Firebirds Wood Fired Grill — Restaurant in Overland Park

An Almost-Great Experience… They Have to Fix a Couple Things Though.

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is a higher-end, casual restaurant-chain serving steaks, burgers, seafood, and cocktails. The menu has a wide variety of offerings, so folks with varying tastes should find something they like—however, the prices are on the high-side. I don’t mind that, but if you are going to pay a premium price, then you should get premium food.

I ordered the Durango Burger ($13.50), which was a chile-spiced burger, with pepper jack cheese, pickles, fried onions, roasted garlic ranch dressing, served in a brioche bun and with a choice of seasoned steak fries, tater tots, fresh fruit or cider slaw. I ordered the burger medium and it came out almost well-done (barely any pink)—but it was fantastically seasoned. They need to cook the burgers at a higher temperature to get that good searing/seasoning on the outside and not overcook the meat on the inside. Additionally, I couldn’t taste any chile-spice, so I also recommend rubbing more on the patties before cooking. Their ranch dressing didn’t have any discernable roasted garlic in it—perhaps they forgot to add it to dressing? Lastly, I ordered the fries and wouldn’t say they were seasoned with anything except salt; which is fine, but I was expecting seasoning other than salt. And please serve more fries; the number served shouldn’t equal the number of fingers I have.

My wife ordered the Seared Tuna Superfoods Salad ($16.75), which was seared and sliced sushi-grade tuna served over a bed of spinach, organic red quinoa, cucumbers, avocado, grilled corn, edamame and radish, tossed with avocado green goddess dressing. She freakin’ loved it and it looked great. Lots of flavors that melded well and a filling portion. It was only 520 calories, so we were both worried it was going to be something small. Firebirds also serves a nice, soft, small loaf of bread while you wait. Our kids each ordered the burger ($6.50), which was a flattop grilled burger with lettuce and tomato, also served on a brioche bun with a choice of TWO sides (fresh veggies, broccoli, fresh fruit, fries, mac and cheese, or parmesan mashed potatoes), AND an Oreo® cookie packet, AND a beverage. This was really great—kids can order the fries, adults can pair it with something healthier, and everyone’s happy!

Overall, I’m on the fence about going back. I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from trying them out, but wouldn’t suggest it. When a restaurant’s primary niche is grilling meat over wood, then you would think they would get it perfect every time. My wife is a burger-lover and, even though she was hungry enough for a burger, she was glad she got the salad on this visit. I still wish I can rate restaurants on the half-star and will have to round-down...

EDITED 3/25/2022 TO ADD- After the regional manager read my previous review, I was given some gift cards to go back and try FB again and hopefully have a better experience. Today, my husband and I came in for lunch. It was pretty busy and they were short staffed so we had to wait like 10 minutes, which was totally fine. As former servers ourselves, we understand. Our server, Karsten, was wonderful. I felt like she could've been a little more attentive, I found myself waiting for her quite a bit towards the end of our meal, but other than that we loved her. She definitely fit the vibes and image of the restaurant. Our food, was wonderful. I ordered the pick two lunch, BLT salad and the chicken pasta. Salad was cold, pasta was hot, even after I had to take a 15 minute business call. My husband ordered the grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and a house salad. His food was delicious as well, I tried it. We also started with the onion rings. And I'm super picky about onion rings because the onion usually falls out of the breading. That was NOT the case here. They were delicious, and I was extremely surprised, honestly. Even though I was going to return after my previous review, I will definitely be returning more for sure. Thank you, Andrew, for the try again meal, it was truly worth it.

ORIGINAL POST

I liked the vibe, and the space. It did take a while for my server to come over, and we had asked for a sling for our son's carseat and was never brought one. The drinks that we ordered were strong, and tasty. I liked how it was poured at the table. I ordered the chicken tortilla soup and it was served cold, not hot. My husband ordered a house salad and the ranch was way too salty. For the main meal we both ordered steaks. I ordered the Cajun steak and it was really tasty. However I ordered it medium well and it came out more medium rare, way too much pink. My husband's steak was good as well, he got the one with the garlic herb butter. Overall I will go back, because the food was delicious. But it could've...

We were looking for a place for lunch, and decided to give Firebirds a try. We were seated quickly and Rose, our server, was immediately there to help us. Rose was very personable, and did a fantastic job throughout our meal! Fresh bread was brought out, and while I'm not sure what kind it was, it was warmed and delicious. My husband and I ordered the Bacon Deviled Eggs as an appetizer. They tasted very fresh and creamy. The candied bacon and sliced jalapeños made a nice sweet and spicy combo. I chose the The Perfect Pair with the Firebirds Chicken Pasta and Loaded Baked Potato. The chicken was nicely grilled, and the spicy asiago added a nice kick. The potato was salt crusted with the perfect amount of toppings, and not under cooked. My husband had the Cajun Ribeye, Chicken Tortilla Soup, and Loaded Baked Potato. The steak was cooked to perfection. You could cut it with a fork, and didn't need the addition of the cajun seasoned butter, although that was tasty too. The soup was nice and hot, with lots of creamy cheesy spoonfuls. The tortilla strips gave it a nice crunch, and they were not soggy. His potato was also nicely cooked. After having such a great meal, we decided to go all out and have the Creme Brulee Cheesecake and 5 Layer Lemon Cake. These were a perfect end to our meal! The cheesecake had the nice crisp brulee crust, and it just melted in your mouth. The flavor wasn't overly sweet, which can be the downside of some cheesecakes. The lemon cake was also a tasty treat. It can be hard to balance a lemon cake, between too tart and too sweet, but this cake was spot on...my husband almost wouldn't share lol! I know good staff can be hard to find in this day and age, but our experience with Firebirds was excellent! All the staff was friendly, the food was well prepared, and it was a very enjoyable meal for us! We will definitely be returning to try some of the other delicious sounding dishes...