James A.
Yelp
Really good place for lunch in Nantucket.
We got some good advice from a guide at the visitor center, to come to Brotherhood for good food and to get out of the rain on a Friday. I was able to make a reservation via Resy, but turned out I didn't really need it. They opened their doors at exactly 11:30am, and there were two hostesses manning the outdoor check-in. We got in line to check-in, and they immediately seated us in a table around 11:35. For future reference, one can eat at the bar without having to checkin outside, but if you want to eat at a table, one has to check-in with the folks outside (I saw/heard a lot of potential customers being nicely told that they needed to go back outside...it is not a great set-up since customers coming from one side of the street would see the entrance before the checkin station). This is more important for dinner, where I'm sure it is a lot busier.
Cisco Brewery (supposingly not related to Cisco Technology or Sysco Foods) is local to Nantucket and the restaurant had a selection on tap. We tried a 16oz of the Witbier (Grey Lady) for $11, and I thought it was just OK...a bit watery, easy to drink...nothing to excite your nose or taste buds. My wife tried the Fish and chips ($28), and it was a great example of a proper English fish at a pub...it was a giant piece of cod, beer battered..could feed two people for lunch, equivalent of 3 big pieces of cod at other places. The batter wasn't light, but wasn't overly coated either. It came with vinegary cole slaw and curly fries. The fries weren't great...a lot of 'nub' pieces and the spiral pieces were often undercooked or just steamed because most of the surface area didn't touch the hot oil. I ordered the Brotherhood burger ($18.5), a mix of chuck, brisket, and tri-tip with backyard toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion) with choice of cheese. I adore these kind of burgers, mainly because of the simple but satisfying toppings...knowing this, I asked for heavy lettuce and tomato with mayo. The meat is the star here, and it was cooked to well (my bad since I asked for it medium-well not knowing the meat quality...hoping they could keep a little pink, but admittedly difficult to do). It had a very strong char-broiled flavor, and had a large amount of swiss (I forgot to ask for it with cheddar)....the meat was of excellent quality and next time, I would order it medium-rare. The toppings (besides the cheese) were a bit weak...shredded lettuce, very thin slice of tomato, a little onion. They came with the same uninspired fries.
Colleen was our waitress and she was superb throughout, always checking in on us to see how we were doing, making it a real enjoyable stay. They also have a large Japanese Sushi menu, and one of the waiters was raving about it...sorry, just can't get myself to do that from a place that also serves hamburgers and fish'n'chips.