I never expect a whole lot out of chain restaurants that dress themselves up and pretend they're fine dining. It's not that I'm a snob and insist on REAL fine dining. It's that I'd just rather go to a local joint that is family owned where the dishes weren't conceived at some bullshit food academy alongside a picturesque hillside in Tuscany.
All that being said, occasionally my wife convinces me that it's a good idea to go to one of those places, and in the case of Brio, their carbonara is pretty freaking tasty. I don't care if it's even remotely traditional or authentic. It tastes great.
Our service was comical. My wife and I ordered a bottle of wine and our server had no clue how to open it. She'd never seen a wine bottle before in her life - not even a picture of one in a magazine. I'm surprised she didn't just set it down on the table and walk away. How could she know so little about how to open it, but at the same time know that it needed to be opened? I don't fault her at all. Restaurants shouldn't hire people to serve food and wine unless they've proven in some way or another that they are capable of doing these things at the most basic level.
I felt so much pain in my heart for her that I eventually asked her to lean strategically into the table to hide me from her manager while I opened the bottle for her. I wish I had video of her attempts before I took mercy on her, though. It was positively fantastic stuff.
She was bad all around, but she was attractive and had a bubbly personality, something my wife and I both appreciate in a server of either gender.
The food, though... In the world of chain Italian make-believe fine dining establishments, Brio reigns supreme. I could've eaten the carbonara until I exploded like the guy in Seven.