Wolfgang Puck Kitchen + Bar in Brownwood: Happy Hour and Dinner

We went to Wolfgang Puck Kitchen + Bar at The Brownwood Hotel for dinner, but our evening actually started a little earlier at the bar.

We arrived in time for happy hour and spent about 30 to 45 minutes in the bar area before moving to our table. With drinks, a couple of appetizers and live music, it ended up feeling like part of the evening rather than simply a wait for dinner.

Starting With Happy Hour

During our visit, happy hour ran from 3 to 5 p.m. at the bar. The menu included $9 shareables, $10 wings and $11 pizzas, along with discounted beer, wine and well drinks.

We tried the crispy calamari and grilled Asian barbecue wings. The portions worked well for sharing, especially since we still had dinner ahead of us.

There was live entertainment while we were there as well. Wes Anthony was performing in the bar area, which gave us another reason not to be in much of a hurry to get to the table.

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Kitchen + Bar

Once we moved to our table, the service remained attentive throughout dinner. We also found the portions to be more generous than we expected.

One of the surprises for us was the garden salad ($16). It came with avocado, cucumber, radish, tomatoes, pickled onions, pea shoots and olives. There was quite a bit going on for a garden salad, both in the amount on the plate and the mix of ingredients.

A Couple of Entrées Stood Out

Of the entrées we tried, two were the most memorable for us.

The miso cod ($30) was served with black rice, maitake mushrooms and a fennel-radish salad. It was one of our favorite dishes of the evening. We especially liked the combination of the cod with the black rice and mushrooms, which made it a little different from the fish entrées we commonly run across around The Villages.

The other standout for us was the red wine braised beef short rib ($40). This was a substantial portion with a rich sauce and the kind of hearty preparation we expected from a braised short rib.

Our table also tried the 12-ounce New York strip ($45). Across the dishes we ordered, portions were generally plentiful.

How the Evening Came Together

Wolfgang Puck Kitchen + Bar is not among the less expensive dinner options around The Villages. For us, though, the experience also wasn’t limited to sitting down, eating dinner and leaving.

Starting with happy hour at the bar, listening to live music and then moving to the dining room gave the evening a natural progression. Service was consistently good during our visit, and the garden salad, miso cod and short rib were the dishes we’d be most likely to order again.

We would go back, particularly on an evening when we had time to arrive early, spend a while at the bar and make dinner part of a longer night out in Brownwood.

For something more casual nearby, we’ve also written about our experience at Gator’s Dockside in Brownwood.