Firebirds Wood Fired Grill — Restaurant in Niles

We tried this place because they had so many good reviews. Boy, were we disappointed. I don't usually expect much from chain restaurants, BUT...

When you arrive at any restaurant and the hostess does not turn around when people walk in thats already a bad sign. I didn't even realize it was the hostess because there were 2 people leaning on the front and side o the hostess stand looking very casual so I thought they were customers. When she finally turned around, she looked surprised. The door was literally 6 ft from her and it was cold outside so that draft you felt was a customer walking in. Insert eye roll here.

Second, if your restaurant's claim to fame is your "21-day-aged steaks that are butchered in house, hand-trimmed and hardwood grilled." Then your steaks should be at least halfway decent. Ita not like I had that high of an expectation that it would be fine dining level, it is a chain after all, but this steak was one of the worst I ever had. Worse than Outback!! Why? Whoever cut the New York Strip either used the worst cut they had, or the person who "butcher/hand trimmed" the steak did not know what they were doing. It was not a NYS. As soon as it came out it looked wrong. A New York strip does not change shape and depth throughout. This steak had higher sides and was depressed in the middle. It just looked weird, and frankly I don't know how it could even look like that. It was cooked almost to our liking, but when you cut into it, it was sinewy, tough, had too much fat, and half of it was inedible. We really should have sent it back but what was the point. We just won't go back because they clearly do not know anything about steaks. I took a picture of the steak, not sure it represents how awful it was.

I gave them a few stars for their Grilled tenderloin salad, although it was more rare than I asked for, we actually did send that back. It had, wood grilled tenderloin, mixed greens, bleu cheese crumbles, diced tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette. The salad was good along with their homemade dressing.

The server was nice enough, but forgot to bring us our wine we ordered with dinner. Since the steak was inedible we were done eating pretty fast.

Huge disappointment due to their very, very, very bad steak which is what they...

Initial impressions: interior has decent atmosphere, however music choice and employees waiting near the door that look tired of the shift make it feel more like somewhere for the clinically depressed. Our waitress was very attentive and polite, very satisfied with her service. Bread the table had been provided had a texture of being under baked even though the crust was perfect. Not appetizing, even with butter. Chefs Daily Soup (Chicken Corn Chowder) was very bland, tasted like a watered down frozen chowder base, and had an inordinate amount of pepper. I was very unhappy with a starter that could've easily been fixed with less pepper and a little salt. The grilled sirloin (ordered medium rare) arrived over cooked with a less than stellar herb butter. Even compared to store bought meats the taste of iron was overwhelming. My side of Parmesan Mashed Potatoes were lumpy, unappealing to the eye, and had a strange taste that no one at the table could place. No one enjoyed the asparagus provided with their meals, some of them being too hard to even eat(the same issue occured with those that got broccoli). My friends prime rib was under cooked, had whole peppercorns inside as an unpleasant surprise, and barely tasted like the meat it was supposed to be. The only acceptable meat served was the chicken that tasted more like prime rib than the one provided. The créme brulee cheese cakes tasted store bought, had nasty burnt edges and the strawberries were less than fresh (read as inedible and slightly rotten). The brownie with ice cream somehow tasted both raw and burnt with a consistency of nearly dry cement. My family witnessed me cry over the travesty. We will not be visiting this establishment again, and the only positive thing I could say about it as a restaurant, is that it could easily get on...

We had a wonderful experience. My daughter and I were traveling through the area and decided to try something local late enough that we wouldn’t have to wait in line. We used Yelp and chose Firebirds. We were a little concerned when we found that it was a small chain restaurant in a mall (with its own interest), but went anyway. There were a reasonable number of people still there at 9:45. I was disappointed that they were out of prime rib, but wasn’t surprised since it was so late. The food was wonderful and the value was great since we both chose the 3-course option. We both got and loved the BLT salad. My daughter got salmon and I got steak. Both were excellent. The parmesan mashed potatoes were a bit dry, but tasted great! The steak was cooked perfectly to temperature. The brownie sundae was delightful. The bread was literally baked fresh—while we were there—as an interesting little loaf. It was good. We also had the bacon deviled eggs which were interesting. The bacon is about a 1/3 slice of candied bacon stuck into the egg filling. With my first egg, I tried to eat it all together. That was a bit awkward, so, with the second egg, I decided to eat the bacon first, then the egg. Both were delicious in their own right. Best of all, the service was great. Our server, Lauren, did an amazing job, especially considering it was the end of long busy evening. I deliberately only eat half of everything when I eat out so I don’t overeat. That means a lot of leftovers. When she realized that’s what I was doing, she offered to box each item after each course. I really appreciated that. She was friendly and participated in nice conversation. She even showed me the way to the restroom rather than just point since it was a bit hard to find. We will return when we have an...