Some friends called while I was in the grocery store Saturday night and asked me to meet them there for dinner. That changed my plans significantly for the evening. Good thing I had not already picked up the salmon I was planning on. Arriving about 6:30 you would never know there was a recession in progress. Firebirds shares a lot with 3 other chain restaurants and I had to circle the lot a couple of times to find a spot. Without reservations we were quoted 40 minutes which turned out to only be about 25.
Courtney, our waitress, was on top of her game. She was right there with iced tea refills and knew the answer to every question we asked except one allergy related question and she was back quickly with that answer. The folks next to us had a small child and she made sure the apps hit the table fast to keep the child, who was a perfect angel the whole time, busy and happy.
All of us were very happy with our food except for one minor thing. I had ordered my blue cheese filet medium and it came medium rare which will quite often leaves the middle too chewy for my liking. I pointed it out to the waitress and she immediately offered to take it back and cook it some more and in another minute the manager was there with the same offer. As it worked out it was acceptable for a couple of reasons; it was a good piece of meat to begin with and because I had not yet finished my salad it got to sit a bit before I cut it open. So I would not let them take it back. They did insist on my taking a dessert to go and I got the creme brulee cheesecake which I used for a delicious lunch the next day.
Inexpensive this place isn't but it was an excellent dinner. The service was great. While they were quick to get stuff to the table I noticed they were not rushing couples that wanted to linger over coffee either.