An Ellicott City native is opening a fast-casual sandwich shop in his hometown.
Kevin Curley will open RegionAle, a restaurant centered on classic American sandwiches and beer, on Monday.
The shop at 5705 Richards Valley Road will serve classic sandwiches from across the country, including the Florida Cubano, Indiana pork tenderloin and, of course, Maryland crab cake. Vegetarian options include the New York beet pastrami, Philly mushroom cheesesteak and Tennessee pulled squash.
Sandwiches range from $8 to $12, with an added side, pickle and draft beer for an extra $5. As the name suggests, RegionAle will serve beers that correspond with the origins of each sandwich. However, the restaurant is waiting for its liquor license to be approved before it can serve beer and wine.
Curley most recently served as chef de cuisine at Le Cafe Cent-Dix in Ithaca, N.Y. He attended Cornell University and the Culinary Institute of America, and worked under chef Cindy Wolf at Charleston in Baltimore.
At Cornell, Curley studied the fast-casual restaurant phenomenon and thought about opening his own.
"Americans seem to want their food a little faster these days, but I think you can still make pretty excellent food that can come out pretty fast," Curley said.
He wanted to create a fresh concept that could rival Shake Shack.
"Everyone loves a sandwich, so I thought that would be a good idea," he said. "Nationwide, there's not really a great sandwich chain like Shake Shack. That's sort of where the idea sprung from."
Curley looked to the sandwiches for which each state is known — and spent time traveling the country to test them out — to craft his menu. He ultimately pared it down to 13 sandwiches.
"I didn't want to have too too many sandwiches," he said. "I want to keep it super fresh."
He hopes to offer one or two seasonally rotating sandwiches, like Maine lobster rolls in the summer.
RegionAle will also serve salads and soups.
The restaurant will be open Sundays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.