Wildfire — Restaurant in Oak Brook

My family and I dined in on 01/08/23 and our experience was so sub par that I had to leave this poor review. We chose Wildfire to celebrate my sister’s birthday and we were severely underwhelmed by the quality of food and drinks. I ordered a skirt steak which i requested medium and sautéed market vegetables. My steak was rare, which I chose not to make a big deal about but the plate as a whole was presented in a sloppy manner. The caramelized onions were thrown on top in such a way that genuinely made my plate look like slop. My side of sautéed vegetables was given to me with some of the vegetables dangling off the plate. As someone who works in the food industry I know that service is not always perfect but it seemed as if there was no expeditor checking the quality of the food before it was run. I would have been more understanding if the restaurant was busy but it was far from being at capacity. My dad and stepmom ordered the same items which were cooked at different temperatures and the food runner dropped off the food not knowing which plate was medium and which was well done. I could not order a cocktail but my waiter did not ask if I would like anything besides water so that is all I drank. When he returned for a quality check I asked for more water and was ignored. I did not receive more water until I was more than halfway through my food. Finally, my stepmom ordered an espresso martini. The martini was not the correct color, it looked as if it had been shaken with baileys. Maybe that is the recipe for the Wildfire espresso martini but as time went on the martini separated into a muddy and translucent color. My dad and I are both bartenders so perhaps our judgement on the drink comes from our bias on how espresso martinis should be made but it was genuinely a murky muddy looking drink. It made me glad that I was unable to order a cocktail myself. We left having felt severely underwhelmed by the quality of our food and drinks. The service was about as good as an Olive Garden and for the price point we expected more. I hope that this review reaches the management so that these issues can be corrected and the experience of future patrons is not as...

My experience was great, but this was with the private catering service.

I celebrated my mother's 70th birthday surprise party. I started the planning in late December. The event planners were great. My party had 23 guests and we used the Savoy room. The event planners answered all of my questions, and I had plenty. As questions came up, I was able to message them and I would receive an answer almost immediately, and on the weekends, I only had to wait 30 mins to an hour tops!

With the event planning service, they had a portal where the documents, contracts, payment deposit, and online discussion were maintained. This helped streamline a lot of the tasks.

The event was on a Sunday in April at 11am - 3pm. I knew how crazy parking can be at Oakbrook Center Mall, so I got there at 10:15, and I informed all my guests to promptly arrive at 11am; plus they needed to get there before my mom. :-)

For all the late arrivals, they had to deal with the parking issues, but that was on them, not me. LOL!

Also a lot of the guests were seniors with previous knee, hip and back surgeries - so I informed them not to park where the restaurants are, but behind the Neiman Marcus. Otherwise, they would have to climb a lot of stairs! That was the best accessible option. I wish there was an elevator available through the Beatrix restaurant; but oh well!

When I arrived early, I was able to add my decorations and wait for my guests and mom to arrive.

The host was fabulous - super duper attentive, and also provided options for those guests who had food allergies.

Since I was in charge of the food planning, everything was delicious. We had Grilled Pepperoni Flatbread, Mediterranean Chicken Skewers, Spit-Roasted Herb Chicken, Barbecued Baby Back Ribs, Cedar-Planked Salmon, Red Skin Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Market Vegetables. All of that for $36.95 per person (price at the time of my contract) with a minimum of $800 wasn't bad at all!!

Everyone had a great time and experience, and my mom was super surprised. That was the best part about...

After entire year of pandemic and not being able to go to favorite places we all want to go out and have enjoyable moments.. we decided to go yo Wildfire to celebrate small occasion.

We had a reservation at 7.45pm We called before asking what time restaurant would be closed, cause we would like to make sure that we won't be rushed. The response was that all reservations have 2 hours to complete the meal.. We came early and sat in bar area. I have ordered Old Fashioned but it was more likely Manhattan. Orange and cherry wasn't mulled with sugar. Just whiskey with vermouth. When I asked server for a cherry she rolled eyes.

We sat at the table around 8pm, ordered appetizers which were tasty .

Main order came in which was good as appetizer, ordered another round of wine glasses and boom. 9.10pm we got bright spotlight in our faces. And check was presented to us. Crew started sweeping the floor, cleaning tables, expediting window in front of us. There was other guests in the dinning room still eating.. I didn't came to restaurant to observe their closing routine and have dust in my face. Again it was few minutes after 9pm. When we asked server about it, he didn't do anything just listening. I have spotted manager making peek at the situation and done nothing.

After asking for a manager to actually approach the table and asking for particular reason why they doing it, the response from manager was that they have to do it. From my perspective it should be done after guests leave. Not in front of them 45 minutes before closing and after $150 billed was paid. We felt like in fast food place rushed out. We felt not only used but neglected.

Manager did nothing to change our experience therefore I would ask everyone to think before going there. And spending money. There is a plenty restaurants to go to and feel welcomed and...