Firewater Grille Restaurant Dining Review

Casual Luncheon at the Firewater Grille Always looking for a good find to experience and review, I've begun to ask local residents about restaurants in the Summerville area they have found to have a unique concept, flavor or niche. The new Firewater Grille, located at 109 Holiday Drive has come up more than once lately so I decided to give it a try and see about the new excitement.

The first good sign, as I pulled into the parking lot for lunch on a Tuesday afternoon, was that there was almost no available parking. Not that there isn't ample parking, the lot was full because restaurant was just packed!

My friend and I were politely greeted and seated in the very pleasant dining room with live green plants, tablecloths, wainscoting, and substantive, real wooden chairs. No fast food here, I thought. My eye scanned the walls, on which were displayed skillfully painted, original works of art, created by local artists involved in a Summerville art gallery. I immediately felt comfortable in the friendly atmosphere of the clean, bright, bustling Firewater Grille. A quick look at the menu and my lunch partner voiced exactly what I'd been thinking, "This place is fun!"

The dining room is upscale for a neighborhood family restaurant that specializes in hamburgers but without being pretentious. One would feel equally at ease in jeans or a black dress, a golfing shirt or a tie, but just one look at the menu and the secret is out, this place exudes good time and humor. Some of the menu selections might almost tempt diners to roll up sleeves and stuff a napkin under one's collar, Jethro Bodine style! These are good southern eats with names like 'Boom Boom shrimp' or 'Coosawhatchie wings' and 'smashed potatoes' but then again, once you inspect the ingredients in the menu choices, realization dawns that although there are thirteen or more choices of burgers on the menu, this isn't your ordinary burger joint either.

Due to a scheduling conflict, we discovered the restaurant owner, Bob Shipley, would not be joining us for lunch but we weren't disappointed when we were introduced to the Chef for the Firewater Grille. In a moment's time, we knew we had met the personality of the restaurant, Chef Perry Stone. In the middle of the busy lunch rush, with a packed restaurant he came to our table and made us feel very welcome as though he had nothing else to do.

A gracious host, Chef Stone prepared an appealing sampling of several appetizers not the least of which was the southern, tried and true fried green tomatoes, but only very lightly battered and fried, topped with a delicious homemade horseradish marmalade that created a complimenting sweet and salty tartness with an understated spice of the horseradish. Delicious! Not to be outdone, the boom, boom oysters also lived up to the name with Stone's well-prepared signature flavor combo: sweet, spicy, crispy and tasty. It was hard to choose a favorite among all the unusual combinations. Perhaps it was the perfectly yielding consistency to the calamari rings or the unusual spinach dip, offering its own peppery kick but not all the choices are decadently prepared. The hot vegetarian salad was chock full of a blend of perfectly cooked tender peppers, summer squash mushrooms, onions with fresh salad greens and spinach topped with a touch of ginger dressing for a healthy and tasty starter. We were also surprised and pleased to hear that special menu considerations for gluten free and diabetic type meals are happily prepared with a little advanced notice.

For our entrees, once we found out about Perry's pride in his burger and he told us about his years of experimenting in grinding the beef and preparing the best burgers, how could we order anything else? The house specialty is was. Mine was the most popular, Monck's Corner, prepared with crispy bacon, smoked Gouda cheese, fried onion rings and a homemade Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce. (Notice the sweet, crispy, salty combo once again.) Don't worry. I only ate half of the smallest size of the three options, 1/3 lb, ½ lb or 1 lb! The menu is strategically designed so even if one orders a hot and juicy burger that is not on the diet, moderation can still be maintained. And for the truly health conscious, all those southern flavors and toppings can be ordered with other "burger" options made with turkey or chicken. Oh and the desserts! Though there are plenty of sins from which to choose: homemade ice cream, 7-layer pecan pie, old fashioned root beer floats my favorite, for this luncheon was the sweetangy (Is that a word?) tart, creamy Mama Lou's key lime pie...just what you want it to be.

We savored each course that came from the kitchen, as Perry, enthusiastically recited the magical combination of simple and fresh ingredients of every dish. Gently spoken and sure of his abilities, this chef has an obvious love for what he does and it shows in the flavor of his creations. Humble, he attributed his talents to his grandmother who was at one time, quite a hit in the kitchen herself. Chef Stone told us of her legacy as he pointed out a few dishes that were her own secret recipes. He spoke about his long history of love for the alchemical process in the kitchen, starting from the time he was 3-years old in his Tennessee childhood home. Graduating from the home kitchen, the young Perry took to the professional arena grinding and cooking burgers in a family style restaurant when he was 12-years old and later finding himself drawn to his love for cooking, once again while he was in medical school, Chef Stone surrendered to his passion and transferred from medical school to the prestigious Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Program in Charlotte, NC, and we're so glad he did.

The Firewater Grille has a full service bar and live entertainment at times. This establishment purchases certified, South Carolina grown produce and is working toward a rating as purchaser of only "green" grown products. The wine list is down to earth and reasonably priced as are the menu selections. All bottle offerings are currently priced at $19.99 and single glasses are also available. The wine list has some trusted vineyard names for a good wine offering: Rodney Strong, Chateau St. Jean and Chateau St. Michelle among them.

Visit their website. To sum up our luncheon experience at the Firewater Grille I can say that as we left the restaurant, my friend and I asked one another, "Will you come back?" The answer was "Sure, I'll come back and try some other menu items." For overall ambiance, friendly, efficient service, and originality of recipes, a luncheon at the Firewater Grille earns 3 diamonds out of five. 5 Diamonds For pricing, the Firewater Grille earns a very impressive $$$ for a great value.

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