Firehouse Subs builds hot, steamed subs piled high with meat and cheese. Dining rooms carry firehouse red paint and real fire department memorabilia on the walls. Hook & Ladder, Engineer and New York Steamer sit alongside build-your-own options on a menu that runs mostly hot rather than cold. More than 1,267 restaurants now carry the name across 46 states, tracing back to one Jacksonville storefront opened by two firefighter brothers.
Firehouse Subs’ own history, from that first Jacksonville counter to today’s national chain under Restaurant Brands International, fills the section below.
Firehouse Subs History
Chris Sorensen and Robin Sorensen opened the first Firehouse Subs on Jacksonville’s Beach Boulevard in 1994. Both brothers had worked as firefighters, following a father who had spent his own career leading a local fire department. That background shaped the new sub shop from the walls in. Fire helmets, hose reels and a real fire hydrant stand among the dining room tables. Subs came out steamed and loaded rather than built cold, a style the brothers carried over from firehouse kitchens they knew well.
Franchising began the following year. New stores spread through Florida and across the Southeast over the rest of the 1990s. The company launched the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation in 2005, funding gear and rescue equipment for police, fire and EMS departments nationwide. Pickle buckets pulled from the kitchen became an unlikely fundraising tool. Sold at the counter for a couple of dollars, the proceeds went straight to the foundation. Firehouse Subs crossed 1,000 restaurants around 2018, still privately held by the founding family at that point.
Restaurant Brands International, the parent of Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, bought Firehouse Subs in December 2021 for close to 1 billion dollars. Both Sorensen brothers stayed on afterward rather than stepping away from the chain they built. Firehouse Subs still runs its Public Safety Foundation and pickle-bucket fundraising under that ownership. The same firehouse-themed dining rooms remain standard across the estate. The chain now trades from 1,267 restaurants across 46 states, headquartered in Jacksonville not far from that original Beach Boulevard address.
Firehouse Subs Menus & Details
Three pages carry the detail below, covering the printed board, off-menu builds and declared allergens.
Firehouse Subs Menu Prices
Hot Specialty Subs, Build Your Own and Cold Subs all run three sizes with their own calorie count. The Firehouse Subs Menu Prices page adds a price to each size.
Firehouse Subs Secret Menu
Off-menu builds carry names regulars use at the counter, like the Brisket Hat Trick. The Firehouse Subs Secret Menu covers each one and how to order it.
Firehouse Subs Allergen Menu
Wheat, milk and eggs turn up across most of the hot subs. The Firehouse Subs Allergen Menu carries the full breakdown by item.