and it was very good, it was very light for being a pasta. I would highly recommend that if you want a pasta but don’t want too much food. My friend got the Lasagna this time and oh my goodness there was way too much cheese on this dish, it is extremely decadent, almost too much cheese to even eat it. If you love cheese this could be your dish. But for us it was just too much to eat. Out other friend got the Fettuccine, it’s much different than what you typically see. It’s not a white Alfredo sauce, it’s a red sauce. It was okay, but I wouldn’t really recommend that dish either. We also got the Applewood Bacon & Tomato Jam and the Bruschetta Sausage, Pepperoni & Ricotta Flatbread, both were pretty good. We ordered the mini Strawberry Shortcake and I was not a fan of that what so ever.
The shortcake was so over cooked and burned it was unenjoyable. The strawberries were mashed almost to the point it should have just been a purée. Not impressed with the desserts here however.
The food is okay for being a chain restaurant. I feel there are a handful of good dishes and others are a hit or miss. I think they are much better Italian food restaurants, but this one is tolerable.

Pass on this place, poor service– slow… Skunky Peroni Beer — no bread… We didn’t even order dinner.

Reserved a table on the open table app. Arrived on time. Was quoted a 90 minute wait. Get your act together! We don’t have that much time to spend out with our 2 month old in tow

This is one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten at. The dinner was cold and returned three times.
Then the manager came to tell us they were served at 165 degrees
What a mess of a restaurant.
Never again.

My guy and I chose this place for a later dinner after arriving for a vacation in Austin and we were not disappointed. The chardonnay was a wonderful start. For the meal, he got the lobster and shrimp ravioli, and I ordered the pasta pesto with GF pasta. The portion size was perfect for one serving and the sauce… omg the sauce… I can’t do the sauce justice with words. I’ll say this: I risked my touchy stomach with some bread just to get more of the sauce in my mouth.
Please try Brio. So worth it!

The food is okay, but the Happy Hour on Wednesday is awesome. Really inexpensive drinks and appetizers.
The service was a little slow.

The look of this restaurant is simply beautiful. Decided to eat here because it looked amazing from the outside. The inside was just as amazing too. When we entered the restaurant we were greeted and guided to our table instantly. Our waitress was friendly and did a good job. Our food… The Beef Carpaccio (Appetizer) is a must try! I would go back there and eat that over and over again. It was the best thing I’ve eaten in a long time. Also got the Grilled Salmon Angel hair pasta and the lobster bisque. They were both very delicious too. But that Beef Carpaccio. Damn. So good. Our food came out quickly. Our drinks were refilled at the perfect time. I had a great meal at this restaurant, and will definitely be back!

Came for a pre-​Easter dinner. Sat on the lovely patio and ordered the Sangria Rosa as per the recommendation of our waitress. AH-​amazing!!! Can’t wait to come back just for that! We were a party of 6, and had the pasta bolognese, veal, papperdelle, chicken Parmesan and pasta pesto. Every dish was delicious and we all ended up sharing! Will definitely return! Many many times!! I

Surprisingly good for a large chain restaurant!
Brio is located in the awesome arboretum area of Austin (shops and restaurants galore). I’m usually wary of going to chain Italian places since they pretty much all suck but Brio is surprisingly good. I’ve gone to another chain location before for high school homecoming 4 years back and they had excellent customer service and food as well.
Service is really good here! My friend and I were seated promptly and our waitress came around a few times asking if we had any questions. I didn’t feel rushed at all and she knowledgeably answered all our questions. Although, my water glass was empty for a few minutes at a time but I tend to drink a lot of water.
Bread and butter is complimentary
Food:
1) Calamari: about $ 11, big portion, crispy and comes with 2 dipping sauces
2) Campanelle carbonara: $ 19, a little heavy with the alfredo sauce, large portion of chicken, pasta was nice and chewy, would not recommend if you’re looking for something light
3) Lobster risotto: $ 20, I think this is seasonal, lots of flavors, nice presentation
4) Crème brûlée: $ 4, smaller portion, could tell it was not freshly made since the shell wasn’t warm, still good though
Overall our meal came out to be around $ 65 dollars with tax and tip included.

5 stars… received a 7 star service, was treated like royalty. Had we gone to Olive Garden and ordered similiar dishes, the price would of been relatively the same.
The server was not only prompt, on the ball at both the bar while we waited, but likewise our table. A little more intimate than your cheesecake factory as well.
Ordered a Kale Caesar= on point
Calamari = The best I’ve had since leaving Chicagoland
Shrimp and Lobster Fettuccine = should of followed my heart with another choice. Yet, I did appreciate fresh, not boxed pasta and not an overwhelming butter taste.
The Lady ordered the 2 oz gorgonzola encrusted medallions = absolutely on point. Not a fan of charred broccoli, would recommend a substitute.
The prices were incredible for what we had received. When we inquired about wines and the server didn’t know, I appreciated the honesty and not pulled stuff out of his arse*. :) Very quickly retrieved two samples for us and the lady was pleased.

Austin is in desperate need of Italian restaurants so we were excited to give it a try. The place is beautifully decorated and obviously no expense was spared either out front or in the kitchen. It is well lit and very inviting. We were greet by a very friendly hostess and waitress. Robyn was very attentive and the service was excellent throughout the experience.
I ordered the steak special and my wife, craving a light pasta dish avoided anything on the menu that sounded heavy or mentioned the word «creamy». So she selected the Pasta Toscano described as «classic Bolognese».
Our food arrived and I was excited until I looked a my wife’s dish. Mine arrived and was prepared at the perfect temperature. Mine looked great, but I was quickly disappointed with a heavily pepper steak that was incredibly tough. The potatoes were thick with cream and cheese. The asparagus was okay. Here is the real problem and I apologize for not including a picture of the Pasta Toscano. The «classic Bolognese» was almost orange I color. The dish was dense with cheese and mostly inedible. Since we have dine at many Italian restaurants and traveled through Tuscany and northern Italy, I can assure you there was nothing «classic» about this dish.
A pasta dish off the menu and the steak special ($ 22.95) with no drinks and a 20% tip gets you to $ 45 for two.

Every time I drive through the Arboretum on my way to shop, I notice Brio. I notice their patio with nice chairs under the canopy of trees and their draperies shifting in the breeze. I’ve contemplated eating here for a while. Of course, I looked Brio up on Unilocal a few times and thought… ehhh…but that three star rating. I’m just not sure I want to chance it — and then I go somewhere else.
Today, I was out with my Mom and we decided to chance it, and try Brio out. We were shopping in the Arboretum and needed a quick place to pop in. So… here we go.
We came in and the hostess greeted us, but then walked away and came back and took us to a table. A bit odd, but it happened in fairly rapid succession so that’s fine. Firstly, I was surprised at the dramatic décor. Big swaths of fabric hanging from the ceiling, stretched across to opposing walls and big glass chandeliers. Linen covered tables, linen covered chairs, tons of seating, as far as the eye could see. Big heavy utensils. I’m not sure what I was expecting but this was a little more pomp and grandeur that I figured for lunch. Judging from the outside view of the patio though, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Our waiter came by and talked to us about the menu and was very polite and informative — he took our drink orders and someone else came up and dropped off some fresh bread at our table. So far, this was going great. He had explained that everything is made in house from scratch every day which is fantastic.
As we’re waiting for our drinks, my Mom and I start to browse the menu — they have a lower calorie menu, lots of healthy looking salads, tons of pasta dishes — really a lot of great options. I chose the caprese for an appatizer, and pesto chicken quinoa salad, and she chose the grilled salmon salad. We received the caprese appetizer really quickly, which was great
This is when the service took a bit of a dive. The restaurant wasn’t all that busy and there was a lot of staff on hand that we could see, but our waiter started getting slow, and being MIA at crucial points such as a big gap between drink ordering and entrée ordering as well as a big gap while we were eating and started to need boxes. It wasn’t awful, but it was sparse until the check and then he was back on his game.
The caprese was excellent — thick slices of tomatoes and mozzarella with oil and basil, a very generous portion. My quinoa salad and chicken was decent, but a little lacking in flavor. It was a plentiful amount of food and definitely fresh, with grilled asparagus on top, which was a nice touch. My Mom’s salad was also fresh, and she said that the salmon was excellent. The waiter didn’t bring her any salad dressing and the salad was naked so we had to wait for him for a bit to come back and then ask for the dressing — then the dressing took a bit to get to her. She was much happier with her salad with the addition of the dressing.
I paid just under $ 50 for the appetizer, two coffee drinks, and two lunch entrees, which was about right. Besides the sparse service and the lacking flavor, I actually thought my experience here was decent and I’d definitely be willing to come back and try it again.

As far as chain restaurants go, this place does a really good job. The staff has always been extremely friendly and the servers are very knowledgable about the dishes and how they are prepared.
The prices are a little on the higher side for a casual lunch or dinner, but the food quality is very good.

I went here with a large group, all family the day after a wedding. They seemed to be very accommodating to us.
I ordered the Ham & Eggs Benedict Biscuit with potatoes and grilled aspragus. I’m used to having eggs benedict on an English muffin, it seemed ok but not great. The egg was poached to perfection and the hollandaise sauce was very tasty. The ham seemed like it was very fatty and may have been from a generic brand. I wouldn’t recommend this dish. I should have gotten the Margherita pizza though, I tried a piece of it from someone at the table, that was good. The complimentary bread was good too, it was three triangles of flat bread and a mini loaf of sourdough bread (right out of the oven, nice). I also tried my wifes lobster bisque, very creamy and had nice chunks of lobster in it.
Service was 5 stars considering the size of our group, the food was maybe 3 stars, I can’t justify giving it 4 stars though based on my dish, we’ll go back and update my review in the future, this place deserves a second chance, I just can’t recommend you go there for brunch.

Excellent restaurant with great food. Got to hang out here after a conference with a good friend and he too was suitably impressed. The service was fantastic with our waiter making excellent suggestions. I went with the recommended lamb chops and wasn’t disappointed. They were flavorful, cooked as ordered (medium rare) and the gorgonzola crust as great. My friend had a seafood linguine and even when full couldnt stop eating it, it was that good.
Have been here a number of times over the years and will continue to keep coming back.

Brio is a reliable good place to eat. Service is great, ambiance is upscale but prices are reasonable and food is usually yummy. In summer I recommend the gazpacho soup! In winter, they don’t have it unfortunately. Today I chose thee half rotisserie chicken raised in an Amish farm. Very juicy and tasty!
Careful, the brio chicken diablo pasta is very spicy. My girlfriend had to send it back for that reason.

Elegant Tuscan grille, conveniently located in the arboretum area. Great outdoor patio seating too. Really awesome happy hour specials and menu, but we chose to try some dinner items after our spinach dip appetizer: Sliced beef tenderloin salad and chicken Campanella carbonara, then the dessert trio (bread pudding, crème brûlée, and in-​house made cheesecake) and cappuccinos (FYI: no soymilk, which is disappointing). However, it was all mouthwatering deliciousness!!! According to our server, everything is made from scratch in-​house (except for the sliced NY cheesecake — flown in from NY).
Very friendly and attentive server (Sammy) and quick, hot food = awesome customer service and top-​notch dining experience!
We’ll definitely return!