Firehouse Subs is Wichita’s hot new sandwich place

Quiznos, Subway and Jimmy John’s have company: There’s a new chain sub shop in town, and this one has a firefighter theme.

Firehouse Subs was opened in Eastgate Plaza at Kellogg and Rock Road in December by franchisees Megan and Andrew Reece. The shop is part of a Florida-based chain that has more than 700 restaurants across the country. Franchisees Dana and Troy Todd plan to open another one in a new strip center in front of SuperTarget in NewMarket Square late this year.

The restaurant serves subs – most of them hot – and the walls are decorated with firefighter paraphernalia. The chain also collects donations for the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, which provides equipment to emergency services personnel and money for fire safety education.

Firehouse also has a list of sandwiches under 500 calories, all served on wheat rolls with light mayo, including a Sriacha beef, a turkey and cranberry and a turkey salsa verde. Calorie-responsible diners also can choose from four chopped salads that include romaine, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, mozzarella, pepperoncini, Kalamata olives, a variety of deli meats and a light Italian dressing.

The restaurant also offers a shelf full of dozens of hot sauces, arranged from hot to hottest, that customers can add to their food themselves. It also has chili, chips, cookies and brownies and offers a kids menu and a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, which allows customers to customize their sodas with various flavorings.

Usually, I avoid the light menus in restaurants, but the turkey salsa verde from the under-500-calories menu sounded good, and it was. The sandwich featured smoked turkey breast, Monterey Jack cheese, a salsa verde sauce, plus lettuce, tomato and onion. It was $5.89 and had only 430 calories. It had a nice Southwestern flair, and we liked it just as well as its more calorie-laden counterparts.

The Firehouse Salad with smoked turkey ($7.59) also was fine and was filled with fresh, crunchy vegetables. The dressing, which is included in the under-400-calorie count, was a bit bland, but salt helped. The salad was the most expensive thing we ordered, but the portion size was the smallest.

One small pet peeve: The staff obviously has been instructed to greet each customer that walks in the door with a chorus of “Welcome to Firehouse Subs!” But when the busy workers say it so often, the greeting eventually becomes unenthusiastic, monotone and a tad annoying.

This story was originally published June 19, 2014 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Firehouse Subs is Wichita’s hot new sandwich place."