The Fireplace Restaurant — Restaurant in Woodfin

A Christmas party with friends ends in a bad review for The Fireplace Restaurant at 287 Weaverville Hwy in Asheville, NC.

On Saturday evening we (my family and another couple) eagerly arrived at the Fireplace Restaurant with Groupon in hand. I had purchased a $40 Groupon the day before for what looked like a fabulous place to have a Christmas dinner meal with friends. Once at the restaurant, we arrived as soon as it opened slightly after 4:00pm to beat the regular dinner crowd and not interfere with their busy Christmas season party goers, I made our waitress aware that we would be using a Groupon for our dinner that evening. I then followed by asking our waitress several questions about the items on the menu and if these were all covered by our Groupon, she said that they were so we placed our order and continued to enjoy our evening with friends. After dinner my husband and I received our check from the waitress and proceeded to the cashier to pay using our Groupon. The cashier was reluctant to let us our Groupon but when I explained to her that we had made or waitress aware before our meal that we were using a Groupon and had even asked our waitress to make sure that we could use the Groupon for the items we were about to purchase, our waitress had said that it was fine. The cashier then said she'd need to talk to the manager/owner so we waited for her to return. Once the cashier returned, she informed us that the manager/owner would not take our Groupon - I was shocked to say the least but my husband went ahead and paid our $65.00 total bill for dinner. I have purchased many different Groupons over the past two years for items such as jewelry, photo sessions, clothing, kitchen goods and even a trip to Myrtle Beach and have always had very pleasant experiences - NOT THIS TIME! The cashier then proceeded to tell me that the manager/owner said what we had eaten was considered a "special" and she (the manager/owner) was not here to "give food away." I couldn't believe what I was hearing from the cashier especially since I was so diligent to make our waitress aware we had a Groupon upfront and even ask her to make sure the items that we wanted to use the Groupon on were covered. I followed every rule printed in the fine print of our Groupon but the manager/owner was unwilling to work with me in any way...how RUDE! It was also very obvious that the manager/owner didn't feel like she even needed to take the time to speak directly with me and my husband about this situation, she (the manager/owner) just continued to look down as she kept cleaning off tables in the restaurant. Now it's time for my review on the food, since I was indeed a paying customer. The food lacked taste, not the best meal by far and in my opinion very expensive. I was and am still in shock regarding our experience and the lack of service that we received from The Fireplace Restaurant this past Saturday night, December 15th, 2012. I work at a conference center and would never give the horrible attitude or lack of customer service to any of my customers that I myself received. I believe that their is truth to the saying "the customer is always right" and the worst review is a bad review from a customer. My family and I will NEVER go back to this restaurant. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY - IT IS NOT WORTH IT IN...

I'm gonna be real with y'all, the food here almost brought a tear to my eye.

My family and I ordered our meals that came with the soup and salad bar which had an incredible variety. The salad bar included multiple types of leafy greens, fresh fruit and peppers, tuna salad, chopped hard boiled eggs, cheeses, plenty of dressings and oil and vinegar to name just a few items. The soups on the other hand only included chili as far as I could tell, which isn't a whole lot of variety but the chili was great so it evens out I think.

Then the meal was delivered. Holy mama. I'll start with the 6oz center cut sirloin which my mother and I both ordered. The steak was cooked to our liking, my choice being medium rare, of course, and had a a nice sear on it. I did feel the need to add a hint of salt and pepper, but otherwise it was texturally wonderful and the inside was quite flavorful. I had special ordered sauteed onions on top and they absolutely delivered with a heaping pile of delicious caramelized onions on top at no extra charge. I also ordered a baked sweet potato on the side which was absolutely wonderful.

My dad ordered the combination platter. This may have been unknowingly the greatest decision of our trip to Asheville. This dish includes chopped barbecue, pork ribs, onion rings, a couple of hush puppies, and a side. The average person may have a challenge finishing all of this after a salad and chili. To start, I live in an area that has a million barbecue joints that are all wonderful, but the chopped barbecue from the Fireplace was some of the most wonderful barbeque I've ever tasted. Where a lot of barbecue may include a lot of fat and retain plenty of juice, the chopped barbecue was very lean and didn't feel too heavy to eat without feeling bad afterwards. The tradeoff is that, by itself, it ends up being on the dry side. The solution is provided through the creamy barbecue sauce, which I can only assume is made in-house. It is thick and brown, and you can get extra free of charge. The taste begins with the vinegary flavor of Carolina style barbeque and mellows out into the sugary sweetness of Texas style sauce. 10/10 and it immediately moistens the lean meat making every bite taste like heaven. If you enjoyed the sauce on the barbecue then just wait for the ribs. The meat is near perfect. The ribs are juicy and flavorful and have a large drizzle of this barbecue sauce on top. I simply cannot explain how fall-off-the-bone perfect this meat is cooked. There are simply no words to tell you how much I recommend eating here.

Granted it has been about 7 and half hours since I had eaten so maby my opinion was swayed by my empty stomach, but I think I'm giving quite the fair shake for the quality of this food. It was also quite reasonably priced for the sheer volume...

Wow, just wow! I have no words for the level of unprofessionalism portrayed by the “part owner” of this restaurant that would not give us her name. My husband bought three different gift cards for $50 each last Christmas, 2020. He had email confirmation of buying these and the restaurant was supposed to mail us the actual gift cards. He gave two different addresses for these gift cards to be sent to however we never received them. My husband called multiple times in January 2021 to find out about them however he was always given the run around. Covid happened and we finally decided we needed to go before they expired. He started calling and emailing several weeks ago because we never received the gift cards. He kept asking to speak to the manager or the owner and no one would ever talk to him or call back until he finally spoke to someone today who described herself as “part owner“. She told him the gift cards were “put in the mailbox“ and that she “remembered this for certain”…apparently from 11 months ago. She told him she could not help him and that she guessed we were just out the $150 we paid the restaurant for the gift cards we never received. She essentially called him a liar claiming they could not be certain that we had not already used them. When he asked if they had a system of knowing which gift cards were sold and redeemed, she said they do not. She hung up on my husband and when he called back, she hung up on him again. Needless to say, there is no way we will visit this restaurant. It’s too bad too as we are from SC and have heard good things about it. I give this restaurant ZERO stars and hope this doesn’t happen to...