Firebirds Wood Fired Grill
Finally, Mark turns to me, exasperated. “Break time,” he says. “Firebirds?”
“Perfect,” I tell him.
We’d dined once before at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, one of the newest restaurants on Erie’s busy upper Peach Street, where chain restaurants and stores abound. We’d been impressed, and had talked about returning. With our daughter at home in the care of a babysitter and our infant son fast asleep in his carrier, now seems like a perfect time for a getaway lunch.
And a getaway it is. I don’t usually think of chain restaurants — especially ones attached to a mall — as being much of a fine-dining experience. While the restaurant names may differ, the menus are remarkably similar. And while satisfying, meals at a place with multiple locations scattered across the country are rarely memorable.
But Firebirds, from the moment you step inside, sets itself apart. Firewood is stacked floor to ceiling behind the hostess stand. Warm, fire-colored chandeliers hang from industrial-height ceilings. A blaze roars in a stone fireplace. The bar itself is a sight to behold: Row upon row of backlit candy-colored bottles march along the wall and toward the ceiling.
But it’s not just the look of the place that makes it stand out.
The scent of a wood fire is the happy byproduct of the kitchen’s wood-fired grill, exposed so customers can see the staff at work.
The restaurant is built to feel like a ski lodge in Aspen, a favorite spot of owner Dennis Thompson, who opened the first Firebirds in 2000 in Charlotte, N.C. The Erie location was the 18th Firebirds to open.
Firebirds does not have an entrance to the Millcreek Mall to which it is attached. It is a purposeful distancing, though managing partner Tim Haring readily admits the restaurant relies on mall customers for its business. “We like having the traffic built into the mall but we don’t want to be a mall restaurant,” Haring says.
We’re seated along a dramatic wall of wine, where 218 bottles tower over diners. The tables are full enough that we have to wait — painless since we scored a seat in front of the blazing fireplace. It’s even more pleasant after our wine arrives.
Once seated, Mark orders the bleu cheese filet ($26), a bacon-wrapped, wood-grilled filet topped with bleu cheese sauce and port mushrooms. I choose the buffalo meatloaf ($17.50), which comes with sautéed mushroom gravy, Parmesan mashed potatoes and spiced pecan green beans. It’s the perfect comfort food on a chilly night.
Mark’s filet, prepared over the hardwood grill, is perfectly cooked and packed with flavor. Our sides — Mark asked for steamed vegetables instead of a potato — are also prepared just as we like: the mixed vegetables are the perfect color, texture and flavor.
The meal was every bit as good as our previous lunchtime visit. At that time, we’d started by sharing a mixed greens salad topped with the house cilantro lime vinaigrette ($4.50). I ordered a towering chile-spiced Durango burger ($11), as a nod to my brother, who lives in this beautiful Colorado mountain town. The burger came with pepper jack cheese, pickles, fried onion straws and roasted garlic ranch dressing. Mark ordered the pepper-crusted A.1. burger ($10), which was topped with Cheddar, applewood-smoked bacon and caramelized onions. Both burgers were thick, moist and cooked just the way we’d ordered.
Fortified by our meals, a glass of wine and an hour spent relaxing in the restaurant’s warm interior, we leave for a second round of shopping.
This time, we are ready.
Story:
Kara Murphy
March/April 2012