A Mediocre Lunch at Firehouse Grill
Posted Sunday, October 8, 2017Firehouse Grill, located in Blue Ash, is one of those restaurants people settle on when no one in your party can decide where to eat. It's a huge barn of a place, and even when they have a good number of people inside, it still feels empty most of the time.
There seemed to be an ample number of wait staff ambling about. Despite this, it still took us a few minutes just to get someone to acknowledge that we'd been standing at the hostess station waiting to be seated.
A woman finally stopped by and asked, "how many," as though we weren't the only two standing there. She wasn't pleasant...nor was she unpleasant...she simply went through the motions, fulfilling her basic obligations. The fact that she escorted us to a table where a gnat circled our heads well before food was served did not bode well.
The menu offers a little bit of everything for nearly anyone, at the expense of everyone. Entrees seemed uninspired and outrageously expensive. For example, you can get really good street tacos for under $4 a piece at trendy joints like Bakersfield OTR or Mazunte...Or you can decide you're not good enough for those places and instead pay $4.66 per taco at Firehouse Grill (their "street tacos" trio is $13.99).
The tacos weren't completely unfortunate, but they were by no means on par with any other street taco I've ever eaten. They came accompanied by a side of viscous, flavorless, electric-yellow mango salsa, which had the consistency of baby food. My second side of regular salsa looked dated and tasted metallic, like it came out of a can or jar. The fishy-smelling fish taco consisted of one whole blackened filet stuffed into a small corn tortilla, making it a challenge to eat.
My girlfriend's chicken pesto sandwich was essentially one whole, unseasoned chicken breast slapped between two pieces of ciabatta bread with a squirt of pesto sauce and Swiss cheese. It was as bland as it was underwhelming.
These kinds of restaurants, where no one really cares what they're doing, where they're just lazily phoning in their impression of a restaurant without taking the effort necessary to be a really good one, annoy the hell out of me.
You may not experience the worst meal of your life at Firehouse Grill, but I guarantee it won't be the best one.
4785 Lake Forest Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45242513-733-3473
Rating: 2.0 out of 4
= Outstanding
= Good
= Poor
The best TACO joint in the city. I go there as a treat to myself every Monday. TEX MEX TACOS are delicious culinary treats that look beautiful and taste great. I'm so impressed with this place that I never explore the other items on the menu. If you don't get your taco fix here, you're losing in life.
posted: Tue., Apr 27th, 2021 @ 2:37 PM
My Wife and myself dined at Ferrari’s on Saturday and the Food and service was great/ I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli with misc nuts and sauce and it was the best meal I’ve had there/ My wife had the Fish and Vegetables and was very happy/ I also got a couple of their pizza and olive loaves of bread/ The bread is always a hit at work.
posted: Mon., Nov 23rd, 2020 @ 1:14 PM
@Rick: Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to remember to give them a try.
posted: Sat., Nov 21st, 2020 @ 9:06 AM
Try Joe's Pizza located at Airway and Smithville Rd. You might like it...That's one of favorite haunts. I definitely think it beats Cassano's.
posted: Fri., Nov 6th, 2020 @ 4:19 PM
Hands down the best Indian in the area. I have yet to find their yellow Punjabi dish anywhere. It is my favorite, and what keeps me coming back time after time. I think I have been here over 100 times. I love this place.
posted: Thu., May 28th, 2020 @ 12:03 PM
I found a gyro I keep thinking about
https://www.yelp.com/biz/tazikis-mediterranean-cafe-cincinnati
their lamb gyro is about 2-3 bucks higher in cost than a gyro elsewhere - B U T - it is made with whole pieces of lamb meat, not the lamb and beef loaf that all other Gyro joints in Cincinnati seem to do
it is a chain. A minus for me, and I suspect for you as well.
But its good.
really, really good
one caveat: skip the baklava as it is not made in-house
posted: Mon., Dec 9th, 2019 @ 12:43 PM
I'll take your word for it, then.....it is fairly close to work so it'll be an upcoming lunch
I also need to try out this little taco wagon near Quatmans in Norwood
posted: Mon., Sep 9th, 2019 @ 6:21 PM
Hi @TJ - We were pretty impressed with the quality of the items, which I think justifies some of the pricing. I really liked the house-made tortillas and their salsas. Chilero offered some extra little touches that were a pleasant surprise. :)
Just by way of comparison...that same week we'd tried the new Mazunte location downtown...and our experience at Chilero beat them out.
posted: Thu., Aug 29th, 2019 @ 10:18 PM
Great food and fantastic atmosphere
posted: Wed., Aug 28th, 2019 @ 8:29 PM
Seems very pricey for a mostly carryout/counter-service joint
posted: Wed., Aug 28th, 2019 @ 5:51 PM