Firehouse Subs

Dirty, soda machine out of most flavors, all bun sandwich with chicken that resembled road kill from Rand road. Three people behind counter, 2 customers inside, yet floors and tables filthy. Never again!

First time trying this place. I noticed right away the floor was super dirty (dirty napkins, food, crumbs, trash all under the tables). My sandwich was okay, but was definitely overpriced (nearly $ 13 for a sandwich, chips and drink — I was thinking more like $ 7 or 8). Service was pretty slow as well. Not sure I’ll be coming back.

Reminds me of an overpriced Arby’s, but smells like dirty dishwater on the inside. Very gross. I couldn’t finish my sandwich because I was utterly grossed out by this place, and the ingredients were meh. Go to PotBelly for a similar sandwich, but higher quality, or even Jimmy John’s (at least it’s cleaner).

Very helpful customer service and help but the subs are overpriced and the staff should more aggressively promote special sandwiches or offers.

Used to come here on school days for lunch with a couple of the guys. I’d give it 5 stars for the taste of the subs (absolutely amazing) and customer service (GREAT) alone but it is kinda pricey. I don’t know about you guys but 10 – 14 dollars for a sub is kind of a lot haha. But boy are they tasty!

This place stands out from other sub shops. The meats are cut fresh similar to Jersey Mike, except Firehouse Subs menu kicks their ass. The kids that work here are always so friendly and take pride in keeping the restaurant clean. The owner… such a down to earth nice guy. Highly recommend them… and don’t forget to grab one of the many house sauces to add to your sandwich.

The bbq brisket sandwich tastes terrific with jalapeños! Also never order the chicken salad sandwich. It is the smallest sandwich I’ve ever seen and it cost even more than the subs!

At first I was not happy with this firehouse subs because it took 35 minutes for my sub and then they gave me the wrong sandwich. I called and Brian was so nice and apologetic and offered to bring me a new sandwich and then give me the next one free! I said no to them bringing me another sandwich and they brought it anyway plus a brownie ! I’m very impressed and plan to order here again!

Holy shit, this place fucking sucks.
Here’s the recipe for their Italian if you want to make your own at home:
— Generic loaf from any supermarket
— Oscar Mayer honey baked ham & salami
— Lettuce and onion
— Miracle Whip/​Italian dressing combo
— Kraft cheese slices
Slop it all together, heat it in the microwave for 15 seconds, voilà! You just made your own Firehouse Italian!
Like another reviewer said, if you can’t get an Italian right, you can’t get anything right. Fuck you Firehouse! Go back to the south where you belong.

I went around 12:30 on a Saturday, and the place did have a short line, with a person who placed a rather large takeout order ahead of me. I think this slowed things down, because the wait was quite long (or I was just way too hungry and every second felt like an hour). So I won’t hold this against the staff, of course. They were diligently putting sandwiches together at record speed.
My sandwich was excellent (turkey and provolone with all of the toppings), nice and warm, but not that awful flash crispy burnt flavor you would find at Subway. They have the Coke machine with the 18 million drink options, so that’s a plus!
The staff brought the food out to my table (and to other people’s tables as well), which was a nice touch.
Ryan K. could possibly be the nicest person in Chicagoland. Very helpful with selecting a sandwich, and just an overall pleasant person to interact with during a lunch rush.
I will definitely be back! Thanks Ryan. You rock.

I stopped in to try Firehouse Subs on my way back to work. There was one family in there waiting for their food and 3 workers. I ordered the light hook and ladder sandwich combo. While I was waiting for my sandwich, I got my drink from the Coke machine (which was probably the best part of my experience because there are a ton of options). I got the lemon lime seltzer. I also ate a bag of Sunchips while waiting. It literally took 15 minutes for me to order and get my sandwich. I was expecting the service to be like Potbelly’s which is ten times busier than this place and ten times faster and more efficient. The sub was just ok. I won’t be back mostly because there are other better, faster, less expensive places to frequent.

This place is a winner. Forget subway, forget jersey mikes and don’t even mention Arbys because this place is a notch above.
The staff has always been friendly with me, the place is always clean and the bathrooms are not horrible (they’re public bathrooms give businesses a break!)
I always get the brisket sub, it’s the best brisket sub around for the price. I’ve also tried the meatball and it is very delicious.
The only place I consider to be a little boy better, taste wise and selection wise, is Potbellys.

Went to my local Firehouse Subs yesterday. We were looking to get a couple sub sandwiches to go, on our way to watch the fireworks. Jimmy John’s and Subway were closed, so we were happy to find FS open. I have been to the FS in Niles before, so I was a bit familiar with their offerings.
There were too young girls working there. One was pleasant, while the other was horrible. She looked like she didn’t want to be there. My boyfriend gave his order first to the other girl, then the «Debbie Downer» girl mumbled, I can take your order. I told her, «I’m with him» and she scowled and told me she could still take my order. She basically just rang up my order, mumbling what was on it in order to see what I wanted on it. After ringing up our order, she hunched over the counter and started texting (I’m sure someone with such a great personality had Fourth of July plans); the other girl made both our sandwiches.
I had the Italian, and I have to agree with another reviewer, definitely not the Italian I expected. Expected it to be more hardy and flavorful. Instead it was messy and «sweet» due to the honey baked ham I guess. My boyfriend got the Hook and Ladder, he felt the bread was doughy, meat on it was good, and he couldn’t understand «Debbie Downer» either.
They could use a visit from Willie Degel to get a lesson in customer service!

I had high hopes, but atleast they were half met! To sum up my one and only visit to FS I have to say that I have never had such an odd sandwich served to me. I am an Italian sub lover and if you say you have a good one, I have to give it a try. I got myself some chips, the number four and sat down. It looked amazing but after one bite I was already wishing I had gone somewhere else (ahem, Jersey Mike’s). They smoke their meat which does make their meat taste pretty delicious BUT mayo on an Italian is just not ok. No oil or vinegar or spices? Wrong again. Finally, what is honeybaked (or some kind of sugary ham) doing on an Italian. It tastes like a turkey and ham sandwich. Four stars for being clean, friendly, smoked meats and pop machines with 40 flavors.
Honeybaked ham… cmon!

Thought I’d go back since it’s been months and the people I reviewed in my preview write up are probably either fired or quit.
I walked in this time and actually got served right away, which was already better than last time. I ordered the meatball sub and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’ll definitely come back now that there’s people here to take my order and it was quality food.

Yeah, another sandwich franchise. We need more of these about as much as the Great Lakes need Asian Carp. Subway, Jimmy Johns, Potbelly’s Jersey Mike’s, Quiznos is waning and Schlotzky’s is gone. And compared to the above, I’ll usually pick any local independent sandwich place before I choose a chain. Now Firehouse enters the mix. So I thought I’d see what sets them apart.
And honestly, they have a few things going for it. Their sandwich selections are appealing and look like new, fresh ideas. Their staff, at least at this place, was helpful, pleasant and had personality. The place was clean and fairly busy.
I opted for a Sweet Thai Chili Pork sandwich since it was a featured special and I totally enjoyed it. Great flavor and a good sauce — not the usual sandwich that I often find in a chain spot. I ordered a large and the offering was a decent size as well — I left pretty full.
All you can absorb Coke out of one of those new-​fangled multi-​flavor soda machines. A pile of hot sauces, all numbered 1 – 10 to give one an idea of how hot each sauce is. This one’s a keeper — I’ll be going back.

I really like it that many chains that are actually good in comparison to McDonald’s or Taco Bell have been opening up in the nearby area — Five Guy’s, Jersey Mike’s, and Chick-​fil-​a come to mind. And now, Firehouse Subs is the newest addition to the group. I was anticipating Firehouse Subs to be pretty average based on the looks and descriptions of heir menu items online, and not surprisingly, Firehouse is painfully average.
This is by no means a bad thing — sandwich, New York Steamer (classic combo of pastrami and corned beef with a hot sub sandwich spin), was good — there was just nothing special about the sandwich. Perhaps the roast beef, which is slow cooked in house for 16 hours, would be a better choice for next time. Or maybe one of the more trademark sounding subs like Hook and Ladder or the Engineer, or maybe I’ll play it safe with the Italian.
Anyway, the whole fire department theme is pretty cool. Of course, they serve chili — fireman stereotype — and with all the hot sauces they have for it, I might have to give that a try too. I will be back to try something different before I judge too harshly.

I love a good hot sub, and this place has it! (Cold ones too, and salads) The menu is full of some really great combinations. I had the Engineer, which was turkey, Swiss and mushrooms. Very tasty! Too late did I see the Kings Hawaiian pork coleslaw sandwich, so I guess I’m going back! I also like the dozens of hot sauces you can add. They are labeled with a heat rating from 1 – 10, which I appreciate! The location is good, but a busy corner, so pulling in and out can be a challenge. The staff were very friendly and fast and the food very fresh. I held back a star because I save my 5’s for something really outstanding or unique and this one was tough-4.5 stars would be a no-​brainier. That pork coleslaw Sammy may bump it up to 5!

This is the first time I’ve seen this place. I believe it’s a chain.
They have a tasty sandwich, though no fruits or real veggies for the kids.
Not sure of the high fructose or hydrogenation levels in the breads and such, but the breads all seemed very tasty and had great texture.
The kids turkey was a teeny tiny baby roll with the meat steam-​fused with provolone. The turkey was so smokey that my kid thought there was bacon on it! He gobbled it up… … After it cooled the &$@% down!
It was pretty damn hot in the center as compared to the outside of the bun. It burned my 2 yo boys tongue.
The pickle spear that comes with the sandwich was cold, crisp, and tasty.
I had the hook n ladder on whole wheat and all the fixins. It was the tastiest sub from any of the chain restaurants.
All the kids get plastic firefighter hats. Cool.
The soda machines are funkin insane with all the combinations. I hate that ish. BUT…
They have TWO BIG Ol TANKERS of pure, unadulterated, non-​kidified ICED TEA ready to go. Lemons on the side. Sweeteners of choice. Excellent.
The décor is firehousey and the staff is friendly. They bring it to your table. They clean up the trays. They have TV’s.
They ask you to round up your bill to the nearest dollar for some charity whatever… Cool.
I gotta investigate the ingredients…

Absolutely fantastic! I’m going to sound like Stefan from SNL, but this place has it all: great food, great staff… chai. Genuinely a great sub and the reason is because they steam their meat, which makes it so juicy and mouth watering.
Price– very affordable. With the combo you get chips and a drink included, but the drink is one of those coke every flavor machines so you can get any drink you want… except chai.
Quality– this is where they shine. The meat is steamed and takes about 2 – 2:30 to make. The cheese melts and is so gooey because of the steamed meat. The bread is soft so it’s a good bite. I recommend the steamer and the Biren Bros Brisket bonanza.
Quantity– good portion. The sandwich is about the size of a subway sub but significantly better.
Atmosphere– firefighter memorabilia everywhere but it provides a very homey experience.
Staff– great folks. Very attentive, kind and they will talk with you about your day.
Overall, fantastic place. Make the trip out there and ask for a steamer, but only in store. Asking for a steamer outside the store will get you something very upsetting.