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Chuck Brezina usually keeps Subito closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The owner and executive chef of the lunchtime soup-and-sandwich joint at 34 N. Delaware St. in downtown Indianapolis usually finds the foot traffic is too light when the City-County Building across the street is closed for the holiday.
But this year, Brezina had a hunch that his eatery’s recent appearance on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” might drum up some interest.
Brezina’s hunch was right.
“We only get one shot the Monday after the show airs. We had people driving from Cincinnati who stopped in, people coming from Carmel, from Westfield, Fishers because they’d seen the show,” said Brezina. “It absolutely made a difference.”
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Chuck and his wife, Meganne Brezina, said they were pleased with their TV debut, which aired Jan. 17 in an episode titled “Sandwich Smorgasbord.” During the episode, Chuck walked Fieri through how he makes the Revelo—Subito’s best-selling sandwich featuring marinated pork, cilantro, garlic mayo and Swiss cheese on sourdough—and the shop’s beef brisket dip.
“Somehow they made me look great. I had concerns I was going to look like a fool, which is fine. But I was happy I smiled in a couple scenes. I remember it being extremely stressful,” Brezina said of the filming, which took place in February 2024 when Fieri was in town for the NBA All-Star Game.
For Meganne Brezina, the stressful part came before filming when she spent Christmas Eve in 2023 making a PowerPoint to convince the show’s producers to feature Subito. She added Fieri was fun to work with and seemed to “get” Subito’s mission of making its food from scratch and creating a great customer experience.
“Guy Fieri really understood what we were trying to do here as a business and a restaurant,” Meganne said.
Subito’s appearance on “DDD” grabs attention, but behind the scenes the downtown mainstay is making moves. Last summer, the Brezinas opened a new location in the 16 Tech Innovation District, which Chuck says he’s cautiously optimistic about as more large organizations are scheduled to set up shop in the district soon.
More recently in December, Subito finished renovating its Delaware Street location to add 1,100 square feet of space along with in-store seating for around 25 customers. Chuck Brezina said the larger dining room is symbolic of the progress he and Meganne have made since they started Subito in a 750-square-foot space on Virginia Avenue back in 2015.
And now that the Brezinas have hosted Fieri and Co. once on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Drives,” their new goal is to get him to come back.
“We would love for him to come back and see the expansion,” Meganne Brizena said.
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Had it today for lunch (not for the first time)! Great food and good to see their continued success!