Before Wichita had Subway, Sub & Stuff and its cheese fries ruled

Back in 1978 — more than a decade before the first Subway would open in Wichita — a restaurant called Sub & Stuff opened at 2047 W. 21st St.

Started in Hutchinson the year before by Louis Stoico, the restaurant chain served cold sub sandwiches and hot Philly cheese steaks, and it also offered cheese fries. These fries are now the stuff of Wichitan Matt Orsman’s nostalgic dreams.

He wrote to me recently wondering if I knew what kind of seasoning the restaurant used on its fries when it operated in Wichita from 1978 until through the late 1990s.

“They were highly addictive and so tasty,” he said. “They were unlike any other fries at the time. When they first came out, french fries in general had one seasoning: salt. But Stoico did something special with them. It was something more. Now in an industry that has many different flavors of fries, it’s still something special and as of yet unmatched.”

I didn’t arrive in Wichita until 1998, and I never had the pleasure of dining at Sub & Stuff, which at one time had as many as 10 Wichita locations and two in Hutchinson. But I did tell Orsman I’d ask readers if they had any clue about the magic seasoning.

And of course, as I’m apt to do, as I wrote this story I got sucked into the history of Sub & Stuff, a restaurant I’ve heard mentioned time and again when I ask readers to nominate their favorite eateries from the past.

Stoico, a transplant from Boston, started Sub & Stuff in Hutchinson in 1977, having sold a tortilla factory he founded in the early 1970s. Hutchinson native Gary Poulton (who later founded Hog Wild Pit Bar-B-Q) was his partner and executive vice president.

Stoico told The Wichita Eagle that he’d been inspired by sub shops he’d gone to growing up on the East Coast. Kansans were ready for an alternative to burgers and pizza, he said, though he discovered that Midwesterners couldn’t handle the hard French-loaf bread East Coasters liked. He contracted to have a softer, lighter bread roll made, and Kansans loved it.

The chain expanded into Wichita and quickly grew. The 21st and Amidon original was followed by stores at 1200 S. Rock Road, 2610 S. Seneca, 738 N. Waco, 2809 E. Douglas, 240 S. West St., 33020 N. Rock Road and 2120 N. Woodlawn in Brittany Center. Sub & Stuff franchise stores also operated in Derby, Dodge City, Topeka, Salina, Lawrence, Manhattan and Kansas City as well as in Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas.

When Towne East Square added its main food court in 1987, Sub & Stuff took one of the spots.

When Sub & Stuff first arrived in Wichita, its main competition was The Grinder Man, Stoico told The Eagle. At the time, there were four Grinder Man stores in Wichita. (There’s now just one: at 510 E. Pawnee.)

Orsman said he and his wife had their first kiss over a plate of those magical cheese fries and that his children grew up hearing his parents talk about how amazing they were. He wants them to experience the flavor at least once.

He’s tried everything he can think of to replicate it, including seasonings like Old Bay and Cavendar’s, but it’s never quite right.

“Of course, it’s been 20 years since they closed,” he said. “I’m afraid the flavor is lost to memory.”

The end of a sub era

Over the 20 years it operated in Wichita, Sub & Stuff left its mark. People still remember the crazy television commercials for the shop, in which Stoico himself starred. In 1993, Wichita Eagle columnist Bob Getz bestowed upon the chain one of his symbolic “Anchovy Awards” for making “the campiest, worst-acted commercials to hit Kansas since the Great Garage Sales of America commercials of yore.”

Stoico moved the chain’s offices to Wichita in 1991, the same year he invented another restaurant concept: Spaghetti Jack’s, a quick-service Italian restaurant that served pasta dishes and salads.

Subway arrived in Wichita in 1989, and by 1994, Wichita Eagle food columnist Diane Lewis declared that Subway was “in” and Sub & Stuff was “out.” Even more competition arrived over the years in the form of chains like Blimpie and Quiznos, and in 1988, Stoico Restaurant Group declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing assets of $100,000 and liabilities of $1.3 million.

That same year, Quiznos bought the remaining Sub & Stuff sandwich shops.

“It’s been a good 21 years,” Stoico told the Eagle at the time. “I’ve enjoyed building the company. We’ve had our ups and downs. I would’ve liked to end on a higher note. Whatever will be will be.”

Stoico would go on in 1999 to open a restaurant called Louie’s, serving frozen custard and Philly cheese steak sandwiches, but it closed after three months. The last Spaghetti Jack’s restaurant in Wichita, at 47th and Broadway, lasted until the early 2000s.

Former fans of Sub & Stuff still talk about it to this day on Facebook memory pages, where they repeatedly ask for tips on finding cheese fries as good as the chain once served. They also talk about its sweet tea, its ham and cheese subs, its pasta salad and its honey mustard sauce, perfect for dipping fries.

There’s even a Facebook page floating around called Bring Sub N Stuff back. It was created in 2010, and people still occasionally post on it.

Orsman isn’t demanding a return of Sub & Stuff, although he’d no doubt welcome it. He just wants to know what was on those fries.

If anyone out there can help, shoot me an email at dneil@wichitaeagle.com. I’ll keep you posted.