This weekend I ate at two different restaurants at Short Pump Mall, Saturday night at Firebirds for dinner, and Sunday the Nordstrom Cafe for lunch.
We arrived at Firebirds at 6:00 pm, my husband, our 5 year old, our relative Kim and her daughter Carly (12 years old). We were given a pager and found 5 seats at the bar. The adults promptly ordered beers - Blue Moon and we ordered Shirley Temples for the kid's. We were told it would be about 45 minutes for our table so we ordered some appetizers for the kids who were starving. We got the Ranch Rings - onion rings with garlic ranch dressing for dipping, and the queso cheese dip. Both were quite good. The onion rings were crispy and the dressing was zipped up with the garlic added to the ranch. The queso dip was served with a boring salsa, but the chips were red, blue and corn chips and the queso had a little kick to it. The bartenders were quite nice and when my daughter fell off of the barstool knocking over her shirley temple they were very nice and promptly made her a fresh one and ignored her wailing!
We were seated about an hour later - and I wish our experience would have been as good as our one at the bar. We were seated right next to the very busy kitchen and it was REALLY loud in the dining room. We ordered drinks (Conundrum White Wine for me -good glass of white) and our food. My husband got the salmon, I got the trout, Kim got the sirloin, Daughter got the kids chicken strips and Carly ordered a BLT. Well Carly's dinner came out as a BLT Salad - not sandwhich. They sent that back - apparently it is on their lunch menu - but not their dinner one. But they did accomodate her and brought her out a sandwhich and fries. Husbands salmon was ok - a bit dry he said. My trout was pecan encrusted, served with a tortilla slaw. The crust was way too sweet and did not cover up the dryness of the trout - if anything it made it dryer. The slaw was more tortilla chip and less cabbage. I have had that side before and usually it is quite good. The peach salsa that was supposed to come with the trout was such a small portion you could barely see it or pick it out from the slaw. Kim enjoyed her steak and baked potato. So one out of three entree's were enjoyed. I guess I just don't see the popularity of this restaurant - to wait an hour to eat here when the food is just ok.....probably won't be back unless it is for drinks and app's at the bar.
Now Nordstrom was a totally different experience. I love the food here. If you have never eaten here - definitely check it out. I went to lunch with daughter, Kim, and Carly again. Kim and I got the Seared Salmon Caesar Salad. It was great. The salmon was done perfectly and the Caesar dressing was fabulous - this was served with a Parmesan Chip that was quite tasty. The girls each got a children's size cheese pizza - which was huge. They both enjoyed and my daughter actually ate almost the whole thing (except for the peice I nabbed)! The pizza was thin with good cheese and great sauce. All in all we all were very happy with our meals! I have eaten there for lunch many times and the salads are too die for. My favorite is a grilled chicken with strawberry salad that has goat cheese, candied nuts, carmelized red onions, and lettuce. They also have a great pear and blue cheese salad. The pizza's, pasta's, and sandwhiches are all great. I used to work with a guy who said their she-crab soup was the best they ever had. I highly recommend you go to Nordstrom Cafe soon for lunch.
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