An owner of the local franchise for Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, which opened in January in Southside near Tinseltown, said a lease has been signed for a Mandarin store, which will be the second of the six Duval County restaurants planned by franchise owners Jean, Mark and Brian Volk.
Jean Volk said Monday the Mandarin location is at the former Firehouse Subs along San Jose Boulevard. Firehouse Subs moved from that location, its first, to a larger restaurant nearby.
The Volks — Jean and her husband, Mark, and their son, Brian — opened their first store at 4352 Southside Blvd., No. 4. Jean Volk said the second should open this summer.
The Volks also plan to set up shop in the Riverside/Downtown area. Other potential sites include the St. Johns Town Center area, the Beaches, River City Marketplace in North Jacksonville and the Atlantic and Kernan boulevards area.
Patrons choose a brown sandwich bag and mark their orders with a Sharpie, specifying the ingredients they want. Customers can choose from more than 50 varieties of customized sandwiches. The sandwich is delivered in the bag.
Customers can choose a main ingredient among meats, fish, vegetarian, breakfast and other options. They then specify a choice of bread, sandwich size and toppings, such as cheese, spreads and sauces, mustards, mayos, dressings, onions, veggies and more, and oils and spices.
Customers put their names on the front and can decorate the back of the bag so they can watch it move down the preparation line.
The Which Wich chain is based in Dallas. The Volks moved in June from Tennessee to Jacksonville to start the local franchise. Their son, a recent college graduate, moved here to join them.
As reported in October, the build-out for the 1,500-square-foot shop in Southside was shown on a building permit application as $125,000. Three wall signs were put up at a cost of $2,400.
Firehouse Subs moved from the first San Jose Boulevard store to 9825 San Jose Blvd., the former site of a Woody's Bar-B-Q.