NY Firehouse Grille — Restaurant in City of Peekskill

(I would have rated it a three but I know that really hurts/costs them, and that's not my goal.) ASIDE: Worth noting, with a quick call ahead -or a few minute wait- they can easily & quickly seat almost any number of people, take their order, & then table/serve how ever many plates, reasonably hot, in relatively short order: THAT IS RARE TODAY at least around here. Decent downhome fare with a large enough menu to make most people happy, but realize what it is, a decent grill bar restaurant. They make a few dishes u just love to have every once in a while really, really good (like steak/mash potatoes/veggie) & it's great 2B able to get that. Their BBQ stuff is decent, not great. Some personal/signature/oddball dishes are hats-off, really surprisingly good. But, with semi-regulars/locals, I have to ask around about who is too annoyed with the place to go ' at any given time, AND, if l get more than 3 people, at least 1 will simply refuse to go due to a recent mediocre food, drinks, or service experience: Seriously, this is only place I know where people have this sort of a relationship with a business. When they r on, they r on, & you'll get an enjoyable meal & friendly competent waitstaff/bartenders. BUT... this has to be the least predictable place to get a meal & drink in Westchester, if not the entire downstate area. Most places r usually either bad or good, on average, & u know what to expect. Here, you are as likely to have a very good experience as a bad one: They run the gamut from excellent to near miserable. And for a lot of us, we are talking chicken wings here: How hard is it to dial it in & keep it there? I spent 6 years in Buffalo, just as B wings were breaking out: I've eaten thousands of wings from the best (and worst) places there, in this area, and across the country. It's usually the crispyness that is the variable issue: They are ok here -but not great- since they fully pre-cook them before frying. But How Come, the hot, medium, mild, naked system, works almost everywhere else to produce a predictable heat in a wing (at that individual place, night after night), but not here? there is almost NO predictability to how hot a wing will be here. I have great tolerance for slight variability, I'm not being nit picking: I normally like a solid medium spice, crispy, wing of medium to medium-large size (just get it close) but here 2 alarms can be a solid 4, and 3's a month earlier were near naked. I don't know what to tell guests to order because I have no idea what will show up. On the positive side: They have MANY different flavors, which are fun to try, but again there is almost no predictability to the spiciness. Sometimes, we get 3 orders of 2,3,4; or 1,2,3 as a range, JUST to hope to force their hand into an obvious gradation, yet the wings show up indistinguishable from one another. [HEREAFTER, I get a bit ranty.] Too many grades, variable staff & the process can't possibly nail 6 individual grades of normal-ish heat, person to person, night to night or even table to table with the slightest predictability. And it's not really their fault: It's a decent short order bar & grill, not a wings-only place (Even in Buffalo, only Duff's could reliably do that). But, how about simply cutting out one, or better, two of the alarms? Why not use the very repeatable: 0naked,1mild,2medium,3hot scale (4 grades) and let people that want "a little hotter than hot, but don't kill me" ask for that; then the "kill me" grade. Or have the "daily drivers" 0,1,2,3; then a large VERY jump to the "proving grounds" realm with 4, 5: Just like the number of alarms, should have something to do with the severity of the fire? ... Meantime it's Frustrating & we & many folks I know end up semi-avoiding the place until really jones'in' for some (any) wings. All that said, it is still worth a visit. No one can touch their plain fries: FANTASTIC, plain, simple, and thank goodness, NOT breaded! (they have waffle and steak fries too if you like those: Also very good.) decide...

THE GOOD: -Smoked meats and wings are out-of-control delicious. Brisket, ribs, etc are definitely the thing to get here along with heaping piles of crispy, perfectly cooked wings with roughly a million delicious sauce options. -Delivery is lightning fast for this type of food. Even a really big order is almost always as fast as pizza or Chinese (and often faster). -Bar looks cool inside and has good atmosphere. Definitely a local fixture.

THE BAD: -limited beer selection. Not a lot of the craft beer scene everyone else is doing lately. -Not all the food is created equal. Burgers/meatloaf are nothing special. Got a mac and cheese once that was really tragic, tasted like an unskilled cook just threw cheese on pasta. Fried food often soggy or careless. -In house service is inconsistent. Most staff are friendly but there is a noticeable sneer from some if you're not a regular or not drinking. This is anecdotal and your mileage may vary.

tl;dr: get wings and smoked meat here,...

My family and I were celebrating a graduation and decided to eat at Firehouse Grille. Tom was our waiter, and he was very polite and accommodating! My aunt really liked the Philly cheesesteak and sweet potato fries. The cheddar and broccoli soup was also good, and my cousin loved her burger and fries. I had the shrimp tacos and they were amazing!

We couldn't stop thinking about such a wonderful experience. So much so, that we ended up crashing our cars in the snow on the way back to the hotel! I would definitely crash my car again, whether by choice or not, just to get a whiff of the shrimp tacos! The shrimp tacos remind me of Motörhead, and Motörhead is my favorite band. I hit felony speeds while listening to Motörhead.

On a more serious note, the service was quick and fast, Tom was very friendly and welcoming, and the food was amazing! I don't have any friends, but if I did, I would tell them to stop by for a...