This popular sandwich franchise could open a new restaurant in Belleville

Warm cheese curds anyone?

The Wisconsin-based sandwich empire Cousin Subs could open a new franchise location in Belleville next year, the company confirmed Tuesday. Plans for the restaurant are tentative and the company is still “eyeing out” the area.

Earlier this year, Cousins Subs Vice President of Development Joe Ferguson announced the company’s plans to move into Illinois.

The company is known for its grilled meat sub sandwiches, salad, soup and cheese curds.

“We are extremely excited about Illinois,” Ferguson said in a statement released Aug. 7. “There are so many markets in the state that are perfectly primed for our opportunity. We’ve seen just how successful our restaurants are in neighboring markets, and we’ve seen consumer demand for Cousins Subs creep from those markets into Illinois. Now we’re going to fulfill that demand.”

Cousins recently announced a 40-unit deal in the Chicago area with plans to open in the St. Louis market sometime in 2019 with a possible 18 locations to follow.

The franchise has 100 locations in Wisconsin.

Cousins Subs would just be the latest new restaurant to open in the metro-east. These eight places will open within the next year, and you’ll also be able to try 17 different flavors of pancakes at a restaurant opening soon in west Belleville.

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 5:00 AM.