Giving this one a four-star review. I had a GREAT experience here one time and a very underwhelming experience on my second visit. We'll start with the strong visit...

Basically walked up to the restaurant as they were opening on a Thursday. The girlfriend and I wanted to try a new spot and we'd never eaten at Big Fire before. So we walked in and sat at the bar. The bar staff was incredibly attentive and the drinks were pretty damn good too. I had the smoked old fashioned and I believe I also tried the PB&J, which was good because I like peanut butter whiskey but I would prefer the old fashioned. I ordered the Signature Bison Burger with fries and it was outstanding. Cooked perfectly and the fries were fresh and crispy. The GF ordered just a wedge salad. At the time I don't believe she was too hungry but overall it was a great experience and we were the only people at the bar so the staff did a phenomenal job. On our way out we made a reservation to have dinner there a couple nights later because we were pretty impressed.

Now I'll even be objective and at least try to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt. When we showed up for our reservation the night before we flew home, the weather was atrocious. Florida weather was turned up a few notches and City Walk was getting pounded by rain. Luckily we were already inside waiting for our reservation. We ended up being sat well after our reservation and we didn't get the greatest table. We're a younger couple so they may have assumed we were on a tighter budget than other coupes or families. Maybe they assumed we wouldn't be spending much money and would be out of there soon. On top of the lackluster table location, we had to flag down a server after about 20 minutes to get some service. Again, they were MUCH busier this time around because people are trying to get out of the rain. I get it. But it took forever to get a server to come by, and when they did they just took our order and we didn't see them again until they dropped off the check. Not a huge deal, I was a little turned off by the experience and didn't want to bother ordering a drink. GF got the wedge salad again as she was a little annoyed as well and wasn't that hungry. I ordered the eight-ounce filet mignon. Holy hell. It was awful. Zero seasoning. No accompanying sauce (when I die, I want to be buried in A1 sauce). It was also overcooked. And the lone side I got were oven-roasted mashed potatoes with no salt. The dish is supposed to come with mashed potatoes and grilled carrots. I ate it because I wanted something in my stomach. I feared that sending it back would just delay the poor experience we were already having and I'm a simple guy. Just give me sustenance and I can go about my day. So I'm gong to chalk this one up as a just an off night for the restaurant. They may have been overwhelmed by everyone that was coming in to stay dry and maybe get a table to hide from the rain. Could've been an off night for the kitchen as well.

So the first visit was a five-star review. The second visit is probably worthy of one star. But I'm leaving four stars because I give more weight to the phenomenal first visit I had. I'll likely swing through next month and hope to get a spot at the bar as that's where I prefer to eat. I can get in & out quicker and I have easier access to my server by sitting at the bar. But I highly recommend the bison burger because if it's consistently cooked as well as it was when I ate there my first time, then hopefully you aren't disappointed.