Fireside by the Patio - Liberty Station

Had lunch today at Fireside the latest entry from the Patio group.

Loved their outside seating and cabana effect… which effective kept things from getting too windy. Inside has a lovely and long bar area.

Service was actually quite good. It’s clear there has been more than a smidge of staff training

We liked the cocktails we ordered, just different enough without being really “out there”. The ingredient combinations in the drinks played well together.

The lunch menu is short and sweet and limited to a few apps, some sandwiches, salads and flatbreads. I had the tri tip sandwich which I enjoyed quite a bit. It’s sort of french-dippish in orientation and the bottom part of the roll on which it was served was a little soggy but not necessarily in a bad way. Friends had the bratwurst sandwich and the mushroom and goat cheese flatbread. All were well executed with the flatbread being really outstanding.

They’re calling this place fireside because they’re doing a lot of grilling and cooking over an open fire. This worked great for the tri-tip and the brat, less successful was the smoked potato salad that came along with both sandwiches. The smoked potatoes weren’t bad and they weren’t over-smoked, but the flavor profile of the potato salad just didn’t work. Needs tweaking

I can see this being a really popular place to hang out on weekends during the summer. Nice, relaxing ambiance, good drinks and and good food. What more can you ask for in San Diego…

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We lunched here today and I heartily agree with your comments about the ambience. Very relaxed genuine outdoor patio environment, multi-level, and with long puffy cushions along the bench backs at many tables. I’m not sure what they do when it rains, given that the indoor bar is nowhere close to big enough for a lot of diners, but on a beautiful, warm, sunny day with just a little breeze, like today, it was very pleasant. There are actually two patios, one on each side of the bar; both very nice. We were seated at the one closest to the main entrance.

We shared a smoked pork sandwich, which came with red potato salad, and also a broccoli & cauliflower salad. The sandwich was basically pulled pork on a bun, nice and tender, but a little plain. The bun was excellent though, and together the meat and roll made for a tasty sandwich. The salad was interesting and a nice compliment with the sandwich, particularly because there were numerous yellow raisins in it. The cauliflower was very thinly sliced; unusual. A delicate dressing, nothing unusual there.

I actually liked the red potato salad, but since we shared everything there wasn’t much of it. My companion thought it was “meh”.

Service was good and very fast until the clock passed the end of the lunch period (2:45). We had a lot of trouble getting our check. Bummer.

We washed things down with light draft beers (a pilsner and a light pale ale), perfect for a very warm day, and enjoyed the overall experience. We’ll be back.

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Look forward to dining here…sounds like my kind of place!

Maybe the servers are on the French Euro system…gotta ask for that check, Monsieur!
:flag_fr:

When the check never arrived, I asked someone to find our server. The server then came to our table, and I asked for the check. He said “sure”, or something like that. Then he left and didn’t return. After a long time, I asked someone else to get it for us. I actually had to get up from the table to do that. I usually don’t quibble too much about service glitches like this. It wasn’t a huge big deal, just annoying.

Actually, I think that is a big deal. No guest should ever have to get up from a table to find their service person.

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I liked the food.

I didn’t like the jet noise. I thought, like the old Starlight Theater, it would be convienent to have a light that would come on to stop the play until the jet cleared.

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The jet noise is bothersome, but it’s the same at Solare, Stone, Slater’s, LPM…

We were in fact reminiscing about Starlight while we were having our meal. Yes, the tables could have lights on them to indicate when you should freeze your fork mid-air, halt your conversation, and hold gestures and facial expressions fixed while an aircraft is overhead.

At Solare tye better places are inside and you don’t hear the jets inside (similar with Starlite as smoking is allowed on the patio)

I don’t disagree about Solare, but I do enjoy the patio tables in nice weather.

I think anyone who is old enough to remember the Starlight Bowl and has dined at Fireside is going to have that Starlight memory pop up :smile: I know it sure did for me too.

My father played many seasons with the Starlight Bowl orchestra. He was not a fan of the pause for planes solution

While in college at SDSU in '72 or '73, I was offered the job of spotting the planes and turning on the light switch. I did not take it as I felt I was not qualified, did not have a car and was busy trying to find “lids.”

We ate at Fireside last night. The service was a little choppy, the yakitori was delicious and the noise was a minor annoyance.We really like the restaurant,

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Far out man

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LOL. . .Lids…
Like in Tupperware eatemup…:tongue:

I remember when I was a mere enfant, in the crib, staring at the :airplane: going by at Starlight. . .
:baby: