I have to eat gluten-free or I get very sick. I want to begin by saying that the gluten-free menu at Wildfire is good and has a lot of choices. Also, the food is usually okay (see below for the exception to the rule) and I have never had an issue with cross-contamination, at least not yet.
My first complaint: the service lacks. On a recent visit, our server asked if anyone wanted an appetizer or salad. Three of us did. When the first person asked for soup--before anyone else had a chance to say what they wanted, she was almost off and running before we pulled her back to hear what everyone else wanted. This happened TWO more times during the remainder of our meal.
Also, I told the server that, when we had dinner, I would like a glass of wine, yet when I ordered my first course and told her which wine I'd like to have with it, she neglected to bring it. When I mentioned it to her, I said "I'm still waiting on my wine," and she said she wasn't sure if I wanted it, because I said I wanted it "with dinner." Well, yes, I did say that, and the way she said it made it very clear it was my fault she did not bring my wine.
Okay, so maybe she thinks "dinner" means the main course. It doesn't, but let's give her that one and say I was wrong. That said, I had just told her I was now WAITING on my wine, and she neglected to bring it. Eventually, about 20 minutes later, I had to pull another server aside and ask him to please ask our server to bring it.
Our table asked for more bread. She brought only more non-gluten-free bread to the table, and she plopped it down in front of me with no concern for crumbs that might fly in my food or the fact that I would have to then pass it to the people who wanted it . . . and I am so highly sensitive to gluten (even a crumb can make me sick for a week), that I really shouldn't even be touching the board to pass it. Very uncaring. I will say that only one person asked her to bring more bread to our table, so perhaps she assumed only he and all the other guests at the table wanted more bread (she brought a ton of it), and perhaps she assumed that I didn't want any . . . but she might have asked.
There have been other times that the service has not been the best, especially during busy Saturday nights. It is as though the servers have an attitude -- they just want you to order, eat, and get the hell out so they can sit the next party. When we have good service, we tip very generously, and if we take a little longer to dine, we tip even more. But when a server acts as though he/she is just there for the money and not for customer service, we still tip, but no more than 15% . . . and frankly, if the service is bad, even that's too much, but we don't go there.
I'm a nice person. I wasn't rude to the server at all during dinner and gave her the benefit of the doubt throughout. My daughter worked as a server in an up-scale restaurant, and I know how demanding and difficult being a server can be, so when I say we had less-than-the-best service, I really mean it. It takes a lot to put me over the edge.
Only on one occasion did we have excellent service, and that is when my husband and I dined in the bar area. I am so sorry that I did not get the server's name -- the service was excellent. That said, we did go at a slower time, so maybe that had something to do with it.
So, maybe she was having an off night. Goodness knows I've had them, and I forgive that, but sadly, the kitchen was having an off night, too . . .
On the same visit, I ordered the gluten-free pepperoni pizza and a salad. The pizza was horrible. The crust was soggy and the pepperoni was extremely salty. At a dive, a similar pizza might be somewhat acceptable, but NOT at a better restaurant where they should have an eye on quality and taste.
The service was so poor, I didn't send the pizza back. It assumed it would be a painful experience.
Even years back, I might have said the pizza was "passable." But now, there are outstanding gluten-free pizzas available at other, similar restaurants, as well as outstanding gluten-free flatbreads. Wildfire needs to serve a pizza that doesn't taste like cheap, frozen, soggy yuck. AND, if they are using frozen pizza, there are ways to make a frozen pizza taste great. Shouldn't a restaurant the caliber of Wildfire know how to do it?
If a restaurant goes to the time and trouble to serve gluten-free food, they should go to the time and trouble to make the dining experience as good as it is for those lucky folks who do not have celiac disease. If you can't do it right, then don't do it at all. There are plenty other restaurants out there who know how to do it right. Gluten-intolerant customers don't have to choose you . . . but we'd like to, if you can get your act together. read more