Questionable Policies at Brickyard Bring to Question its Restaurant Atmosphere

By: Aaron Tefel

Brickyard Restaurant and Micro Brewery seems to not be appeasing all of its customers due to certain restrictive policies and a lack of customer service.

Brickyard, which is located at the Garden Shops at Boca near Powerline Road and Palmetto, serves 50 beers on tap, as well as having a full bar, and serving a variety of items ranging from duck tacos to flat bread pizza.

The restaurant boasts “Happy Hour from open to close everyday”, attracting not only working adults, but college students with their competitive prices, making them a “hot spot” in Boca Raton.

However, many customers who have been to Brickyard feel the complete opposite.

Currently boasting 2.7 stars out of 5 on Google reviews, the establishment gets many complaints from customers regarding management and service. One reviewer claims, “I only gave this place one star because I could not rate it any lower.”

Gabe Ushi, the reviewer, goes on to talk about his Brickyard experience from one night where he and his teammates went to the establishment for food and drinks.

His night started off on the wrong foot when employees told him that his party could not have more than 10 people, which Ushi found odd, but brushed it off.

After this the nightmare began. Without asking, a waitress handed them their check before they were finished, and proceeded to break down when she thought a tip was too low.

The waitress created such a fuss, that management called the cops on Ushi and his friends, despite Ushi explaining he was actually tipping the waitress more. However, this fell on deaf ears.

“There are plenty of places within a 10-minute drive that are well worth your business,” Ushi said.

Another facet of criticism for Brickyard deals with its restrictive “No Sleeves” policy.

Janet Le Grand Rice, who dealt with the establishment’s no tank tops and cut-offs policy, spoke to the Tribune about her family’s experience at the restaurant.

Le Grand Rice’s son suffers from Type 1 Diabetes and tends to overheat; therefore Le Grand Rice buys him “sleeveless shirts that look dressy” with no excessive imagery or prints on them, in an effort to spare him discomfort.

The family was denied entry simply because their son was wearing a cut-off shirt on the day they went. Additionally, Le Grand Rice noted that there were women at Brickyard that day who were wearing way less clothes than her son was, yet there was no problem and they were allowed to be in the establishment. She said that there was no dress code policy at the door when they looked as well.

The manager, who told the family they would have to leave if the boy couldn’t “cover up” did not apologize to them after they explained to them their son’s situation.

“There was no apology, I would have written to the manager but once I realized that was him, and realized he had no backbone and had to hide against his adult policies being enforced on a child, I knew it wouldn’t have made a difference what I said,” Le Grand Rice stated. “I would never return there, even if it was for free.”

Brickyard management was unable to be reached, despite numerous attempts by The Boca Raton Tribune to comment on these incidents.