Fire Works American Pizzeria & Bar

dedrinker

Kansas

3.45/5  rDev -17.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$

Kind of a spiffy shiny white-guy place - college grad, new job, work suit with tie undone, but nothing intelligent to say kinda place.

Staff is very friendly and beer/ gourmet pizza is reasonably priced.

I don't really get stoked by the selection though. 30 taps and not the best choices. I get the feeling that that head managers are not letting the beer guy have full say. It's all debatable I suppose.

Pizza is surprisingly mediocre for wood-fired oven and impressive on paper ingredients.

I been here three times before writing the review. I'll probably hold back for a few months and see how they are coming along later. Maybe they will get their pizza/ beer act together.

10-04-2010 23:48:03 | More by dedrinker

smakawhat

Maryland

3.58/5  rDev -14.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Listed in the Arlington Courthouse area which doesn't really have much charm, sits actually a nice simple little place in a glass first floor building.

Fireworks inside offers a fairly decent tap selection, and a slightly better than average selection on bottles. Luckily there is a lot to choose from.

Service is fine and prompt, but asking our waitress something specific it was obvious that she wasn't knowledgable very much about what was being served. Nevertheless, service was friendly and fine.

The place is a little family oriented, but it also looks like it has a very nice large bar that looks quite inviting. It's not the best pizza but it's quite good.

Many of the beers though offered you can get at many other places, but the one thing that seemed to stick out the most for me here was you could get on tap or bottles of Terrapin here to consume. Otherewise, you can enjoy many of the local and obvious craft favorites from the area.

04-04-2011 18:50:15 | More by smakawhat

CuriousMonk

Virginia

3.9/5  rDev -6.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$$

This pizza is what you go for and the pizza lacks flavor. The sauce has no taste and the crust is not up to par with other pizza joints that serve this style of pizza. Though, I give this place props for serving up non-traditional pizzas. The service was very good however, and our waiter in particular was on the ball the entire night. The host(ess) seemed a bit disorganized and stretched thin. They were quite friendly, but the manager might want to get another host(ess) up front during peak times. Overall, the service staff really hustled and was upbeat on a busy Friday night. Got to give them props for that!

The restaurant itself is very beautiful and comfortable. AND I wish so much that the food was better. Be prepared to wait long over the weekends.

Onto the best part, the beer selection. There were lots of good craft beer on tap as well as bottles. The prices are pretty high though.

02-17-2011 15:38:56 | More by CuriousMonk

jslot38

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Went on a Tuesday night for Happy Hour with mdfb79.

Very nice place, includes a long bar to the right, booths and tables to the left, and an outdoor patio. Note, if you sit at the front part of the bar you will get some good heat from the wood oven.

Servers handed us a tap list, but noted that the chalk boards over head have the most updated version (there were some differences.) Two casks, 30+ taps, and a strong bottle selection. Prices are very reasonable, most tap prices are between $5-$7. Bottles are similarly priced.

Tonight we had: Victory Saison Du Buff, Terrapin Hop Karma, Founders Porter, Greenflash Imperial IPA, and Lagunitas Pale ale.

They had various other items, Stone Old Guardian, Schlafly, Bells, Duck Rabbit etc...

They also had 5 beers which were $3 a pint for happy hour (including Allagash White). Also for happy hour was a group of 5 different pizzas for $5 each. Probably about a 10" pie. Both were solid.

All in all this was a good trip. Happy hour, 3 good beers and a good pizza for $27 with tip is a good deal. Will be back.

09-15-2010 00:46:34 | More by jslot38

dirtylou

Washington

4/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

stopped in for 1 beer after dinner at Dr. Granville Moore's and on the way to Galaxy Hut.

odd "corporatey" location - lots of new development in the area.

pretty bright interior and very crowded - a long bar faces the burning wood oven where a gentleman rotates and nourishes delicious looking pies in a 700+ degree oven burning firewood. some unique christmas decorations remained, along with beer flags and a window into the keg room with decorative bottles.

lots of good taps - sculpin, stone stuff, some locals and a couple firins. for some reason i settled on the heavy seas barleywine on the firkin. It's a crappy beer, but that was my fault.

hard to really peg the crowd, but seemed mostly young professionals. service was bland.

01-05-2011 02:09:25 | More by dirtylou

Thorpe429

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

First stopped in this place over the weekend after failing to make a visit since the place opened.

The ambiance is really fantastic. I love the brewery flags hanging by the bar, and the viewable keg room was nice. The steel pipes coming from the keg room and creating the tap backdrop are a really nice touch.

Service was good. Bartender was friendly and pretty knowledge. Great selection of drafts with a good mixture of import and craft. I hadn't seen Duvel Green on tap in awhile, so was happy to grab a tulip of that.

Pricing was really nice, with happy hour drafts sitting at $3.

Overall, a really nice experience and I will most certainly be coming back.

05-08-2012 12:36:01 | More by Thorpe429

allforbetterbeer

Colorado

4.18/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Myself and a group of three people ate a large lunch of three pizzas at Fire Works between lunch dinner hour. The atmosphere seemed classy and urban (exposed concrete pillars, stainless steel, and faux plants artistically arranged). Different breweries were represented by flags hung around the bar. We sat at a dining table inside, but there was a patio area as well. We ordered three pizzas which were all tasty, creative, and came to the table hot. The beer selection was very good, with a large bottle list (25% discount for beer-to-go!), two beers on cask, and a substantial tap list including a cider. The service was minimal but fine, and the value was typical for the area and the quality. We all enjoyed the beer and I got some beer to go.

Conclusion: Myself and the group (one of which was a local) loved this place and walked out stuffed with tasty pizza and cheesecake. This is a classy place to get some upscale pizza and a great selection of tasty beer, but it isn't a full fledged tap house and does not have a vintage beer list.

07-06-2011 00:47:37 | More by allforbetterbeer

blackie

Virginia

4.28/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Located on a fairly commercial stretch of the Clarendon/Wilson corridor, Fire Works is the new spot in an improving beer scene. The interior furnishings and decor are modern upscale. Not exactly generic but not really a warm, comfortable place either (save for waves of heat from the brick pizza oven - kinda cool to sit at the bar and watch your pizza made). Also cool is that the kegs are stored prominently in a glass-walled refrigeration unit. Lots of bar space and an outdoor patio. Crowd mostly young professional types.

The draft selection runs the span from macro lager and pedestrian craft to the more esoteric selections, most falling into that middle area, with something that should please most anybody - numbering about 30 total. Two casks add a nice touch, with Two-Hearted and dry-hopped Raging Bitch being two that I've quite enjoyed. The bottle list carries the same variety - about 100 total. All drafts served in either a house-logo chalice, pint, or lager glass. Growlers soon to be available.

Fire Works has some really excellent pizza, on par with what I've had at Paradiso. The Smokey Blue is killer, and the Virginia Luau great as well. Thin, flavorful, and not overly cheesed or greasy.

Service has always been really good, either at the bar or table.

Prices are fair for the area, most pints around 5-6 dollars. Happy hour specials include a list of 5 drafts for $3, as well as $5 10 inch pizzas, a fine deal.

10-15-2010 23:35:44 | More by blackie

younggunz

Virginia

4.28/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

A nice location slightly off the beaten path in Clarendon/Courthouse. Good/great selection of beers depending on your styles choice. They have a pretty expansive list of Belgians, and their draft IPA list is quite nice. Sculpin, Hopslam, Stone 14th IIPA, and Racer 5 and Dugana on tap when I was there. I can drink Sculpin and Hop Slam all day, so I was satisfied. My wife liked the food, prices are reasonable for the area, draft/bottle list is stellar for Arlington. I usually split time between Lost Dog, Fireworks and Galaxy Hut depending on the tap rotations. Pleased with all three.

08-13-2011 00:20:24 | More by younggunz

Chaney

District of Columbia

4.34/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

My wife and I were dead set on shopping in the Clarendon area and we were going to make an afternoon of it.

I did my beer research (unknown to her) and recommended a great "pizza" place. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

Atmosphere: We parked in the Clarendon shopping center over near a very nice "Container Store." We used our address book and nose for fresh hops to get here.

On the outside, this place is nothing to write home about, however, the interior was absolutely awesome! Since we came in during St. Paddy's weekend, the place was decked out accordingly. Modern architecture, huge pizza oven, the whole nine yards!

Service and Quality: Awesome service all around from a great waitress who knew lots about the beer and pizza menu.

Selection: Nice. I particularly like the option of ordering sample glasses for a reduced price vs. full glasses.

Food: This place KILLS Paradiso in this area. You can actually order a half/half two pizzas of your choosing. Really nice!

Value: Very reasonably, especially considering the fact that you can get small tasters of the beer (ala Churchkey) and the food is pretty cheap considering the area. Highly recommended!

03-18-2013 06:08:09 | More by Chaney