Firebirds Wood Fired Grill — Restaurant in West Des Moines

4.8* (out of 5) Food: 5* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 4* Service: 5* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $53

05/18/2025 Firebirds Wood Fired Grill Although a bit pricy, Firebirds is one of our favorite stops in Des Moines. If you want to try it out and save a few dollars - come for their great Happy Hour. We have been back several times since my last post, but finally taking the time to update the review after our latest visit.

Tonight, my wife opted for the 10oz Sirloin (see picture) and I chose the Colorado Chicken Salad with raspberry vinaigrette (see picture). We have come to expect fantastic food here and these dishes were no different - the steak tender and buttery delicious...and wow, I loved the salad with all of the cranberries, cheese and nuts! And...we couldn't help ourselves from not finishing the meal with Bread Pudding topped with ice cream (see picture) - what a treat!

09/18/2023 Well...we were back to one of our favorites again, this time for Happy Hour on my Birthday.

We defaulted to our old favorite, the Double Diamond Martini for the first round - they are just SO good and they aren't down-sized for Happy Hour. For food we went with the Prime Rib Sliders (see picture) and our old standby, the Ahi Tuna Tacos (see picture). Once again, the food did not disappoint - with both of them being absolutely delicious and highly recommended.

04/28/2023 This place is getting to be a habit. This time, we were looking for a Happy Hour on HappyHourDesMoines.com that went past 5:30 since we were running late - and fell back to this excellent choice (Happy Hour until 6:30). The service was better on this stop, so raised it back to 4* and the overall to 4.5*.

We defaulted to our old favorite, the Double Diamond Martini for the first round, then I returned to the Dirty Bird for the second round. For food we went with the Lobster Queso (see picture - not part of the Happy Hour specials, but still delicious) and Ahi Tuna Tacos (see picture). As per our expectations here, the food did not disappoint - with both of them being absolutely delicious and highly recommended.

You won't be disappointed in a stop at Firebirds - check out their Happy Hour to get started and stay for dinner if you are hungry enough.

04/05/2023 Returned again - this time to use a $10 coupon from registering with their email club that was expiring. The food and atmosphere were great again...but was a little disappointed with the service at this visit, so dropped that rating. Our server was slow in getting to take our order and promised bread and butter...that didn't come until after our entree was delivered and I had made a trip up to ask about it.

Their bread is great (see picture), with panko-like crumbs on the top and butter on the side. I was not that hungry and trying to watch my calories (thanks by the way for the calorie listings of each dish on the menu), so went with the Strawberry Shrimp Salad (see picture) - and absolutely loved it! My wife ordered the Durango Burger (see picture) on the server's recommendation and also enjoyed it, along with the tater tots.

03/17/2023 Most recently, we stopped by last night and since there was an hour wait to get a table, we settled in at the bar and enjoyed several items from their Happy Hour menu (see pictures).

For starters, we each ordered a Double Diamond Martini (see picture) and really enjoyed the tropical flavors. I also ordered a Sam Adams Cold Snap (see picture) and enjoyed it also along with the great atmosphere.

The best part of all (beyond the Happy Hour prices) was the food! We started with the Ahi Tuna Tacos (see picture) and found them to be so delicious (yes, a little messy too...) that we made the decision to order more and make them our dinner. In addition, we tried an order of Fire Up Shrimp (see picture). While they were also good, I expected a bit of spicy kick from them that wasn't there, so found them...

So we chose this over another place we already had reservations for just due to a buddies birthday and he wanted to try it out…. Welp that was a mistake worst quality food for an overpriced rate now listen I’m not new to expensive nice dinning this is not it! I ordered ribeye my friend ordered ribeye my other friend ordered 1 sirloin and 1 ny strip he eats a lot lol! Ok food comes out my steak looks taste and cuts like a ny strip I asked is this a ribeye he said yes even tho I knew he was wrong I went with it because I had added shrimp and lobster so I figured watever I’m not gonna make a big deal on my buddies birthday(wrong steak cooked medium almost medium rare ordered medium well!!! Ok second my buddy that order 2 steaks both his were cooked more well don’t them mine and to top it off he ordered medium well lol strike 2!! Strike 3 my buddy that also ordered the ribeye ordered WELL DONE the meat was so red it wasn’t even believable at this point!! I was not going to say anything to the waiter till his was not right on his b day I felt that isn’t right! So we had them correct his and didn’t want to make a huge deal like we were cheap wanted free food fact is lobster was over cooked 4 steaks we ordered were completely wrong all we got was my buddies steak off the bill that ordered well done and it was his b day!!so if your looking for quality food cooked right and get the right steak you ordered not ny stripe when I order ribeye (I eat steak 3-4 days out the week I know my steak pretty well) I say avoid this place long horn is by far better tasting and comes out correct also Ruth Chris is the place we bailed to go here and we all regretted it we still tipped the waiter $80+ as it wasn’t her fault but to pay $175 for a meal just for me I didn’t even take but 1 bite of the steak and knew it was wrong I was not happy the manager never once came to apologize not once tried to help at first didn’t even take anything off the bill and after we sat there a little bit the waiter seen us contiplating so she came back with a new bill for there 2 meals and took the 1 meal off well considering everything was wrong I will never go back to pay $175 for 1 meal for myself and get the wrong cut steak cooked wellll underdone to what I ordered terrible experience! And 1 last thing when people set the empty plates or appetizers please have your waiters grab them from the table we had plates stacked and clean the table for her all she had to do was grab them she left them there for 2-3 times she walked past and even stopped this shouldn’t be hard we tipped because everyone works hard deserves paid in the end just fix the issues this was such a let down to me and the couple buddies that came! Last thing they give b day deserts but never asked wat he wanted just brought it well they brought the 1 thing he doesn’t eat lol this place was a complete bust...

My fiance and I went to eat at Firebirds on Saturday night for my birthday dinner so we go there for the first time and had a horrible experience as soon as we walk through the door. First off the greeter pointed and told us that the table that was right next to him and right next to the patio door was available for us to sit in which blew me away that he would say that because the table was still dirty from the previous customers that were sitting there before any waiter could come up to us I asked a random waiter if he could clear off the table and the guy did clean off the table but had a huge attitude about it as if I asked them to do something that was not in his job description. Then we sit there for about 20 minutes and then another waitress shows up and she looked like she had a long night and was very unpleasant to talk to she was not friendly whatsoever and was super short as if I was a homeless person begging for free food. Which clearly I wasn't because me and my fiance had matching Burberry outfits from head to toe unlike the customers around our area that came in basketball shorts and stained t-shirts that looked like they haven't been washed in months. Before we ever entered Firebirds I thought that by looking at the pictures that it was a decent restaurant but oh boy did I find out the hard way. 45 minutes after our order was taken our food finally had arrived slightly warm like it's been sitting in the back for a while prior to that I was already wanting to leave but my fiance said let's give them a chance but once the food had arrived I took a few bites as did she and we both looked at each other and when the waitress came and asked how everything was we told her that it was not good and that we didn't want this table to begin with because I knew those chairs with no backing would make my lower back hurt and make me feel uncomfortable and on top of that every time somebody went in and out of patio door there was a gust of wind blowing directly at us. Then we told her that we would like our check so we can leave and that's exactly what we did she brought the check we paid and left because we're not one of those people that are looking for freebies all I wanted was a decent birthday dinner experience which I clearly did not get so we got up and left. Needless to say whenever the topic of restaurants comes up in a conversation I will always mention the disappointing experience we had at Firebirds and tell everyone not to go and waste their money there, they can go to Olive garden and get a better experience and better food for half the price if we're going...