Critic's Review
Firebird's was on my radar late February 2020; and then all hell broke loose. On a windy, 88 degree day I decided to take a drive for some lunch.
There's no specific parking lot for the restaurant; I had to park in a lot a block away. It's kind of a weird center; a lot of stores and hardly any cars or people. I hope these businesses qualify for the free rent programs.
I open the doors to a big empty restaurant. They have a nice bar, but a lonely place at lunch.
It's a big restaurant. Nicer than I thought it was going to be.
They have a side dining room that they apparently use for the lunch crowd. There were 3 tables including mine; the beauty of the pandemic is they don't seat you right next to another table in an empty restaurant. They give you plenty of space.
I knew what I was having, although that didn't stop from confusing my server. This is how it went:
Me: "I'll have an unsweetened Iced tea with extra lemon please. Whats the Soup of the Day"?
Her: "Manhattan Clam Chowder"
Me: "Oh, ok, I'll have that with the Flounder sandwich for the Combo"
Her: "What side do you want with that?"
Me: "What's in the mixed vegetables?"
Her: "Broccoli, Cauliflower, etc"
Me: "Ok, I'll have that"
Her: "Do you want a cup or a bowl of soup"
Me: "There's a choice with the Combo?"
Her: "Oh, no that comes with a cup"
She then delivered the iced tea and informed me that I don't get a side with the combo. OK.
I noticed bread on other tables but none was offered to me.
While I was waiting at an empty table I wondered why restaurants insist on serving the soup and sandwich together rather than bringing out the soup (or salad) right away. It's like all restaurants have the same low IQ brain.
Music here is surprisingly good: Billy Idol, 38 Special. John Mayer. Good stuff. 8 minutes later my food came out.
My first impression was that the sandwich wasn't quite what I expected. The soup, however, was a larger portion than the usual thimble you get with these offerings.
I ate the soup first. Could have used a bit more bacon flavor but all in all a decent offering.
The sandwich boasted a ridiculous presentation more suited to Long John Silvers than a fancy fine dining establishment; the brioche bun not withstanding.
Inside was kind of messy and clearly the wooden stick was needed to hold it together.
I took a couple of bites as delivered to get an idea of the full offering.
I ended up separating the tomato and lettuce. Nothing really bad about it; it just wasn't the airy fish and chips type filet I was hoping for.
I had to wait a while to cash out after I was done.
No-one seemed to care that I had no beverage and no refill was offered at any time, which cost my server $1 off the tip.
Conclusion
It's difficult to get a feel for what a restaurant might be like in normal times; hard to say if they just can't find good help or if the help is just poorly trained. This place offers a comfortable setting, a diverse menu and decent if not particularly memorable food. And they haven't raised the prices, so they get points for that.