According to Anthony Bourdain, firemen make some of the best food around because they have some sort of crazy camaraderie in which they are always cooking for each other. Maybe Firehouse Subs came from that. Or maybe it was because some firemen wanted to make some extra cash and thought it would be a good schtick. Either way, Firehouse Subs exists and I finally tried it out in the middle of Palm Desert.
After asking the guy behind the counter (who was clearly not a fireman) to help me choose between the Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket and the New York Steamer, I wound up with the brisket. It came with everything in the name, plus Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce and mayo. Also, I should note that the brisket was supposedly smoked for more than 16 hours. I ordered the regular size, which I was told was about 7 inches and asked for the mayo to be left behind.
My order was ready relatively fast and I was surprised to find that while the sub certainly was long enough, it was strangely narrow. It was cool and all, but what wan’t cool was the pickle that had been snuck onto my plate. Come on, firemen! Alas, I removed it and set to work on finding the perfect hot sauce to add to my sub. Per the theme of the place, there was a ton to choose from and I went with a Caribbean style. The sub turned out to be a pretty solid choice. I could definitely taste the smokiness of the brisket, and while it wasn’t as good as a straight up BBQ spot, it was still better than your average sub. The bread held up pretty well, but was otherwise pretty generic.
I’d definitely stop in for another sub sometime. It wasn’t anything overly impressive (and the pickle didn’t help), but it got the job done and hey, it’s always good to party like a fireman.
