Subs and salads? Sure. Subs and pasta? Seen it many times. Subs and sushi? Never—until now.
Four years ago, a sign for Toasty Subs went up in the former Quiznos location at 3001 S. Big Bend in Maplewood. A year later, when a For Lease sign appeared in the window, 40 South News reported “Toasty Subs…never opened and never will.”
Never say never, especially in the restaurant business. The same sign reappeared on the same building 45 days ago, followed by Opening Soon and We're Hiring signs.
Now, owner Alex Liu says Toasty Subs will happen. It was Liu who owned the Quiznos franchise there from 2001 to 2004, but sold it when he and his wife, Lily, welcomed a child. And it was Liu who reacquired the space in 2013, intending to reopen it as Toasty Subs. But after his wife had a serious health scare, he abandoned the project.
Fast-forward to 2017. His wife is fine, and the couple plans to open the doors later this month. Liu says he’s always liked the 50-seat building and the site, which boasts a patio and, more importantly, a drive-thru.
Sub sandwiches will be offered in three sizes (4.5 inches, 8 inches, and 12 inches), cooked in a top-of-the-line Turbo Chef sandwich oven that Liu recently purchased. In the sandwich business, quality, consistency, and speed are paramount, and the Turbo Chef can cook a sub perfectly in about a minute, he says.
Lily runs Sushi Kitchen, a 7-year-old catering business with clients ranging from BJC to the St. Louis Cardinals. She will also work full-time at Toasty Subs and plans to roll out the sushi menu (rolls, nigiri, sashimi) in a month or two, once the sandwich business is established.
It's the novelty of subs and sushi together under one roof that appeals to the Lius—and it’s anybody’s guess which is easier to eat on the go.
