Ryan Joseph Hopgood, Keun Anderson, and Reuben Skahill of Clique HQ.
You won’t see a door with a peephole that opens so you can say, “G Reub sent me,” but Clique HQ, a “sandwich speakeasy,” is slated to open in January in a brick-and-mortar building, where members of the Memphis Sandwich Clique Facebook group can order sandwiches.
So, all you have to do is join Memphis Sandwich Clique and you can order one of the sammies.
“We’ve got one of the best chefs in town doing our menu,” says Reuben “G Reub” Skahill. “We’re going to create sandwiches and wings and egg rolls.”
Skahill, Ryan Joseph Hopgood, and chef Keun Anderson are the the guys behind the project.
“It’s a to-go place where you get served in your car by me with a briefcase with your food in it,” Skahill says. “I’ll come to your car.”
And, he says, it’s going to be “a very exclusive place.”
They’re using a Mafia theme, he says. “You know how the Mafia uses delis as fronts for their businesses? We’re using the Mafia as a front for our business.”
Describing the “Don Sandwich,” one of the menu items, Skahill says, “It’s turkey, slaw, honey mustard, and pepper jack cheese on a toasted Gambino (bakery) roll.”
Updates, photos, and videos will be posted on Memphis Sandwich Clique, which Skahill says, “highlights the brightest sandwiches and sandwich minds in the city. And possibly the world.”
Also, he says, updates will be posted “by word of mouth.”
And, Skahill says, “We will post pics of actual sandwiches you can order on Memphis Sandwich Clique and Shook Memphis (local Memphis products blog) social media.”
They’re already working on the menu, Skahill says. “We have our sandwiches on paper and we’re making those sandwiches today.”
Skahill doesn’t want to say much right now. “I want it to have an air of mystery.”
But, he says, “We’re legal and licensed to sell these sandwiches.”
As for the official opening date, Skahill says, “We don’t have a set date. We might change the menu a couple of times.”
Where is it going to be? “There are those that say that it’s located at 813 Ridge Lake Blvd., but nobody alive can confirm or deny it.”
Skahill is “super excited” about the new restaurant. “This is actually an opportunity for us to legitimately change the city’s landscape on sandwiches.”
As of right now, Skahill, Hopgood, and Anderson aren’t wearing pinstripe suits. “If you have a vest or a fedora I could borrow, I could use it,” Skahill says. “But I do have a briefcase with a combination lock on it for unmarked bills or sandwiches.”
Skahill, a rapper, says “G Reub” is short for his rapper name “Gangsta Reuben.”
And, he says, “If you listen closely to the streets, you might hear the Clique anthem coming out soon.”
Stay tuned.
Wings from Clique HQ.