Brad’s Brew

I ordered a cobb salad, the chicken is boiled, chopped, tasteless ultra white stuff…they gave me about 1 oz of dressing for my salad — for a big cobb salad? Ill have to try again since I was in a crummy mood to start with…

Brad’s is a decent spot to stop for a quick sandwitch or breakfast to go. Did it blow my mind? No… but its a take away sandwitch joint so I my expectations were in line with what I got. I have visited often for breakfast and like that they offer options like egg white, turkey bacon, etc. Then you can add to your breakfast sandwitch whatever you like from thier sandwitch bar. For lunch, the sandwitches and salads are pretty standard — add the cherry pepper relish, its amazing, tangy and spicy. Their soups are solid too. If you need a quick lunch, this wont blow your mind, but is decent.

For $ 9.50 I got an 8″ Roast Beef sandwich, a little light on the beef, and a drink. Taste was pretty good, but overall nothing different than a million other places.

I just wanted a quick plain bagel. Staff just hung around and took forever. Asked it if I wanted it toasted, no. Served me a cold bagel straight from fridge. Why are they even open in morning.

I thought I would give this a try today for lunch since I walk by it everyday in over street mall. Brad’s offers a selection of salads, deli sandwiches, wraps and soups. I decided to go for the Waldorf salad which was lettuce, chicken, grapes, apples, cheese and sunflower seeds. They were out of spinach so I got it with mixed greens with raspberry vinaigrette. The salad was ok– a little skimpy on the toppings, but nothing special. Although it wasn’t bad. It was a decent size, but if you’re really hungry you probably need to get a small side.
The prices aren’t bad (my salad was $ 7), but compared to others in the area (mcalisters, newks, just fresh) I think you get less than what you pay for and less options. Brad’s wouldn’t be my first choice on lunch options.
Ps they have soups that look delicious.

Ordered the chicken Caesar salad. Was very disappointed. One slice of chicken, the rest were just chicken crumbles. (Small amount I’d feed my dogs!!)
Shomars has a much better salad. Whoever you are «Brad» you may want to walk down the hall and eat at your competition, because they make WAY better salads than you.
You better step it up if you are going to pay «Uptown» rent!

Worst sandwich place ever. Don’t even deserve one star. So disappointed. Evrything is good except the sandwich. Lol. Not at all recommended.

I haven’t tried their breakfast yet but go there frequently for lunch to have their sandwiches. The turkey melt and tuna melts are my favorite. You can put as many of the free toppings you want and they run the sandwich through the toaster first. Some days it’s hit or miss though depending on who is making the sandwiches but overall thumbs up. I had the salad only once but again it’s a thumbs up.

I visited Brad’s recently for the first time since it opened thinking they could work out the kinks, learn from early mistakes, blah blah… Also, to keep an unbiased opinion walking in the door, I kept off their Unilocal page and other review sites too. After experiencing a «meh» meal at best, disorderly organization, poor selection, and a massive, uncrowded dining room in what has to be a pretty pricy $/​sqft area of Overstreet Mall, I’m afraid my opinion of this place is on par with my fellow Unilocalers — poor.
The place just seems like the owners did zero research on what a quality sandwich shoppe is these days and instead opened this restaurant to capture some hippy youth vibe that completely misses the mark with the (literally) thousands of professional types that walk by it every day — You couldn’t ask for more foot traffic or exposure. Stand outside for 5 minutes of this restaurant and people watch. Then take a look at your restaurant and you tell me if you’re even remotely close… go ahead, I’ll wait.
The spinach turkey melt wrap was a «safe bet» order. Here’s the problem — I had no idea what the options were to even put on the sandwich. Another patron that I was slowing down in line pointed out a list of things you can put on your sandwich, mustards, lettuce, tomato, etc. But the list included about 4 veg and about 4 – 5 spreads — thats it.
‘On the «specials» board though it said you have 4 – 5 extra veg that aren’t on this list — can I get that?’
Well you can, but you gotta ask, and Brad’s uses stainless steel sneeze guards over their toppings, so you can’t even see what’s back there, freshness, presentation, anything — it’s 101 type stuff here guys. Show the customer what they’re going to eat — show off your fresh, plentiful, variety of ingredients!
The meat is not appetizing. I am not at all a fan of thick sliced deli meat that wasn’t sliced within the past 10 minutes (ok within the last 30 seconds), and that’s Brad’s approach. It was greasy, slimy, thick, and bleh — I’d bet money it was sitting in a bag, pre-​sliced, overnight.
The bread? it’s like they bought it at Teeter for crying out loud. They have like 2 or 3 kinds of bread and that’s it? 3 kinds of wraps? DUDE?! what exactly are you doing, other than pure location and the ESPN TV, to differentiate yourself and make your sandwich shop stand out from the literally dozen other sandwich shops within a 2 block radius?
I REALLY wanted this place to work out — but it misses the mark on so many levels. I loathe Subway, but if you need a fair competitor and a crappy sandwich, call Jared and see if he has lunch plans.

I have tried their sandwiches 2x and they are awful, pure garbage, I will never eat another one. That being said, they have really good soups and chili. So if you want soup or chili give this place a try, if you are looking for anything else go someplace different.

Though I have not tried their breakfast, Brad’s has become one of my go-​to lunch staples in Uptown since it is close to my office and they serve some tasty food… FAST! I think this location used to be another sub shop (more mainstream) but I think Brad’s is holding its own in this location.
You move through the line fairly quickly to get a sandwich or salad — I do have to say it takes a while to get used to their system, but after you go through once or twice, it’s pretty awesome instead of waiting for your number/​name to be called out somewhere else or have a server or have to have a pager.
Once you order your base sandwich on white or wheat the sandwich is then toasted and the cheese becomes melty and gooey. The guy on the other side of the toaster puts your toppings: lettuce, tomato, onion, etc. They have standard toppings and premium toppings to add for an extra $ 0.25. You can even get crushed chips in your sandwich. Dressings: mayo, oil, and vinegar… Brad’s Italian is good on the italian sub ;) My favorite is «The Sauce» that has just enough kick to give you enough heat for the rest of the afternoon. Not overwhelming to where your mouth is on fire, but just enough.
Your are handed your sandwich and then you proceed to pay at the register. Simple enough, right?
I have had their chili and other soups… pretty decent if you aren’t feeling chips or if you want something warm to go with your salad.
The dining room is small and kept neat — there is a street «feeling» so it’s super casual and you wont get judged by your attire here.

This place is just ok. The food is good but nothing special. Its definitely overpriced for what you get. They are trying to go for the very casual looking place but unfortunately it doesn’t cone off as edgy and trendy… just comes off as they dont care. Supplies are left out as well as the parts for soda machine. If someone wanted to meet me there I would go but not going to choose to go myself. 9 dollars for soda chips and a sandwich I coukd have made at home is not worth it.

Located in the Overstreet Mall, next to McDonald’s. I decided to give them a try and ordered the Club, turkey, ham, roast beef, bacon & Swiss, with whatever additions, lettuce, tomato, etc. the line was long so I thought that is good sign. The bread was blah and the deli meat was nasty, almost slimed tasting. Too many better sandwich subs places downtown.

OK… I decided to give Brad’s another try, partly after stumbling across Jessica M’s recent review that described some reinvention. Went the same route I did that led to my initial two star review in 2011 and got one of their subs While I still wouldn’t call it toasted the way they do, there was a definite upgrade in terms of the amount and quality of meat. Not overstuffed by any means and I would recommend they still work to add some more meat to each sandwich but, for the price, the 6″ version anyway is now closing in on being worth what you pay.
I plan to go back and hope that they keep on improving. I like soup a lot so plan to try one of their offerings in that category next go round.

Ok, Brad, you’ve begun to reinvent yourself. I approve. Your soups are so fresh and tasty, and with a choice of 5 soups each day, there’s something for everyone. If you’re a soup lover (like me), try the chili. It’s clearly full of fresh vegetables, and chunky, not just an occasional pepper and bean among a sea of super fine ground beef and tomato sauce.
And the fresh baked goodies? Excellent, especially when they are BOGO after 2pm — genius! I do wish, however, that you had more of a rotation in choice of cookies, rather than just triple chocolate and peanut butter chocolate.
Salads are tasty, and different, which is great. You may want to try charging less for the snackies by the register. 3 bucks for a tiny cup of jelly bellies seems a bit ridiculous, considering that Walgreens is a few steps away, but you’re getting the idea with the snackitude in the afternoons. Keep it up!

This place is just ok. Located in the Overstreet mall, there’s a couple of reasons I probably won’t be back. Maybe more like 4 or 5. It is too far to walk from South uptown for an eh ok sandwich. There’s much better places. You’d never think it but the little café thing inside the be Bechtler just behind the disco chicken is much better. Next, we get the fact that they also own Fuel pizza. Hell they took all the table crap from one place to the other. I think my soda cup even said Fuel! Differentiate people. Common. If you work close to them I understand. I will not be wasting my hour nor so when there’s better.

Can i give zero stars? This was, by far, the worst breakfast we have gotten in Charlotte. The sign says fresh new breakfast, not even close. Pls look at the pic of one of the «sandwiches» I posted. Awful. Styrofoam eggs, forgot the cheese on all sandwiches, and half a scoop of eggs an one sausage patty split in half for a hoagie roll. For 4+ dollars.
Why would anyone in their right mind go to this place, I was fooled once, pls don’t repeat my mistake.

I used to go to brad’s quite often when they first opened. I really enjoyed their Ginsburg Salad. Well after eating about two a week for a few months it was time for me to take a break. So I went back today and got my salad.
First, lets start with the fact it’s a $ 7 salad and I could make them for much less but to be realistic I am not going to do that. Now I do understand that the toppings on this salad are expensive (goat cheese, walnuts, cran-​raisins, red onion) but the two leaf’s of romaine lettuce… not so much.
When I was handed my salad today I thought they were kidding. The container was less than half-​full and there were no onions or goat cheese. To be fair he did realize he forgot the cheese while i was still staring at my salad in disbelief (I didn’t notice the onions were missing until I had walked back to my building 4 blocks away).
Needless to say, I ate my salad and I wish I had skipped the walk to lunch so I could go home an hour early. Should have just gone to McDonald’s across the hall. Won’t be returning Brads, sorry.

I thought this place was a-​ok for a quick lunch
Grilled Cheese — not really melted but okay ratio of bread to cheese (maybe a bit more would have been better but then again, I always think that).
Bread was soft & had it been on the grill a bit longer, it wold have been nicely toasted. The cheese was a nondescript white variety maybe like a Monterey Jack but it was tasty
What really paired well w/​it was the pepper relish & tomato I added. The relish provided just the slightest eek of spice to make it more flavorful w/​out being at all spicy
Lots of different chips from which to choose — you’re in. You’re out. You’re sandwiched.

I feel bad ripping on a place located in Uptown. I mean, with all the disadvantages of placing a restaurant in this town (high overhead/​rent, stiff competition, etc.) it’s a wonder we don’t only have McDonalds and Burger King duking it out in the Overstreet Mall. That is why I was so excited to see an original «sandwichery» (my word; look for it in Webster’s, next years edition) open up in the Mall.
When you think of Brad’s, think Quiznos, minus the good bread choices and creative sandwiches. Sure, Brad’s throws their subs through the conveyor toaster… whoop-​de-​doo. When I saw they only offered two bread choices (white or wheat), I actually got excited! Here I was thinking that a sandwich shop that only offers two bread choices must bake their bread in-​house, thus restricting them from getting too wild and crazy. Um, the dude took my roll out of a bag. And it wasn’t even a good bagged roll.
The level of meat and cheese on the sandwhich was sparse, at best. $ 10 for a subpar 8-​inch sub, chips, and fountain drink is pricey, even taking into consideration the Uptown location. Ri Ra’s sandwich shop down the street will do you better, but even they aren’t that good.
Back to the sandwich drawing board…