Fork & Fire Smokehouse + Taproom — Restaurant in Oro Valley

Sat at bar, on the end nearest the door. The bar stools are wood backed with a black padded seat cushion. EXCEPT on the far end of the bar, in the corner there is a slightly smaller all steel stool with no cushion. It is literally jammed against the wall and in order to get 3 other stools in that side.(photo attached) as you can see the front bench for those waiting to be seated is RIGHT behind so that metal stool can’t even be pulled out. To sit in it you would have to slide in from the side while it is already pulled forward as it’s stuck there. So I didn’t sit in that chair. Old lady comes in alone and asks me if that seat is taken. I say I don’t think it’s intended for customers. Bar tender promptly says it is. So I get up and pull my stool back 3 feet to allow her to slide in the side of the chair, then I block her back in with our legs touching from hip to ankle. I Place order 5:39 (receipt attached). At 5:44 couple 2 seats down who came in 5 minutes after us place their order. At 5:49 the couple down from us receive their order, “create your own” charcuterie board, same as we ordered. They are engrossed in a game they are playing on their phones and don’t pay much attention to the food. The (very nice) lady rubbing against me to my right has to get something from her purse which requires me to push back from the bar and exit my chair and pull it back 3 feet so she can get her purse. Then I see it’s now 6:14 we’ve been waiting 35 minutes, while the couple who ordered the same thing 5 minutes AFTER us have had their food in front of them for 25 minutes already. I say we’ve been waiting over half hour where’s the cheese plate? Bartender says “they are custom made to order they take time” I say “they got the same thing as us theirs took exactly 5 minutes”. She then looks at their order and says “oops, that’s yours” and takes it back from them. They say they been playing their game and haven’t touched it yet. Bartender asks if we want a ‘new’ one. I consider these people been breathing on it for 25 minutes but I consider it will be ANOTHER 35 minutes if I send it back, so I keep it. Mistake. The deviled egg is nasty room temperature. The “cold” salmon is warm room temp. The ribs are greasy and cold. The Brie is room temp and in a literal puddle on the plate. The room temp Gouda held up ok. The only thing my wife could eat. I was starved and ate most the rest, nasty as it was. But I guess leaving it out on a bar for a half hour does that. We asked for a bill at 7:03. We left at 7:15. I spent the entire 1hour 36 minutes I was there scanning the room looking for a manager. My INTENT was NOT to leave this review but instead to bring this up with the manager on duty to see if they would correct anything. But in those 96 minutes, during the dinner rush, I can assure you no manager set foot into the dining area. I know there WAS a manager on duty hiding someplace because their guest wifi doesn’t work either. I asked the bartender to confirm the password. She left and returned and said “just talked to manager I’m back and that’s the correct password, not sure why it doesn’t work”. Well with no manager coming out I figured at least I’d voice my complaints when they asked “how was everthing”. NOPE. Dropped the bill in front of me. Took my credit card and dropped it back. Told my wife have a nice night. No one cared to ask how it was. And of course there wasn’t a dime taken off the bill for that nasty crap that spent 25 minutes on the counter being breathed on by the neighbors. Been here plenty of times. Even left some highly favorable reviews in the past. Problems there tonight. And no one there cared enough to fix it, or even say sorry. Left my 10% tip...

A must need visit if you are ever in Oro Valley. Locally owned. 1,000/10. They should be Famous, and they deserve Awards and Accolades for their food and atmosphere. I am absolutely pleased with this restaurant, and it has become my new favorite in all of Arizona!

We drove past here on our way to a different store, and decided to stop in just to try it. The cool metal cow, the colors, and the clean exterior peeked our intrest and drew us in. (As well as the name of course!) We were met by Jen the bartender who was absolutely phenomenal. She's wonderful at her job, and is an exemplary server. We asked about the restaurant and how they got started, their origin story is definitely a dream come true for the owners. After hearing how much love the owners have put into their restaurant, I just knew the food had to be good.

We ordered the Smoked old fashion, which was an absolute delight to have. It consists of Punchers Chance bourbon, charred orange peel, Luxardo cherries, topped with Bitters, and hand smoked with mesquite. The tasting notes were sweet, woody, perfectly smoked, and very smooth.

For appetizers we ordered the Bacon Crab dip, and the Wisconsin Cheese curds. The Bacon Crab Dip was a favorite at my table. Too spicy for someone with spice sensitivity, but still absolutely delicious. One person at our table ate it all with obsession, and left almost none left. It tasted like the perfect balance of sweet to salty, and wasn't too pungent. The Wisconsin Cheese Curds were so flavorful that my cheeks hurt as they filled with spit. I have a high expectation for Cheese Curds, as I have had them in Wisconsin, and I will say that these do not skip a beat. They are the best Curds in town by far! And they are squeaky! If you know, you know.

For lunch we ordered the Pulled pork sandwich with Pulled pork mac and cheese side, the Fork and Fire hamburger with fries, and the Smoked Italian sausage with baked beans. The pulled pork sandwich was just what I was craving when thinking of pulled pork. I usually don't have coleslaw or BBQ sauce on my sandwich, but those additions made the sandwich exponentially better. I tried the Hickory BBQ sauce, and it's now my favorite. I wouldn't mind having a bottle of it in my home. The Pulled pork mac and cheese was well balanced and had all the right textural notes. The Fork and Fire hamburger is something I would definitely come back for, if craving that. The meat tasted smoky, and the char was perfect. It was just the PERFECT burger all around too be honest. The fries are done fabulously as well, I love their crunch. And lastly we had the smoked Italian Sausage. Honestly, I want to come back just to buy a BUNCH of these qto take back home and make meals with them. They are so packed with flavor, and charred just right to perfection. The beans were a little hot for anyone with a spice sensitivity, but were still so good. They reminded me of eating campfire beans growing up. This meal also came with baked vegetables (Carrots) and oh lord! I would eat them every day for lunch if I could. I wish I could beg and plead with the owner for the recipe. The carrots were the perfect pleasant surprise, and really rounded out the whole dish. There was not a SINGLE problem with our meal, or our service. This is in my top 10 places to visit in Arizona, and I wish I could rate it higher than allowed. I really hope y'all become famous, you deserve it, your food has me wishing for more already. I'll be back soon. Keep up the great work!! Y'all have a passion for this,...

Fork & Fire is lit.

Early evening saw us drop into one of Emily’s parents favorite places to eat. That’s Fork & Fire. They said they love the food and the bartenders are great. It was time for Emily and I to put that to the test. We walked in and their favorite bartender was working and promptly seated us.

First up were drinks. The first one I ordered just ran out so, instead of ordering something the bartender suggested, I picked out something that I thought sounded just as good. Turns out, it was just okay and then when it came time for a second round, I took the bartender up on her suggestion and profusely apologized for not listening to her first. It was much tastier and closer to what I was looking for.

When it came time to order food, we got the fried cheese curds as an appetizer (or were the beers the appetizer?) and the garlic Parmesan dipping sauce it came with was absolutely freaking amazing. The cheese curds were good but that dipping sauce knocked them out of the park. I’m still thinking about it a week later.

We all pretty much ordered the Fork & Fire Burger. Maybe it’s just a Fork & Fire thing but you can only order it in Rare, Medium, or Well Done. As a Medium Rare kind of person, this was a bit of a miss but when the burger came out, it pretty much was closer to Medium Rare than Medium and that made me happy. It did seem like everyone’s burger was some variation of MR to M. Dave was the only one to order something else and that was the Brisket French Dip.

It didn’t take long for the food to come out since it was pretty quiet in the restaurant at the time we were there. Once the food came out, we all dug in real quick and Emily and I found out even quicker why her parents love this place. The burger was really good and really messy. I got mine with a side of french fries and those french fries were the best thing ever. I don’t remember all the fine nuances of the burger due to the two beers on an empty stomach but I do remember enjoying every bite of it. Emily’s parents really do know all the best food places around Oro Valley.

The price is a bit high but the quality and taste are, in my opinion, the best I had in Arizona on this trip.

Stick a fork in me,...