The sandwich
restaurant specializing in grilled cheese recently purchased the gallery
directly next door, doubling its space.
Matthew Yuhnke
and business partner Mike Kifner, both from Buffalo, chose to buy the space in
Allentown to stay local and stick to the neighborhood that they know.
“I don’t
think we could leave Allentown because to me this is home and the first shop is
always special,” Yuhnke said. “I call it my baby because I really put
everything into it.”
Yuhnke and
Kifner created each sandwich that is on the menu, and they still cook the
sandwiches themselves most days.
“We are
like any neighbor sandwich shop. We know our customers and they know us,”
Yuhnke said. “I know it makes a difference to the customers to see my face, see
Mike’s face, being hands on with the food. They know that we know our stuff and
they love that.”
Once open,
Yuhnke is looking to have between 10 and 12 tables for customers to sit. To go
with the bar atmosphere of Allentown, the restaurant will have high tables and
bar stools as opposed to conventional tables.
“Getting
this space was really through popular demand. We originally wanted to keep it
small but to have a real dining area will take us to the next level,” Yuhnke
said. By Franklin Hagler and Matt
Neidhart
