Fratello’s Cafe and Deli is expanding. It’s new shop on Halsted Street will open this week, according to the owners. That doesn’t mean the downtown deli is going away. The new shop is part of an expansion project.
Fratello’s Cafe and Deli in downtown Homewood is not closing.
Marco Caso stand in front
of the signs on their new
cafe and deli on Halsted
Street. (Photo by Eric
Crump/H-F Chronicle)
That’s a message owners Marco Caso and Adrian Martino want to stress as they prepare to open a new deli on Homewood’s east side. News that the partners were opening a deli on Halsted Street led some customers to wonder if their first retail cafe and deli would close.
“We’re definitely not closing that one,” Caso said.
The new shop, which is slated to open this week, is part of the company’s expansion, enabled by the catering business they started first and by the success of their deli at 18201 Dixie Highway, opened in May 2015.
They are also developing a shop near 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park.
The new Homewood shop at 17929 Halsted St. Some may remember it as the former Quizno’s Sub Sandwich location. The new shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
The menu will be the same as at Fratello’s downtown location, with one addition: There will be pizza, Caso said. Otherwise, fans of the cafe’s gourmet coffees, teas, salads and sandwiches will find the same fare at the new shop.
The new shop is smaller inside, with seating for 16 as opposed to 44 at the downtown shop, but there will be outdoor seating under umbrellas for another 16 people during nice weather.
Martino said the new shop will cater to a different market than the downtown deli. Halsted Street draws shoppers and travelers from a broad area.
“The visibility on Halsted is priceless,” he said.
He also cited workers along the busy retail corridor as potential customers, noting that people often don’t have time during lunch breaks to head downtown. Now, he said, they will have another handy option for lunch.
Martino said the partners are excited to have a second location in Homewood.
“Homewood has been very good to us,” he said. “It’s family oriented, business friendly. We’ve gotten great support from the village and our customers.”