Dawn G.
Yelp
Having gone to the West 7th Fireside for yearssss, I thought surely we would have the same wonderful experience here in Grapevine. Sadly, this location did not live up to our expectations. Not to say everything was bad, but after this experience, I think it may be time for us to find a new wood fired pizza favorite.
We wanted something cozy and familiar before going to check out the spectacle of lights down on Main St. When I saw there was a Fireside Pies on the way, I couldn't think of anything more cozy and familiar.
The place itself is nice and screams upscale. Surrounded by Mi Dia, Bob's and Winewood, they all share a cute little courtyard that was decorated for the holidays. The wait was 10 mins which wasn't bad, we out ourselves on the wait list and after about 20 mins waiting, we were seated.
The vibe inside is completely different than we expected, from decor, to the menu, to the music choice. It was giving BJ's vibes, like if Fireside became a mediocre, mass-appeal, nationwide chain restaurant. The charm, the soul and the personal, artisan feel were absent.
The menu change was probably the biggest difference that really saddened us. The look of the menus, the choices, everything. We noticed some of our fave apps/pizzas were no longer there ( RIP Iberian (aka Seville), Quattro Funghi, and a few other faves ). The whole focus seems to have shifted from unique and chef driven to dull and mundane. The desserts were changes as well and very blehh. I used to love ordering Zeppole or Semi-freddo from here, now the choices are brownie or cheesecake. One thing I thought was nice to see is that Stephen Pyles is now a permanent Guest Chef. The only real notable pizazz seemed to be coming from his contributions to the menu. Though it still wasn't enough to capture our interests. I will say that might also have been because of our general disappointment, maybe we will make it back to actually try some of his contributions.
Even my Grapefruit Rickey was not how I remembered. Gone was the cute, stemless wine glass with a cocktail straw, instead my drink was served in a huge glass like the kind you would get a water or soda in. Honestly, I suppose this is probably better bang for your buck since it's more alcohol, but it was definitely a bit much for me. Again, just not the type of thing I would have expected going to Fireside.
After being seated we waited another 15 mins before we were even acknowledged. Our waiter asked for drink orders and after I told him mine, he just turned around and walked away, not even giving my fiancé a chance to order his drink. Kind of strange, but we tried to shake it off and not think too much into it. When he returned with my drink, Jon was able to order his drink. We also took the opportunity to order some meatballs for an appetizer.
The wait for our meatballs was about 20 so min, which seemed a bit long, but again, we shook it off. Places get busy and we understand a lot of restaurants are short staffed as well. A different gentleman brought us our appetizer, and he seemed much or attentive. We put in our pizza order and began trying to slowly snack on our meatballs. We knew we were in for another long wait. Our first waiter came to check on us and get our empty plates, promising our pizzas would be up soon. Eventually, 35ish minutes later, a different person delivered our pizzas. At this point, we had been seated for over an hour.
I will say the pizza was delicious once it arrived. We decided on the Premium Meats and the Hawaiian. We'd had the premium meats before and it lived up to its former glory. The Hawaiian had prosciutto, balsamic roasted pineapple, smoked mozzarella, jalapeño, basil and aged balsamic. Very tasty though I would have preferred the pineapple chunks a little smaller so you get a bit with each bite. Flavors did work very well together.
The experience wasn't the worst that we've ever had, but the long wait times plus the changes that we weren't expecting were enough to make this visit a bit of a disappointment. Fireside used to be a place I would bring guests to impress them, I don't really feel that way anymore. It's not terrible, but doesn't live up to its former glory, at least not for me. Will probably be back to the W. 7th location one more time to try the Stephen Pyles additions, but I feel that the golden years of the Fireside Pies I fell in love with have passed. As Andy from the office says "I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them"