Cheba Hut reopens following hiatus

in Local News News by kendrastraub — October 15, 2012 at 2:53 pm | no comments

By Kendra Straub

Cheba Hut’s reopening on Oct. 13 was a day full of events including raffles, ranch eating contests and a grand finale of a BMX jump over the Cheba Hut bus and into a pool filled with Kool-Aid.

Cheba Hut is a sub shop with a marijuana theme and a menu including options such as “cotton mouth cures,” “incredible munchies” and “infamous toasted subs.”

Flagstaff is no stranger to Cheba Hut — the store used to be in Flagstaff and recently re-opened. The establishment then faced legal issues and closed. Fatties Sub Shop opened for a brief time, but closed over the summer.

“We heard about bad press before, and the change to Fatties just generated more bad press,” Cheba Hut shift lead Ed Moreno said. “We constantly hear how glad people are to have us back.”

Cheba Hut is the only marijuana-themed sub sandwich franchise, with locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa and Oregon. With the reopening in Flagstaff, there are now a total of 14 establishments.

For the new location in Flagstaff, Tempe manager Mike Lenox was hired to work in the new store. Lenox has been a part of the process of Cheba Hut giving back to the community, such as giving a free four-inch sandwich, known as a “nug,” for $1 if a customer brought in a can of food to donate.

“We were looking to do something for the community and help a non-profit organization,” Lenox said. “All the canned food collected at the reopening we donated to Northern Arizona Food Bank.”

Lenox stated the Cheba Hut franchise is glad to, once again, be a part of the Flagstaff community.

“Some of us grew up with Cheba Hut in our backyards going to school, and it was a staple for some of us through that college experience.” Lenox said.

“We want Cheba Hut to be synonymous with NAU students,” Moreno said. “We want them to experience Cheba Hut as part of their college experience.”