Recently I was invited to come back into Firehouse Subs for a special dinner with the co-founder, Robin Sorensen, who entertained a group of us with stories, jokes, and more importantly some food! Firehouse Subs has more recently started expanding out here in the West with over 700+ locations under their belt, so it was fun to hear hear a few tales about how the business started. It was also great to speak with and hear from one of the founders the real heart and dedication that’s put into every Firehouse Subs. It was impressive to hear Sorensen talk about his passion for the business and how he (and he company) really seems to do things the right way.
As we got seated in a U shape for the dinner with Sorensen, each set of tables had some hot sauces set up. I liked how one of them was shaped like a fire hydrant. It’s actually Cpatain Sorensen’s Datil Pepper Hot Sauce, but in a cuter bottle.
[hook & ladder sub]
[new york steamer]
The New York Steamer is another hot sub (all of the ones featured for the dinner were hot subs) with corned beef brisket, pastrami, melted provolone, mustard, mayo, and Italian dressing. The merge of corned beef and pastrami was a really yummy one, especially with the melted cheese sticking it all together on the hot bread. The mix of mayo/mustard gave it a little extra tang that was yummy. Impressively it wasn’t super salty (as I’ve had with other pastrami’s in the past) and there was a good mix of flavors from both meats.
[smokehouse beef & cheddar brisket]
The last sample we had was one that S had picked on our last visit, though he had it with lettuce. It’s the Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket that has beef brisket, cheddar, mayo, Sweet Baby Ray’s® BBQ Sauce. Sorensen told us that he didn’t really want to do a BBQ sandwich, but that they found a company that makes all of the brisket for them and smokes it for over 16 hours! The result is a very flavorful sandwich. The mix of sharp cheddar with Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce makes it a really melt-in-your-mouth combo.
[Sorensen with the “Under 500 Calories” menu]
A new thing that Firehouse Subs has debuted is the introduction of a “Under 500 Calories” menu. It has the same subs (like the Hook and Ladder) in a smaller portion on a lighter wheat roll and light mayo. They also introduced a few new chopped salads to the lineup which incorporate some of their other deli meats into the salads.
We got a sample of the Italian with Grilled Chicken salad which has salmai, grilled chicken breast and a mixture of fresh veggies including romaine, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, mozzarella, pepperoncini, Kalamata olives, and light Italian dressing. I carefully worked my way around the olives but it was hard to avoid the raw bell pepper that I usually find too overpowering. The freshness and overall flavor was there, but I would personally never pick this salad because of the olives, bell pepper and pepperoncini. I liked the flavor of the dressing though, but I’d opt for something without those pesky items I don’t like.
We got end the evening on a sweet note with some freshly made cookies. Firehouse Subs does make their own desserts which change out regularly. This time around we had a Lemon cookie with white chocolate chunks. The lemon flavor was quite bright and yummy. I was surprised to see lemon and white chocolate together, but it actually kind of worked. The white chocolate is plain enough to simply compliment the lemon and turned out to be a good combination!
If you haven’t yet had a chance to try Firehouse Subs (or just want to go back for MORE) then it’s your lucky day since I’ve got some gift cards to giveaway! In fact, I have FIVE $10 gift cards to giveaway to five lucky readers so you can get your own sub sandwich to devour.
Just enter to win via the PromoSimple box below and tell me: which one of Firehouse Subs would you like try first?
Jinxi of Jinxi Eats is also hosting her own giveaway. Enter on her blog for additional chances to win!
Disclaimer: As stated, the food featured in this post was complimentary. I was not paid or compensated for this post and all opinions stated here are my own. This giveaway is sponsored by Firehouse Subs. Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway. Content ends at midnight on Friday, March 14th, PST. Winner(s) have 48 hours to respond to notification email or a new winner will be selected.
Firehouse Subs
Multiple Locations
3625 Midway Dr.
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 925-3473
Read my original review here.
