A Galesburg institution known for its loose-meat sandwiches has a new name and a new owner, but the same U-shaped counter, the same recipes, and mostly the same faces behind it — right where it’s always been, on Grand Avenue on the southeast side of town.
The restaurant long known as Maid-Rite closed for the final time Saturday, July 25, 2026, after Becky Willer’s family ran it for 49 years. It reopened Tuesday, July 28, under new owner Chery Lundeen, a longtime employee, with a new name: Red’s Sandwich Shop.
What’s changing, and what isn’t
- New name: Red’s Sandwich Shop, no longer a Maid-Rite franchise location
- Same recipes: chili, potato salad, coleslaw and the signature loose-meat sandwich, unchanged
- Same hours: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday
- Same building, same U-shaped counter, at 2250 Grand Ave.
- New menu name for the signature sandwich: “MADE RT,” since the restaurant is no longer part of the Maid-Rite franchise
The restaurant’s history in Galesburg dates back decades. It originally opened in the early 1940s at the corner of Knox Street and Grand Avenue under the name Rocky’s Maid-Rite, before moving to its current location at 2250 Grand Ave. in 1959. Willer’s parents, Marilyn and Bill Welch, bought the business in 1977. Willer started working there at 17 and went on to run it for most of her adult life.
A subtle handoff that didn’t stay subtle
Willer and Lundeen said they had hoped to keep the ownership change low-key. That plan didn’t survive contact with Facebook.
Word got out the week of the transition, and business picked up sharply — Willer and Lundeen described it as a record week, with customers streaming in once people realized change was coming.
“For a lot of our customers, I think it’s like going back in time. Nothing has basically changed,” Willer said.
Willer said the restaurant has “a ton of regulars, which we are so thankful for” — regulars she can often identify by their usual order and their preferred spot around the counter. The most common toppings on the loose-meat sandwiches are mustard, pickle and onion, though ketchup requests aren’t unheard of.
A recipe that hasn’t really changed
Willer said the restaurant’s signature recipe has shifted only in small, unnoticeable ways over the years — nothing a longtime customer would ever pick up on. The same recipe used last week will be the same one used going forward under Lundeen.
Prices have climbed, but modestly, over Willer’s tenure. She said a Maid-Rite sandwich cost about $1.25 when she started; today it’s $3.25.
Lundeen has her own history with the restaurant, having worked there off and on since 1978. According to Willer, Lundeen had hoped to take over the business herself years earlier, but a prior attempt didn’t work out.
What’s next
Both women said the changes customers will notice should be minimal. The Green River soda — a lime-flavored fountain drink Willer’s mother started serving in 1977, remembering it from her own youth — isn’t going anywhere either. The potato salad isn’t changing. The same recipes, in Lundeen’s words as relayed by Willer, will keep “rolling” much as they always have.
Asked why she stayed in the same business for so long, Willer had a simple answer.
“It’s been a pretty good gig,” Willer said. “We have a lot of fun with our customers.”
