Bites Nearby: Firehouse Pub

When there are slim pickins’ in small towns for bars and restaurants, why not have one place that has it all! I am talking about the Firehouse Pub on Main Street in Buckley. This place not only offers food, drink and pool but games, sports action, poker, karaoke and LIVE music. Not only do they have a special—they have a special every day. And "every day" means they are open every day of the week. Let’s face it: there is no excuse to not try this place, unless of course you are allergic to fun.

Let’s start with the good stuff—the food. Firehouse offers a variety of yummy appetizers such as egg rolls, steak bites with fries, steamed clams and the house favorite, the Firehouse Frenzy, which includes popcorn chicken, five hot wings, five poppers, five mozzarella sticks, gizzards and onion rings with dipping sauces. Whew … I think someone’s going to need a fire hose to wash away the hot. And for you novice firefighters out there, that means put the wet stuff on the hot stuff.

For the meat lovers there is a variety of one-third of a pound burgers that include specialties such as the Boinker Burger, a bacon cheeseburger with a layer of creamy peanut butter and the Chili Burger made with Firehouse’s signature chili. I hear from my friend who lives close by that the Chili Burger is a gastronomic delight. (And yes, for those of you who were wondering, peanut butter is the new mayonnaise.)

There are also sandwiches, both hot and cold, and salads. The salad that caught my eye was the Beam Salad, a delightfully large chef salad with a layer of top sirloin steak cooked to order. I know the vegetarians out there may be rolling their eyes but hey, a little light reddish pink meat goes quite well with lettuce. However, when the eyes are rolling, they may as well roll to the back of the menu where there are several awesome non-beef eater options as well; like I said, something for everyone.

But wait, there’s more. There are fabulously priced and cooked to order steaks and sirloin with prawns to add or Firehouse’s own house-made pizzas. Specials are also priced right and include three-piece chicken and joes on Sunday, pork chops and teriyaki chicken burgers on Monday, tacos and taco salad on Tuesday, a half-rack of pork ribs with corn on the cob or a tuna melt on Wednesday, and a 12-ounce top sirloin on Thursday. Now my favorite two days of the week we cannot forget:  prime rib or a cheeseburger basket on Fridays and a 12-ounce New York steak or popcorn chicken basket on Saturdays. 

If this place was closer to my home I might be in trouble … or at least the size of a fire truck. Now where did I put my self-contained breathing apparatus?

The atmosphere at the Firehouse is very laid back. The brick walls and hardwood floors add character to the bar and, of course, the music is good.  Speaking of music, on Thursday nights there is live music all summer long. Let the party begin! 

I keep thinking there is something missing.  Oh yeah … there’s a full bar and it’s a cool one too. That reminds me:  it’s Friday, it’s sunny and almost 70 outside and I’m parched. What’s that I hear? It must be an IC (Incident Command in fire-speak) … to the Firehouse, STAT!