I Tried 5 Specialty Firehouse Subs & the Best One Was a Masterclass In Flavor

Firehouse Subs is one of the best sandwich chains in America, and even endorsed by chefs. The brand distinguishes itself with quality menu items and a warm, friendly atmosphere that stands out from the fray. Granted, not everything served at Firehouse is a hit, but for every misfire, there's a fan-favorite waiting in the wings.

After recently sampling the Firehouse Meatball sub for our meatball subs taste test, and—spoiler alert—ranking it highly, I was drawn to the poplar sandwich chain. I decided to try several other sandwiches they had on the menu to truly dig deeper into chain's stellar reputation. I returned to my local Firehouse Subs in Oklahoma City and asked for recommendations from the employees. In addition to the meatball, they suggested specialty items like Turkey Bacon Ranch, Italian, the pastrami-filled New York Steamer, and the Hook & Ladder with turkey and ham, which is basically the most popular sandwich on their menu. By sampling a variety of sandwich styles, the strengths and weaknesses became clear. Of the five specialty subs I sampled, this is how they stacked up—starting with my least favorite and all the way to the top-notch subs that truly impressed me.

Turkey Bacon Ranch

Of all the sandwiches I ordered, this is probably the one I was looking forward to the most. To this longtime lover of turkey subs, the combination of ingredients—smoked turkey breast, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and creamy peppercorn ranch—sounded fantastic. And yet, here we are at the bottom rung of the list, undone largely by an excessive amount of mayo and not nearly enough cheese.

The look: My first thought, when unwrapping this hefty beast, was, "Wow, this looks so creamy." And not necessarily in a good way. When the primary takeaway is mayo, in such excessive amounts that it drowns out the star ingredients, you know things are a little awry right out of the gate. This also appeared to be the largest sandwich of the bunch—a rather unruly heap of meat, tomato, onion slices, and of course, a sea of mayo. The peppercorn was barely discernible in the ranch, which also seemed like a redundant addition considering all the mayo.

The taste: I will say that it isn't quite as messy and creamy as I might have assumed, but that's not exactly glowing praise. Most of the flavors here are way too muted and/or nonexistent, especially the bacon and peppercorn ranch. There were no discernible bacon, ranch, or peppercorn flavors at all. Even the smoked turkey was barely noticeable, buried under too much mayo. All in all, it just tasted one-note and boring, in a portion that was simply way too much.

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New York Steamer

A sub that I don't see at most sandwich chains near me is a pastrami one, so I was excited to try the New York Steamer, made with USDA Choice corned beef and pastrami, provolone, mayo, deli mustard, and—somewhat oddly—Italian dressing. Unfortunately, it (mostly) let me down.

The look: Effectively the opposite of the Turkey Bacon Ranch, I basically gasped at the meager size of this sandwich. It was, by far, the thinnest sub of the bunch by a long shot. It was to the point that I literally wondered if the sandwich wasn't properly made, like it was missing half its filling. It felt and looked too small, comprised mostly of rather dry-looking bread and a few flimsy pieces of corned beef or pastrami (hard to tell them apart, or even if both were included). Also, egregiously, the cheese didn't appear to be there at all.

The taste: Considering the shocking and disappointing look of the sandwich, it's rather surprising that this wasn't dead last. But even despite the scant portion, and the blatant omission of certain key ingredients, it still tasted more flavorful—and straight up better—than the Turkey Bacon Ranch. My main takeaway was, "this is fine," which is a notable improvement over the former. Sure, there isn't much to work with here, and the lack of cheese was a problem, but what was there was still quite tasty. The mustard added a nice zing to the sandwich, the bread wasn't as dry as it looked, the meat was at least tender and succulent, and the Italian dressing didn't come through at all (for better or worse). A bit of a grab-bag sandwich, but one that didn't thud quite as badly as I initially thought it would.

Firehouse Meatball

Meatballs feature pretty prominently on the menu at Firehouse Subs. There's a Sweet & Spicy version, a pepperoni-topped version, and of course, the classic Firehouse Meatball. It's the classic variety that I tried for our meatball-centric taste-test and went for again. It was topped with melted provolone, marinara, and Italian seasonings.

The look: I said this during my initial meatball sub taste-test, and I'll say it again: this is the best-looking sub of the whole order. That's thanks to the simple structure of the sandwich: a golden-brown split-top roll that perfectly enrobed plump, juicy-looking meatballs, under a vibrant splash of herby marinara and a layer of gooey provolone. It's a hefty sandwich that looks like it would be a complete mess to bite into, but tasty-looking nonetheless, and well worth the extra napkins. If only it tasted quite as extraordinary as it looks.

The taste: Just as I assumed, this thing was quite a saucy mess. More of a knife-and-fork sub, due to the globe-sized meatballs, it's hard to get a bit of everything in one bite, so it's hard for all the flavors to harmonize as they are intended. If you're able to, however, it works. The sauce—slightly sweet, slightly tangy, slightly herbaceous—is a home run. I'd gladly eat a sandwich filled with nothing but this sauce (maybe not actually, but I'd consider it). And it all works perfectly with the juicy meatballs. The cheese, once again, was its undoing. Unlike the New York Steamer, though, which lacked cheese entirely, this one had cheese, it just so happened to be a hot mess. It's the kind of cheese that isn't quite melted enough to meld with the rest of the sandwich, but rather slips off with one errant bite. This, coupled with the fact that the bread tends to disintegrate under the immensity of the sauce and meatballs, earned it a bit of a lower ranking than I would have thought.

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Hook & Ladder

Funnily enough, the popular Hook & Ladder—with smoked turkey breast, Virginia honey ham, Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and deli mustard—was the sub I had the least hope for, and frankly the least enthusiasm about. Mostly because it sounded pretty standard, but it wound up being the most pleasant surprise.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: First of all, this thing looks pretty great. There is ample meat, all of which looks tender and fresh, and evenly layered on fluffy-looking bread. It also just looks super vibrant, and downright healthy.

The taste: This is one sandwich where the taste almost perfectly matched up with the look. One bite in, and it tastes juicy, fresh, and meaty, with some nice textural contrasts from the crunchy onions and the meltingly tender deli meats. I docked a point for the cheese, which again, tasted nonexistent. But what it lacked in cheese it more than made up for in ham. The mild smoky-sweetness of the Virginia honey ham was the showstopper of the sandwich, and a component that really worked with the mild smokiness of the turkey and the zing of the mustard.

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Italian

We're living in the golden age of Italian subs, it seems. If recent sandwich taste-tests are any indication, including one at Potbelly and another at Jersey Mike's, Italian subs are the most reliably high-ranking orders. The same proved true at Firehouse Subs, where the house Italian sub comes with pepperoni, Genoa salami, Virginia honey ham, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, deli mustard, and Italian dressing and seasoning.

The look: Mouthwatering. This looked like the meatiest of the bunch, stacked with a healthy amount of cured meats and sprinkled with a judicious amount of fragrant Italian seasoning. While the meat is ample, it also doesn't look quite as unruly or overstuffed as the Meatball. Rather, it's a meaty option that doesn't skimp on quality products, without going overboard with it either.

The taste: What a flavorful medley this was! Each bite bounces around between spicy, herbaceous, crunchy, crisp, and even sweet (again, that honey ham was putting in the work). Thicker-than-expected slivers of tomato helped round out that juicy sweetness, and were the perfect counterpart to all the meaty spice from the pepperoni and salami. The cheese, too, actually came through, and the creamy richness was yet another layer that worked well. Altogether, the Italian sub was a masterclass in balance, texture, and flavors.