Two restaurants planned for 21st & Maize, both announced last year, finally about to open

Two long-promised restaurants in the busy 21st and Maize road area are finally almost ready to go.

One is Chris Stong’s west-side Jersey Mike’s Subs, which is taking over the space at 2616 N. Maize Road that Five Guys vacated in August 2021 before it moved to 37th and Maize.

Stong, who first announced plans to take over the space a year ago, said he’ll have the restaurant open on Wednesday. It’ll be his third local Jersey Mike’s restaurant.

Several “human errors” caused the west-side restaurant to be delayed, said Stong, who’d planned to have it open by Sept. 28. Now, he said, nothing should prevent him from opening next week.

“This is going to be a really great store for the neighborhood,” he said. “A lot of people are talking about it. We get a lot of people that stop by, and my district manager said yesterday he had 35 or 40 calls from people saying, ‘Are you open yet?’”

The new Jersey Mike’s will have the same hours as Stong’s other two at 2564 N. Greenwich and 1918 N. Rock Road in Derby: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Jersey Mike’s restaurants specialize 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.

Meanwhile, Whitney Reitz is getting much closer to opening her west-side Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, which is taking over the former Applebee’s spot at 10728 W. 21st St. in NewMarket Square. The outside of the building has been painted white, and construction is well underway inside.

Reitz, the Fuzzy’s franchisee who also has restaurants at 306 N. Rock Road and in Braeburn Square at 21st and Oliver, said construction got a bit behind but that she’s hoping to have the restaurant open at the beginning of December. She’s in the process of hiring staff and has been advertising that fact on social media.

She first announced plans to take over the space in July 2021.