Firehouse Subs: Where There's Smoke (Smokehouse Beef), There's Fire (Lunch)

By Laura Hahnefeld Wed., Sep. 28 2011 at 10:30 AM

Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket specialty sub from Firehouse.

When a new spot opens in town, we can't wait to check it out -- and let you know our initial impressions. Share a few photos, some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened, sampling a few items, and satisfying curiosities (yours and ours).

Firehouse Subs, the fast food franchise with more than 440 locations founded in Jacksonville, Florida, by former firefighting brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen, recently opened it's fifth location in Arizona at the Arcadia Plaza on Indian School Road and 28th Street.

"Welcome to Firehouse!"

With existing locations in Chandler, Mesa, and Glendale, the Central Phoenix location, open for around two weeks, offers lunch and dinner and features hot and cold submarine sandwiches, Firehouse Chili, and a "Chief's Salad." It's also the first business to nationally roll out Coca-Cola Freestyle, the touch screen soda fountain featuring over 100 Coca-Cola drink products.

The staff cheers "Welcome to Firehouse!" when guests walk in, causing them to smile as they take in the tidy, bright room filled with Dalmatian-patterned tables, white tile, red chairs, and firemen-focused accessories including photos, "Bunker Gear," and a custom wall mural of a heroic deed.

And at the ordering counter, before one can ask what makes Firehouse Subs different from the competition, the answer will be given.

Turkey Bacon Ranch sub.

Along with quality ingredients (yeah, everybody says that), Firehouse Subs steams their meats and cheeses, sans bread, so there's lots of flavor and no bun mush.

A few bites into my Firehouse sub and this statement proved to be true, along with the observation that the bread is better. Together, they're two of the reasons Firehouse Subs, taste-wise, edges out competitors like Quizno's and Subway.

A solid sub, and one recommended to me, was the Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket. This tasty hot specialty sub features a nice mix of decent ingredients and a special sauce that tastes like the McRib's (not a bad thing.)

Also good, but not as good as the brisket, was the Turkey Bacon Ranch sub with smoked turkey breast, sharp cheddar, and a just-enough creamy peppercorn ranch dressing.

Looking for a little heat in your Firehouse sub? There's a hot sauce bar of fifty different varieties on the counter, each numbered and arranged by level of hotness.

The Firehouse Chili is tasty as well, not five-alarm, but hotter than I expected, and although the signature soda, Cherry Lime-Aid, was too sweet for my liking, I did enjoy coming up with my own drink creations courtesy of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine (Sprite vanilla, meet Fanta orange.)

Overall, a decent sub shop if you're in the area.

Have you been to Firehouse Subs yet? What did you think?

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Location Info

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Firehouse Subs

3245 W. Ray Road, Chandler, AZ

Category: Restaurant

1 user reviews	Write A Review
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Tags:

Arcadia, CenPho, Central Phoenix, fast food, Firehouse, Firehouse Subs, hero, heroes, sub, submarine sandwich, submarine sandwiches, subs

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Firehouse Subs is a well-known American based food-chain that is known for offering very tasty and delicious food items, but at an expensive price.

TheCosmicJester

I saw for the Cherry Lime-Aid, they recommend adding several wedges of lime to the drink. It balances it out, taking it from hyper-sweet to just a little overly sweet.

Tyler A

I can't get over the nutrition info for this place. The large brisket sandwich has an astonishing 101 g of fat. How is this possible??? For comparison, a double whopper has 57g and the double QP with cheese has 42g.

Joel LaTondress

damn, you're right - the large tuna has 120 grams of fat!

nevermind, i'm not going back.

Sheldon S

They have that Coca-Cola gizmo at Hamburger Works.

Barb

love their pastrami/corned beef combo with Italian dressing...yum!!!

Joel LaTondress

I asked for my order to-go, but it was packaged for-here so I stayed....I couldn't get over the "WELCOME TO FIREHOUSE" announcement every 60 seconds. i'd probably go back (sub was decent), but definitely take my food with me next time.