Spitfire Pub & Grille

Sad to hear it’s closed, but judging by the latest reviews, it was inevitable.
I guess the food has gone downhill since I visited a year ago.
Someone suggested that only the good reviews were from friends. not true.
My experience was good, and I was visiting Reno for a conference.
Too bad, I was looking forward to a return visit some day.

There is a reason it’s closed. bad service and bad food.

Went to go visit Spitfire for the first time on Saturday and was pretty excited about it. It was empty except for two people. The bartender made me wait for a menu even though she wasn’t busy. I asked if they had WIFI and they said yes. The music sounded like they were playing a horribly scratched CD. I ordered the Spitfire drink, which was pretty good, and then checked out the menu. A BLT for $ 9??? And a steak for $ 12? wtf — where is the bacon from — flown in directly from England?
The prices were ridiculous and extremely high — I’ll pay $ 12 to try a signature dish like bangers and mash, but c’mon — a regular burger with cheese is only $ 2 less? After sitting there for a while, I decided to get up and get out. The bartender didn’t seem surprised and asked me if the WiFi worked. I said no, and she said well, she wished she could do something about it but that’s what happens «when they leave me alone and there’s no manager.»
IDK Spitfire owners. Maybe I’ll go back and give it another try. I don’t work for one of your competitors, but frankly I’m a bit worried on your behalf. There’s other places right around you that have friendly staff, great prices and food, and a fun atmosphere. Good luck.

Spitfire has become our local bar. We usually only go for drinks, but have had the food a few times too.
It can get busy and loud when there are bands. Bands range from Livitz to cover bands whose crowds are pushing 60. When it gets really busy, service can be kind of slow, but that’s to be expected.
There are great specials for events and holidays, like Superbowl and Halloween.
Food is British. We’ve done the sausage rolls, crab & artichoke dip, and bangers and mash — all were great

Lagunitas IPA on Tap? Ok! If you combine that with a friendly staff and a comfortable atmosphere, to me, you’ve got a winning recipe. Strolling in around 7ish midweek, the place was pretty empty, but I was happy to see the owners still in the building, even if they were on their way out. The restaurant has 3 areas to it, the bar with a couple of high top tables that sit behind a divider, a stage and billiards area, and a «dining room». The bar was the only place with people when I was there, and I did not see too many eating, mainly drinking. I didn’t try the food, so this review is all about the beer… which left me feeling happy and ready for bed. Based on our service at the bar, the selection of bottles, drafts, wine and spirits, and the bartender, I’d come back and drink here again. I wonder what kinds of live entertainment they have on that stage?

The Spitfire had a review in the Reno Paper when we were in town so we added it to our list to check out.
It appeared to cover one of our favorite things, Beer and, F.
It appeared to cover two of our favorite things, Beer, Flying, and F.
It appeared to cover three of our favorite things, Beer, Flying and Food.
Food was good, — yep that simple. Beer selection was very good.
Ate at the bar, the bartender was attentive and on the ball, even with a ‘shift change’ the new Girl was right on the spot.
Some typical English fare on the menu (addressed by others already) Keep in mind that the UK is not at the tip of the culinary spear,
Not being From Reno, we blew by the location, and were able to zig zag back through the industrial park to get there.

I’ve enjoyed myself here a few times and would consider this one of my favorite top restaurants. I’ve explored London England and this pub is better than pubs I’ve eaten in. The restaurant is clean with plenty of space with comfortable seating, fun décor and popular music from different genres giving you an enjoyable dining experience. The menu offers many British favorites for breakfast, lunch and dinner at cheaper prices than a pub in London. The service has always been superior every visit. Fun place for fish & chips with a pint.

WAY undercooked chicken, overpriced for the quality of food, and missing items from our order.
Called in a To Go order on 10÷31÷13. The chicken was about half cooked — It was almost a joke. They could have easily got my friends and me sick. The other entrees were mediocre and definitely don’t satisfy the expectation set with the price. We also had 2 items missing from our order. Never returning here.
Spitfire, if you read this, please clean up your act. I dont even Unilocal on a regular basis, but felt I needed to share this experience.

What a mess this place was/​is.
tried it on a Thursday to catch an ALCS game. Three of the four televisions we could see were broken so we moved to the bar. Once at the bar we were told that they were watching a regular season Seahawks game and wouldn’t move baseball championship a to a TV for us.
ok, let’s try a beer. we sat by an old haggard women and her quiet husband at the end of the bar. she was drunk and belligerent and a total nuisance to everyone around her including us. She kept calling herself a GILF (a grandmother I’d like to ef) and rest assured she wasn’t. she was talking loudly about a party and inviting two guys that were sitting there.
she was the sole reason we decided to just have the one beer and leave. then she rolled into showing pictures of a family member saying «she’s cute, you could «do. her right? Then her husband got up and went into the kitchen. go figure this drunk is the owner. nicely played sir. He came back from the kitchen and poured her into a car and they left. (after running off paying customers first)
once they left the bartender forgot we existed. she made her dinner and took a seat at the bar ignoring us all. Then the patrons began to issue birthday spankings to the server and the cook took a seat at the bar and shared pictures of some of his conquests that he has taken home from there. totally classless place from the top all the way to the bottom.
looks nice on the inside, from the outside it looks just as it operates, crude and unrefined.
we won’t be back.

Whenever you see a restaurant with uneven reviews, you’ve usually either got a great restaurant with a nasty competitor or a bleh! restaurant with friends who post.
We decided to test Spitfire out and I can definitely say — it’s a so-​so restaurant and any good review has either been paid for or is from a friend.
It was near empty on a Monday night. We sat in a section all by ourself and had to go look for the waitress each time we wanted something. The food itself was just what you’ve have at home, provided you had a mom who couldn’t cook. The sauce tastes packaged. The potatoes were cold and were «smashed» with little, if any, butter, cream, etc. They were simply cold baked potatoes that had been kind of squished up. My husband ordered the shepherd’s pie and in an effort to try to get around the weird coil of dry smashed potatoes on top, he asked for some cheese. He was told, «We don’t serve it that way.» Some English pubs do, some don’t. No big deal. But could we please get some grated cheddar cheese? After some back and forth, he finally got monterey jack cheese. The waitress didn’t know the difference between cheddar and jack.
I had bangers & mash with a packaged gravy and a massive mound of the cold smashed potatoes. The sausages were good.
It’s hard to find this pub in the night. I think that’s a good thing. Just pass on by…

I had been curious to try this place for months but was a little wary of the odd location in a warehouse/​industrial type business park. Peeked at their menu online for a while but had to talk the husband into giving them a try. My husband is the type of person who can eat breakfast any time of the day and often craves it after noon when most places stop serving it.
We finally ended up here early one weekend morning. We were the only people there and were greeted warmly by the bartender who would also be our waitress. The space is nicely decorated but very large and felt conspicuously empty. Looking over the menu it seemed promising with a wide assortment of traditional and non-​traditional offerings. I wanted to try something British, my husband leaned more towards his usual classic breakfasts. After poring over the menu for a bit of time the waitress came to take our order. At this point she informed us that they were in the process of changing their menu so some of the items would not be available. Turns out my husbands 1^st and second choice were eliminated and truthfully most of the menu was no longer an option. He ended up ordering an omelet with «bubble and squeak» potatoes and an order of french toast. I chose the «traditional» british breakfast. They were very agreeable on modifying the omelet to include meat and cheese.
It took a while for the food to come out. My guess was that they weren’t actually prepared to cook anything as they maybe weren’t accustomed to breakfast patrons? My banger sausage tasted stale and bland, but I’ve never had one so maybe that’s what it’s supposed to taste like? My husbands omelet came without cheese and the bacon he requested was a side of bacon slices instead. No big deal as he loves bacon. It must have not been good bacon because he only ate half of one slice. (This is a guy that will eat all his bacon and then steal mine off my plate). The bubble and squeak potatoes were just homefries with very dark brown bits of onions. I know there are lots of variations of this dish, but most of them I’ve had were almost croquette like with mashed potatoes binding the other vegetables and fried with crispy edges. The french toast was the biggest disappointment. It was described on the menu as made with Brioche bread and served with a berry almond syrup. What came out were slices of white sandwich bread in a soggy eggy custard with 2 cuplets of smuckers sealed breakfast syrups. I asked about the fruit syrup and was informed they were out. I didn’t even mention the bread type was not as described. I should have sent the order back. The waitress offered some fresh fruit in lieu of the berry syrup. I accepted, thinking maybe we’d get some blueberries or sliced strawberries to top the french toast. We received a small saucer of thinly sliced watermelon that was warm. Not what I was expecting to go on top of french toast at all.
Overall we thought it was unsatisfying and weird. I think my husband is banning me from selecting breakfast restaurants now.

Found this place after searching for «bangers and mash» on Unilocal!
The food very very good, not quite English bangers, but a good equivalent, and the Yorkshire Pudding was excellent!
The cook came out to chat and had the strongest British accent I’ve heard for a while! Great guy, nice waitress, and just a good dining experience.
They even have a selection of English candy.
If we lived in Reno, we’d be regulars here!

Spectacular British food! Chef David is from London and has put together a great menu. The theme of the restaurant is in honor of the owner’s father who was a spitfire pilot for the RAF in WWII. Everyone in my party of four loved our dishes and desserts.

Went here with a group of 8, it was very busy but the staff were very accommodating. We started off with cheddar spinach dip and spitfire wings. The dip was delicious and easily shared between 8. The wings were very good, just the right amount of spiciness. The fish in the fish and chips basket was one very large piece and tasted good. Prime Rib, shephard’s pie and chicken tenders off the kids menu were also ordered and I heard no complaints. For dessert we all shared apple crumble (which is served warm), chocolate mocha cake (served cold) and spitfire cheesecake (served nearly frozen) all tasted good. The place is on the loud side although, it is a nice spacious place with a fun vibe and decent food

My wife and I were in town for the evening staying near the airport. We were actually looking for another location but pulled in to Spitfire and are very glad we did. Being Easter Sunday it was not very crowded but really enjoyed seating at the bar and having some dinner. The clam chowder was very good followed by some coconut shrimp and chicken wings. Terrance the bartender was very hospitable and we had a nice evening. Will definately go back when in the Reno area again!
Pete
San Clemente, CA

I really wanted to like this place. Unfortunately my experience there was just okay. My husband and I went in one night. There was nobody at the hostess station so we sat and waited. After about five minutes a waitress finally realized we were there and sat us. We then realized that the bartender was sitting at the bar texting and didn’t even bother to serve us. We were the only customers in the restaurant so I can write that off as them being slow and unaware.
I ordered the waygu burger and by husband got the English dip. My husband’s sandwich was okay, but not anything special. It’s also served with brown gravy instead au jus. We didn’t really care for the gravy and the sandwich was lukewarm instead of hot. The burger was an okay burger, but the meat lacked seasoning. A little salt and pepper would go a long way. The worst part was how greasy the burger was. Not only was it literally dripping down my hands, but there was a rather large puddle of grease on my plate. The bun actually started to break up because of the amount of grease.
There were some positives about the visit. Once our waitress sat us she was very attentive and friendly. Try the cheesecake! It was delicious. The crust tasted like it had cinnamon in it, the filling was creamy and rich, and it was topped with a fabulous raspberry sauce.

We ordered the crab cakes for an app. It had good flavor, I wish it had more of a crispy crust and a little more sauce on the side.
I ordered the waygu burger which comes with your choice of cheese and bacon. Holy cow this burger was awesome! It required no mayo, mustard or ketchup. Just a wonderfully juicy piece of meat. The burger came with fries. These are some of the best fries I have ever had. They look hand cut and are fried to perfection.
My husband ordered the Sheperds Pie. I only had one bite and the flavor was good. My husband liked it a lot and he loves Sheperds Pie.
I wish we had saved room for dessert because there are a few options that sound great. We will be back soon.

After looking at the photographs here on Unilocal,I was expecting something really out of the ordinary. It looked like there was a lot of English pub food, but like a fool I ordered the rib eye because one my eye hits that magic word it stops. It was pretty much nondescript and unmemorable. Fries were decent. Or «chips,» I guess.
The wife got her drink from the bar very quickly, but I had to wait for my martini for some reason. And wait. It was a kick-​ass martini when it finally arrived, though. But given the number of people in the place– which was like ten, including us, I was expecting it a lot quicker.
Anyway, my disappointment with the ribeye would not stop me from coming in again to try some of the pub food, if I were ever in the neighborhood again, which I won’t be.

Went back today for my third trip. This time we were all in a burger mood. So burgers it was. I got to try the Spirtfire Waygu burger. My wife and son both ordered the basic ¹⁄₃ lb burger and my daughter ordered up the grilled cheese, cadet meal.
We all were able to try the chocolate bacon appetizer. Cool flavors, especially with the spicy sauce. This was $ 8 and worth every penny. Good thick bacon. Presentation was a little different. I probably wouldn’t have gone for the «cocktail» presentation but more of a flat square white plate presentation. It’s probably against some rule cause it would look too much like dessert. Anyway the flavor was there and so was the value. Serve it in a paper cup for all I care. Just glad they have it.
The Waygu burger was a ½ lb of deliciousness. A lightly toasted bun fresh tomato onion and lettuce with a choice of cheddar, american, jack, swiss and pepperjack cheese. I chose the Jack for comparisons. And big chunks of bacon. It came with no other condiments on it. No mayo, mustard or ketchup. I added ketchup and dug in.
The burger was perfectly cooked to order and juicy and flavorful. The bun held together and wasn’t too big. It was just a perfect burger. Maybe they should rename this the Goldilocks burger cause everything was «just right» today. I was given the option of fries or salad so I chose the salad to keep the carbs as low as possible. An excellent portion of salad finished filling the plate and the mustard dressing was awesome. Sweet but fairly heady in it’s flavor as well.
My wife and son both ordered the fries with their burgers. Skinny fries for my son and steak fries for my wife. They were less «steak» and more fresh cut fries. Steak fries reminds me of wide thick flat frozen, but these were good and fresh with some skin still on. The skinny fries were standard fries.
At the end we all were able to share a cheesecake dessert with three different sauces. I myself liked the Pineapple. But just barely more than the strawberry or raspberry.
On a previous trip I ordered the Fish and Chips, they were totally awesome, and I am told they are more authentically English than anything else in town.
As I mentioned in one of my tips while checking in, the soda of choice is just a «bar brand». This is fine for most drinks and is a great way to avoid the soda wars, but I personally have always found the bar brands to never have a good carbonation/​syrup mix. So maybe they will soon get one of the bigger names in to be the choice.
A few more side notes. Business seems to be doing well. And if they keep the quality of the food and service as high as my first three trips… this place will keep the people coming. Sure it’s location is a little tough to get into from certain directions. But it’s well worth the trip.
Prices are fair and make this a place I would think of on any night.

Had the french toast for breakfast today it was simply amazing!
Later in the day i decided to come back for lunch with a couple of friends visiting town.
This place is pronominal!
The service is superb and very friendly.
I actually know the owner and i know he does good business and is really passionate about every costumers experience.
you will leave this place with a smile!