Which Wich celebrates grand opening of its first area location in Loves Park
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
LOVES PARK — A national sandwich chain centered on custom-crafted sandwiches, wraps and salad bowls celebrated the grand opening on Thursday of its first location in the area.
Which Wich has opened inside the Applewood Mobil at 5542 E. Riverside Blvd. It started with a soft opening about a month ago before celebrating its grand opening and ribbon-cutting Thursday with the Parks Chamber of Commerce and local political officials.
More restaurants: New owners plan to reopen shuttered Mi Ranchito restaurant with new name in Rockford
Kelley Williamson Co., a Rockford-based fuel company, is franchising the Which Wich location here. This is the second location it has opened with the first in Pingree Grove off Illinois Route 47.
“We really like the quality of food and the notoriety that it had,” said Stacy Sherman, food service director for Kelley Williamson Co. “We really just wanted to start expanding in our gas stations and offering good, quality food.”
Sherman said you can expect more pairings between Kelley Williamson and Which Wich in the future. The restaurant is expected to be included in future projects coming to the McHenry County area.
There’s no plans in place to add it to other Rockford-area Kelley Williamson Mobil stations, but Sherman didn’t rule that out in the future.
“Who knows? We might put some more in Rockford with the great response that we’ve gotten with this one,” she said. “We really like the brand and what it’s doing for us.”
More restaurants: Smoothie King opens first Rockford franchise, second location coming to Belvidere
Which Wich founder Jeff Sinelli opened the company’s first shop in downtown Dallas in December 2003. It began franchising two years later.
The company has now grown to more than 450 locations in 39 states and 11 countries, according to its website.
Which Wich offers toasted sub sandwiches that are customizable with more than 50 topping options. You can also order straight off the menu of more than 50 sandwiches such as the Gyrowich, PB&Jwich, reuben and Elviswich, which comes with bacon, peanut butter, banana and honey.
“We’ve always wanted to put some sort of food service offering in this location. We thought it was a great place and we had the space for it,” Sherman said. “Once we got on the Which Wich bandwagon it was a no-brainer.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
