DeKALB -McAlister’s, located at 1602 Sycamore Road, will have regular daily hours from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the week.
For its grand opening, McAlister’s held a variety of events and celebrations including a giveaway and fundraiser. At 1 p.m. Monday, the restaurant held a ribbon cutting ceremony.
McAlister’s held a Free Tea for a Year Giveaway. This giveaway gave one reward voucher to the first 50 customers in line who were over the age of 16. The voucher allows customers to come inside and receive a sweet tea without having to make a purchase.
They are also hosting a Feed the Rivalry School Fundraiser for Sycamore and DeKalb high schools. From Monday through Sunday, the schools will participate in this fundraiser. All the proceeds will go toward improving their food services for schools in the DeKalb-Sycamore area. The school that raises the most money will be awarded a $1000 grand prize.
Stepping into McAlister’s, customers are met with tables and chairs. Booths are located in the middle, and tables with tall stools are located by the windows and wall. When customers enter, they can find the register to the left, at the very end. Once customers have ordered, the employees hand them a plastic card with a number. Customers then place the card in the holder of the table, and the food is brought out to the customer once it is ready.
Melissa Derrickson, the director of Catering and Marketing, gave insight on the business.
“We’re a fast casual chain. We sell sandwiches, salads, soups, sweet tea and cookies. We have other baked dessert goods as well. We are known for our club sandwiches and our sweet tea. Our sweet tea is southern sweet tea so it’s very sweet,” Derrickson said.
McAlister’s prices can range from between $10 to $15 for an entree. McAlister’s is currently fully employed, and NIU students employed.
Derrickson explained how Northern Illinois University influenced their opening.
“We want to be involved as much as possible with NIU. We’ve sponsored the football team, and we intend to sponsor part of the Convocation Center, possibly for women’s basketball. So it was definitely something we took into high consideration before we built the store here,” Derrickson said.
McAlister’s was scheduled to open up in August but experienced delays.
“It was delayed due to some construction issues. When we were remodeling the building, we ran into a few things here and there that were unexpected,” Derrickson said.
Now open, McAlister’s hopes to put out great food and brighten up the DeKalb community.
“Serve up great food that brings people together. We have something for everyone. And we just felt that DeKalb was lacking in that area,” Derrickson said.
McAlister’s also has a wider variety of different foods. Some of those unique options include nachos, stuffed baked potatoes – which they call Spuds – macaroni and cheese and carrot cake. Their most popular item is the McAlister Club.
Rose Hayes, a DeKalb resident, is ecstatic to have McAlister’s open up in the area.
“I have visited the one in Geneva, and I have been waiting and waiting for this one to open. They will be seeing me on a regular basis. Everything here is wonderful, just wonderful, and it has good prices. And here the food is all delicious, everything, the french dip is five star, like a chef made it. And it has such a variety of really different special types of food that’s really nice,” Hayes said.
