Firehouse Pairs at Firehouse Subs

Disclosure: Our meal was provided by Firehouse Subs. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. 

There's a big selection out there if you're looking for a sandwich. There are still a lot of chains and popular independent sandwich shops in the area that I still haven't made my way to. This past summer I finally made it to Firehouse Subs to give it a try when they were introducing the Firehouse Pairs menu.

Since I'm married to a professional firefighter, I loved the theme of the place with all the firefighter-related touches with pieces of equipment and decor and clever sandwich names. After the initial visit, I returned in the following weeks because I couldn't get the sandwich out of my head - even though the nearest location to me is about a half-hour away.

The Firehouse Pair menu is pretty similar to the ones at other chains - you can start with a half-sandwich and pair it with a salad or cup of soup. At Firehouse Subs, your pairing options are loaded soup, a side salad, chili and five-cheese mac and cheese. I tried both the mac and cheese and the loaded potato soup, both of which I really liked. The mac and cheese had bread crumbs on top, which gave it a nice crunch.

I had a really hard time deciding on sandwiches. They offer white and wheat breads and a long list of ingredients that can go on it. I like hot sandwiches and fell in love with the New York Steamer, a corned beef brisket and pastrami with melted provolone, deli mustard, mayo and Italian dressing. If I was making a sandwich at home, I'd never add all three of those condiments, but they go so well together and I never would have known.

I also really enjoyed the Engineer sandwich - another one served hot with sautéed mushrooms and melted Swiss on top of turkey. It was served "full involved" (another cute firefighting reference) with mayo, deli mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion and with a kosher pickle on the side.

On each beverage cup, there's a photo and a little bio on a real life firefighter, which was pretty cool. Oh, and if you order the chili and are looking for five-alarm flavor, there's a shelf of various hot sauces to choose from.

There had been a Firehouse Subs location about 10 minutes from home that had since closed and I'm kicking myself for not visiting earlier because it's now one of my favorites in the sandwich category. It's a little bit of a drive now, but worth it. For more on the menu and locations, visit firehousesubs.com