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EDWARDSVILLE - It has been a dream for Troy’s Matthew Fox to bring a McAlister’s Deli restaurant to the Edwardsville area. As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, that dream comes true when the doors to the new McAlister’s opens at 312 Great Place Drive just off Illinois Route 157 in Edwardsville.
Friday night, staff members completed a week-long training session and Fox was all smiles with anticipation of Monday. Also Friday, just after dusk, the McAlister’s sign was turned on for the public to see and already people were stopping by to see if they were open.
Fox, who represents four other partners on the project, said their company - Aggressive Developments of Missouri - cannot wait to welcome customers. The restaurant will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday.
“Our focus is family and as a family man myself, I know we understand the importance of fresh quality food for children,” Fox said. “We want fresh options. We make all of our food fresh daily. McAlister’s believes in people and family.
"Our sweet tea is our specialty, along with our handcrafted sandwiches, soups, salads and spuds selections. We have something for everyone. I couldn’t answer what my favorite is because we offer so much. Everybody loves our subs, we have great soup offering and our spuds.”
The first 100 through the door Monday get a free offering of tea for a year, Fox said. He expected people to be lined well past those doors for us to open today.
Fox started his career on the McAlister’s spuds line in 2008 and after his college graduation he moved into the management side. Ten years ago, he moved to Troy with anticipation of being the Edwardsville McAlister’s general manager. He has been affiliated with McAlister’s in development of an array of other restaurants. Fox’s group owns a McAlister’s in Shiloh, which opened 10 years ago and was the first in the Metro East, and also restaurants in Springfield, Fairview Heights, Carbondale, Champaign and Peoria.
Fox’s partners are Chris Weiss, Don Harris, Jason Coulter and Dustin Richardson.
For more information, McAlister’s phone number is (618) 372-9599 or orders can be placed on line with McAlister’s app at McAlistersDeli.com.
