wildflower

we had a free night for dinner and i heard from someone through twitter that wildflower was agoodspot so we decided to give it a try. i can’t think of anything about it i didn’t really enjoy.

a bit noisy but great food. the place is really nice and they are verygoodabout accommodating you for certain food choices like vegetarian. the service is excellent and the staff are friendly as well as supportive of each other. the main thing with this place is the inside has no noise baffling in place and thus conversations bounce off the walls and ring the room making it a bit unpleasant. we chose to eat outside and though noisy, not as bad as inside.

half-price-wine tuesdays!. we haven't been to wildflower in probably 4 or 5 years. it hasn't changed - and that's agoodthing. the meals are imaginative and well executed - not flawless, but having trained as a chef i can be nit-picky.

our great surprise for this visit was "half price wine" on tuesdays. i've never encountered this in a restaurant before. the wine list is diverse but not "precious" (you can spend $150, but you can't spend $1500). we ended up with a wonderful $50 bottle from argentina which at a net of $23 was a steal and complemented a couple of fine steaks.

we were also pleased with portion sizes - not that we choose fine-dining restaurants based on the size of their plates - but we were pleased that a calamari appy was sufficient for three.

recommended.

some great things and some just ok. they had an interesting drink menu with lots of tempting options but i tasted 2 of the drinks and while they were decent they weren't as exciting as they sounded on the menu. we got a wonton appetizer that was very tasty and the soups were tasty. the entrees were varied - some were verygoodand others were less exciting. the desert that we shared was lovely and tasted great. this could be a great place if you find all the things you like and go for them each time, but it didn't seem to be consistently impressive.

huge disappointment. i had not been to wildflower for a couple of years. we decided to go there for a birthday dinner. in my opinion, this place has really gone down hill. the food was just ok but not nearly asgoodas it has been in the past. we started with the calamari. the actual calamari weregoodbut you had to search through all the arugula to find them - way too much arugula. i had the salmon and was terribly disappointed by the heavy mascarpone sauce which totally overwhelmed the salmon and heirloom tomatoes - not agoodcombination at all. my fellow diner had the scallops which i tasted. they were ok but i can tell you that i have had much better scallops at another restaurant just up oracle. the atmosphere and furnishings were shabby. this used to be a chic and friendly white table cloth establishment with great food - no longer the case. i won't be going back.

excellence. we travel from out of state and wildflower is always a must stop for us. the food is excellent, the atmosphere is casual, relaxed, and charismatic. gary and ben do an excellent job of running the establishment and the service is outstanding. we had thegoodfortune of having super beautiful jordan as our server. she actually made dinner that much more enjoyable. she was adept at the menu, got to know all at our table, and we never had to ask for anything. and i'm a sucker for slender beauties with dark hair and blue eyes. wildflower always has great ambiance, great food, and great looking servers. a must stop for an enjoyable dining experience.

delicious as always. we had family visit from out-of-town and our fine dining experience was wildflowers.

starters:
---duo of bruschetta asparagus & goat cheese, eggplant & pecorino
---tomato soup
---grilled artichokes white truffle oil, paris aioli

entrees
---fresh fish & chips coleslaw, malt vinegar, aioli 17
---crispy half chicken sage stuffing, green beans, cranberry
---chicken street tacos tomatillo salsa, fresno chili, anasazi beans
---grilled flank steak roasted potato, caramelized onion,
---scallops "forbidden" rice, snap peas, lemon grass, soy butter
---sauteed spinach

beverages
---pinot grigio - benvolio, friuli d.o.c., italy
---chardonnay - alamos ridge, mendoza, argentina
---super tuscan - bruni "poggio d'elsa", tuscany, italy
---nv prosecco - bisol "jeio", veneto, italy


-----16 oct, 2010-----

alwaysgoodfor us. we visited wildflowers;
--- the day after they reopened it was excellent,
---another time in the summer it was ok but it may have just been us and
---early september for our daughter's birthday it was fabulous.

the asparagus burschetta is out of this world. we truly enjoyed the: parmesan noodles roasted chicken, maple braised short ribs and pan seared salmon. and the cocktails and wine selection is tasty.

they brought a surprise birthday desert which was comp but our daughter also wanted the butterscotch pot de crème. it was sogoodthat the next day she located a recipe online and made one equally delicious.

excellent dining experience. i am not from tucson but i had a chance to eat here while visiting. it was a really great dining experience. the atmosphere and decor weregoodand it was a really great place to take a date. the food was exceptional and our server was incredibly attentive in attending to us and answering all the questions we had about the menu.

although they have remodelled and revised their menu over the past few years, it is still my favorite restaurant in tucson. relaxing atmospere andgoodservice. fun dining.

not one to order twice.. i had my doubts when i first walked into wildflower and saw the menu (zero meatless entrees). but we stayed and ordered some appetizers. when the very nice waitress came back to inform us that the chef did not like the look of the artichoke hearts so he would not be serving them tonight i knew we were in for agoodmeal. the asparagus bruschetta was so incredibly, deliciously, perfect that i ended up ordering another for my entree. everyone in my family was very happy with their meals also. then came dessert...the butterscotch pot de creme and the brownie that accompanies it was literally the most delicious dessert i have ever had in my entire life. i will be returning to wildflower when i go back to tucson even if it is just for an appetizer and a dessert.

very good. wildflower: very good. service was excellent. new york steak was excellent and perfectly medium rare. the shrimp salad was mediocre, size of shrimp were about 30-40 count. the bread served is a verygoodhard crust artisan infused with parmesan cheese. the butter was also infused with another herb (sadly i forget what it was, maybe garlic?). needless to say, i could make a meal out of that. only thing i would do is ask for some balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping. they have it - i just didn't think about it until after the fact. that bread could become a meal if one were brazen enough to go for it. the price was reasonable for the quality and atmosphere. they have a couple of romantic sidewalk tables outside that you could request. again, i would suggest reservations. we did not have any, but we timed it perfectly that a two top table opened up on the patio and no wait list when we arrived. the wine list wasgoodand with reasonable price range.

great food & lively atmosphere. i met my wife down here for dinner, food wasgoodlike many of the other fox restaurants, staff pleasant, not to overbearing.