Wildfire Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Well, we went back to Wildfire because we did want to try the food again. The appetizer selection was really good, and the service also very good. However, on this visit, we had a very unpleasant experience, made even more unpleasant by the lack of follow-up by the manager.

We're sitting at a table in front of a wine cabinet. Towards the end of our dinner, they asked us to get up so they could retrieve an $800 bottle of wine for another guest. We had to interrupt our meal, and stand up in the middle, for not 30 seconds, not 2 minutes but 7 minutes, while several staff physically moved our table, placed bottles of wine on our table while searching for the "expensive" one at the back, until they finally got it. My food obviously got cold, and the whole experience was ruined.

Did they try to make it up to us, or comp us for any of the meal or dessert? No. After we paid the bill they gave us a doggie bag with a chocolate tart to take home for the trouble. They didn't even bring it to us on a plate or comp us for the dessert we paid for, which was $11.

OK, so they screwed up. Surely, the manager would like to have us return. Nope. I spoke to 2 managers and he said that we should have been inconvenienced for only 30 seconds at the most, and our experience was just as important as the customers ordering an $800 bottle of wine. Although he said he would investigate and get back to us, he never did.

By the way, the chicken was average at best and the potatoes were bland and awful.

Well, here's another angle on the same visit. We did indeed dine with debsil.n49.ca, and I wouldn't be nearly as harsh.

Yes - we were seated at 8:30, and for some reason, the appetizers didn't arrive. This is one of those restaurants where the server places the order and expects the food to be delivered at the appropriate time. For some reason, they didn't arrive, and as soon as we brought it to our server's attention, they came almost immediately. That was shortly after 9:30.

After that however, the main courses did arrive in a timely manner, and comp-ing our table a $45 bottle of wine, in my opinion, more than makes up for the initial delay.

As to the food, picky as I am, I was quite pleased. The regular menu prices weren't that much higher than the Summerlicious menu (for my dish), so I just went with the regular menu so I could choose an appetizer of my choice.

The organic salad was very nice, if a little light on the dressing. The Piri-Piri chicken was also quite good. It was a nice size portion of chicken, very tasty, and the garlic mashed potatoes were also really nice. I would have liked a few more of the "seasonal" vegetables (since when is zucchini, carrots, and peppers seasonal? ;). Linda also liked her dishes, and all the employees were polite, courteous and appeared to be enjoying their jobs.

I would recommened Wildfire

We've eaten at Wildfire on a few occasions and usually have had a good meal with attentive service. That was not the case last night. Again, I believe the cause was Summerlicious. While the Summerlicious menu was plentiful, it did not meet our expectations.

When we arrived for our 8:30 reservation, we were immediately seated (so far so good). The restaurant was overflowing. But the service after that went downhill. After our order was taken, we couldn't find the waitress for at least 40 min. The four of us had quickly consumed the 4 rolls and tasty garlic hummus and were ravenous for more. Once we did locate her, rolls came quickly.

Took a total of 1 hour for the appetizers to come. Linda enjoyed the shrimp cocktail, but my cesaer salad was not flavourful.

Main courses must have taken another hour to come. My steak was overcooked. They did bring me another but again took some time. It was just OK. Manager was very apologetic for the delay and comped us the bottle of wine.

After I reminded the waitress that it was Linda's BDay, they did bring a nicely decorated cake plate with sparkler.

Total time at restaurant - 3hours. While we don't like to be rushed, this was far too excessive. I still have to recommend Wildfire for my past experience, but next time will skip Summerlicious.