West Wichita must keep waiting for this popular sandwich shop. Derby’s up next
His plan all along had been to open his second Jersey Mike’s restaurant on Wichita’s west side.
But for a variety of reasons, Chris Stong — who opened Wichita’s first Jersey Mike’s at 2564 N. Greenwich in March of last year— has had trouble finding a spot in the 21st and Maize area, where he really wants to be.
He hasn’t given up, he said, but in the meantime, he’s going ahead with plans for a second restaurant somewhere else. Stong said he’s signed a lease on a space at Derby Marketplace in Derby, 1918 N. Rock Road, and his hope is to have it up and running sometime this summer.
“I know Wichita is an east-west town, and we tried and tried to get a west side location for the second location for parity and balance, and we just couldn’t get one,” he said. “But Derby’s awesome. Everyone that wants to go east and west wants to go to Derby. It popped up, and we took it.”
Stong is taking over the space in Derby Marketplace that was previously occupied by Eyewear Junkie, which now operates at 2307 N. Rock Road in Derby. The new Jersey Mike’s space is right next door to Eric Fisher Salon.
Jersey Mike’s, which has more than 2,000 restaurants open and under development across the United States, specializes in hot subs, cold subs and wraps served on freshly baked bread. The New Jersey-based chain is known for a topping called “the juice,” which is a zingy mixture of olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Though Stong said he’s excited about the Derby restaurant, he urges west-side sub fans not to lose hope.
“We will have a west side location,” he said.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 11:18 AM.
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