fire + wine — Restaurant in Glen Ellyn

Fire + Wine used to be my favorite restaurant in the suburbs. It was an all-around 5-star experience every time and a place where I would bring out-of-town guests and celebrate special occasions. The food continues to be delicious (in particular, the Vodka Pasta remains unmatched), and this is the restaurant's saving grace. But, unfortunately, the service and atmosphere have taken a negative turn more recently.

They have installed large TVs throughout the dining room. While a TV in the bar is perfectly acceptable, I personally dislike having multiple bright, flashing screens with distracting content in my direct line of sight during a meal when I'm out with the intent of connecting with my family and friends. Additionally, while they used to play soft, relaxing music, they now blast jarring rock music, requiring you to practically shout to those sitting at your table to be heard. Between the music and TVs, it feels more like a sports bar now than the cozy but elevated neighborhood Italian restaurant it used to be.

Perhaps most disappointingly, the last time we dined in, the service we received was absolutely awful. Our server was downright aggressive towards us throughout the meal and rushed us along, despite the fact that we were dining on a relatively quiet Sunday evening (e.g., whisking plates away with food still on them - and this was among the mildest of offenses). We were celebrating a birthday, and I ultimately felt embarrassed for having suggested this restaurant to the group.

I shared this feedback with Fire + Wine via the feedback form on their website a few months ago but never received a response (also disappointing). Thus, I'm hoping that this review might catch the attention of management and inspire some changes. As a local, I'd love to see this business thrive and get back to being the true gem...

We heard Fire & Wine got a new chef last year so we dropped in around 6:00 PM without reservations on Friday night to see if we could get in. They had a high top table available in the bar area so we grabbed it. The menu options are great and it took a while to narrow down our choices. Melly, our server brought two wine options for my wife to try, which was a really helpful offer. I ordered an old fashioned and my better half ordered a glass of Bordeaux. My cocktail was excellent ($15) and the Bordeaux was rich and full bodied (also $15). We ordered the calamari appetizer which was fresh, hot and lemony. It came with deep fried lemon slices and sliced peppers, and a rich aoli sauce. We liked that it was a small plate with about 15 calamari so it wasn’t too much food (often happens with calamari. I ordered the Lobster Fra Diavlo and it was much better than I expected. Lots of whole lobster chunks and a perfect spice ($38). I switched out the penn for linguine noodles and they happily accommodated. My wife love vodka pasta and added chicken, which was also a treat ($21). The vodka sauce was rich and wonderful. Both entrees came with a delicious, buttery French bread that complemented both meals. Melly timed our courses well, giving us plenty of time to relax with our drinks before the food came, so we didn’t feel rushed, which happens a lot. To complete the meal we ordered the triple chocolate cake which was very large (so we took half home). The ambiance was nice and business was hopping. We’re so glad we tried Fire & Wine again! We’ll definitely return with friends. We spent approximately $200 including a well deserved tip. I highly...

Food was good and our server was good, but the hostess was quite rude to my father. My family and I were patiently waiting 10-15 minutes after our reservation was supposed to be (we were given the classic 'we have some tables finishing up desert who still have their menus out' by the hostess when we got there). Not a big deal, but there's not much of a waiting area which is slightly annoying.

However, when we noticed people who were early to their reservations get seated before us, naturally my dad calmly asked why a 6:45 reservation was getting a seat at 6:30 when our reservation was for 6:15. The hostess was completely dismissive and gave a snarky response about how since they were a five top and we were a three top, they were able to be accommodated at a larger table. (When we did finally got seated, they were at a relatively small booth that the three of us had sat at before)

While we continued to wait in total silence, the hostess started making comments under her breath, but loud enough to hear, like "I'm not doing this" and had a generally ugly attitude. When we finally were told our table was ready, she didn't apologize for the wait but gave us a really loud and condescending "Thank you!" that didn't make any sense- thank you for what? Lol. Kind of a weirdo move, especially for a hostess.

In her defense, it seemed like she had a LOT going on, and it seemed like she was doing a good job multi-tasking, but as a hostess, you can do all the carry-out orders, answer the phone, enter people's table info, etc., but if you're a jerk to customers, you're automatically bad at your job.

It was a less than ideal start to my mother's...