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Permalink Reply by Cassie Farmer on August 9, 2010 at 7:48pm

In summary: Worth a second chance...and a third? Great watering hole. Much to be desired in the food.

We've attended the Firehouse twice since their soft-opening in the last two weeks and while I want to give a new business on Coronado a fair shot, they haven't impressed me much so far. The space is absolutely amazing. The remodel they've done to the building is very impressive. The garage doors to the sidewalk and general open-ness of the dining/bar area are very inviting. You almost feel like you're already inside from the sidewalk. (very smart for business!) We've been promptly greeted each time we've gone in and have decided to sit at the bar each time, as well. The first visit was only the day after the soft opening and they had been packed the night before until the wee hours of the morning, the bartender told us. He was great, took our order and chatted with us. Then things went sour...we ordered the chicken fingers as an appetizer and they give you the option to order them plain, buffalo or BBQ. We ordered half buffalo and half BBQ, a cobb salad on spinach instead of mixed greens and a hamburger. A few minutes later the chef came barging out of the kitchen and within plain view and earshot of us barked at the bartender that he could not do the half and half order and could not substitute spinach for mixed greens. Very unprofessional, right? So we ordered them plain with a side of the sauces instead and the regular salad...everybody wins. When the food did come up, the chicken was done beautifully. Not too much breading and you could tell that they were definately done in-house. The problem came in the sauces...the buffalo sauce seemed to be the standard vinegar hot sauce like Frank's red hot or something similar which I'm great with. The BBQ was awful. I asked the bartender if it was pre-prepared and he said it was Knob Creek but that the chef made additions. It tasted to me like he had put entirely too much Liquid Smoke in it and was completely inedible. The ranch dressing that came with the chicken was made-to-order from the best I can tell...which is noble. We were informed that the chef had a whole philosophy about ranch dressing and buttermilk and that Wishbone had come along and ruined ranch dressing by making it with mayo... But this dressing had obviously not had time enough to sit and marry and so it just tasted like buttermilk. I wasn't pleased with this first visit but it WAS only their first real day so we went back this past weekend as well. We ordered the Coronado pizza, clam chowder, the Firehouse Classic caesar salad with tri-tip and the chipotle spinach artichoke dip. This bartender was not particularly attentive and all the food, including appetizer, came out together. No big deal, we just had to wait and didn't have anything to nibble while we sipped our beers and we were both starving. The dip had zero chipotle flavor or spice and was served with basically elongated croutons that were much to hard and dry not to mention it had gotten cold since it had been prepared and not served promptly. The dip was good, though. I would just leave the chipotle out of the title. The pizza crust was nice, the sauce wasn't anything special and while the pizza was piled with yummy veggies, there was only a sprinkling of cheese over it so when you picked the slices up literally everything fell off. The caesar dressing tasted just like olive oil...obviously I'm seeing a theme here with the sauces and dressings...although the tri-tip on top of the salad was tender and full of flavor. Then, the clam chowder came up as chili...even though we were told clam chowder was the soup of the day all day, it wasn't available? The chili tasted just like Wendy's plus some corn. Nothing to write home about. So after two lackluster experiences, I'm less than excited to go back...at least not for food. Also, the menu had been substantially cut back between the time of the 1st visit and the 2nd. I don't know if the chef had full control over the menu but it certainly seems like he's quite opinionated, to the point of arrogance, in his treatment of the guests. It is a sports bar and grill, after all, not a fine dining establishment. And while I'm opinionated myself of their food, it's not the cuisine I'm criticizing, it's the flavor of what they are offering me. I know I'll give them another go just because it's a great place with a themed, sports bar feel and there's really not anything like it on Coronado so they've a lot of room to grow. I just hope they can get the bugs worked out before their grand opening later this month.

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Permalink Reply by Lynnda Shepherd on September 20, 2010 at 7:51am

My husband and I have now been here about 4 times. We keep going back and giving the place more opportunities because we are big fans of the owners other restaurant - Chance Bistro.

Each time we have gone we have been disappointed. The food is fine.. nothing special.. and usually arrives cold due to the service which is our biggest concern.

There seems to be many employees on hand and you would think that the service would be impeccable due to the amount of staff vs patrons but that isn't the case. We have waited 15 minutes to be seated.. 45 minutes for food and then many more minutes to get our check and be able to leave. Usually with the restaurant only partially full of patrons.

Our last trip to Firehouse about a week ago we watched while a group of ladies stood at the unmanned front door. They stood and stood. Employees walked by them without so much as a 'hello'.. The gal who is supposed to be seating customers was nowhere to be found. Then we watched as the shift manager asked them politely to move so he could leave the restaurant to go have a smoke. While we were there he left probably 4 times to walk up and down Orange and have a cigarette. All the while people were waiting to be seated.. waiting to have the orders taken... waiting to have their drinks refilled. I know at Chance Bistro the manager usually walks around to speak to the people at the tables to make sure everything is okay.. They definitely need to put that in place at the Firehouse.

It's too bad.. We really want to like this place. Soon all the tourists will be gone and all that will be left are the locals with experiences like the ones already noted here.

Someone needs to step in QUICKLY to address the lack of customer service, poor management and organization at the Firehouse - before this place has to shut it's doors like the ventures before it in this location.

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Permalink Reply by Bahama Mama on September 28, 2010 at 8:29pm

Well I definately wanted to like this place...catchy name!!
We decided to give it a try with another couple and to start with our waiter was sweating profusley and extremely flustered. He was an older Gentleman and just decided to skip any pleasant greetings and went straight to...well I'm in a hurry what do you want??? He brought our open beer bottles to the table and was carrying them by neck with his sweaty hands over the top open end where we would be drinking from...gross!!
We ordered the calamari as an app and it was over-fried, over-salted and gross!! We followed that with a tri-tip Sandwich that was literally drowning in bad BBQ sauce, over-cooked brown baked beans and burn't fries.
The atmosphere wasn't bad, the beer was good, our waiter should have been fired the day he was hired and if they say...."new Chef" "new Menu" we might go back.....

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Permalink Reply by Cassie Farmer on November 20, 2010 at 12:41pm

Coronado Firehouse disappoints again...

This time, I got to watch the manager or owner (I'm not sure which) sit in a booth right next to us and enjoy some drinks with a friend while we sat and waited and waited and waited for our food and condiments. If he was on the clock, shame on him. If he wasn't, shame on him for wearing his work shirt while promoting his blatant unprofessionalism. He actually came over to our table once to make sure we had everything we needed. When condiments were requested he flagged down another server (not ours) to get them for us and then he returned to his beverage. The condiments never came.

What I did receive was supposed to be blue cheese. While there were chunks of blue cheese in the bottom of the watery mess in the ramekin, it tasted like buttermilk mixed with baking soda. I actually expected it to foam when it hit my tongue. Who is this "chef"!?

At this point, I'm past trying to like the place, the management, and the chef because after several months in which they've had time to improve their food and their service, they don't seem to be interested in doing so. Our server actually came clean that day and told us that management intentionally understaffs in order to save money. I'll take their tip and save my own by not spending it in their establishment again.

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Permalink Reply by Lynnda Shepherd on February 2, 2011 at 7:34am

A week or so ago my husband and I met a group of friends at Firehouse for dinner.  When I heard where we were going to meet I was not a happy camper.. All visits to Firehouse so far had been a huge disappointment.  Since the plans had already been made I went along and hoped for the best.  I was told that Firehouse had a huge turnover in staff and management as well as bringing in a new chef.  So.. I was optimistic.   I was not disappointed.   It was a very busy day.. There was a football game on and the bar and front area of the Firehouse was packed yet we were seated quickly in the back.  While we waited for our friends to arrive our drink order was taken and drinks arrived promptly.  As our friends joined us their drink orders were taken and delivered promptly as well.  This was new.  Lisa was our server and she was friendly and full of recommendations of yummy items on the menu.  We all ordered and before you know it - our food was there..  Hmm.. this was new too.  The food was delivered hot and was very very good.  Lisa checked in on us often to refill our drinks and offer up suggestions on dessert. 

 

I have nothing to complain about with this visit to the Coronado Firehouse.  We will definitely go again because it seems that someone has been listening and taking action.

 

Kudos to the management at Firehouse.. I hope that our next visit is as enjoyable as this last one

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StaffPermalink Reply by Ashley Jenkins on August 18, 2011 at 4:51pm

Interesting experience. Trying to figure out who was actually my server was confusing. Not an efficient place at all but a cool location to check out. Since I had just gotten my wisdom teeth out I ordered the macaroni and cheese. Unless you want to pay $9 for a $1 boxed kraft macaroni and cheese on a fancy plate I do not recommend ordering that.

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Permalink Reply by S. Giblin on December 14, 2011 at 7:08pm

Well, we’ve been there about a dozen times since they’ve opened; not a terrible experience yet. We’ve had great burgers, good salads, good fish tacos, and good beer (draft). The wait staff always seems attentive, I don’t recall an old guy, maybe he was fired between my visits. All of my plates have been made to order and I’ve always left satisfied and NOT disgruntled. Maybe I set my expectations low and if the place meets or exceeds those expectations all is good.

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