Fay’s Finest Foods will sell barbecue today in new pop-up location near Sandwich

If you want to get a head start on your Memorial Day barbecue, Fay’s Finest Foods will be selling its grilled chicken, pork chops and other fare today in the former Heartland Bank on Gletty Road near Sandwich.

Fay’s will be open from 3 to 7 p.m. today in the former bank building at 21 Gletty Road. The grilled onsite catering service also has a pop-up drive-thru in Waterman.

Fay’s had a soft opening at the former bank building on May 16 and will have another soft opening today and a third soft opening on May 30.

Nathan Fay of Fay’s Finest Foods is excited about the new opportunity.

“We’ve been doing a pop-up drive-thru in Waterman,” he said. “We’ve been averaging about 400 meals on a Friday, just in car traffic. The main thing is just to get a drive-thru going. We’re not looking to do dine-in right away. We just want to get the doors open.”

The business has strong ties to Sandwich as it has a longstanding tradition of selling its food at the Sandwich Fair.

Plans are for the restaurant to be open two or three days a week.

The land is not currently within the city limits of Sandwich. At the March 3 Sandwich City Council meeting, City Council members voted to approve an intergovernmental agreement between Sandwich and DeKalb County regarding the former bank building at 21 Gletty Road.

“This resolution authorizes us to have authority over the zoning and building regulations [for the building],” Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham said.

The DeKalb County Board has already approved the agreement. In January, City Council members voted to authorize Latham to execute a pre-annexation agreement with building owner Doug Arneson for the property.

The property is not contiguous with the city.

“And so we can’t do an annexation agreement at this time,” Sandwich city attorney Cassandra Gottchalk said. “We all agree that when it becomes possible, they’re going to come in to the city.”