Review The Firehouse - Ringwood

This is the first time we ate at this place and we're surprised how big this restaurant is. We enjoyed the all-american food that we ordered. My personal favorite is the beef brisket. We also loved the macaroni and cheese croquettes. Staff were extremely friendly and accommodating. Always checking on us every 15 minutes. Apparently, they thought we live in Rosebud. We came from Rosebud that day because we went to Hot Spring Peninsula and decided to have dinner at The Firehouse which is close to where we live. They have probably thought that we travelled so far just to eat there. But to be honest, we will eat at The Firehouse even if we have to drive more than an hour to get there. It's worth it. ❤

Lovely staff and a chill outside atmosphere. Not a wide range of options on the food menu but the cheeseburger was great. Would be awesome if they added beer jugs as well!

Sorry can only give three stars. The food ended up being very nice BUT the service was lacking. Five of us ordered drinks at the same time, two came, ten minutes elapsed, two more came then I had to remind the waitress I hadn’t still hadn’t received mine when the food arrived. Similar story with food but very much spaced apart. I get that it might be a staff shortage issue but please tell me that and I’ll adjust expectations. Not really a reason for the drinks to be so far apart though. Also if you went here a while back when it was a restaurant, expect different, it’s a ‘Hotel’ (pub) now and so ambience is changed accordingly.

Experienced the brunch Saturday for my birthday- bit of an odd menu for cocktails for the brunch but the food was amazing the serving size was above and beyond I couldn't finish my chippies. The staff the service was just above and beyond so lovely, engaging and friendly. So kind I'll go back for the food for sure.

Had the rib eye and the steak was great. Friendly service. Was really quiet midweek but nice enough. Maybe a touch on the pricey side? But there are some good value options on the menu

Came here for a friend's birthday. The chef came out to present the tomahawk steak. Great night out, super friendly staff serving. The dessert was beautifully presented. A good variety of food. I had the trio of smoked meats. Not a fan of pork so the staff were able to switch the pulled pork out for some extra chicken and lamb. Yum!!!

Food is great and kitchen service was fast. Front of house was slower and could have been more attentive. Finished plates weren’t promptly cleared - had to ask for plates to be cleared and desert ordered. Could have been because of staff shortage but just a little attention to detail will take you from good to great. Overall a lovely place with good food, would still recommend.

Loved everything about this place. From staff to food to ambiance. Rob was able to accommodate all our requests even the last minute changes. I wish the food was more warm but maybe I was just feeling cold, as Melbourne is now entering autumn. Nonetheless, still enjoyed every course of the meal.

Firstly the food was great and the staff were also good, however they were seriously understaffed. It took 40 minutes before anyone was available to take our food order. And we weren’t the only ones, there was 7 other tables that had been sat and were waiting to order. The food was really well cooked and prepared with some really good flavours with ample portion sizes. We sat for 30 minutes after the plates were cleared before someone came to offer us drinks/desserts, by which point we’d decided we couldn’t be bothered with waiting for desserts. More staff were really needed

Went in for a family dinner celebrating a birthday. There was about 14 people at the table. Service was great, very professional. Waited about an hour to get entrés (only 4 were ordered), then over an hour again for mains to come out. The duck dish I ordered was cold and had absolutely no flavour. There was some sort of a watery sauce underneath everything, which basically tasted like water. No flavour whatsoever. Someone else ordered a side salad, which was a bowl of mixed lettuce. Nothing else, no tomato, no cucumber, no carrot or anything to grant it being a salad. Three people ordered the fettucini, which was cold and looked like it had been sitting out for half an hour. Overall, very disappointed with the quality of the food for the price you pay. I don't mind spending $34 on a meal, but when it comes out cold and flavourless, that definitely doesn't make me want to come back. Wouldn't recommend.

A regular brunch / lunch catch up place with my BFF. Service is amazing and food even better. This place has a relaxed & friendly feel and we never want to leave... highly recommend it!

I was very disappointed on Mother's Day. I ordered chicken, my mum ordered barramundi. I ended up with spatchcock, and mum didn't get barramundi. When it was delivered, the waitress said, 'here's your snapper', which we thought odd at the time. When I spoke to someone about it, i was assured that snapper wasn't being served, though it was on the menu for that night's dinner service. I was also, quite defensively and in a fairly patronising manner, told that spatchcock was just a small chicken (yes, but tastes quite different), and that they put chicken on the menu, but it was, in fact spatchcock. Huh? I told them that I would've ordered something else if I'd known that (it's a menu for a reason), and also was wondering why spatchcock was on the menu for the dinner service. Why not call it what it was at lunch? Never written a review, nor do I complain typically, but being treated like a fool for an obvious mistake really got stuck in my craw.

Keep walking straight past this place, after waiting an hour for our breakfast to arrive we were told it would be another four minutes as the pancake wasn’t successful the first time. Once it arrived it had steel wool in the actual pancake. Lucky a current affair wasn’t called. Food was extremely bland and service was not much better.

The firehouse has been a fave for so many years, but when I turned up a few weeks ago for a midday coffee I found out that it has totally changed up. There was no coffee machine on site, no kitchen run by the owners or anyone for that matter- purely food trucks but not open during the day. The waiter ended up pointed me in the direction of a nearby cafe. It seems that the new owners and their new business model are turning away a lot of old and loyal customers. If you're looking for the lovely old feel of the Firehouse with amazing coffee, food and staff than you will be sadly disappointed.

While your drinks and antipasto-type platter were (reportedly) great, your service was very slow. Additionally, as someone who has had stomach surgery and cannot eat a full meal the lack of flexibility to reduce portion size or allow me to take leftovers home was very disappointing, despite my being willing to pay the full price. I did try to explain the situation quietly to the waitress who got quite defensive. Not very accommodating.

We came last night for my birthday dinner. Service was so slow we thought they forgot our meals. When they finally arrived they were very nice although beef eye fillet didn’t come with much so we ordered sides. For $39 I would expect potatoes and veggies to come with the meal. Because our meals took so long we got a round of drinks for free and they bought out a little cake with a candle for my birthday which was nice of them. When it came to dessert we all ordered drinks again but they forgot about one coffee. During the evening we found we were wanting a waitress to order more drinks but as we were in a separate room we couldn’t ask anyone and nobody checked we were right for drinks. I think this place is good but was a shame service was so slow. We got there at 7pm and didn’t eat until after 9pm. I think they need more attentive staff or more staff fullstop.

Great food!! Great place!! Love it. Would definitely recommend this place. ��

Have been coming here for years and have bought many friends with us over the time but not sure we will be back with the new owners. My husband had the steak (as always) which was perfectly cooked but the combination of the smokey steak with the soggy and sour coleslaw with a bit of sweet potato mash thrown in was such a strange combination. I had the spanner crab linguini which was swimming in oil and had a weird flavour and definitely wasn't worth the price. To us the service was basic and we noticed the lack of professionalism and finess the wait staff used to have. You can definitely tell the place has changed and not for the better. We will miss you firehouse!

Thank you to Rob, Isabel & Josie for taking good care of us in celebrating Andrew's 30th over the weekend! The night ran smoothly and everyone enjoyed the delicious food from Road Runner Chicken, Those Guys' Food & Honey Dee Loukoumades. Would highly recommend!

Excellent experience. They were great to deal with, very helpful and patient with our kids, they brought over a colouring book for my son. The food was great, the coffee was great and the staff were great. Deserves more than 5 stars.

Awesome place, awesome drinks and lovely people 10/10 would be here every night if I was a local. Lovely staff. Xx you guys are great

Had a lovely time celebrating a friend's birthday. Food, staff, and location were all wonderful. A special mention for the peanut butter and jelly dessert....well worth trying. A great night. Thank you

Being Saturday we ordered from the food trucks excellent. Owner and staff very friendly. will try again other than Saturday