Fire 45 Grille & Social — Restaurant in North Royalton

Where do I begin…

Very disappointed all the way around. My husband and I have been wanting to go here since they opened and we were finally able to connect with good friends and to celebrate our anniversaries and birthdays.

Reservations We called for 6:00P reservations, hostess informed us they were booked for 6:00P but could do either 5:45P or 6:15P, we chose the 6:15P reservation. We arrived a little before our dinner reservations, when we checked in the hostess informed us that we couldn’t be seated until our reservation time, normally I would be ok with that, but there was nobody in the restaurant. Parking lot may have been packed but the restaurant wasn’t even half occupied.

Barmaid Has no customer service skills. Prior to being seated my husband got me a drink from the bar, nothing fancy, just Jim Beam and Coke. I took a sip, it was “diet” Coke, took the drink back up to the bar and informed the barmaid it was “diet” Coke and could I please exchange it for a Jim Beam and regular Coke, not diet, she proceeded to argue with me that it was regular Coke, I politely told her it wasn’t and can I have another. She took my drink, grabbed the bottle of Jim Beam and poured another shot in the glass and said here, I won’t charge you for the extra shot. I thanked her but informed her that it was still “diet” Coke, she took the glass and spilled it out. She proceeded to make me another drink, and when she handed it to me I thanked her and told her I appreciate it but she used Jack and not Jim Beam, Jack is a black bottle to which you used, Jim Beam is white. She snatched the glass from my hand, spilled it out, and side eyed me the whole time she was making my drink and then set it on the bar. I said thanks and walked away.

Waiter Our waiter came to the table and introduced himself. He got us waters and took our appetizer order. He came back and took our food orders and that was the last time we saw of him, outside of handing us our checks. He never came over to ask us how our meals were, never refilled our water glasses, and never asked if we wanted another drink from the bar.

Food For the prices they charge the food was bland and not worth the money. My scallops were room temperature and my sides were cold and my husbands prime rib was over cooked.

Needless to say, we will not go there again. ...

Very expensive mediocre food. That’s the easiest way to describe this place. Went for Mother’s Day brunch. The 10 am seating ended up being at around 10:30 because the restaurant was far from ready. Once seated, the customers had to wait even longer for the restaurant to setup a buffet that should have been ready by the time we walked into the dining room.

It was obvious that the staff was rushing to setup at the very last minute, and it looked extremely unprofessional.

Once the food was finally ready, the line to the buffet was long and slow. By the time my party reached the food, it was 11 am. The process of getting in and reaching the food took an entire hour.

The food: definitely not worth the $40 per person buffet, drinks not included. Fogo de Chao is only $10 more for a quality buffet, plus very nice cuts of meats. At Fire45, we got 2 mediocre pastas, a salad, incredibly hard, dry, and definitely inedible waffles, bacon and sausage, meatballs, previously frozen shrimp, and low quality oysters.

The dessert included previously frozen mini cream puffs (the very same ones sold at Costco), and store bought cake sheets. Absolutely no effort in this part.

To add insult to injury, small plastic plates and utensils were offered. The plates were so small, the customers were taking 2 at a time. And water was in self serve dispensers with plastic cups next to them.

You would think that such a large restaurant would at least have 2 buffet stations (considering they probably only spend $50) in food. But that wasn’t the case. Only one station was available. The customers sitting on the other side of the dining room had to walk all the way to the other side -and wait in line- in order to reach the food.

The waitress came to our table a few times, but only once to actually check on us. The rest of the times were to ensure payment. She asked if we wanted the bill (only 30 minutes after we started eating), dropped off the bill, came over to collect payment twice.

It was very clear that the restaurant management is more interested in making money, than to provide decent service. And it’s a shame because it is a very nice restaurant. But definitely not worth the price for the food and...

Fire45 is "bringing upscale dining to North Royalton" and that's true. The appearance and the prices are absolutely upscale, but that's where it stops. Royalton's newest restaurant has room to grow.

Pros: The place is nice. Sharp lines, dark cozy interior and very clean.

In the summer this place will shine with giant garage doors that will allow all the summer breezes in. Lots of room and two bars mean this place should be hopping with a great beer selection and fun cocktails like a French 75.

The menu will be exactly what Royalton and surrounding smaller cities will need rather than driving to a similar place like a Burntwood Tavern - more like an upscale outback and less like a Strip or Red, all closer to home.

Pizza. The pizza is a win. Huge pies for $20 or under.

Cons: We ordered prime rib (a Sunday only special), rack of lamb, and pizza. Alongside the entrees we ordered a crab bisque.

Overall this was probably just growing pains. Service was a little stuttery, having trouble answering some of our questions. This will be fixed as everyone gets into the flow.

My prime rib came out medium well, not medium rare but it was fine. Not worth complaining about, but the flavor was lacking. It had a beautiful crust but needed the au jus and horseradish.

The lamb chops were pretty but lacked flavor. They were cooked perfectly though but for the price should have actually tasted far better.

The crab bisque has major promise with a deep savory flavor and high chunks of crab meat. Unfortunately this was super salty and for the price - lacking.

Verdict: Go for the easy wins like the pizza or some drinks. Wait a while for the kinks to work themselves out. If they don't, drive a little while longer for the same quality...