When a customer came into the Pop’s Italian Beef and Sausage restaurant at 18328 Governors Highway in Homewood and wanted to make a contribution of food to the workers at nearby South Suburban Hospital, franchisee Matt Kahn wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Then fate intervened.
“The next day, an employee from South Suburban called and wanted to make a donation. We figured out that individually bagged meals made to be distributed to workers was the way to go,” he said.
That was the beginning of Kahn’s Feed the Front Line initiative.
Kahn collects donations at the store from friends and family, and he has started an online fundraiser.
“I put the first post on Facebook on April 9 that we were going to do this,” he said. “We made our first delivery on April 10. So far, we have delivered more than 650 meals.
For each $150 raised, Pop’s will deliver 25 meals to either South Suburban, Ingalls or St. James hospitals.
“The bags contain a sandwich, chips, cookies and a pop,” Kahn said. Sandwiches range from Pop’s Italian beef, to chicken to meatball.
More Top Picks Best Soldering Stations For Electronics
Kahn coordinates deliveries of the meals with the hospitals.
“Most are between 11:30 a.m. and noon for lunch,” he said. “But we have delivered at 8 p.m. for the night shift.”
“The amount of gratitude by the healthcare workers has impressed me,” said Kahn, who has owned the Homewood Pop’s location for three years. He bought it from the original franchisee.
Kahn was no stranger to Pop’s when he purchased the restaurant.
“I started working there when I was a 16-year-old at Homewood-Flossmoor High School,” he said. After college, he returned there working full time in 2009.
He said he has thought about opening a second location but isn’t convinced.
“One store is a lot,” he said.
American Sale closes Lansing store, reopens others
Tinley Park-based American Sale closed its Lansing location last month at 16955 S. Torrence Ave.
The location had been slated for closure later in the year, but the pandemic shutdown moved its demise ahead several weeks.
The chain reopened to the public at its other locations recently, when Gov. JB Pritzker lifted some of the shelter in place restrictions. Locally, the company operates stores at 8951 S. Harlem Ave. in Bridgeview and at 16660 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park.
Rooftop Tap owners making a comeback in Palos Park
Frank and Marilyn Costa, of Palos Park, are coming back to resume ownership of the Rooftop Tap at 12231 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights.
The Costas ran the Rooftop Tap from March to November 2017.
In January 2018, Zack Kubiak took over and turned it into Zach’s On Tap. Their lease ran out and the pandemic hit, so Kubiak decided to pull out.
He still runs Zachary’s Grill in town at 13415 S. Ridgeland Ave., which is open from 3-8 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday for carryout orders during the pandemic.
The business was known as Sam Buca’s Italian Restaurant for many years before becoming Rooftop Tap, so named because there’s a separate bar area on the roof of the building.
Beefy’s opens drive-up window
Beefy’s restaurant at 5749 S. Harlem Ave. closed temporarily in mid-March because of the pandemic.
The restaurant is open again and now has a drive-up window in addition to curbside carry outs and delivery.
The restaurant is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Bob Bong is a freelancer. He can be reached at [email protected].