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| - I used a groupon I received for my birthday for dinner recently and left unimpressed.
We were greeted by a friendly hostess who sat us down right away. The first odd thing we noticed was that there was an independent vendor by the entrance selling jewelry and makeup laid out on some tables. This thoroughly confused me because I have never seen something like this at a restaurant before, and it really cheapened the overall vibe of Wildfire.
They have a set menu for those using a groupon, and we ordered the following:
- Calamari Fritti: The coating on the calamari was delicious and the accompanying aiolis were tasty as well.
- Beef Carpaccio: Delicious! This was served with a generous helping of arugula.
- 10 oz New York Striploin: Asked for medium rare, received medium. The steak was very bland and dry, making it difficult to swallow.
- Wildfire Back Ribs: Nothing special about this dish - the flavour was okay but that's it.
- Polenta Fries: This was an extra side we ordered. The fries came in huge pieces, making it rather difficult to eat.
- Chocolate Torte: I have had better chocolate flourless cake.. that's all.
- Creme Brulee: Good but nothing to rave about.
Our meal also came with chef's selection of hors d'oeuvres, which were really really bad. They gave us cocktail shrimp (could still taste the frozenness), some sort of a fishy tasting paste on a slice of cucumber (the paste tasted weird and did not compliment the cucumber), and a bite-sized pastry with some sort of an olive-based dip.
Portions were generous, I'll give them that. I was already 3/4 full on the starters alone. The meal started off fairly promising because the starters were delicious, but everything went downhill from there.
Food aside, service was attentive... maybe overly attentive. I sound picky by this point but the busboys constantly came to our table to check if they could clear anything. I counted 12 times throughout our dinner when they came to check up on us, only to turn around right away when they notice nothing needed to be cleared. This would have been less awkward if we didn't sit in a dead end corner... the constant visits/check-ins were really disruptive.
The overall experience was disappointing. Not sure if our experience reflects that of the chain or this location, but I would be wary of returning to any Wildfires in the future.
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