(Newswire.net – May 18 2013) Cincinnati, OH – Tom + Chee is well known in the Cincinnati area as the place to go for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. The menu has over 20 sandwiches with the local favorite being the BBQ Bacon which includes Cincinnati’s own Grippos’s potato chips.
“Tom and Chee is a grilled cheese and sandwich shop for the kid at heart” said Trew
Tom + Chee is a family owned business that started in the winter of 2009. Both Corey and Trew emptied out their bank accounts, quit their jobs and bought a tent and griddle. They setup on Cincinnati’s fountain square next to an ice skating rink and within a year they had their first shop. Shortly after that a local mall basically handed them their second shop.
“Sandwich with melted cheese on it, doesn’t get much better than that” said Corey
On May 17th 2013, they were on the show Shark Tank asking for $600,000 in exchange for 10% stake in their restaurant to take the company nationwide. The panel laughed when they asked that much for only 10% as the two proceeded to pitch to the sharks their idea.
It was obvious from the shark’s initial reaction they didn’t believe something like making gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches would be a profitable business.
“The menu looks like crap, the logos are crap, the whole things crap, is crap the brand?” said Kevin O’Leary
The two young entrepreneurs stuck to their guns and talked about how the company now has over 70 employees and their two shop’s last year grossed 1.5 million in sales, which got the whole panels attention. They went on to say that people will wait in a line for over an hour just to have one of their sandwiches. I’ve have personally visited their restaurants and this is not an exaggeration.
In the end, they made a deal with Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban who split the $600,000 evenly for 30% of the company. The process to get the money however is not a quick one. In the show they talked about owning two shops but by the time it aired they had opened three additional shops.
In 2012 Tom and Chee were featured on the TV show Man vs. Food named “Cheesy Goodness”. In the show Adam Richman tried one of their deserts called the “Blueberry Blue” which includes blueberry compote, blue cheese, and lemon mascarpone on a grilled donut.
“OMG, the smell alone is worth the trip to Tom and Chee” said Adam
If all this sounds wonderful and you don’t live in the Cincinnati area, a Tom + Chee might be coming to your location soon.
Tom + Chee Grilled Cheese Restaurant
www.tomandchee.com