Firebirds Wood Fired Grill

Great food-​great restaurant. Love the fire place. Food is bit expensive. You may have to wait 45−60Mins for table.

I was going to give 4 stars since it was my first visit, but the food was definitely 5 stars. We came on a Thursday for my husband’s birthday. He had the soup of the day — clam chowder which he said was the best he’d ever had. He had the prime rib (best ever according to him) with loaded baked potato. I didn’t think there was much you could do to improve a baked potato, but it was heavily salted before baked which gave it a fantastic flavor. Plus the toppings were top of the line. I had chicken pasta — very good. It does take a while to get the food, but the ambiance was great and it was nice to relax and just enjoy my company. Husband said this morning that he wants to make this the place we go to for special occasions — birthdays & anniversaries. I agree and look forward to my next visit.

This is not really a chain. It sort of it because there’s a lot of them, but they are few and far between and therefor this can be an exception.
Since I had a good experience at the Fredericksburg location, I figure to try the Gainesville one. And it went to expectations. Going here for lunch with another person, I got the coconut shrimp (I had an excellent experience with it last time) as an appetizer and the Firebirds chicken pasta. He got the Steak Au Poivre. The coconut shrimp again was terrific, 6 nice sized prawns meddled in cole slaw, and dipped in duck sauce. They were very good. And the bread (unlimited) that comes with it is fantastic too (the butter that you put on it just melts right onto it).
Our entrees were very good too. The chicken pasta was a nice sized portion (I got mine without the bacon and onions), but it had plenty of meat and pasta (minus points because the pasta I think was a bit undercooked). His steak dish was very good, and he enjoyed his vegetable. Great experience was capped by the fact our server was superb and friendly and accommodating without feeling like she was rushing us. Jade, great job.
I will gladly be back here again for either lunch or dinner.

My hats off to the genius way the service is slow but they convince you that it’s not. It took about an hour and 15 min to get our dinner at 8pm on a Thursday, but they definitely fooled us with trickery!
First we got our drink orders in. Oddly, has to ask for water as none was provided. But then we ordered an appetizer and gladly tore it up — the lobster spinach dip was awesome, btw. Eventually we ordered, and waited quite a long time. But the way they paced the bread (Idk why it didn’t come until 40 min in) and then the salads and then finally the food, it was a keen way to keep us eating random stuff to hush hush the fact that they were probably too busy and hoped we wouldn’t whine that we were hungry. I did hear the table next to us complaining out loud that they didn’t like the waiter bending over them and reaching across the table. Sleeve salad is probably not my favorite either, so fair enough.
The surf and turf was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and we were quite satisfied with the food. Maybe next time it’s busy, just tell us, but hey at least they kept us eating so we didn’t realize how long it took. A strange positive and negative all at the same time. Forced us to talk more, so bonus I guess?

My husband and I went here last night for our anniversary. It was simply amazing! Our waitress, Cori was very attentive and made sure we were completely satisfied with our experience from start to finish! They even brought us a card signed by all the staff wishing us a happy anniversary! Seriously, that is top-​notch customer service! We will definitely be coming back! Thank you Cori and Firebirds Grill!

Very disappointed. Lobster queso was very fishy. Steak was over cooked and tough. Pecan crushed trout was very greasy to the point I couldn’t eat it and the veggies were under cooked, almost raw. Oh and the sautéed mushrooms were cold. I expected this to be a higher end meal and it was not. We will never go back.

I have been to this place a number of times and it is really pretty good. Their steaks are wonderful and they make pretty damn good burgers. The atmosphere and décor are excellent for a couple whom wants a break from the general bed-​room family oriented stuff that is all over Gainesville. Although expensive, their happy hour is a very lively and nice scene. Definitely a place to go in the area.

Dinner service for two. The inside of the restaurant is beautifully decorated and has great lighting, stonework, etc. Wife had an Old Fashioned which tasted strong and very good, and I was pleased to see Old Bust Head on tap which I ordered. We started with the coconut shrimp, which literally came to our table about 60 seconds after requesting it. It was someone odd to have this come out so quickly before our drinks were even out, while we still had menus and had yet to order entrees. Had this already been prepared? Our drinks took a while to come from the bar, which was understandable since they seemed pretty busy and had to mix a cocktail. The coconut shrimp came with 5 decent sized butterflied shrimp fried very crispy with coconut, a mango habanero dipping sauce, and a slaw type salad. The shrimp were good but the dipping sauce was very sweet and I felt could have used a bit more acid. The slaw salad was great, filled with nuts and seeds and tortilla strips for little bits of crunch. For entrees we both ordered salads: Colorado grilled chicken and grilled tenderloin. The grilled chicken was absolutely great and I can see why the wood fired grill makes such great grilled meats. The tenderloin however was quite chewy and tough, and did not taste like it was seasoned very much. While the dressings were good, both salads were pretty well drenched in them. I would definitely order the dressing on the side. The flavors of the salad were very good and they both had some crunch. Service was largely good for how busy the restaurant was, although a bit slow.
Overall: The food and service was good enough to not rule this place out, but I was expecting more value for the prices. I would like to come back and try the burgers. The bar bites menu also looks intriguing value-​wise, although the specials end at 6:30 so it would be difficult to make it there in time.

Worse meal ever! Ordered the primerib and it was served on a cold plate. The meat was cold and raw! We sent them back and were served the exact sa m e ! Cold meat on a cold plate! WE WILL NEVER GO BACK!

As we love the atmosphere, great food and drinks, my husband and I have frequently chosen Firebirds for our special occasions. However what we *don’t* like is feeling like we’re being being «rushed» out of the restaurant if it happens to be a little past 9:00 pm (restaurant closes at 11:00 pm). On at least two occasions, we’ve had our server offer us the check when we weren’t even half way through our meal. We weren’t even offered a second drink or dessert. Of course once we *asked* for a second drink, they reluctantly complied but it still put a damper on the evening just knowing they were wishing we’d hurry up and leave. For a higher end restaurant, this isn’t the service we’d expect.
My advice — even though the restaurant is *technically* open until 11:00 pm — don’t book a reservation past 7:30/8:00 pm as around 9:15 pm they start trying to wrap things up.

I was traveling through the area and asked Siri what were some restaurants in the vicinity and it brought up Firebirds. We came in and were very surprised to find the menu had a lot of great choices. I was very pleased with the food and the service. Will come back and I highly recommend it to anyone.

We put off coming here because everyone we knew said this place was just ok and over priced, but we visit this area a lot and this place is always pumping out the most amazing smells so we decided to give it a shot.
We came on a Tuesday at about 9. It wasn’t too busy and we were seated right away.
It’s on the pricier end compared to other restaurants in this area but from what we ordered we were very pleased with the food quality and felt like the price was appropriate for the quality of food.
I wasn’t all that hungry so I just got their quesadilla appetizer as my meal, thinking it would be small. Nope, it was HUGE. I could hardly finish one slice of it! But t was very yummy and flavorful.
My husband got their salmon which he kindly shared a bit with me and we both agreed, it was the most amazing salmon we have ever had; so tender, so flavorful. Amazing.
The service was a tad on the slow side, but regardless we were very pleased with the place and will certainly be back!

We took my grandmother here to celebrate her birthday one Sunday evening. It was a smaller group, about 5 of us, and we did not call ahead to make a reservation. Much to our surprise when we got there we were seated immediately!
We started out with the lobster queso, which I HIGHLY recommend and I’m not the biggest radios fan. We also got warm bread, which I’m a carb junkie so that gets big brownie points from me!
I have been on the search for the best red sangria around and Firebirds does make a very good classic red sangria I was very impressed.
For dinner a few people orders the filet and said it was outstanding! #1 it’s wrapped in bacon, but #2 our server seemed to really know about the cut and recommend it be «butterfly cut» In order to obtain that perfect medium rare (that all filet should be served as). The loaded baked potato paired perfectly with the steak for a nice hearty filling meal.
Overall my family was impressed with my Unilocal skills and happy we have found this new restaurant to add to our list! Looking forward to celebrating here again!

One of my favorite steaks! I think the filet has the quality of Ruth Chris, just a bit cheaper. Great atmosphere. Great service.

This place is basically Applebees with better branding. First, we called for reservations and they said we couldn’t get in until 930. They called back at 8 and said we could get in at 8, but my family member didn’t get the call and we’d already made arrangements for 930. At 930, there was literally no one in the restaurant. I’m so confused!
I got the Durango burger and it was plenty aight. They did take my medium well order and cooked it nicely, but the side of tator tots weren’t crispy and the burger wasn’t anything special. The prices were quite high for a place like this.
I know this is the land of chains, but there has to be something better than this place!
The waiter was pleasant in a «guy trying to sell you a car» kind of way. Not bad.

Checked out Firebirds on the way to see a movie for lunch. The food seemed a bit overpriced and lacking for the amount of money you spend. Paid $ 15+ for crabcakes and was severely disappointed when I saw a ton of slaw and sauce but two tiny bite sized crabcakes that were slightly larger than two half dollar coins.
Decent customer service, there was a 10-​minute wait to get in on the weekend so that’s a good indication people like it but nothing stood out from my experience yet.

So good! It was a beautiful day and we were there early enough to score a table outside on the patio. Bonus!
I visited this location during Happy Hour. $ 5 martinis and cocktails? Yes, please! The passion punch was my favorite. There were other drink specials too and even some appetizers on the happy hour menu. We got a few appetizers (buffalo strips and pretzels) and both were very good.
I know that they specialize in steaks and have some pretty solid steaks, but I wasn’t that hungry after having appetizers, but wanted a little something more solid for dinner. So, I ended up getting the colorado chicken salad that was pretty good! It had apples, pecans, chicken on a bed of salad. The dressing (raspberry chipolte) on it was super good also! I would come back just for the salad.
Service was a little slow, but it really didn’t matter that afternoon for us as I met a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and we were busy catching up that it really didn’t effect us with the wait time.

Another great dinner! This time for an early birthday celebration. Would have loved a booth instead for our reservation, but the hostesses and wait staff made the night great. (With 1 exception, an older hostess who was more interested in the computer and didn’t greet us when we entered; didn’t make eye contact until we spoke first to ask about our reservation.)
A couple bobbles — ran out of prime rib, but thankfully my partner was ready with a second choice, ribeye, that’s also a fave, and was well prepared. Preferred the fried spinach (again — it’s just addictive) to the sauteed spinach (although I like that too — I’d eat any preparation of spinach), and the wait staff made sure to switch that out, although it took a couple trips to kitchen. We started with the lobster queso, which was good but more queso with little lobster. The bleu cheese filet was good, but a little too salty. Southwestern au gratin was again just right. Love the sides here, which in many places are generally boring.
I appreciate once again seeing the manager come to the table; it’s great how much true ownership he takes of his restaurant. Seeing him even pour water for a table — he doesn’t watch from afar, but gets involved in the operations. That’s refreshing. So much fun that our waiter (Jeremiah is fantastic) got in on the fun, having each of the waitresses stop by to wish my boyfriend happy birthday! (And shout-​out to hostess Sydney, always gracious.)
Still haven’t made it to dessert — need to come for a light lunch, just so we can try a dessert!

This is my second time. The first time was about 3 weeks ago. We got 2 cold steaks and 2 cold bake potatoes. The manager handled things well the coconut shrimp appetizer was great with blt salads.
This time (today)was the 2^nd chance. The Manager remember us (is that good or bad?) well it’s good since we were calm about the 1^st time. We love the coconut shrimp so much we did it again. As well as the BLT salad.
She got the Filet and I got the prime rib. The prime rib didn’t come out good again. Lacking favor, under cooked so it cut like rubber cold to the touch as well. The Manager replaced it with a Ribeye Steak. It came out tasting great with favor, hot, cut like butter and melted in your mouth! Both steaks cooked to the right temp.
Desert they have a new chocolate mousse pie. With champagne marinated strawberries. Yumm-​O for the sweet tooth. Well sweet teeth, I still got them all. We’ll be back. They redeem themselves.

I came in for a late lunch for the first time, as they just opened. The décor was nice and comfy. It’s actually larger inside than I expected.
The bar area is attractively lit and the expo station is awesome! It’s warmed nicely by a fire place and is open so you can see the chefs at work.
There is Plenty of outdoor seating with heaters and a fire place to keep you warm on chilly nights.
I ordered a cheese burger which was perfectly made and very yummy and TATER TOTS! Everything is wood fire grilled for great flavor. Yummmmm
The extremely Fast and friendly service topped it all off.
I’ll definitely be back, especially for happy hour! Five stars all the way!!!