Kat's 9 Lives

I don't know if this should even be considered an age-old question : Where's my order?  After a laborious day at work, I wanted to stop of at Stonefire Grill to grab a quick take out and head home to enjoy my dinner.  Okay, it was a Friday and they were very busy for dine-in.  I strolled up to the take out counter and the guy was super nice who took my order.  After he put it in, I felt pretty happy and even signed the slip with a tip on it.  All happy thoughts right?  I sat down and started playing Draw Something on my iPad.  People around me probably thought I was very funny because I couldn't stop laughing.  That was the first time I ever played the game and I was just chuckling away as I continued to draw.  I must have played 30-40 games and I was wondering when my order would be done because I kept seeing people who came after me leave.  At first I just thought that my order took longer so I ignored it.
Recently I had been craving some tasty salmon and after I asked the guy who took my order, he convinced me to try the Fresh Salmon 1lb Filet with Lemon Garlic.  I asked for extra garlic and for the salmon to not be fully cooked.  Simple, right?  Well you would think so and for $17.99 plus tax, it should be a tasty piece of fish! So after a long long wait, I decided to go up to the counter and check on the status.  Here is the kicker, if they said it wasn't ready I would have completely understood BUT... I asked the staff and the girl told me to hold on.  After a few minutes she came back because she couldn't find my order and then she turned around and found it sitting behind her! Somehow they put my order in as a "phone-in" so basically if I did NOT go up and sat there like an idiot, then I would never get my food and it would sit there until it would be inedible.  This just blew a fuse! I was stern and asked her that if I had NOT come up then no one would have called me for my order?  She said yes and asked if I wanted to speak with the manager.  I told her, "Yes, please."  My mood turned very sour quickly because it was already late and I wanted to go home to unwind.  The manager was friendly and apologized.  I confronted him about the situation and told him that I already didn't want a cooked fish yet it had been sitting there.  Of course he tried to assure me that it hadn't been out too long.  He was nice enough to offer making another order but I did not want to spend another 1/2 hour sitting there and he offered to refund my money on the order.  I sort of felt a little bad but I was upset at how they handled a simple order.  Even though I was feeling guilty since I got my meal for free, minus the tip **didn't bother to ask for that back**, I reasoned with myself that it wasn't my fault that my meal ended up to be comped because I was wronged.
While I was driving, I thought about what I would rate them or what I'd write about.  In the end, I want to be fair and tell the whole story.  Despite what happened, I cannot fault them because they did try to make up for it and that is all they can do.  So I will be fair and rate their food based on the taste.  I thought the fish was tender and it was a nice cut.  It might seem a little pricey for some people but it really hits the spot to chomp down a pound of salmon filet! There was plenty of garlic and it was flavorful.  At times it was a little bit sour for my taste.  Don't get me wrong, I ADORE lemon, but it was a different kind of sour seasoning.  I asked for a side of their BBQ sauce because I had seen a co-worker dip her salmon that way and it offered a great contrast.  Be sure to ask for it just in case you don't like the lemon garlic taste.  I thought the dish was good and I often think about going back for another go, but what happened does stop me from ordering take out every day now.  Still trying to forgive but I have not forgotten.  O=) I am a complicated gal! lol

Stonefire Grill
3966 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 777-1177