wildfire

am not usually a fan of seafood but this restaurant has made me try it and i have to say i wasn't disappointed from it like i could get in terms with the fish and the staff is also friendly hence it hence ... in all great food guys

seafood is something that am very sensitive too and might say am very picky at but this place is serving some great seafood and damn don't i love it.

overpriced, low quality food. had the spinach & artichoke fondue - absolutely basic and nearly flavorless. served with bread that could've passed for toasted wonder bread. then tried the macadamia crusted halibut ($32) - fish was overcooked, underseasoned, and you could barely tell it was macadamia nuts surrounding it. the free helping of cornbread to start you off should've been my warning, not good at all. staff seemed rather miserable too.

a trip to dc is never complete without a visit to wildfire. we usually go there for steak and cottage fries, but the salmon is good too. i am a big fan of scallops and their bacon wrapped scallops are superb. the staff is very helpful and service is good. overall, if you like steak, this is the place.

avoid the filet. had the 7 oz. filet tonight with a party of five, each of whom had the 10 oz. versions. undeniably the worst, most embarrassingly ill-prepared cut of meat i've ever been served. i have literally done better on my own at a grocery store. it was loaded with tendons, tough, cooked to the proper temperature but with the wrong method (saw too little heat on the sides to get the fat to begin melting), and completely unseasoned. absolutely unacceptable. i knew something was wrong when i saw the variety of "crusts" and sauces they offered - it means they don't know how to cook a proper cut of meat.

i noticed that only the steaks & chops were "aged", and that the filet section of the menu made no such mention. i asked the server, and he confirmed that the filets are cut fresh (either daily or to order, i'm not certain). an aged cut would have been far more tender and enjoyable, but there's no excuse for a filet to chew like an undercooked ribeye.

started with the bisque soup, which i did enjoy. good temperature and flavor. the cornbread they bring to the table wasn't bad but was a little quirky...it did go well with the soup though.

the baked sweet potato was tasty. the cheesecake was unmemorable, and i imagine that would be true no matter what they smothered on it. the rest of the dessert options looked tired and not especially appealing - the key lime pie might have been an exception but the server said it was very rich, so i skipped it.

the wine selection wasn't bad, and we were advised that a number of bottles were half-price on monday, even though we went on a tuesday.

the atmosphere and decor are absolutely top-notch - one of the more beautifully done restaurants of this type i had seen. however, that didn't stop "margaritaville"-shirt wearing scruffy mall-walkers from plopping down. this is, after all, a mall restaurant. however, it fancies itself as something far more special.

the "three course" dinner option is probably not a bad way to go, but you have to avoid the filet - and actually, probably any cut of beef - because they honestly don't know how to get any part of it right except the temperature.

our server wasn't bad, but wasn't extremely experienced (just polite). you can tell a high-quality "career" server at a nice steakhouse...they speak the language clearly and have no visible neck tattoos. ours met neither criteria.

expect to pay about $50 a head with tip, etc. and expect to have felt robbed for the experience.

john shields is author of chesapeake bay cooking, host of the pbs series coastal cooking, and owner of gertrude’s in baltimore (which is soon to open a second location). john hosted a crab and beer dinner a few days ago, where he lead guests through the technique of opening their own steamed maryland blue crab. wildfire executive chef moreno espinoza designed and executed the several dishes that followed the crab picking and showcased crab in a variety of uses, each paired with a beer from baltimore’s union craft brewing.  kkk

tysons corner has become the hub for a growing food scene and contemporary living in this area of northern virginia.  insomuch as it is becoming the epicenter, it is attracting downtown city dwellers to the thriving area with events such as the lagunitas brewing co. beer dinner.  recently, i revisited wildfire steaks, chops & seafood, which i like because of its familiar dishes and cozy atmosphere of dim lights and moderate levels of conversation.  on this visit, i attended the lagunitas brewing co. beer dinner, which featured among others “a little sumpin’ sumpin” (smooth and silky beer) and “lucky 13” (a red ale).

wildfire is the dc area location of a chicago steakhouse group. good steaks, seafood, and brunch. they also have a gluten free menu. they also do special dinners like crabs & cocktails or gluten free beer dinners. this place is busy, even on brunch. you see everything here from events, to business crowd to families to dates. located in tysons ii. professional service. they have private rooms too.

wildfire has a gluten free dinner scheduled for wednesday april 13th. you can view the menu for the event here. gluten free dishes will be paired with omission pale ale and lager, bard’s gold, and angry orchard “crisp apple” hard cider. with the gluten free dinner quickly approaching, i decided to take a gluten free diner (let’s call her “gfj”) to wildfire to try their gluten free brunch. gfj is very into the gf food and product scene.

i have been spending a lot of time in tysons corner recently and it is beginning to feel like its own mini city.  they have all of attributes of downtown dc now:  a metro, restaurants and actually better shopping.  brunch was easy to find too while on a visit out there and wildfire was the scene.  with a very approachable menu, wildfire has a brunch that caters to the whole family.  wannabe eclectic foodie afficianados please do not go here thinking you are going to revisit last nights meal at seasonal pantry.  you will find simple ingredients that will please your kids palates and your mature palate at the same time.

i've been here twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. for dinner, i got the fish special of the day (rockfish) with roasted vegetables, and it was so good. for lunch, i got the crab cake and red skinned mashed potatoes. the crab cake was delicious; the potatoes were fine, nothing spectacular. looking forward to dining here again.

wildfire in tysons has pulled off another great crab dinner with chesapeake cuisine authority, john shields. john’s restaurant in gertrude’s in the baltimore art museum, and his pbs show is coastal cooking. he is even about to re-release chesapeake bay cooking in october (september for advance copies). john showed us how to properly break a blue crab down.

there was even some discussion of whether chesapeake crabs are actually maryland or virginia crabs since this washington post article had just been published. ...

behold the seared pork tender with roasted potatoes and chocory orange drizzle, which was paired with lagunitas ipa. double chocolate bacon stout beer floats were paired with lagunitas “the censored” rich copper ale. the grilled honey chipotle chicken thigh with charred potatoes and green onion vinagrette was paired with lagunitas hop stoopid ale.

i was so disappointed in the steaks at wildfire. i started with the filet and sent it back because it just did not meet my expectations. they were kind and polite and brought me a ribeye that tasted like a steak from denny's. i've never tasted steak so bland in a restaurant that claim to be a steakhouse. the service was slow and the food was below expectations! we will not be returning for a second chance...beware!!

my favorite of the evening was chef eddie’s feta crusted new york strip steak.  phenomenal.