Lunch with Betty: Firehouse Restaurant & Bar

Cheap Lunch With Betty
One Woman's Relentless Search For Great Lunches

Firehouse Restaurant & Bar
606 North Second Street, Harrisburg
234-6155

When I mention the Firehouse, most of you envision the dramatic interior styling, the punched tin walls reaching up 20 feet in the air, the inviting split-level design, or the eclectic and varying selection for dining or libations.

I, on the other hand, think “Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.”

Sure, Betty goes to the Firehouse for lunch. I go because, amongst the Calamari, served with Chipotle and Tomato dipping sauce, the Seared Sesame Jumbo Sea Scallops, and the Grilled Portobello with roasted red peppers, sautéed onions, and parmesan cheese with pesto mayo on a Kaiser roll (what a mouth-full), I can get my favorite staple.

Served in an elegant style exclusive to the Firehouse, my creamy, piping-hot tomato soup arrives in a bowl bigger than a hubcap. My Grilled Cheese comes dripping with American, Swiss, and Cheddar, from all sides of the thick Texas toast. It’s enough to make a grown woman, (with loose dentures) cry. It is not a pretentious lunch. And at $5.50, it’s simply delicious.

On this particular occasion, my guest ordered the large Firehouse Salad. For $6.00, it seemed like she was eating for two hours. Served as a bed of mixed greens, (really mixed), it included chick peas, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, and roasted sunflower seeds. There’s a bevy of dressings to choose from, the house obviously being the favorite, and it comes with freshly baked bread, warm as can be.

The Firehouse serves one of the widest selections of lunch this Eatasarus has ever seen. There’s something for every taste, from Lobster stuffed silver-dollar mushrooms to their signature Fireman Stew, hearty with beef, potatoes, carrots and onions. Served piping hot — a great kick to you meal on a cold winter day!

And they are quite some friendly folks at the Firehouse. Our server, Annie Balmer, was attentive and well-versed, telling us that lunch is available Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. And Firehouse owner Donnie Brown mentioned that the restaurant can accommodate as many as a party of 60 for lunch, with as little notice as a few hours. “That’s right, call in the morning, and if we can do it, we’ll do it!” says Brown. That’s service.

Betty loves the Firehouse for their willingness to cater to all tastes. If you’ve never been there, you just don’t know what you’re missing. Mmmmmmmmm.