Firehouse Subs East Gwillimbury / Newmarket — Restaurant in East Gwillimbury

This is how a sub should be, and should taste. To be perfectly honest, I believe this is an understatement here. My wife and I saw the pre-opening posts and drooled. My wife even signed me up for the pre-opening tasting...unfortunately I missed it. We saw the reviews following - Trying the subs here was a must. Subway is ok. Quiznos is great...but for a big eater like me, the cost/amount of deliciousness is not justified. Now there is Firehouse Subs in Newmarket.

The right amount of bread. A more than generous portion of your choice of meat. We have tried only a few so far. But it's because those that we tried, were so damn good, that we keep going back for the same flavours. Smokehouse Beef and Cheddar Brisket, Firehouse Meatball, Italian, Turkey Bacon Ranch. All were spectacular. No need to ask if you want it toasted, like the other place. No plethora of toppings that you need to customize...most of which have been sitting out in the open in their containers, all day. Just the right toppings pre-chosen to be on the sub (which you can ask to have removed), and just the right amount of additional toppings to customize to your taste.

Our subs were fresh every single time, and they were spectacular every single time. The portion sizing is amazing. Worth every penny, every bite. The meats have been consistent every single time in terms of taste/flavour, temperature and portion sizing.

What puts the icing on the icing on the cake for us is the business itself. The interior of the restaurant is spotless. It is a little big for a sub shop I thought one night, looking at some empty tables. But on another night, the seats were full, customers were waiting, music was going...it was more like a happening pub! Between the smiling customers, and the smiling employees, you can tell that not only is the food great, but the employees are treated well. As I've waited for my order, I've watched the staff interact. They joke around, chat and smile at each other. Compare that to the sub shop in UCM. Inside the store itself - it's clean. I mean clean. The pop machine isn't sticky, tables, walls, floors, seats are all clean. You won't be "looking" for a table to sit down at..you know...that one that doesn't have all the crumbs still on it, along with the sticky drops of spilled pop. The interior decorations are great. Not too many things to make the store cluttered, but just enough to get a feel of the theme. Our first time there, my wife noticed a stack of plastic fireman hats. She said we should get one for our daughter who was waiting in the car with grandma and grandpa. I asked one of the employees if it would be alright if we could have one. His eyes lit up and he smiled, rushed back over to the cash to get one for us without hesitation. Small things...but meant the world to us.

Lastly - the management. I've read about the Manager. (Owner?) The customer service he provides through social media cannot be compared with. (I think all businesses should take a page from his book.) The second time I went in, I actually met him in person. Of course, he did not know who I was - a customer among many customers. Yet he greeted me with a hearty handshake, welcomed me and thanked me for coming to eat at his establishment. I haven't been greeted like that at some of the high end steak houses in Toronto. Yes, it did make me feel like a VIP customer, coming to the hottest place to eat. My own ego aside, how many business places have you been to, where the staff, the management treat you with such high regard?!

Suffice it to say, we won't be going anywhere else for our subs. I would rather eat less from the competition, to eat a great meal and receive great customer service. If you haven't gone today...skip making dinner, put the dishes back in the cupboard, put the ingredients back in the fridge and go order a few subs from here. Filling, tastes damn good...no...tastes spectacular, and you will be...

I've been praising this place for months after a fantastic experience at the Vaughan location, so I decided to take my wife and daughter out to the East Gwillimbury location. We drove approximately 10km out of our way after shopping in Newmarket to get to their establishment. The lady at the cash was super friendly and nice to our daughter as she gave her a plastic firefighter's hat to wear while the food was being prepared. We waited about 10-15min for our food as it was a fairly busy lunch, it seemed. We finally got our food and left, drove about 30 min home, back to Richmond Hill. When we arrived, I was really excited to start eating. First thing I noticed was the size of the kids meal that we paid $5.99+tax for. It was literally two pieces of thinly sliced bread with cheese. I guess you can't expect much from a kids meal, but upon further inspection, realized that my daughter's side item (a rice crispy square) was missing, too. Not the end of the world as we would have forgiven them for this mistake and moved on, if not for what I experienced next. Salivating uncontrollably, I whipped out my Italian sandwich and took a big bite out it, immediately realizing that something... Many things were missing from my bun. There was no pepperoni, no melted provolone, no Virginia honey ham, no Italian dressing or seasonings. Needless to say, my lunch was ruined and there was no going back to replace it. On the verge of tears, while my wife enjoyed her now $32 salad, I called to let the location know of their mistake. The lady again was friendly on the phone, acknowledged their mistake and offered me a free combo. In my opinion, after driving so far and going so far out of our way to enjoy their supposed critically acclaimed submarine sandwich, and then driving half an hour home only to discover they served me lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo on a bun, one combo is unfortunately not enough for me to forgive the mistake. For me to take literally an hour and 15 min out of my day and to pay for the gas to get there again to be reimbursed $15 (in the form of a sandwich that probably costs them under $5 to make) for THEIR mistake, it's just not worth it for me. Thanks, but no thanks. Won't be returning. For future customers, make sure you check you sandwich before you leave. This is the kind of treatment I would expect from Taco Bell,...

I had the great displeasure of visiting this location on 02/08/23. I am writing the review two years to the date and time as I still experience trauma to this day. To preface, I am a veteran…served in Nam, and on this fateful day two years ago, I arrived at Firehouse subs 20 minutes before closing time. With no employee in sight and my stomach urging me forward, I peeked over the counter to find the employee crouched below view. The memories came flooding back, suddenly I was also crouch behind sandbags hiding from my enemy (the customer). I called out in hopes the employee would acknowledge my presence and snap me back to reality, however that was not the case. The employee hurried around the corner and out of sight as my anxiety and tension grew. Who knew a simple sandwich and irresponsible employee could keep a seasoned sourdough veteran up at night?

My review is posted in hopes that you will teach staff to be mindful and...