Firebirds Wood Fired Grill — Restaurant in Knoxville

Lets start from the beginning. It was our 32dn wedding anniversary and we had received a gift card from a relative to try this place out. Now, as former pub owners who cooked a mean prime at our place, we are not easy to impress. I went online and reserved a 6:30 slot, and when filling out the online form saw the line that asks for the occasion, so I put anniversary. When the time rolled around we came in exactly at 6:30 and was greeted by the friendlies staff, I ran to the exceptionally clean restroom for the obvious reason and to check it out for mention in our review. The came and got us and seated us at a duce (two person booth/table) mostly private only the booth wall on one side and a corporate area for meetings and lunches that was empty on the other. So nice and intimate and that wasn't even the good part. They had sprinkled rose petals, a bundle of roses, a anniversary balloon and a card signed by the staff, stunning gesture. Now our server Lauren (unsure if spelled correctly as there are a couple of ways.) came over and asked how many years, took our photo for us, took our drink order, she was so friendly and welcoming, couldn't ask for a better server from a patron perspective. Our apps and entrées were five star. The smoked wings were perfect, served with fresh celery and ranch. It came with a hot towel for your fingers to clean, great touch. I had the roasted garlic sirloin. it was cooked to a perfect medium rare, a thyme butter ball that melted down over the steak, epic perfect glaze to my fire grilled steak. The side of au gratin was creamy and crisp baked to perfection. My wife had the BLEU CHEESE FILET (Bacon-wrapped, bleu cheese sauce, port mushrooms, choice of side) What she said, the first filet other then when we cooked them that had crispy bacon and they nailed her perfect medium on the inside. Flavory lime mine was simply divine. The store manager, Mike came before ending his shift and congratulated us on our 32 years, we thanked him for the beautiful setting, he asked how we liked Tennessee as we are new here, it as so good to see a manager taking an active role. Lauren our server then told us we had a desert coming on the house, and who can turn that down. It was CREME BRULÉE CHEESECAKE and dang if it wasn't divine. We listened to all the goings on, made us miss our place a little bit, paid the bill and tipped Wisconsin style, a solid 33 percent on a perfect meal that they went through so much extra effort to make our first time here and our occasion special. They have hooked this couple for many many years God willing. And with all the people that come to visit us, we have a place I know that can impress. Thank you Mike, Lauren, and the staff as well as the aces in the back of the house. Kitchen warriors I salute you. Five stars for the best dang dinner experience and food I have had , if not the best. 5/4/24 one year later the story continues. The anniversary of the anniversary, and yes Lauren was our server again per request. This time though we brought three of our Wisconsin friends to share in our special day, let me say it was awesome. Simply awesome. Once again, hats off to the kitchen staff, Lauren, and management for and epic memory. 6/23/24 continued patronage in jeopardy. Came in for two steak and egg specials which were to die for, but.... he had a beer and I attempted to have a bloody. Not even close to as advertised photo included. Seventy dollar and a twenty five dollar tip for good food, a smile, and a sad drink. This would not fly in Wisconsin by any means and would cause the village to storm the castle. I did notify corporate you need trained bartenders. They at least were friendly and didn't forget the food we ordered like another server. The only 100 percent has always been with Lauren even with our large parties. And the kitchen as always exceeded my expectation. If they could learn to mix a drink and it wasn't in such a pathetic portion without garnish and taste Id be there...

Tonight we came to Firebirds for a Night out...we had heard rave reviews and we were so excited about coming. Sadly...we left very disappointed...MAJORLY First off I do have to say our waitress Myka was AMAZING!!! She was very attentive to us and our drinks were always full! THANK YOU Myka for taking care of us!!

Now...on to the food! Our bread was the only great thing we ate tonight...we both ordered 12oz ribeyes, the medium rare was cooked perfect but there was no seasoning on either steak, if you have to ask for A1 to season your steak there's a problem!

Lastly the kitchen staff...HOLY Moly!! They seated us at a booth near the prep line, we are both over 6' tall and we could both see over the wall (I really wish they had sat us at the other end of the restaurant). What we witnessed was so DISGUSTING and very unhealthy!! Hand washing and glove use was non-existent!! We watched a waiter touch his hair and pick up 2 plates and then serve to customers(oh this was after the prep line guy used his bare hands to pick up fried and toss them on a plate). We then seen the prep line coordinator wiping his nose with his hand then rearranging food, no handwashing or even sanitizer was used, definitely no gloves...but, the worse part he was dipping Copenhagen and then spitting in a coffee cup that was sat below the prep line. Then we watched the men who did the cooking...no hairnets for one...then we watched one guy scratch his head numerous times and then pick up a steak off the grill with his bare hands and throw it on a plate. Everyone of the grill staff were messing with their hats, watched 1 rub his nose, watched 2 of them wipe off their face with a rag then use the same rag to wipe off the tongs that they use to flip the steaks. Had the health department seen what we did tonight, they would've been shut down!!

Yes, we spoke to the manager...she was aware of the dipping and spitting in the cup and was allowing it...and either she wasn't paying attention or didn't care about the handwashing with the other employees. She offered for us to come back to fix it but, we were so disgusted how could we?!!

Sad thing is I'm a nurse and was so disgusted I will NEVER go back!! Education is key and it's not being done here!! Food is one thing...prioritizing health...

Went to dinner here with the hubs and our preteen, we all got a diff steak and they were all delicious...i got the surf n turf with the bacon wrapped filet and lobster tail, very yum, hubs got the ribeye, yum, and kid got the cajun ribeye, yum...loaded bakers (which had the salted skin, yum and not everywhere does that), ceaser salad, street corn, all good, tho I'll note that the street corn is pretty high in lime that's squeezed in it...very limey, so some ppl will love that, some not so much... Oh and we started with the lobster dip, soooo good, u def should get this...u don't get much (u never do with something this decadent, and you'll pay about 20 bucks for it), but it's so freaking good and worth it...bill was as to b expected for a full steak and lobster dinner.. atmosphere was as to b expected, dark but nice inside, tho ig i expected the womens bathroom to b a bit more nicely done (it wasn't gross or anything, i just thought it would b set up a lil nicer and a touch cleaner). Service was decent, he did all the necessary server things, but i will say his timing was slow, espec for how slow the place was on the night we went, and at times we felt a bit neglected and wondered y some simple requests like getting the check and other usual dining needs, took much longer than it should've, espec considering they were pretty slow at the time, he only had like 1 other small tbl part of the time, then just us..he would disappear and not b seen for some long periods, and he didn't really have an actual answer to my menu questions, more like answering without answering..his service felt bare minimum (which kinda sux when even tho we were only a 3 top, we were buying all the expensive menu items, we were still a high check) But other than that everything was pretty excellent!! We do recommend going here and I'm sure we will b back for more steaks and that yummy lobster dip!! Tho i won't want to sit in that same server's section...he wasn't the worst and he did at least do the necessary things, he just took a while with like everything and would disappear for long periods ..but all in all we recommend this place, the food was...