Firehouse Subs Markham Road — Restaurant in Markham

I ordered 3 sub sandwiches online ahead of time to save myself the wait time in store because they often have a long line. I arrived in store at the estimated ready time and notified the cashier that I was here for an order pick-up; she apologized and said they just started the order. Odd, because there wasn't another customer in the store, but there were at least 3 employees behind the counter. That's alright because at least my sandwiches would be fresh.

10 minutes go by and I'm wondering if they had to harvest the ingredients straight from the farm first. 20 minutes go by and I'm wondering if I should just hop the counter and make my sandwiches myself. I proceed to ask the gentleman making a sandwich if my order would be ready soon; he says that they were already ready and just needed to be packed. Somehow the 3 meter distance between the cashier and sandwich maker was too far to communicate that the customer picking up the order was already here and that my name should be called once the order was ready. Now it's been a total of nearly an hour between ordering the sandwiches and arriving home, and while less than ideal, at least my family could enjoy once toasted but now room temp sandwiches... until we noticed two of the sandwiches had onions, which we specifically chose in the online order options to exclude for all 3 due to a family member's allergy.

I called back to request a refund, and was told they would call back after speaking to their manager. The employee called back stating that they could not offer a refund, only a free new sandwich next time we visited, and it would only be for one sandwich since supposedly the manager checked the security cameras and only saw onions being added on one of our sandwiches. The manager at this location could not grasp the idea that we simply wanted a refund for a product that was incorrectly made, and especially that I never want to return to their location for a sandwich, free or not. The only reason I would ever return to their storefront is to return their 8 onion slices that was distributed between two sandwiches because clearly that was more important than their customer...

I've been coming to this Firehouse Subs location for a couple of years, usually when I’m passing by around lunch or dinner time. The sandwiches have always been fresh, tasty, and feel they have better options than the cookie-cutter offerings at other sub sandwich restaurants.

However, I'm leaving this review because of repeated frustration with the online ordering system. It consistently takes 10 to 15 minutes longer than the estimated pickup time. In fact, walking in and ordering on the spot seems to be faster and more efficient.

For example, I placed an order for three subs at 12:13 PM, with an estimated pickup time of 12:40 PM. I arrived shortly after that, and there were only two customers ahead of me—one waiting for an online pickup and one placing a walk-in order.

The customer who ordered one sub online ended up canceling it after waiting over 40 minutes. When I asked about my order at 12:45 PM, I was told it would be another 10 minutes—unfortunately, not surprising given my past experiences with online orders here.

What really bothered me was that the walk-in customer ahead of me received his order in under 15 minutes, while online orders—submitted much earlier—were clearly being delayed. When I pointed this out, I received a basic apology and was told they were “behind on online orders,” but no real explanation as to why online orders were being treated as a lower priority.

There were three people working behind the counter. You’d think this location would be better organized—perhaps by assigning one person to online orders, another to walk-ins, and the third to float and assist as needed. But as it stands, it feels like online orders are simply pushed aside, which would explain the consistent delays I’ve experienced.

If you're considering ordering from this location, I strongly advise skipping the online option. There’s a good chance your food won’t be ready on time—and you might be left waiting while walk-in customers are...

My friends and I stopped by for some dinner after a saturday badminton session.

We tried a bunch of large subs: firehouse captain club sub, smokehouse beef & cheddar brisket, brisket hat trick.

I was blown away by the quality of the subs. WOW.

Every sub was PACKED to the brim w/ goodies. No skimping out on ingredients. Tons of meat, tons of veggies, tons of sauce. For the hot subs, the meat was sooooo soft and easy to swallow. I had a bite of my friends' subs and they were all super delicious. The chicken in the captains club was so juicy. The beef in the smokehouse sub was melt in the mouth. The bread on all subs was toasted.

They also have one of those nice machines w/ tons of different soda options to choose from (peach mello yellow zero SUPER UNDERRATED).

Shoutout to Donte who helped me with my order as a first-timer to this store! Love that I was able to stack a bunch of extra add-ons for no additional charge. Also loved that every sub came w/ a dill pickle on the side (the pickles were delicious too). I was tempted to upgrade my bun to garlic bread but that'll be for another visit.

In terms of price, it is premiumly priced at around $20-25 per sub which is expensive tbh. Does the quality justify that price tag? I would actually have to say yea it does! SOOOOO much meat packed into every sub. AND the employees don't treat you like dirt (cough cough Jersey Mike's, Subway and Mr. Sub I'm looking at you guys).

Sooo jelly that there isn't a location closer to me at all but I signed up for the rewards program right away. MY GOD. Best subs I've had in...