Firehouse Subs Towers Mall — Restaurant in Roanoke

I have been coming to this location with my best friend and roommate for quite some time. My friend, who is Dominican, usually converses with the staff in Spanish since they are all Hispanic and he is comfortable doing so. I am American, and although I do speak decent Spanish, I choose to converse with the staff in English because I am not completely familiar with their particular dialect and do not feel as comfortable attempting to communicate with them in Spanish. I have never thought of this as a problem, and have previously had pleasant experiences at this location. However, tonight I was questioned by the staff as to why I do not speak to them in Spanish - as if I am somehow obligated to do so. Then the girl at the register called me a racist to my face in Spanish. Her exact words were, "Eres una racista". I thought that she was making a crude joke initially, but then the woman who I assume is the manager explained to me in English that they all consider me a racist and proceeded to laugh and joke about it with the rest of the staff while making my order. I was angry but my anger quickly turned to embarrassment and anguish as what they were saying fully sank in.

To be labeled as a racist simply for not attempting to communicate with someone in a foreign language, especially when that person speaks English fluently, is mind-blowing to me. But it's worse than that. The very insinuation is extremely hurtful and disrespectful - it's an inherently violent accusation and it strikes at the core of who I am as a human being. I am still processing the exchange in my head hours later and I must say that I was not mentally prepared for the profound sadness that those words would cause. I have never in my life been accused of such a horrible thing.

I will not be returning to this Firehouse. I may not return to any Firehouse for that matter. I see so many reviews on here from others with similar complaints and that makes me question the standards that Firehouse has in place for those who represent their company. It does not seem as though respect, integrity, or customer service are prioritized, and that concerns me deeply as a potential consumer. Furthermore, I cannot help but consider the possibility that my food might not be safe to consume if it is being prepared by a group of people who blatantly mislabel...

Went in to order food at 9PM the staff was cleaning up. I asked a general question regarding size of sandwiches large vs medium the lady initially had mixup then gave me correct information. I wanted to ask my daughter which size she wanted so was only gonna take a few seconds however she felt like she needed to get back to her cleaning and then says to me let me know when you’re ready and pretty much dismiss me so when I was finally ready I let her know that the way she talk to me was very rude however, she disagreed and kept pushing that she was not rude and I said you’re rushing me and there’s nobody here and I’m here to buy food, but you’d rather be cleaning up. I was going to order the sandwich for my daughter, which I had to repeat to her three times and then I just was like never mind. I’m not spending my money here and left. I will never come into this restaurant. She has the absolute worst customer service I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen bad before a customer comes to spend their hard working money in your store and you’re treated like you’re inconveniencing them from doing their side work “unacceptable.” Whoever owns this company better look closely at who they have talking to customers. I don’t go to firehouse subs every day, but probably about 3 to 5 times a year. I definitely won’t be back to this location. I guess I should’ve apologized for inconveniencing her from her cleaning duties. I ended up leaving and not spending one brown penny in your store and I can see that many local people here also have had bad experiences. It’s really not hard to take a sandwich order. The most important thing is to be kind to people.

To the owner, you may want to watch the staff. It looks like they want to close your shop at nine versus 10 PM and you’re gonna lose out on hundreds of dollars if this is the case as they are deter your customers from coming in your business because it appears they’re so inconvenience from doing simple cleaning work. And for $15 for a sandwich, they should be very kind and friendly to the customers with that...

This Firehouse location has always been my favorite take out. It was always consistent and delicious. Unfortunately it seems they got a whole new staff and ever since then my Italian has always been mediocre and about half the meat it used to have. Before you had to open wide to bite their sandwich and it was so juicy it would run all over your hands. I kept going back hoping the sandwich would go back to how it was because theres nothing like them when made right. I never wanted to complain because this manager has a very negative and loud presence to her and I worried she would make me uncomfortable. When I used to eat in the restaurant she was always yelling in Spanish at her staff and would confront guests in a loud voice and embarrassed someone for wanting a refund for a cookie they didn’t have. I started getting take out instead. Last night i finally decided to complain about the lack of meat to a staff member on the phone. She was offering to remake it when the manager started yelling at her in the background about what was wrong. She spoke Spanish to her manager from that point on while I was on the phone with her and the manager was yelling in the background how she made it and weighed it and it’s fine! The manger then took over the phone yelling at me that she made it and weighed it and nothing was wrong. I asked her why she was yelling at me and told her I disagreed and even have a picture if she doesn’t believe me. Her response was to then yell at me again that she made it and weighed it. I decided not to answer back to this. She then yelled well what do you want! I said at this point a refund because I won’t be coming back. She yelled fine and hung up on me. I hope this manager can turn her attitude and voice down to her staff and future clients. It’s become a hostile environment and makes the guests feel unwanted and like we’re inconveniencing them by...