Brix - a Zionsville bistro

Where was the sauerkraut? Our group ordered seven Reuben sandwiches, and not one of them contained the sauerkraut mentioned on the menu card. Despite this oversight, the sandwich tasted pretty good for what it was. The sandwich was very crunchy, very grilled. It looked like it had little ribs of corrugation on it--and the slicing down the middle was so crisp and precise, as though they used a table saw with a fine-toothed blade. The cheese and dressing were satisfactory. The bread was so hard, it was like eating a Reuben on a Ry-Krisp. The potato salad was light and creamy. It was definitely a lighter sandwich, as may have been fitting for their mostly older female clientele. The dining room was very loud, and the place was stacked pretty full. We had to wait over twenty minutes before even placing our order, and then thirty minutes after that before we got our sandwiches. We should have been heading back to work by that time. We felt oddly out of place as the only male patrons at that time of day. This would be a great place to take Grandma for a Reuben, but if you have a hearty appetite, or like to have sauerkraut, or are in a hurry, I'd go somewhere else.

Brix is in downtown Zionsville, an area that could accurately be described as "quaint", I think. Parking is pretty sparse: we parked on the other side of a small park area, across the street from the restaurant, but it was still not a long walk, and the park was nice (with a huge vibernum bush in bloom). I don't know what I expected when I entered the place, but this wasn't it. I think, because of the name, I expected a pub, but Brix is more of a cafe. Paintings hang on the walls, and little fabric decorations cover the track lights. A spiral staircase in the middle of the dining area adds visual interest: I kind of liked that, though I'm not sure why. No, you're not allowed to climb it. We were the only men in the establishment, besides the cook in the back. It was very loud, because there were no soft surfaces to absorb any sound (the floor is tile and the ceiling tiles appeared to be painted tin), and the tables were already crowded at 11:30. We had a long wait in line to place our orders. Then we had a long wait at our tables while our food was prepared, but at least the menu warned us that each order was hand crafted (or something like that, I forget the exact verbiage) and would take a while. The service was friendly enough, just very slow, which was really not good for us when we had a 40 minute round-trip already. The tables are wobbly, with cardboard tucked under them to ameliorate the problem, and the chairs are mismatched. Food was served with real china and metal flatware, and real glasses, but paper napkins rather than linen. I opted for the potato salad side, which--though otherwise fine--was served lukewarm rather than cold. The sandwich itself had been pressed strangely flat, but the bread was nice and crispy nonetheless, even without lining the slices with cheese. Some of us joked that it was made with giant melba toast, but the flavor was definitely rye. The cheese was strangely stretchy, more like mozarella than Swiss in consistency, though it did _taste_ like Swiss. The meat was good, but not exceptional, as was the dressing. My only real complaint is that there didn't seem to be any kraut whatsoever, the description in the restaurant menu to the contrary. I couldn't taste it, and I couldn't see it. It was sadly missed. Other than that, a decent sandwich, but not a reuben. Overall, Brix seemed like a decent enough place for a relaxed chat with the girls over a latte, but not a good place for a reuben lunch.

The bread on this Reuben was quite thin, thin enough to earn it the moniker "Melba Reuben". The sauerkraut seemed nonexistent. Nobody else seemed to be able to detect any either. Still, the sandwich was pretty decent. We picked a bad time to go, as there was a very long line. They were definitely not prepared to handle the size of the crowd that was there.

Sandwich was missing sauerkraut. Sandwich was ok other than that. Meal was very expensive for what was received. Potato salad was unique and had great taste but served warm.

This was a different experience. The restaurant was different and the potato salad was good but very different. As for the sandwich it also was very good, but it was not a Reuben. Unless it was a different type of Reuben!

I enjoyed the atmosphere, it had a real "Bistro" feel to it. There was big band music in the background, unique art, intricate lighting fixtures and a spiral staircase. The sandwich tasted fine but did not seem to contain any sauerkraut, so I find it hard to term it a Reuben. The bread was flatter and crisper than most (similiar to a panini), I prefer thicker bread, but this was fine. The meat was fresh, the dressing was tangy, and the kraut was non-existent. It took over 30 minutes for our food to arrive, I think their kitchen might have been cramped, the dining area was cramped as well (but it gave the atmosphere a quaintness). I would say the speed was below average, the sandwich was average, and the atmosphere was above average.

I'd like to thank Brix for waiving its "women only" policy today so that we could sample their Reubens. I'm not against women, mind you--it's just that there were 20 minutes worth of them in front of us in line.