I splurged a little this weekend and ate out quite a bit.  The last place I ate at was Coldbrew’s Sports Bar and Grill which is where Ray’s Brick Oven Pizza once resided.  First and foremost, I must confess that I was disappointed and quite surprised when I learned of Ray’s Brick Oven Pizza closing.  Being that I am from Chicago I think I have credentials as an expert pizza reviewer and I really felt that Ray’s offered some of the best pizza in all of Atlanta and most certainly the best in Roswell.  That being said, the place that took over in its place had a lot to live up to.

My friend and I arrived at Coldbrew’s just before Sunday’s NFL kickoffs began.  We were two out of about 15 people in the establishment…a small crowd for a sports bar for Sunday football.

The bartender greeted us and handed us our menus.  She appeared quite busy filling ice, chopping fruits, and doing a variety of other tasks.  When it came time to order food I took her recommendation and ordered the Diablo Burger which was her favorite…it was the burger I was eying…typically anything with the word Diablo in it peeks my interest.  I ordered it cooked medium rare.  In addition, I ordered some nachos for my friend and I.  I’m off the belief that you can judge a sports bar by the quality of their nachos.

While we waited for our food we ordered some alcoholic beverages.  Charlie ordered a Guiness which we were told they were out of so he ordered another beer instead (I don’t recall what).  I ordered a Bloody Mary.  She asked me if I liked my Bloody Mary’s spicy and I told her that I did and said Absolut Peppar is good.  Shortly after receiving the drinks I see a chalkboard on the wall that mentions “Everyday Drink Specials”.  I asked the bartender what the specials were and wouldn’t you know…a Bloody Mary was on special for $3…sweet!  Although, it wasn’t sweet, she informed me that is only for those that are made from “well vodka”.  Now, I understand that when she asked if I liked my Bloody Mary’s spicy I said that I did and suggested Absolut Peppar, but she should have countered back and informed me that if she used well vodka that Bloody Mary’s were on special for $3…instead I ended up paying $7 for my Bloody Mary.

Our food finally arrived.  After taking one bite I notice that my burger doesn’t seem to be cooked medium rare.  I take one more bite further into the beef patty to be sure that indeed I was not mistaken.  My burger was most certainly cooked “well done”.  I inform the bartender of this and she looks at it and agrees with me.  She informs the kitchen and a new burger is brought out to me 10-15 minutes later…by this time my friend had already finished his meal and I had finished the french fries that were originally served with the well done burger.

I bite into the medium rare burger, it’s cooked to perfection…great!  Unfortunately, the burger was nothing special whatsoever and I’m quite sure I’ve cooked tastier burgers myself.  This is a disappointment because a sports bar should be known for their burgers.  If they aren’t known for their burgers then they ought to be cheap…not priced near $10!

Finally, the end of the meal has come…20-30 minutes after my friend had already finished his meal.  I get the check and discover that the Absolut Peppar cost me an additional $4 and not that I expected it, but when similar situations have happened typically the burger would have been comped.  Rojo Taqueria didn’t do anything wrong and yet they acknowledged my unhappiness and turned an unhappy experience into a positive one.  All this being said, I don’t foresee myself setting foot inside of Coldbrew’s anytime in the near future.

880 Holcomb Bridge Rd
Roswell, GA 30076
(678) 639-7297
www.coldbrewsgrill.com

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