Firehouse Pizza & Pub — Restaurant in East Peoria

Review Date: April 29th, 2015

If you are experiencing an actual emergency, please contact your local emergency services. But if you are experiencing a pizza emergency, call Firehouse Pizza & Pub.

One of my greatest loves in life is pizza. Firehouse just happens to serve pizza… pizza that is in my Top 3.

Way back in the day, this location used to be a Godfather’s Pizza that I visited on many occasions. For some reason, the few local Godfather’s shut down and this store was left empty for awhile. Then, out of nowhere, Firehouse moved in. Younger me was not prone to trying new places, so I avoided Firehouse for a long time and stuck to the national chains. What a mistake.

Then, on a whim, a few of us decided to try it. Best decision ever. We ordered a BBQ Chicken pizza and all fell in love. This lead us to coming here every few months to get our pizza fix. On one trip, we decided to try a Backdraft pizza to change it up.. and it also sounded good. It has a zesty buffalo ranch sauce with grilled chicken, bacon, jalapenos and a four cheese blend. Whoever invented this pizza is a god among pizza makers. It was the best thing my friends and I ever had. Even my one friend who hates jalapenos was in love with this pizza.

After trying the Backdraft, it became a tradition to order that and some Pabst Blue Ribbon every time we went. Sadly, we haven’t been there for awhile as we all have been busy, but I am planning a trip to go there very soon. Dang adulting for getting in the way of good pizza. Our usual bill would get near $30 for a few drinks and a large or extra large pizza. While it is a bit on the pricier side, it is worth every dollar and every bite. They do offer a salad bar but since I am there to clog my arteries, I have yet to try it.

They also have a Pizza Perks program where you get a reward after spending so much money. I am one trip away from hitting the next level. Being a part of the program, they give me (and probably everyone who is signed up) a free personal pizza on their birthday. I’m not going to lie. I’ve redeemed it every year that I’ve been a member. Signing up for the program will also net you some decent coupons in your email. I usually wait until I get a good one before making a trip there.

The interior is dedicated to Firefighter companies (I think that’s what they are called) across Illinois and the United States. They have shirts, firefighting hats, hoses, patches and other various firefighter memorabilia on the walls. I feel proud to support a business that supports the hard working firefighters who risk their lives to save lives.

Since opening their doors almost 10 years ago, they have since expanded to have a bar that is attached to the restaurant. You can enter through one side for food and the other for the pub. While I have been here many times, I have yet to check out the pub. Maybe I will get my PBRs from in the pub next time.

There was a Firehouse location in Washington, IL but it has since shut down due to the lack of business. Should the East Peoria location ever close, I will be forever sad. This is a reminder to support your local businesses as they can provide some awesomely delicious food and experiences that some big...

First time visit for me. My waitress in training as she called herself was Dawn I believe. The one training her seemed to be all business and that's not a bad thing at all. She could smile more and she did when I was paying my bill at the cash register. She has such a nice smile and hopefully she will wear it more. When I return I'll see. Anyway Dawn did just fine. I had a small thin crust pizza and it was very good indeed. The sauce has a slight sweet taste, but the ingredients are 1st class. They have Frank's hot sauce and that means a lot. Loved the interior because it is so spacious and lots of elbow room. Walls are decorated with all sorts of firefighter equipment, etc. You can spend a lot of time just gawking. They don't have an all you can eat pizza/salad bar anymore, but they do have a salad bar if you're so inclined. They serve Pepsi soda products and that's great, but no diet Mountain Dew. What gives? Each table has its own flat screen TV with a remote if you want to watch something. No one was doing so while I was there. May be an expense they might consider removing. Bottom line is they have a long line of pizza and other offerings that I hope to return and sample. I suggest you give them at least a try. Might add that $2.99 for a soft drink is a might much unless your soft drinks for some reason are if better quality that would justify the higher price.

Was back this afternoon after church services with my buddy Darryl. He had never eaten here and it was convenient to the location we were at. Darryl was impressed with the decor inside the restaurant and that he was able to watch TV at our table while we dined. The menu is very large, but we settled on an extra large supreme pizza with the traditional sauce. Remember that their normal pizza sauce is a sweet sauce and you need to be specific when you order. We thought we would have some pizza left over, but we were gluttons and ate it all. They have three different hot sauces and grated cheese on the table. Everything you need is there on the table. This is a plus in my book. They have a salad bar if you also desire sandwiches, etc. I need to get back there and try their sandwiches out. We both loved our pizza and service. Alex, our waitress was cheerful and attentive. Darryl particularly liked...

Let me 1st say the pizza was great! Unfortunately the service left me with a bad taste. We went in at 7:45pm last night with a group of 5. The waitress quite literally threw her broom down in frustration that we came to eat there 45 minutes before they closed, and told us that we could not sit in this half of the restaurant. I'm ok with not sitting where she had already cleaned, except with 5 of us we had to sit at a smaller table and get an extra chair. She was obviously rushing us to get our order in, which we did in a normal amount of time. We ordered cheese bread and 2 Pizzas along with 5 drinks which came to just under $70. We sat with empty drinks while the waitress cleaned around us the entire time. I'm not against cleaning while we are there, but I'm not a fan of being treated like we are a problem. We got 1 refill of drinks when she brought our food out, and I had to politely ask her to get another drink while she was cleaning, otherwise it was apparent that it would have sat empty the entire time. We finished, paid, and left all before they closed at 8:30pm. So it's not like we kept them there late. While the pizza was great, with service like that I don't think we...