I've been to this particular Firehouse Subs a number of times. I keep wanting it to be better than it is.
The sandwiches are ALL spectacular. The bread is excellent (more a fan of the white rather than the honey wheat). The staff is friendly and inviting. Really: there isn't anything at all wrong with the food.
So why the two stars?
Frankly, the only reason the restaurant scored two stars is because the food is so damned good.
Let me walk you through my experience this last time - which is, more or less, typical of every visit:
I walked in at 6:30pm. There were two couples eating there, and one guy ordering take-out. The wait isn't excessive, and none of the employees seem in any way harried. I order my food - a regular Hook & Ladder on white with all the regular condiments- and a drink. I complete the transaction, get my drink, and wander away from the counter.
I opt for the sweet tea as a drink. It's empty.
I tell the girl about it, and she tells me it'll take five minutes for a fresh brew. She's very polite about it.
I have to get a drink from my nemesis: The POS Coca-Cola Freestyle machine. This is a machine that started appearing in restaurants and theater venues a few years ago. It's crap. It's terrible. It's miserable. You get sticky goo dripping on your hands when you have to push into the machine for ice, and then you have to deal with a touch screen that tries very hard to be intuitive about telling you what's out and what you can't order, but which fails on quite a few levels. Not the least of which is the 'guess' at where to put down a soda cup to fill it; too far back and you're rewarded with more ice that seems to dump a random amount no matter whether you 'tap' the lever or hold it, too far forward and the drink will teeter off the front when it gets filled enough to topple over. The selling point of the machine seems to be that it was designed by Pininfarina - the same automotive design firm responsible for some of the most amazing Ferraris ever made. Note, however, that Ferraris - like the Freestyle machine - are temperamental beasts that never quite work right.
Rather than using traditional syrup, the Freestyle machines use cartridges - not unlike the things you put in your inkjet printer. I've never had a simple Coke out of any of these Freestyle machines that tastes right; they're always a little off. This machine is no exception.
So my Sweet Tea is now inkjet Coca Cola.
I survey the room for a place to sit. As I said, there are two couples eating. They're occupying two of the tables, and there are plenty of other tables. And the three desirable ones (ones not right next to the other diners) are dirty. They haven't been wiped down, and there's trash on them. I paid a premium price at a sandwich shop ... and now I get to clean a table so I can eat there.
I get to play employee, and clean the table I want to eat at.
There is, of course, only one problem with that. The napkin dispense on the table is empty. Completely. Both sides. The table right next to it? Ditto: no napkins. I do find a full napkin dispenser, so I grab it. I switch it out with the one on the table I want to eat at, and proceed to clean the table.
Being the conscientious (if temporary and unpaid) employee that I am, I don't want to just brush trash and food bits off onto the floor. It's none too clean already, and I don't want to contribute to the clutter. So I go to the trash bin, and grab one of the un-bussed dirty food trays and - using a napkin - I wipe down the table onto the tray, and deposit it into the trash can. I do want to thank the employees for being lackluster in their cleaning routine; if you guys had bussed the trays I would have had to wipe other people's food into my hand. That would have been nasty.
The sandwich came. It was - as usual - terrific.
The problem - and low score - aren't a result of the food, it's the dining experience; dirty tables, unbussed trays, unavailable drink service, and the Godawful Coca-Cola Freestyle machine get you a zero-star score. The food - good as it is - can't pull up the number of stars much past two.
My recommendation would be to get your sandwich to go. If you do that, you'll undoubtedly have a 5-star rating; the sandwiches are THAT good. read more