Firebirds Wood Fired Grill has a unique place in the U.S. restaurant ecosystem.
The 69-unit chain specializes in steak and other proteins cooked in its signature wood-fired grills. It’s more upscale than Texas Roadhouse or LongHorn Steakhouse, but much less expensive than fine dining. It has a growing lunch business and is popular with families; its kids menu has won awards. Its average check is $38, which blends both lunch and dinner.
This formula has proven to be a winner in a tough economic environment. Firebirds has seen consumers trading down from more upscale places, and trading up from more casual chains, including fast casual.
“It’s only a couple dollars more,” CEO Steve Kislow said in an interview at the ICR conference Monday. “So if I’m gonna go out tonight and spend the money, I’m gonna go somewhere where I know I’m gonna get a slightly better experience than one step down.”
That trend has been especially helpful for Firebirds’ lunch business. Lunch now makes up 30% of overall sales, and traffic grew faster than dinner in 2025. Customers can get a burger or salad for $14, rivaling prices at many fast-casual chains, but in a full-service setting. “It makes us feel like we’re still a really good value,” Kislow said.
Rising beef prices have also played in Firebirds’ favor recently, at least in the eyes of consumers.
“I think the consumer sees the prices of steak in the grocery stores and says, I’m not gonna pay $20 a pound for a quality USDA-choice steak. I’m just gonna get it at a restaurant,” Kislow said. “I think that’s part of why we’ve been winning in that respect.”
Founded in 2000 in Charlotte, Firebirds has 69 locations in 22 states. It’s owned by private-equity firm Garnett Station Partners, which acquired it in 2023.
It’s one of the few U.S. restaurants that can truly be classified as polished casual, a blurry space between casual and fine dining. Firebirds sees a lot of opportunity there.
“If you think about the origin of Firebirds 25 years ago, our founder, Dennis Thompson, saw that blank canvas in between casual and fine dining,” Kislow said. “I think it’s still a space that has a limited sandbox.”
But it’s a segment that has generally done well despite the economic headwinds of recent years, with chains like Cooper’s Hawk and Fogo de Chao seeing double-digit growth.
In 2024, Firebirds’ systemwide sales rose more than 10% to $374.5 million, according to Technomic data. It opened five restaurants last year and plans to add seven this year and eight to 10 the next, targeting about 10% growth each year. Kislow said unit growth is the most exciting part about the business right now.
The brand likes to be in suburban markets, where it can offer consumers the type of restaurant experience they might get in an urban downtown, but much closer to home. For new units, it’s looking at markets where it already has a presence. Today, its footprint is concentrated in the Southeast, but stretches as far west as Arizona. “Grow where you know,” Kislow said.
Though Firebirds strives to offer a good everyday value, it has made some extra concessions to price-conscious diners, such as a three-course meal option for $39.95 introduced in 2024—before many full-service brands developed similar deals.
It has also made moves to combat those rising beef prices, which have hit steak-centric chains hardest. It promoted non-beef dishes, such as a bone-in roasted chicken and tomahawk pork chop, to meet steak-lovers’ demand for bold flavors, but at a lower cost to its bottom line.
“That helps from a COGs standpoint, not to take all that extra cost on the chin,” Kislow said.
Looking ahead, Kislow said he sees less uncertainty in the market in 2026. Consumers and businesses have had a year to adjust to the new presidential administration and its policies, like tariffs.
“Most of the noise and uncertainty are in the rearview mirror,” Kislow said.
As for Firebirds, “we’ve always been kind of insulated in uncertain economic times," he said. "And I think it’s because of where we are uniquely positioned right at the intersection of casual and fine.”