Enjoyed our dinner tonight at Fireworks. it's Saturday night, a cold wintry night...and the place was happening!
Pizza is always Exceptional.Started with a shared green salad and entree was shrimp and spaghetti (without the pancetta, which was no problem for the chef). Varied NEW menu, and attentive service combined, made for a satisfying night out in Brattleboro.
Really cool scene, great pizza, and they dont skimp out on the amount they fill your glasses of wine. They break down the wine list in a witty way to let you know the prices and tastes of each wine, which I appreciated. We were lucky enough to get a booth by the window, which was really nice and cozy for our party of 5.The food was REALLY good. Everyone enjoyed their meals, and we even had some extra pizza to take with us. There were a few more flies that I would have liked flying around, but I guess thats normal to find in the food industry.
Review Source:Awful service sitting at the bar. When I arrived, there were two people working the bar, a man and a woman. Â The man approached me and asked if I'd like a drink. Â He asked about beer, wine or a cocktail. Â I asked what he had for beer. Â He grabbed a glass and rattled off a list of names. Â Holding the glass aloft and looking impatient, I just picked one. I ordered a pizza and when it was delivered, that was the last of the service for me. Â The guy next to me was young and cute and perhaps a local, he was doted on by both bartenders.
No one asked if I wanted another beer, or whether my meal was ok. Â I did, in fact, want another beer with my pizza, but the woman who was working the bar managed a feat of body language that made it clear that I was not welcome. Â She cleared my glass while turning her back on me and walking away. Â The woman next to me noticed as well. Â I travel here a lot, and like the room and most of the food, and the general vibe, but I won't be back.
In town and was in the mood for some pizza. I got excited when I saw this place was a brick-oven pizza place and had a decent location with decent reviews. I ordered the margherita pizza with pepperoni and it was OK. The crust was a little soggy in the middle and but the meats and cheese were flavorful so I was happy to eat it.
We also ordered the Bianco pizza which in my opinion tasted very strange. I'm no stranger to ricotta cheese in pizza, but the combination of it with the sweet mushrooms created a soft, dense pizza with a off-texture cheese that was not pleasing to eat. I couldn't eat more than once slice of it. Worst part is that pizza cost $14.
Service was 2 star - slow to seat us and not particularly attentive.
This place seems to have an owner who know how to run and operate a successful business. Â In so much that he actually consults on the side to help others be successful. Â I ordered take out and when I went to pick it up, it seemed to be the only restaurant that had patrons actually in it.
I had a divine brick oven pizza - the Blue Moon which has butternut squash, sage pesto, roasted chicken and Gorgonzola cheese. Â The flavors all married well together and none of the ingredient dominated the others. Â The price is what you'd expect for an upscale pie. Â
The next time in town, I think I'll try the other items on the menu.
My wife and I stopped by Fireworks for dinner on our final night visiting Brattleboro over the Labor Day weekend. Â We arrived around 6:00 about an hour after opening and it was already pretty decently filled up especially for a Sunday night so I took that for a good sign of things to come. Â
We were seated on the back patio which is a nice setting with 6 4 person tables, you get a slight sent from the oven they use to cook the pizzas which is a nice touch. Â We sat down-and for not the last time that night-waited a while. Â 5-10 minutes later and we are finally able to place a drink order and hear the specials another 5 minutes or so later and we placed our dinner order. Â At this point our drinks were still nowhere to be seen. Â Drinks finally made an appearance 5 minutes latter with our appetizer (fried risotto cakes) coming 5 minutes after that. Â The risotto cakes were excellent, think the thick style fried mozzarella only because the base is rice they are a good deal lighter and went great with mushrooms and arugula.
There was no need to rush to finish the appetizer, it was long gone with plates cleared and another drink before the dinner managed to show up with a 10-15 minute gap between. Â The food itself was excellent I had the pizza special sausage, cheddar and apples and my wife had butternut squash ravioli with brown butter. Â
At this point I was feeling pretty favorably inclined toward the restaurant. Â The time between sitings of the waiter was a bit longer than I would have liked, but with the exception of the inexcusably long time to put in a drink order, this was not so far outside the norm to make it a bad experience, so we decided to push our luck and get some desert. Â Just getting the menus for dessert seemed to be an unusually time consuming process which took 5 minutes all on it's own. Â Another 10 minutes after that and we were finally able to place our order my first choice-pumpkin pie ravioli-was no longer available so I ordered a maple custard and my wife ordered the rice pudding. Â 25 minutes later and we got our first update on the status of these deserts, they were now free but still MIA, 10 minutes after that and they finally showed up and while they were not bad they certainly were not worth the wait. Â To make matters worse we then had to sit around and stew while waiting another 10 minutes to ask for the check and a further 10-15 for it to finally show up!
In the end the hour long "dessert marathon" transformed what would have been a 4-5 star experience into a dismal 2 making what had previously been long but not inexcusably long waits early in the meal stand out as signs we should have seen from the get go.
we landed at fireworks after an appointment in brattleboro, two hungry kids, two thirsty adults. Â we snuck right through the indoor seating to an outdoor table where we got great service, had great food, and left SUPER happy. it wasn't an inexpensive meal but it was worth every penny; we would definitely go again!
Review Source:cozy atmosphere in a quaint town in VT...the name just drew me in. Â had a broccoli rabe appetizer with soft white raisins that was pretty good and a Mediterranean-style salad with bite-sized crunchy pita chips as croutons. Â The salad was enjoyable but nothing I would rave about. Â Also enjoyed a good beer called UFO Hefeweizen... a nice wheat. Â (the beer was my favorite part)
Crowd was a mix of mostly 20-somethings. Â I guess they sometimes have live music here also. Â Nice staff. Â If passing through this neighborhood it's worth a visit.
Mediocre at best! This place is a sad excuse for a fancy sheek restaurant. The food is hit or miss depending on who's tending the brick oven, and the pizza isn't even the worst of it. I ordered their garlic basil spagetti one time and it was covered in garlic, dry and not even cooked! I don't know how it was possible to ruin pasta, because even if they just threw butter on the plain pasta I would have loved it. But it's simply one of the worst restaurants Brattleboro could have filled that prime downtown location with.
Review Source:I had a light dinner here that was enjoyable but for a place that specializes in pizza, the pizza itself wasn't memorable. There was something about the crust that didn't thrill me. It was a doughy flatbread, not thin enough to be called "thin crust" yet not thick enough to be traditional. I enjoyed the gorgonzola/mushroom/asparagus/proscuitto topping but it was a bit bland and seemed to be missing some oomph.
Review Source:If my experience is anything to go by, don't enter this place wearing a baseball cap and sneakers. Went here with my brother and the servers looked at us as if we were wearing Ebola-infested rags from a leper colony, so we went straight to the bar. Bartender comes over with a stank look on his face. I ask him what the house wines are. I've never heard of those types of grapes before so he scowls at my ignorance. By the time he threw down our menus with a haughty grimace, I'd had enough of these arrogant yuppie assholes, got out of my chair, and stormed out with my brother behind me.
That idiot's loss because both my brother and I are big tippers and you don't have to kiss our asses to get the big tip either, just be polite and respectful, which I guess this guy couldn't manage. I didn't move to this little cowtown from Philadelphia to be treated like a jagoff by some douche that serves artsy aging hippies all day. Other than this I've found people to be quite polite and friendly, to an almost strange degree actually. I guess Fireworks managed to find the few stuck-up dicks in Brattleboro and hire them.
Ok, this is coming from one who has had New Haven, CT pizza; probably the best pizza around. We came here for lunch with my family and friends. We order one plain pizza for the kids, a Margherita and The Meat Pie for the adults. They only come in one size and judging by the price we thought they would be large pizzas, say 16". How wrong we were. They were small 12" pizzas. The kids wolfed down their pizzas and were still hungry. So we ordered another. As for the pizza themselves; they were good. But, for the price, not worth it. Â NOTE: I gave the price range 2 $$. That's in the higher end of the range close to $$$ per person.
Review Source:Fireworks has such potential, but after three visits, I have to face the fact that it is just a mediocre restaurant in an amazing town. Unfortunately, since Brattleboro has faced a series of mini-disasters, Fireworks is one of the few places in the downtown area to eat. The pizza is okay. As a 'native' Chicagoan, Fireworks could do much more with their pies. Other menu items are bland and uninspired.
I had a salad last time, which was literally a head of browned iceberg lettuce with a couple of vegetables on top. While I poked at my lettuce, staff were busy ordering food for themselves to eat. It's cool that you feed your employees, but should I really have to hear about what the hostess and dishwasher want for dinner while I'm eating (read: gagging on) mine?
If its drinks you're after, skip on down to Metropolitan, because you're not going to want the food here anyway, and at least Metro has tapas to tie you over.
When the hostess finally looked up from the book she was reading, my girlfriend and I were told that the restaurant just filled up and we should sit and eat at the bar. Â The bar was extremely cold (no heat???) so we wanted to sit at a table. Â When asked how long it would be until a table would be ready, she said she didn't know. Â She then, as if it were a hassle but she would do us a favor, Â offered to walk around to see if anybody might be finishing their meal soon. Â For some strange reason, I though that a hostess' job was to know how long a wait would be. Â We ended up going elsewhere.
Review Source:Love the ambiance, water served out of a wine bottle on each table, the art work on the walls, the curtains in the front to keep the cold air out, the kind service, and the FOOD!
We ordered fried calamari and the seasoning was right on. Just the right amount of spice and saltiness, and the lemon caper pepperoncini mayonnaise was mind blowing!
GLUTEN FREE DINERS:
Fireworks makes their own gluten free pizza crust, and it is very unique. The edges had a bit of a crunch, the center did not get soggy, and the toppings were abundant. We ordered the Bianco pizza with ricotta, parmesan, fresh basil, roasted sweet onion, chilies, garlic, and we added sweet Italian sausage. WOW! The kitchen did the pizza justice with a full on layer of ricotta layered along the bottom, and it was large enough to fill 2 tummies! YUM!
Got to Brattleboro on a raining night at around 8. I was looking for a dim pub for a burger and fries but all but this place had closed their kitchens. Services was good, but the burger was outstanding and the fries were hot and crispy. I got the goat cheese and balsamic onions and it came with a big helping of some of the best goat cheese I've had. My wife said her cheddar and mushroom was excellent. The beer selection wasn't great but was quality.
Review Source:Now this is exactly how I want my restaurant: Menu not too long and with great variety. Very fresh ingredients and just very well-selected dishes.
I have had the cheese ravioli and the tortellini here. Both were fantastic. I have com here for a goat cheese bruschetta and another time just for an order of fries just before closing time. Every time it was very very good.
They also have a great selection of beers and wines as well as a full bar.
So I stopped by fireworks again this year, and it did not fail. The group I was with ordered calamari (as usual) and gobbled it up in seconds. We each ordered our own pizza again, and each swapped a slice with the idea to each have a sample platter of delicious flavors. The butternut squash pizza was voted the favorite of the table. Also ordered were the Margarita pie... simple and tasty... 2 biancos (one with broccolli rabe and one with mushrooms) and the meat pie. All were delicious.
Last year I remember someone ordering the fig pie which was very sweet and interesting but not my favorite - i much preferred the meat pie and the butternut squash.
The service and atmosphere were once again brilliant and the server was especially prompt with drink refills.
One thing that I have noticed is that the menu doesn't seem like it changed since summer of 09 when I first found this restaurant. However, the restaurant does always have specials.
The best staple in Brattleboro. There are two sides to the restaurant and and outdoor seating earea. I prefer the dining room to the right. It's a little more upscale and not as hot since the kitchen is on the other side. The bartenders are attentive. My boyfriend got the pappardelle with bolognese which he loved. I got a pizza which was good, not great, but the really awesome dishes are the appetizers. The crispy risotto with sauteed mushrooms is fantastic and the calamari is pretty good.
Review Source:Total mind-boggling bumma! Â We popped in here today for brunch, and one of those fabulous fresh mimosas. Â Guess what? Â They don't serve brunch any more. No more menu diversity. No more fabulous creative egg dishes with aoli. No more duck hash. Â
Now you can get the same pizzas for lunch, or the same pizzas for dinner. Â Or you can get the same salads for lunch, or the same salads for dinner. Â Or you can get fried calamari for lunch, or fried calamari for dinner. Â And you can also get beer or wine for lunch, or beer or wine for dinner. Â And if you don't like beer or wine, you can get Iced Tea for lunch, or Iced Tea for dinner - too!
Now the question is; should we go for lunch, or go for dinner? Â And what to order?
So the only real problem with Fireworks is that sometimes, your pizza is absolutely amazing, best-ever, yummy-gorgeous pizza and the next time, eh ... not so much. For example, I ordered the fungi a few weeks ago; its made with wild mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese, an excellent combination. It was delicious, like order another to take home, delicious. So I ordered it again the next week ... and it was just eh. It didn't even have any blue cheese, unless you count the one tiny piece I think got on there by accident. Continuity, folks; continuity. And now this is beside the fact, since they just quit doing brunch, but I love brunch and was very disappointed to be turned away not once, but twice over half an hour BEFORE they closed. Really? If you're going to say brunch goes to 2, don't refuse to seat people who come in at 1:25. That sucked, but that's in the past, apparently.
Most of the time, the food is awesome ... I've had little other than pizzas, but they are generally really good, and the crust is always good. (Plus, for you gluten-free folks, I see they're now doing a gluten free pizza.) I hear that there's some veggie gnocchi I've been missing out on, so next time I'm trying that.
The space is beautiful and they have a fun cocktail menu, although drinks sometimes take a long time to get, probably because each one has a number of ingredients and is made to order. But, they're beautiful and delicious. I love the banquets - really great space to meet a lot of friends.
I really liked this place, quite a pleasant surprise. Â I am a recent transplant in Vermont from Connecticut, and in Connecticut, there are awesome Italian restaurants everywhere. Â Here in Vermont... Â eh, not so much. Â And then--BANG!--Fireworks! Â
I ordered the freshly made pappardelle with bolognese, one of the best pasta dishes I've had in a very long time. Â It is such a treat to have fresh-made pasta, almost makes me want to learn how to make it. Â Almost.
My husband & I shared a great salad, and he had the pizza special of the day. Â The pizza was "okay." Â Lots of interesting combinations of toppings, and you walk right by the brick oven that its made in. Â I'm sort of a pizza "snob," and haven't yet found what I consider to be a superb one here in Vermont, but in the meantime, I would have the pizza at Fireworks again. Â Well, honestly, I'd probably order the fresh-made pasta again, but I'd be more than willing to pinch a piece of pizza off from someone else's plate at Fireworks. Â :)
Wow. What?
As a NYer who frequents Brattleboro, I had just accepted that there wasn't any genuinely good food to go out to dinner to. Now I can say that on several occasions I have been beyond satisfied by the modestly priced pizzas, and the more expensive items like the catches of the day. Broccoli rabe side was a so-so, but this was trumped by the delicious entrees. All delicious, and complimented by their decent wine selection Â
Good job Fireworks, you're totally stepping it up in VT.
Okay, I have had the pizza here now. Â It's really good. Â Nice warm flavor to the crust, chewy thin crust, lots of toppings. Â It's not quite the way they make them in Naples, but it reminds me a lot of real Italian pizza.
I had the Verdura, which has lots of roasted vegetables on it. Â It's fabulous. Â A pretty big meal for one person, would be on the small side for two.
One warning, though. Â If you don't like parsley sprinkled on your food, ask them not to. Â My pizza came with a ton of very strongly-flavored parsley sprinkled on top, and I had to pick it off because the flavor of the parsley really clashed with the flavor of the pizza. Â I don't really get the parsley garnish thing (as you can probably tell).
I've eaten here several times now. The pizzas are great, thin crust with high quality ingredients. The risotto appetizer is one of my favorites. I know a lot of the people who work there and it seems to be really busy every time I go in, yet the service is great. It's a little on the pricey side but you can taste the quality. Â The burgers are also really good but the french fries suck, they should be hand cut. Â I wouldn't go here on a regular basis because of the price, but it's a nice treat once in a while.
Review Source:I said in my old review that this place was cramped. That's no longer the case since they renovated and added another storefront to their restaurant. In fact now they even have outdoor seating (urban style in a courtyard in the back). The service got a little less good, though, so still 4 stars.
Review Source:Bless this place and it's amazing staff. Â After having waited to even drink for nearly two hours at another restaurant, we walked in hungry, grumpy and recently engaged. Â the service was phenomenal and the food delicious. Â I would come back here any day. Â And don't be fooled, this isn't just Pizza, it's high art.
Review Source:The service is fine, the beers and wines are ok, and the food is decent, Â but do they elicit visions of fireworks exploding in the sky? No way.
The pizza gets two out of five stars, the salads three, and the main dishes three, and the service four. Â Thus Three stars is the avg. Â
Note: I'm not sure whether they just get discounted feta, or the chef is obessed with it for some reason, but I seem to find feta in everything I order here... in very inappropriate places, always paired with the wrong things. Â Don't worry though, if you like it you can even order an awful, huge chunk of feta baked in a bath of oil. Â Gross.
When I happened upon this place, I didn't know it was a "pizza" place, which was good for an unbiased experience. Â The place was packed, with lots of people waiting for a seat. Â Good draft beer selection. Â My husband got the pizza, which he liked. Â The entrees were thoughtful and tasted delicious. Â One thing to keep in mind is that it is cafe style, where you are sitting right next to other people. Â This is fine, except when the people next to you are really rude, which they were.
Review Source:Delish! Though I have only gone once (and felt sick before-hand, which ruined my experience) I want to go back. Nice atmosphere and the calamari was AMAZING! Beware though, the burger meat has onions right in it, which I failed to notice on the menu ^^;
Still, damn good food!
EDIT:
Went back and had the same meal... calamari was of course, awesome, but even though I asked for no onions in the burger meat, I still got them... disappointing, but okay.
I have to admit, I really didn't want to like this place. When I first heard that a "fancy pizza place" was going on Main St I was incredulous. Brattleboro does pizza one way and one way only- greek and greasy. And it's a saturated (if you'll pardon the pun) market. And while I liked Max's okay, Matthew Blau's claim to fame in Brattleboro, I always thought it to be a bit overrated.
That said, we had some friends in town over the summer and decided to give it a try. One of the above stars ought to be simply for the renovation and use of space. As someone who frequented this storefront in it's former incarnation as Carol's Bakery, I was really impressed with the transformation. The kitchen is completely open to the dining area, and the flicker of the brick pizza oven definitely adds something to the experience. The space is very narrow, but they've successfully navigated that fine line between coziness and feeling downright cramped.
Another star has to be simply for the service, we've had the same male waiter both times and he's been well versed in the menu and attentive without hovering. I love that they give you a wine bottle full of water on the table so you can take care of yourself, because I drink a lot of water!
The menu is quite small, and both times I've been they have been out of at least one entree. For people that have eaten there multiple times since it opened, it might be time to overhaul and/or expand if the daily specials aren't doing it for you. But sometimes it's a good thing to stick to a small repertoire and really do it well- and I believe that Fireworks is one of those instances. My favorites so far have been the mussels appetizer, the beautiful south pizza, the pumpkin creme caramel and last but NOT least the white bean bruschetta. The latter was truly outstanding.
My only quibbles with the food has been that my gorgonzola/spinach salad was a bit stingy with the cheese for the pricepoint, and the tiramisu was wide of the mark. The wine selection is quite good, but the beer selection is thin. Overall, it's a great date night option in Brattleboro and well worth taking your city friends to if you want to show them that being in a small town doesn't mean compromising in the food department.
Cheers!
WOW! Â This place has been incredible both times i have gone. First time I ordered the soup which was amazinf with plenty of garlic and smooth avocados. Â Than I had that Blue Moon Pizza with Butternut Squash. That was so amazing and the flavors just blended so well together.
Second time went with a few friends the wait was only about 25 minutes, and so worth it. Â This time i had the Gnocchi and thought I had gone to heaven. The sauce was so light anf delicous.
I have yet to try a dessert because I have been so full.
They do have a drink called a Watermelon Squash that is completely refreshing on a hot summer night in downtown Brattlboro.
Place was crowded and somehow I managed to run into four of my professors at the same time in the place on a Friday which was sort of weird. The food was... okay, wasn't spectacular, the appetizers were too dry. However since they forgot to charge for the wine and I'm an alcoholic it might just work out between us after all in the end.
Review Source:Apparently, this is a new restaurant on the block, made by Matthew Blau of Max's Restaurant. We went on a Saturday afternoon, and it was close to full.
Oh, yeah, there is a line of small tables on each side of the long room, and we had to take a seat next to a table with this guy. He was dressed like he should be working a organ grinder out on the street. He had a handlebar mustache, a pointy goatee, and a fedora, and he was talking about how he was getting into breakdancing. He was talking about how he was studying all these old breakdancing films from the 70's and trying to get the different moves down. He could pop-and-lock but he really couldn't wait to move onto doing the "windmill." And he said that he saw all these dudes wearing jumpsuits and big hairdos in the breakdancing films, and he was getting really interested in the idea of "breakdancer as superhero." Then he started talking about what I can only assume are different internet social networking sites. At least that's what I take away from the phrase "she's on my dance planet." I don't know if that's some kind of internet thing or something completely different, but that's what he said. That was a real You Are Now In Brattleboro moment. It's like there's a small core of people doing actual, real jobs, while the rest of the city is ironically breakdancing.
Anyway, our food showed up. The pizza was done in the American flatbread style. One is enough to satiate two people. That is, you won't be hungry anymore, but it's not going to fill you up. We had a blue moon pizza, with roasted butternut squash, sage pesto, roasted chicken, and gorgonzola. It was truly great. I'll be back here again.
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