On a Wednesday evening, we stopped in for Happy Hour at WaterFire near the airport. Their Happy Hour runs from 3-6pm (and all day on Wednesdays), with food menu only available in the restaurant. My spouse and I each ordered a Martini (with house New Amsterdam gin), which we enjoyed. We also each ordered the Thai Chicken Nachos from the Happy Hour menu -- a generous, flavorful dish with plenty left to take home for the next day. (My repeat order, it's that good!) What really stood out was how warm, friendly, and attentive the wait staff was to everyone. A very enjoyable visit and a spot we're happy to return to. read more

Let's talk about this.. WaterFire has been our staple for date night times away from the kids. Although the previous experience has been great this time was lackluster. What was once our flavorful regular was now a dull and bland. Au jus was water with a hint of flavor, horseradish sauce was a warm water based cream with the deprived pungent horseradish taste we've all grown to love. The French dip sadly tasted better without all of its companions. Next up was the Wagyu cheeseburger, seemed to have a grainy texture to its bites, with a disappointing finish. The WF calamari was tweaked adding green olives and whole tentacles, which was weird considering it's never been that way. Honestly the best item we got was the Gorgonzola wagyu beef kabobs. These were cooked to perfection and gave us that reversion we craved. Although this was our first bad experience here, it will not deter us from returning. When I get the chance to revisit I will update this review in hopes for the better. read more

Great service from Sam . Nice outdoor seating area. A diversity of food offerings like barbados lamb chops and bang bang fish tacos. read more

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Based on my son's recommendation, he and I ended up here on a recent visit to Yakima. Seems as if the building is no more than a year or two old, it's located directly across from the Yakima Airport. Don't worry about parking, their lot has lOTS of parking stalls! Their menu offers casual fare as well as 'higher end' stuff. Though it was lunch, I again went with my son's recommendation and ordered the King Salmon with Parmesan Risotto. Very, very yummy. At $32, it was a pricey lunch, but the quality was there! Highly recommend this place as a date night winna! read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

We celebrated a special occasion at Water Fire last Friday and had such a great time. The food was flavorful and beautifully prepared - every dish we ordered was cooked perfectly and full of rich flavors. Isabelle, our waitress, took great care of us & made us feel very welcome. Chef Derrin made the occasion even more special when he personally came to our table. Big thanks to Lisa, the manager, for being so kind and accommodating despite our reservation time changes. We really appreciate it. Definitely recommend this place ! read more

Great ambiance and service. The food was immaculate. I ordered salmon that was very well seasoned and perfectly cooked. Not a dry bite in site. Their dessert was also delicious but I was lost in my indulgences and forgot to take a picture of their crème brûlée, also phenomenal. read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Grilled Applewood Salmon - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

WaterFire never disappoints. We made it for All-Day-Happy-Hour on Weds and made a dinner of the appetizers and a few drinks. A great value. The mango martini was delish and you can't go wrong with Mac and Jacks on tap. The chef had an interesting and very tasty interpretation of pork potstickers - as much as dumpling soup as potstickers. Very tasty. The French Onion Soup got good reviews and the Smashers (their take on American Wagyu sliders) are excellent and a great value. Also, not shown, the blackened shrimp caesar salad. The greens were fresh and the shrimp tasty and not overly spicy (good for me, but maybe not what you're looking for if you're expecting hot-hot-hot). The dressing seemed a bit heaving on the anchovy for my taste, but that's the first time I've experienced that with their caesar dressing. Again, it just depends on what you like. Ambiance is very nice. Always. The service was excellent, as usual. Our waiter was just great and everyone else really seemed to go out of their way to make us feel welcome. We'll be back! read more

Very nice restaurant and bar. Service friendly, food amazing, the bar is a bit loud, but that's expected. I will definitely return.

This is one of the best restaurants in Yakima! The wagyu steak kabobs are perfection! They have a revolving menu of seasonal tastes! The Hokey Poke roll was delicious! They cooked my steak perfectly! Service was awesome! All of the wait staff were friendly and attentive. The kids menu is a big selection of quality food! Always a treat to go here. read more

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A very popular location and I now know it's reputation is deserved. Easy parking, friendly staff, great server and original food ideas cooked in a great way. We sat outside and had a lovely two hours of chat and very enjoyable food. read more

Food and service consistently excellent. Update: This used to be our go-to for happy hour, especially on Wednesdays. It's great for the owner and staff that they have become so popular, but not so much for the patrons, or at least my group of friends. MAKE A RESERVATION if you go anytime after about 2 p.m. and expect to leave after 90 minutes, unless of course it's a large group. We have never needed a reservation for the bar and usually go by 4:00. The last time we went we were not so subtly asked to leave after 90 minutes. The time before that we had to move from the bar to the restaurant area after 30 minutes. So if you like to dine rather than eat and run you might want to go elsewhere. As a past frequent patron, it's disappointing. read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Decadent Gorgonzola fries - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

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Whoever worked the front / phone NYE was an absolute grouch. Would HIGHLY recommend either Cowiche Canyon or Cowiche Creek as alternatives. Showed up at 6:30 to get a table or be added to waitlist and was told it would be 45 min - 1 hr, which I said was fine. After being called shortly after that to say they had a bar rail seat opened, o respectfully declined due to the amount of food that would be ordered not fitting in that space. Another 3 minutes go by and I call for an update and was rudely told that I am probably out of luck and they are booked all night... So then I asked..."why didn't you mention this up front" and she clearly had issues taking accountability and got extremely irritable. Now all the restraunts are closed/closing and im outta luck. Thanks for the wonderful service Waterfire. You lost a frequent customer and I will be sure to discourage as many as possible from your business. read more

Good food but seems they have weird issues with serving alcohol. Came in because I had hours of time to kill while my wife went to the testing center next door. Ordered a drink and app at the bar, was handed a check directly after taking my last sip, no chance to order another and no prompt for another drink, oddly felt hurried to get out. Was polite, my first drink of the day, and I wasn't pounding alcohol, but felt cut off. Usually people don't come sit at a bar to have a single drink. read more

Ambiance was okay, very sterile feeling. Service was good! Food was average. My lobsters tails were perfect, but the sides were too salty. The plate they were served on too small and no added dish for the shells. Other three meals were average. Spinach was way toooo salty. Drinks... this is where it went sideways. Do not order a French 75. It is their own version and they try and tell you that's how it is done. It is not served in that type of glass let alone with ice. We tried to tell them the correct way and they wanted non of it. It was just an "average" place that I won't go back to. read more

First time at WaterFire and it was awesome. My wife and I both had crab cakes that were delicious. Serve was great and the whole experience exceeded our expectations!!! Try it, you're going to like it. read more

We had the Mahi Mahi Tacos and the Halibut Fish and Chips for lunch today!! Both entrees were delicious!! We are huge fans of everything at this restaurant and these did not disappoint! Service was great and we were full and happy upon our departure. We will return. read more

Food was honestly very delicious our steak was a bit burnt taste but I didn't mind it I was very hungry lol everything else was amazing order drinks lemon drop very good. 9-10 service was very good as well which is nice especially because they were very busy, gratuity tio was a bit crazy but can't complain to much because service was very well. I do have to say place is a bit tight for party's everyone feels very close to each other place is very small but still amazing read more

This was a restaurant that the server from Treveri recommended to us, and we didn't think about going here actually because we were confirmed for a reservation elsewhere, but that other place had an emergency and needed to cancel the reservation. We called ahead here just in case to book a table of 2 for Sunday evening, and they were willing to accommodate us even if we show up 30 minutes before closing, but as courtesy, we arrived closer to 1 hour before and wrapped up our meals around closing time. We tried the ahi poke stack, crab cakes, and hibachi. The ahi poke stack is okay - a little bit heavier on the carbs as there is rice on top of tuna, as well as wonton chips with eel sauce and spicy mayo sauce. The tuna cuts were not the best, and it is hard to decipher if the tuna was fresh as it was thawed frozen. The crab cakes are pretty good, along with the asparagus and lemon sauce, but for the price, I was expecting more real crab meat and not imitation crab. The hibachi was very good - we requested medium rare and the beef was juicy and tender. The menu description said spider steak and we looked it up and it is actually a type of beef steak! The only miss is that the sauce is a bit too sweet. Service is good as we were well attended for and the waitress made sure that we got everything we needed for our dining experience. read more

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Incredible cuisine!!! Warm, friendly and attentive staff!!! Fun and lively atmosphere!!! Every aspect is wonderful!!! read more

Water fire is where we take our guests when they come to town Great food great atmosphere friendly staff and always a great experience Menu changes with the seaons never dissapointed You should have reservations theyre busy read more

The cheese was rotten and we where told we would not get a refund or another one due to cook stated we where wrong.. The chicken sandwich was fine but would not taste it himself, this is not somewhere I would recommend read more

Lisa and Elijah gave amazing service!!! The fish tacos and gin & tonic were delicious. This local restaurant is one our family will continue to support and frequent. read more

TL;DR version - The calamari appetizer was excellent, the food was good, but definitions matter, and the service was excellent. Now the details I REEEAAAALLLLYYY wanted to hate this place. there's just something about the monumental architecture next to the airport, the non-sequitur name, and the fact that the chef's name is on the door that screams "elevated pub food to a pretentious degree!" And it does have that vibe, but the thing is, when we were there on a Sunday evening, earlyish because we were done with what we had to do in Yakima and were headed out of town, we saw a pretty representative cross-section of the population all going out for a nice meal with drinks. Big-ole farm hosses and neck-tattooed tough guys sitting across the divider from the mustachioed long-hair, across the aisle from Continental-driving grandparents. Everyone enjoying themselves. So it seems that this place "gets" Yakima better than I do. Point taken. The staff got us to a table quickly and the wait staff was upon us, no hurry, just expedient. Drink orders were taken, plus the calamari appetizer. I got a French 75, one of my favorite cocktails, made at Waterfire with Vodka, and the-woman-who-let's-me-live-with-her (thanks Mike) got a lemon drop. The sweetness and body of the champagne in the French 75 masked the well-vodka taste perfectly, although it was evident in the lemon drop. The drink was mixed well, just balanced between the sweet syrup, the lemon, the champagne, and the vodka, so much so that I didn't even miss the cognac I usually order it mixed with. It was so delicious I eventually ordered another. But the star was the calamari! Light batter, exceedingly quick fry, tossed in an agrodolce, and dressed with peppers and capers. It isn't always true that the garnishes are a well thought out embellishment to the dish, but the both added that salty/sharp counterpoint to the crisp, tender squid that was just delightful. I ordered a smoked brisket Reuben and my lovely bride ordered the Scampi. This is where we have questions. Corned Beef Brisket is on a Reuben, not smoked brisket but I ordered it because the description sounded so good, apple sauerkraut (seriously?), sweet onion and bacon relish, and swiss with a traditional 1000 island dressing. Sounded good, WAS good, excellent in fact. But is it a Reuben? The apples had enough brinyness from the pickling that it cut the sweet crisp of the apple which was replaced by the more developed sweetness from the relish. The bread was good, the cheese was good, but definitions matter. Great sandwich, will order again. And the scampi was deconstructed to the point of being unrecognizable. Skewered shrimp and grilled asparagus (it says the shrimp are sauteed but sauteing a skewered shrimp is a challenge) over a reduced sauce and bordered by a pile of mashed potatoes (I know! mashed potatoes with scampi! Odd). Again, everything was flavorful, even the mashed potatoes, but do they belong there? Also, is there a middle ground between barely seasoned, sauteed shrimp adjacent to a garlic/butter/wine/lemon sauce and forlorn shrimp swimming in generic sauce? I hope so, because the extremes do not hold as much interest. It was good, but was it scampi? The dessert was delicious, a turtle-pie themed cheesecake. The caramel kind of overwhelmed the rest of the flavor, but it was nice nonetheless. Ended up liking the place and when we venture into Yakima, we will be stopping by again. It was worth it with only a few rough edges. read more

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Ambience and service here has always been great! the staff has always been super friendly and accommodating to those with allergies. The food here is amazing as well! The appetizers we had, korean cauliflower and the ahi tower, were very delicious. I used to get the thai chicken sandwich a lot but i believe the recipe has changed as it does have a sweet kick lately. Still delicious. The Truffle mac and cheese is also always a good eat. read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Fish and Chips - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

We went there a while back on a Saturday night. Our server in the bar area (M) stopped by after a couple of minutes and we gave him our drink and dinner order. Drinks came in about 15 minutes and the food about 30 minutes after that. Obviously they were busy. The only times we saw our server was when he took our order and then brought the bill. He tried to be friendlier when he brought the bill but it was too late. Food was decent but we'd had a better experience when it wasn't as busy and a different server. It's nice place - try to make a reservation in the bar area. read more

Definitely one of the best restaurants in Yakima. Good service and always great, fresh food. I prefer sitting in a booth near the bar for a relaxed ambiance. read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Special Birthday Dessert in the bar. - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

Service was fantastic! Loved the vibe! Food was delicious! Came here to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday

Always great dining when we visit Yakima!! We have family in Yakima and when we visit we usually go here for birthday celebrations. Yakima is an awesome little city!! read more

I give this place five stars not because it's super fancy or dressy but they really do a good job here. One person in our party ordered the prime sirloin and they felt it was really tough. I tasted it and it was a little tough but otherwise everything was excellent actually was better than expected. One other downside is they have two Pinot Noirs ones a $30 bottle the other ones at $hi 70 and there's no way of knowing which one tasted better or what they even tasted like because they're only sold by the bottle that was a little disappointing, but we are very happy with a $30 bottle; server Isobel very nice. I was thankful that they have a 4 ounce filet and I ordered it with what I think was the Roquefort over it and it was absolutely incredible. It was a perfect size for me. The spinach side dish was well thought out. read more

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We decided to check out their happy hour menu and what a great deal! I got a moscow mule & raspberry martini for $7 each! We also ordered the calamari. It was good.. had a honey type glaze with an asian twist. It was unique! As my main entree, I ordered the seared ahi meal and it was delicious! The only thing that threw me off was a teriyaki sauce they added that made the meal a bit sweeter than I would like. But that's more my preference. I loved the pineapple, it goes well with the ahi. Asparagus was perfectly grilled. Overall I would come back and try other dishes. read more

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The food was delicious, and the service was exceptional. Happy hour was one of the best we've experienced, great variety and value. The menu truly has something for everyone. The ambiance is casual yet polished- perfect for both family dinners and date nights. They even brought out a thoughtful birthday dessert with a candle for my daughter, which made the night extra special. This will definitely be one of our go-to spots in Yakima! read more

My husband and I went to the Waterfire for Valentine day and it was our 38th anniversary . We went last year as well great service and amazing food, but this year I was a little disappointed in the food. I ordered the 8oz steak, which was okay , and a lobster tail the waiter asked if I would like 3oz or 6 oz I went with the 3 oz. Wel when my plate came I was confused because this lobster tail he set in front of me was not that at all. It looked like little pieces of small claws , okay let me take a taste maybe it's good . Sorry no , no it's not ! I still am not sure what this was but needless to say it was disappointing. read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Lobster? Not sure - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

Everything there is amazing! You can't go wrong. Staff is friendly and attentive. One of my favorite places to dine.

We've been several times and are never disappointed. It's been my experience that you need reservations regardless of the day you go ... their steak is PERFECT ... and I love the Thai Nachos Pricy but worth it !!! read more

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Great food, service and drinks. Only downside was one of our guest's stake was undercooked.

Company Christmas party today, went to the bar to get shots and was told they could not give me shots as I had to be sitting down at the bar or table. Wtf? Ok I won't buy the most expensive scotch you have....I guess we won't be returning. read more

We stopped here on our first night in town. We sat in the bar and to our delight they had the Sunday night game playing. We enjoyed a glass of wine and a lemon drop martini. For dinner we shared the lettuce wraps and the Thai nachos. Both were delicious but the Thai nachos really rocked it. We need to find a way to make these at home. We enjoyed the diversity of the menu, the atmosphere, the food and the service. We will be back! read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Thai nachos yum! - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

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Went for my father's 85th birthday dinner, after 75 min we were informed that there is another reservation so we need to wrap it up. Service and food were great. We frequent here often and have never been given the bums rush. Doesn't make us want to go back. Maybe note when making a reservation that you have limited time to have drinks, dinner and dessert. We would have had an after dinner drink but were not afforded the time. So disappointed, Davis family you are better than this. read more

Was very happy with there customer service best hamburger ever Existed to have another read more

WaterFire Restaurant & Bar - Best hamburger ever - Bars Near Me - Yakima, Washington

We were a group of 8. They charged each of us a 20% automatic gratuity, which I am aware that it is standard practice, but it shouldn't be 20%. It should be 15% AND announced that they are already charging gratuity. In my experience, I have received crap service if 20% automatic gratuity is added because they know they are already getting the gratuity. They don't work for it. I say 15% because I want to add additional gratuity if it was great service. So we were celebrating a birthday and they ruined it. A friend of mine, was told that she had to order food with her drink order, which she said, that's fine I was going to order food anyways. She was eating bread that others at the table had ordered. She had arrived an hour earlier than the rest of us. She had 2 lemon drops at the bar and once we all arrived, had to beers at the table (2 hours time, 2 drinks per hour). She was not acting drunk at all. No slurred speech, no loudness, no swaying, nothing. And she was eating bread. Everyone else got their drinks. I was on my 3rd rum and coke. We went up to the bar to tell them about the mistake. They said she wouldn't get her drink until her food arrived. She immediately said I will take my bill and I'm leaving. She had ordered a steak and another drink that was listed on the bill, that they denied her. She said, I'm not paying for the steak or additional drink, please take it off. The "bar manager", Shawna, came over and told her she had to pay it because it was already being prepared. Shawna was very snotty and rude about the whole situation. Why? Shawna wasn't the one being monitored with her food and beverage, which is absolutely insane. We had to talk to the chef and explain what was going on for them to take off the steak and additional drink. I have never heard of a restuarant putting drink constraints and being made to order food before. The only time a restuarant should be able to deny a drink order is if the person is acting inebriated. The food is usually really good at Waterfire. But one of us orderd the Baked Brie and it was horrible. Burnt and very small. Also, that same friend ordered plain pasta with no protein for $22 and it was barely child portions. Come on, it's pasta, one of the cheapest foods a restuarant can serve. At least serve an adult size portion for that price. I got up, paid my bill, boxed up my appetizer and left with my friend. I told them I won't be coming back and writing a review about this absolutely horrible service. Instead of trying to rectify it and make the customer happy, they said, ok. I've had issues in the past with their service, but the food is good, so I kept giving them one more chance, but I'm done. I wonder if the owner knows about how their staff treats customers and makes up these ridiculous "policies", which is absolutely unheard of? I've never had a good experience with Shawna. She needs to go to training on how to give customer service. She has RBF all the time and her tone is curt, like I'm bothering her doing her job. smh read more