Owner Ryan Lackey makes a sandwich as he works with his crew at the Penn Station East Coast Subs restaurant on Highway 153 across from Northgate. Working behind him is Sandy Buttermore.Grilled sandwiches, fresh-cut fries and hand-squeezed lemonade are coming to Broad Street this summer.
Franchisee Ryan Lackey will open a Penn Station East Coast Subs by July in the first floor of Vision Hospitality Group’s new four-story headquarters at 411 Broad St. The restaurant will be the second of five locations Lackey expects to open in the Chattanooga region during the next two years.
He’s already got one restaurant up and running in Hixson, and now thinks he’s found the right place to open another restaurant downtown. Construction on the space will start in the next two weeks.
“The downtown area in Chattanooga is one of the coolest downtown areas I’ve been in,” he said. “Where Vision built their offices, to me that’s the perfect place downtown. You’ve got businesses, you’ve got the aquarium, you’ve got tourists. There’s so much foot traffic.”
Penn Station East Coast Subs features 14 sandwiches ranging from chicken cordon bleu to grilled vegetarian, and most meals cost around $8. Lackey will have room to seat about 55 people inside and another 15 outside in the fast-casual restaurant.