Kolbie PetersonThe future of a long-standing Salt Lake City sandwich shop is uncertain, according to an Instagram post from the business.
“Welcome to the craziest year we have ever known,” said the post from Gaetano’s Sub Shop. The post added that Gaetano’s Murray location is now closed, and the Salt Lake City location at 1618 S. State St. is up for sale.
Gaetano’s owner Curtis deLagerheim clarified Thursday that the Salt Lake City location has been for sale for about six months but hasn’t had a buyer.
Now that the Murray shop is closed, deLagerheim said they are deciding whether they are going to try to save the struggling Salt Lake City location or sell it.
DeLagerheim said the change is “a testament to maybe growing a little too fast and having to come back and recalibrate and rethink about what you want to do in Salt Lake.”
He said the plight of Gaetano’s is related to the economy and lack of foot traffic, as well as “just the atmosphere of Salt Lake at this time.”
“There’s really a lot of competition, a lot of corporate stuff coming in. ... It’s just an interesting time to be in business,” he said.
Gaetano’s first opened in 1973 as Grinders 13, the first sub shop in Salt Lake City, deLagerheim said.
It was started by a couple who came to Utah from New Hampshire for the skiing but decided to stay and open a sandwich shop, he said. The couple named it Grinders 13 after the New Hampshire word for a sub or hoagie.
Grinders 13 grew to have several locations in the Salt Lake Valley, including one on North Temple that is now Red Iguana, deLagerheim said.
He worked at Grinders 13 in the ’90s, and he purchased the business in 2010. In 2021, he bought the building that housed the Grinders 13 location across the street from South High School (now Salt Lake Community College‘s South City Campus) and changed the name to Gaetano’s.
Gaetano was deLagerheim’s grandmother’s maiden name. He said she was someone who “took great delight, as do I, with feeding people and making people happy.”
DeLagerheim’s sandwich shop has about 30 sandwiches on its menu, including hot, cold and vegetarian options.
He said Gaetano’s is well known for its steak sandwich, which comes with peppers, onions, mushrooms, chipotle aioli, hot peppers and provolone.
Kolbie Peterson reports on food, drink and small business for The Salt Lake Tribune and also writes the Utah Eats newsletter. She previously covered breaking news, crime and public safety as part of The Tribune's enterprise team. She received her bachelor's degree at Westminster University, back when it was Westminster College. She has five cats.