Grilled cheese chain Tom Chee set to open in Carrboro

By Mengqi Jiang | Published 10/14/14 12:45am

A restaurant specializing in the classic comfort food pairing of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup will soon be coming to downtown Carrboro.

Tom+Chee, which originated in Cincinnati, is set to make Carrboro its first restaurant location in North Carolina. Trew Quackenbush, co-founder of the restaurant chain, said it will likely open in early 2015.

Executives at Tom+Chee decided early this year to make Carrboro one of the companys next locations for expansion, said Laurie Paolicelli, director of the Chapel Hill and Orange County Visitors Bureau.

The Carrboro location will be one of 13 new restaurants the chain plans to open nationally in spring 2015, she said.

Quackenbush said that the restaurant is currently under construction at Carrboros 370 E. Main St.

Tom+Chee already has other locations near universities, including the University of Louisville and Michigan State University, he said.

Quackenbush said he thinks being close to universities attracts more business to the restaurant.

Because there is a college, many people from outside of the state or other places in the state are going to come there and see that college and see Tom+Chee, he said. There are several college towns lined up.

Tom+Chee will also open restaurants near Ohio State University and the University of Michigan around the same time it launches its Carrboro location, Quackenbush said.

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Grilled cheese chain Tom Chee set to open in Carrboro