The Firepit Restaurant & Cocktail Bar (Rawtenstall) — Restaurant in Borough of Rossendale

Not been for a long time due to being put off by its massive price hike for pretty average food on our last visit, anyway thought we would have a treat today. Massive change in the decor and layout since the last time we came yet not really the cleanest place (a trip to the loo to see massively dirty, dusty blinds and big cobwebs on the wall) tables not the cleanest either. Ordered pâté for starters, mine came with a complimentary hair in it so pulled it out and let it slide instead of complaining. We then had quite a long and boring wait for our mains but during this time the table near to us food had come out but one of their dishes was wrong so it was sent back, the grandfather and his young grandson ate theirs but the poor grandmother was left waiting an unnecessarily long time for hers too out correct, it seem to take a very long time for management to come out to apologise to the lady and quite frankly was a poor effort really, blaming the fact that she was ordering chicken and it needs to be cooked properly, anyway ours came out my husband had ordered the chargrilled steak with a peppercorn sauce that was missing and we had to flag someone down to get it which we only managed to do coz the grandmother next to us finally got her meal. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait as long as she did for the missing part of our meal. I thought I’d have something different so went for the seafood linguine, what a mistake I made !!! The squid had no taste and was just chewy, the scallops were tasteless and gritty. Prawns were average and small I saw no capers or any trace that a chill had been anywhere near the dish and it was cooked in a very very over buttery sauce !! It get so dirty and unhealthy to eat ! The sea bass was ok but on the thin side. Not once did anyone come round to ask us if our meal was ok or to see if we had everything or needed anything, it wasn’t a busy time and there was plenty of staff about. We asked for the bill and just received it no complimentary mints on the plate with it though, the waitress didn’t even clear our plates just put it on the table and left. We dicided not to bother seeing how long it would take for them to come with a card machine so we decide to get up and pay on the way out, of course this meant we didn’t get to see if the family next to us that didn’t manage to eat together got any discount or extras due to their serving issues. Overall I was extremely disappointed that we bothered to come back! It cost us £70 so not a cheap place to eat but quite frankly it was terrible. The only positive thing I will say is that my husbands steak was really nice and so were his chips but for £25 it could have been better and have come out with the sauce he’d ordered seen as there was enough room to have actually put it on the...

Poor! First visit to the Firepit and I'm afraid to say I won't be in a rush to return. Had a table booked and on arrival waited a few minutes to be seen and shown to our table, offered menus and specials board, 10 minutes and someone then came to see if we were ready to order, would have been nice if we had been asked about drinks as we were seated or even a short while later, anyway, mains and drinks ordered at this time another 10 minutes pass and still no drinks arrive, had to ask someone if we could have the wine we ordered, and this isn't what seems like 20 minutes this is actually just over 20 minutes since we were seated. Wine arrives and is plonked on the table with two glasses! OK, so we'll open it and poor it then shall we? We do as by this time we need a drink! Mains arrive, all looking good, fillet steak from the grill as this place is all about it steaks and I didn't fancy cooking my own, I could have done that at home, my steak was cooked great, medium just as ordered and a good cut of meat, my wife's not so much, it was overcooked and for a fillet that should have been medium was very dry, I swapped as I knew she couldn't eat a steak like this. Now I read reviews and some sound like they're just moaning for moaning's sake but really I'm not, I've eaten out enough and even cooked my own steak to know how to do it and when I go somewhere thats all singing, all dancing steak's R us! I expect it done right, this wasn't! The best thing on the plate shouldn't have been the mushrooms! Never once through our meal did anyone ask was the food ok, even when we'd finished and our plates taken away, nobody asked if it was OK, we had to say that it wasn't done correctly. Time for dessert, ok one steak good, one not so much, slow service, time to redeem yourselves, it got worse, the worst cheesecake I've ever had and I like cheesecake, eaten with a teaspoon, a teaspoon? Aren't they for stirring coffee or what six year olds eat yoghurt with, yes a teaspoon! I'm all growd up and can use big boy spoons but wasn't allowed here. I promise I'm not just venting, it's just if your going to go and spend over £83 for the two of you, you should enjoy your food, drink and service. Plus, call me old fashioned but I like carpets or even some sort of flooring in my restaurant, not flooring that I have in my loft! Ps clean or even replace your ceiling tiles, I know it's from the smoke from the sizzling steak, but seriously, not...

Has been several years since we have visited this or any other Firepit restaurants. Was in the area late Friday afternoon and decided to pop in for an early dinner and to allow traffic to quieten down before the journey home.

We were greeted at the door and shown to out table. Plenty of options as it wasn’t busy at that time.

Both decided on burgers for our main courses. I went for Bacon Cheeseburger at £14.95. My brother went with the Devil Burger at £15.95. Both came with chips. Also ordered some Onion Rings at £3.95.

We were both impressed with the quantity and quality of our mains. And the side order was also a good sized portion. Really couldn’t complain about the price of anything we had. You can be paying more than fifteen quid for a burger in some pubs today. It won’t match this quality. All lagers on the drinks menu were under £6.00 a pint. The pint of Peroni my brother had was £5.95. Many pubs are charging over six pounds for this today. My lime and soda only £2.50. Coffee was only £3.00 and a Liquor coffee really cheap at £5.00. My brother got an Irish Coffee and really enjoyed it.

A small gripe would be the wine menu. It seemed a much smaller range compared to when we visited several years back. And there was nothing under £24.95. Although I wasn’t drinking on this visit we will almost certainly be returning at a later date to try one of their steaks and would probably order a bottle to go with it. When other drinks are relatively cheap and very competitively priced it seems a shame the same can’t be said of the wine list.

When the bill came we were informed that a 10% service charge had been added to the bill. This must be a new policy as don’t recall this being added in any of our previous visits. I’m not a big fan of this but can understand why some places feel the need to do it. We were advised we had the option not to pay it and it would be deducted from the bill. However, we generally tip anyway unless service has been dire. In this case it wasn’t. The staff were friendly, helpful and efficient so we had no qualms about paying this service charge. Probably saved us some money actually as we would have rounded it up and given a little more.

So all in all it was nice to revisit The Firepit. Happy with the quality and quantity of our food. And the price and the service. And we won’t be waiting as long until we...