The Firehouse KitchenPrescott, Arizona's Comfort FoodDestinationYou don't have to work too hard with comfort food. We all innately understand and appreciate comfort food - however you may define the term. The Firehouse Kitchen restaurant understands too. Just 2 blocks west of the Courthouse square, adjacent to the southeast 
corner of the downtown parking garage, the Firehouse Kitchen is easy to
get to - and easy to like. We stopped into the Firehouse Annex for drinks and appetizers - then headed downstairs for dinner. The restaurant has about 14 tables or so, lots of light makes its way into the space through the big street side windows, beverage poster art graces the walls. This is a perfectly comfortable place to have a casual meal - with or without the kids. Leah, our server, greeted us and showed us to our table next to a window. I ordered an iced tea and we got down to the serious business of perusing The Firehouse Kitchen's extensive comfort food menu. There is BBQ, Pot Roast, Beef Stroganoff, Meat Loaf, steaks, Mac & Cheese, Lasagna, salads, soups - you get the idea. If it's comfort food you want the Firehouse Kitchen has it. I ordered Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($17) and a cup of soup (included with the meal, $4.00 al a carte), my wife ordered a rack of BBQ ribs ($26). We also ordered a fried calamari appetizer ($7). While we waited for our order Leah brought my Iced tea and a basket of popovers. The tea was fresh and very good. Neither of us were impressed with the popovers, although it is my understanding that they are a crowd favorite, we thought they were lacking in any distinctive flavor - kind of a why bother thing. The Calamari was different than any I have had before. Calamari steak was cut into strips, lightly battered, seasoned and fried. Served with 3 dipping sauces it was Very good.  The owner,
Sheryl Strong, stopped by our (and everybody else's) table -
always a nice gesture that we appreciate.Our orders came and I gotta say they were almost intimidating! The portions at the Firehouse Kitchen are huge! Well, I can live with that! First a word about the sides - the "smashers" - smashed potatoes are great. Fresh, obviously homemade - really good. The grilled veggies get a big thumbs up too, zucchini, mushrooms, string beans, carrots - all grilled to perfection. The baked beans that came with the ribs were the only ordinary side we got. Can't win them all. The coleslaw was fine but very, very lightly dressed - pretty good though. The pan fried chicken was very good - very tender, not greasy at all - maybe could have used a bit more seasoning - but a shot of salt cured that - overall very good. Ribs are one of our favorites and, like everyone else, we have our likes and dislikes. The Firehouse Kitchen makes pretty good BBQ, if our ribs are any indication. The ribs were done perfectly, the meat pulled easily off the bone without falling off. The sauce was little sweeter than my wife likes, but I thought it was fine. There wasn't a lot of discernible smoke flavor. We both thought that there was a little too much salt, perhaps in the rub, than we would have liked - but it wasn't overpowering. Overall the ribs were good. A word about prices is probably in order here. I would guess that the average guy that goes out for comfort food is not expecting to pay $17.00 for a 1/2 fried chicken. The Firehouse Kitchen is pricey for comfort food - but the sides are generally outstanding and the portions are worthy of at least 2 meals - so perhaps it all works out. The restaurant can handle parties of 10 or so fairly comfortably.  There is a $3.00 per plate charge to split a plate. There is a an 18% gratuity added to parties of 8 or more and a 20% gratuity is added to parties that request separate checks. There is also a full lunch menu and a $7.00 lunch menu that includes chili and BBQ brisket - I'll try that one for sure! Nice place for a casual lunch or dinner, smaller groups. Good food, good service and a good time.
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