Firebirds Wood Fired Grill — Restaurant in Durham

Not worth returning.

First time to visit but have known of this location since it was built. Has always been considered a more upscale restaurant (at least so the prices would suggest). We had reservations and were able to get seated right away. The couple in front of us had been turned away at the door.

The maitre'd clearly had no idea how to do his job. Aside from walking away from us while gossiping with a co-worker (not realizing he never told us to follow him, just simply walking away from the check-in); I watched him continuously struggle the rest of the evening with seating people. There was a couple, clearly on a date, who he seated, but the table wasn't cleared.

Our waiter was late to do things and inattentive. I think he checked on us 2x during the whole meal, and never gave us refills. He seemed to only be working at our table and one other table, so there was little excuse for his absenteeism. Moreover, he made judgements on our food and drink orders and seemed to base his service on our orders.

The general aesthetics of the restaurant is appealing; however, the atmosphere is loud, with staff yelling to one another. This place attracts a myriad of people- there was, what appeared to be a business group in suits and ties/ dresses etc. There were also a number of smaller parties that were out for a celebration and dressed up. Conversely there was a group that all came in in university sweatshirts and pj's/ sweatpants.

There are no kid-menu options, which suggests this is not intended to be a kid-friendly restaurant; although the number of people there without basic manners or etiquette suggests otherwise.

There is a general feeling that the staff were hires out of desperation rather than actually restaurant staff. Our waiter appeared to be moonlighting as a waiter while he waited for his more permanent position of "misogynistic gym bro influencer" to take off.

Both of our meals were cold and severely lacking in flavor or even care for presentation. Our meals at home are much better than food in restaurants, so we pick and choose when to go for a meal. I could have slopped cold mashed potatoes with no gravy, and a cold steak that couldn't even melt butter, we definitely, but we made the mistake of paying for it at Firebird's. Next time, we will just stay home and I will get a much...

Today was my first-time dining in with "Firebirds Wood Fired Grill." A friend of mine was treating me out for my birthday. The hostess was very friendly, courteous and professional. The food itself was GREAT! I got the full rack of ribs with parmesan mashed potatoes and broccoli. Now the ribs come with 1 side and a fruit bowl. However, I have a fruit allergy and informed our waiter "Halldor" of this. Halldor, having good customer service skills should have said, "Well, we can substitute that for you ...." No, this is NOT what he said. He opted to say, "A fruit allergy!? What do you mean? You have a lemon in your water!" Okay, now I'm PISSED! Halldor is now cruising for a GOOD OLE DOWN SOUTH CUSSING!!! I fired back and told him, "That is a lemon! I have allergies to fruits such as pineapple, that I know comes in that fruit bowl!" I shouldn't have to discuss with my waiter what all I'm allergic too...he isn't my doctor! If I were allergic to a lemon, I wouldn't have asked for it LESS THAN SMART!!! I told my friend loud enough for Halldor to hear that I'm about to cuss his THREE LETTER word out! She was like, "No, don't do it let it go.....we are here to celebrate you.... just enjoy your meal!" So, I took her advice and when he returned, he had a better attitude about himself. He also, kept our water cups full and etc. In despite of starting off rocky with me, she still left him over a $10 tip for his service. The reasons why I didn't give "Firebirds Wood Fired Grill" a "1 Star" was because the hostess was nice, and the food was REALLY GOOD! The Chefs/Cooks really put their love and dedication into preparing our food and I didn't want to grade this place off of one person! Halldor, I recommend working on your customer service skills ASAP!!!!! And to the rest of the team at "FWFG" thank you for your service, GREAT food, dedication to your craft and...

GAVE THE SOUTHPOINT LOCATION A 2ND TRY (NEVER AGAIN): Just awful! What's with all the FRUIT FLIES buzzing our table and glasses all night; is the whole restaurant infested? While service was generally good, food was not. Ordered ribs and with tip likely paid 40 dollars for a bunch on dry bones. There were micro-thin layers of meat holding the bones together, too thin even cut off the bone. I only got 3 actual pieces of meat that could be picked up with the fork and had to basically scrape off what little meat there was with my teeth. Should have sent it back but was a guest of a larger group, plus really couldn't tell how little actual food there was under the BBQ sauce until the autopsy was complete. This was a full rack and I left hungry. The worst ribs I've ever tried to eat. Several of my friends got burgers which were not prepared as they requested...basically incinerated. Hopefully this will be my last visit to this location.

PRIOR: Hit and miss. Pork chop was wonderful and perfect. Steak was overdone, not medium rare as requested and preferred, although cut was tender. For price it should have been cooked correctly. Salad was served covered in dressing after requesting dressing be one the side (maybe was not an option, but was not told otherwise). In returning from restroom prior to dessert, there were numerous empty tables covered with dirty dishes, and I even had to step over a cloth napkin and food on the floor. Guess they clean tables at the end of the night? Overall, server did a nice job, but also failed to clear our table after dessert. Probably will not be...