Contest is closed! Congrats to Christina L who said "I'm trying really hard to choose between the Firehouse Meatball and the
Club on a Sub but I don't think I can! They both look so delicious!" I know, right? Everything looks so delicious! Stay tuned for more great giveaways coming soon and thank you for reading IN A GALAXY!
A few weeks ago I was invited to a special blogger
event at
Firehouse Subs. It was an evening of
delicious food and lots of info
with a wonderful host-one of the co-founders of Firehouse Subs, Robin Sorensen.
I'm going to be straight with you-I honestly hadn't heard of Firehouse Subs before the week of the
event and then
suddenly there were advertisements on the radio every hour. I was really intrigued as to where this restaurant came from all of a sudden. Wow, am I Captain Oblivious or what? They have more than 600 locations nationwide. Apparently I need to pay closer attention to life.
The Sorensen Brothers were both firemen with a love of cooking and good food. Their focus, from the start, was on providing the tastiest items possible using quality ingredients. They use twice the amount of meat as your average sandwich joint, and only the finest cuts of meat will do. All of their cheeses are from Sargento, all of the meats handpicked for quality. They don't joke around when it comes to creating the perfect sub. We were served several of their signature subs that night, and all were fabulous, but there are 3 that really stick out in my mind:
The Hook & Ladder:
 |
| Smoked turkey breast, Virginia honey ham, Monterey jack cheese |
The Italian:
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| Genoa salami, pepperoni, ham, melted provolone, Italian dressing, and seasonings |
NY Steamer:
 |
| Corned beef brisket, pastrami, melted provolone, mustard, mayo, and Italian dressing |
O. M. G. Now I'm starving. Everything we tried was beyond delicious...as evidenced by my complete refusal to let even the tiniest bite go to waste. I even got behind and had subs lined up in front of me at one point because I couldn't let go.
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| At this point the gentleman waiting to take away my basket got bored and wandered off to help someone far daintier than I... Step AWAY from the sub, bro! |
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When I say twice the amount of meat I ain't joking. Those babies were loaded up. They also serve their subs "Fully Involved" which translates to mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion and a dill spear on the side. Yes, I ate all of the pickles too. They were super tasty. Never pass up a good pickle. Their subs are juicy and fresh tasting due to their signature steaming method that opens up the natural flavors in their top quality ingredients and blends them all together, making each bite perfect!
Just to prove that they are dedicated to top quality meats Robin even brought out some of the packages of meat from the cooler to prove to us that they only serve the best.
Yes I am holding a giant hunk o'pastrami. It was delicious. Not the giant hunk of meat, the sub it was part of. Although I would think the giant hunk o'meat was delicious too, if you are into that sort of thing.
I almost forgot the Coca Cola Freestyle machine! Have you seen one of these things yet? They are AH-MAZ-ING!
The problem with this machine is that if you are an indecisive person you will need several
minutes hours to decide what to drink since there are more than 120 flavor combinations! Firehouse Subs even has their own signature recipe cherry limeade available on the Freestyle Machine. If you visited this place once a week for 2 years you'd still have flavor combinations you haven't tried yet. Better get busy!
I didn't even mention Captain Sorensen's Datil Pepper Hot Sauce yet..I was saving the best for last. This stuff is like liquid gold. Ambrosia in a little bottle. I like spicy stuff, but Hubby is the real expert when it comes to hot sauces (he and Shaman Boy have a Spicy Lovers Club...true story, they can't get enough). This sauce, however, had me at hello. It was just a tad sweet, but still spicy, and I am kicking myself that I didn't purchase a bottle on the way out that night..I have been craving it ever since.
Possibly the most amazing part of our visit was learning that Firehouse Subs not only believes in finest ingredients for their subs, and believes in incredible customer service, but they also give back to the community through The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Here's a little about the foundation from Firehouse Subs:
Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation was launched in 2005 as a means for
Firehouse
Subs restaurants to give back to the local community. Emergency
service entities throughout the nation are lacking the tools needed to
adequately protect their communities. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,
the Foundation effectively reaches out to provide vital funding, resources and
support that they may not otherwise receive.
The Foundation is dedicated to improving the
life-saving capabilities of emergency service entities in communities served by
Firehouse Subs by providing funding, resources and support to public safety
entities. Individual restaurants raise money through the sale of pickle
buckets, cash donations at the counter and the “Round Up” program, which allows
guests the opportunity to “round up” their bill to the nearest dollar. All
funds are in turn given back to the Foundation.
Incredible, right? I forgot to mention that .25 cents from every Hook & Ladder sub that is sold goes to the foundation as well. Since it's inception the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has donated more than $5.7 million to public safety entities in 36
states and Puerto Rico...around $80,000 of that has gone to local organizations around Cincinnati alone. That's a lot of pickle buckets (and a whole
lotta pickles!) for a fantastic cause!
I was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Sorensen and what he and his brother have built together. Having been a restaurant employee in some form my entire life I know what it takes to put together and run a restaurant and keep your integrity intact. It's easy to be pulled in too many directions and lose focus....not these brothers. They maintain a solid core of 'corporate' owned shops and hand pick franchise owners to insure that each location upholds the standards they demand for their products and customer service. That's no small feat in today's 'more money' society.
I really want you to go and check out Firehouse Subs for yourself (and bring me an Italian, will ya?) so I'm sharing $20 in gift cards with one lucky reader!
WIN WIN WIN
To be entered to win first go browse the Firehouse Subs menu and then answer this (mandatory) question:
Which Firehouse Sub do you predict will be your new favorite?
I'm not sure I can pick, so good luck with this one (and if you pick more than one I don't blame you!) I'm torn between the Hook & Ladder and The Italian...but there are so many I haven't even tried yet. I should probably do some research first. Tasty, tasty research.
For an extra entry you can do one or all of the following:
- Subscribe to email updates from In A Galaxy so you don't miss out on great giveaways like this one! (on the right sidebar...it's easy peasy!)
- Check out In A Galaxy and Firehouse Subs on Facebook.
- Follow In A Galaxy on Pinterest.
- Tweet this giveaway and include @InAGalaxyBlog and @FirehouseSubs- 'Enter to win $20 for @FirehouseSubs from @InAGalaxyBlog! http://ow.ly/lHkqV '
That's it! 5 ways to enter means 5 chances to win! Now for those pesky details: Must be 18 and a Greater Cincinnati area resident to qualify to win. Winner will be drawn using random.org on June 14 at 10 PM and announced here and on Facebook, as well as notified via email (Please leave an email address along with your comment if it's not already attached in blogger!) Winner will have 24 hours to respond or another name will be drawn. Please leave a separate comment for each entry IN THIS POST to qualify to win.
Good luck! Whether you win or not you should definitely give Firehouse Subs a try....great food, excellent customer service, fantastic community partner! They are opening new locations all the time...in fact there's one opening in my neck of the woods (Houston Rd. in Florence) this month and I can't wait to get my mitts on some of Capt. Sorensen's hot sauce! See you there!
For menu and location information visit www.firehousesubs.com
disclosure: I was treated to a sampling of menu items for review and provided with gift cards by Firehouse Subs to giveaway to my readers. All opinions are, as always, 100% my own and influenced only by the voices in my head.
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