The Brasserie at Hotel 1928

Really good food but over priced. I really did enjoy this place. Service was spot on. My family and I watched the hotel episodes and it’s really neat to sit down and eat somewhere you watched on TV. I got the salmon and it was delicious. My wife and daughter got the steak. They both said it was good. My wife’s sweet potato side dish was the star of the show. I think if it was less touristy priced and more reasonable I would give it five stars.

I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars, but choose 3 as this SHOULD have been a great meal for what we paid and it wasn't. My hamburger was very good, but overall our party didn't have a great experience. We waited 15 minutes for a table even though the restaurant was mostly empty. Service was average. My wife's meal was ok but undercooked and the meat was a bit tough. Desserts were the weakest spot. We got three to share. The chocolate cake was big but was quite dry. The cheesecake was very good, but the piece was smaller than the normal size I would expect at a nice restaurant, especially for $12. It cost more than usual, I got less, and it had a chunk out of the tip with no explanation by the server. The fried peach cobbler was extremely small, less than the palm of my hand, and was good but undercooked with gooey dough. For a premium restaurant with higher than average prices I would expect great desserts and good sized portions, not the disappointing fare that we received. We have stayed at the hotel twice before and the food back then was certainly better for the prices we paid. This time we saw a downhill trend.

We stopped for an early evening light meal. The surroundings and atmosphere were lovely. Very friendly and attentive waitress. I was disappointed in the quality of the food. French onion soup was delicious, with rich and flavorful broth and I would go back for that. My poached pear salad with burrata was ok, but the arugula was past its prime freshness and lacked the flavor I expect. The leaves were pale and some turning yellow. We also ordered cornbread which, on the menu, states "candied jalapeño" which is why we ordered it. It came with a cup of shallot and chive butter, not a candied jalapeño in sight. When I questioned the waitress, she went to ask the chef about it. He had no knowledge of candied jalapeños and sent out a cup of chopped fresh ones. (We declined). We also ordered truffle fries. They arrived barely room temperature, soft, and we were told the staff had to go upstairs to see if there was truffle in the fancy rooftop restaurant . They must have carried the fries with them, maybe that's why they were cold when they got to us. Cocktails were good, so kudos to the bartender, although some of our food arrived before the cocktails... All in all, a comfortable and pretty atmosphere if you want to relax with some average, but a little pricey, food.

This Smashburger was what started my recent Smashburger craze! Since I can’t get down to Waco very often, I’ve been on the hunt locally for a Smashburger as good as this one. We had stopped by Hotel 1928 to take a look at the gorgeous hotel but were tempted by the smells of the food. We ordered the pimento cheese appetizer with the warm crackers that was a special treat. It was my first time ordering it, and I loved it. That Smashburger is insane though. I swapped out the fries for the crispy sweet potatoes. I didn’t get a picture, but we did love the cast-iron mac & cheese. I’m normally not big on Mac but this one was very good. Def would go back when I’m in the area.

We came on a girls trip after hearing so many great things about this place, so we were really excited to try it. While the food itself was good, our Korean pork belly arrived cold to the table. Unfortunately, the service also made the experience disappointing. Our waitress did not seem very friendly, and we felt rushed and like we were being a bother the entire time. We also ordered dessert to-go, and it arrived looking like this. Overall, it just was not a great experience, and sadly I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend.