#120: Firebirds Wood Fired Grill

Date Visited: 19 November 2011

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 6 - Me, Wendy, Bob, Joyce, Perry, Laurie

Experience: The rapid opening of restaurants in the Village at Leesburg continues! The newest one is Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, which opened on Wednesday, 16 November. It’s a chain with twenty locations, mostly in the eastern U.S. From their website, here’s what Firebirds is supposed to be all about: “Firebirds Wood Fired Grill introduced a taste of Colorado to the Carolinas when it first opened its doors in Charlotte, North Carolina in December of 2000. The restaurant is the creative concept of owner and restaurateur, Dennis Thompson, who regularly travels out west. He fell in love with the feel of the area as well as the food. Drawing from those experiences, he developed Firebirds.”

At the risk of being repetitive (as reported in #119), there are ten restaurants now open in the Village at Leesburg: Flame Kabob, Faang Thai, Noodles & Company, Travinia Italian Kitchen, Eggspectation, King Pinz (yes, they have a restaurant too), Wegmans (yeah, it's technically a restaurant), Finnegan’s, Pinkberry (just opened), and the subject of this review, Firebirds!

On this Saturday evening, we were joined by our best friends Bob, Joyce, Perry, and Laurie, and there was quite a wait (not unexpected). After we were seated, drink orders were taken; two of us decided to have a glass of Casa Lapostolle (a Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile). Our server came back to tell us they were all out of that. Then the three of us guys decided to order a bottle of Firebird Red (Napa Valley) to share. Our server came back again to tell us they were all out of that. Finally, we just decided it was every man for himself, and I ended up with a glass of Red Guitar Tempranillo (Spain); I don’t remember what Bob & Perry got, but this was not a good start. The wine was actually pretty good, a little fruity but not overpowering.

We chose a two appetizers; first was the Ranch Rings (“Buttermilk-battered onion rings with panko bread crumbs. Served with roasted garlic ranch dressing.”) The panko made these deliciously different than normal onion rings. We also got the Lobster Spinach Queso (“A spicy blend of lobster, baby spinach, tomatoes and pepper jack cheese with tri-colored tortilla chips.”) Big pieces of lobster and fresh-made chips. Everyone liked both very much; nothing was left!

Several of us had the Firebirds BLT Salad (“Chopped lettuce, tomatoes, applewood-smoked bacon, roasted garlic ranch dressing.”) The dressing was the same garlicky goodness as that which came with the Ranch Rings, but there was a bit too much of it; the bacon was a little strange - good taste but seemed to be in small chewy nuggets rather than thin pieces.

I ordered the Bleu Cheese Filet (“Bacon-wrapped wood grilled filet topped with bleu cheese sauce and port mushrooms”) with a loaded baked potato. No vegetables come with the dish, maybe because they assume you’ve already had a salad? The steak was quite good, and the clean wood fire taste was noticeable. The bleu cheese sauce and mushrooms (large) complimented the steak well. The baked potato wasn’t all that “loaded” - not enough fixins to spread over the whole potato. However, they do rub salt on the outside of the skin, which makes the skin so much tastier.

Wendy got the Filet & Shrimp (“Bacon-wrapped wood grilled filet served with shrimp basted in a Key lime butter”) with a loaded baked potato. The steak was the same as mine, minus the bleu cheese sauce and mushrooms. The shrimp were also wood fired, and had the grill marks to prove it. I’ve never had Key lime butter before, but it really made the shrimp excellent. She had a Lemonade that came with a sugar-encrusted rim, a nice touch.

I didn’t take detailed notes on everyone else’s dinners. Laure had a chicken salad (don’t remember which one) but the chicken was ice cold rather than warm as expected. She didn’t have a good experience.

There were a few hiccups in our experience: wine problems, cold chicken in the salad, drink refills were slow to come, and we weren’t even asked if we wanted dessert (after being briefly shown the dessert menu!) But this was only the fourth night they’ve been open for business; I think Firebirds will work out these kinks and prove to be one of the better Leesburg restaurants. I encourage you to give them a try (maybe in a couple of weeks!)

Location: 1607 Village Market Blvd. SE, Leesburg, VA, 20175, 703-840-0443

Web site: http://www.firebirdsrestaurants.com/

Total bill: $92.23 + $20.00 tip = $112.23