McAlister’s Deli eying plans to occupy former White Castle in DeKalb

DeKALB – The city of DeKalb is getting a McAlister’s Deli to set up shop in the former White Castle restaurant on Sycamore Road.

The new location for the Mississippi-based deli, once construction is completed, is anticipated to open for business tentatively by mid-June.

Melissa Derrickson, the deli’s director of catering and marketing, said she’s excited that people are raving about the deli coming to town.

“There’s a lot of demolition to take place and things to be done to the building before we can get in there, but we have started the construction [and] the demo, but we’re hoping to be open by mid-June,” Derrickson said.

“It’s a fast-casual dining experience where guests will order at the counter, have a seat and then we’ll bring out the food to them. We’re very big on southern hospitality.”

—  Melissa Derrickson

The former White Castle restaurant has sat vacant for several years dating pre-pandemic, project leaders said.

Derrickson said community means everything to McAlister’s.

She said McAlister’s is huge on helping nonprofits to host fundraisers.

“We’d love to be engrained in the community,” Derrickson said. “We really like what DeKalb has to offer. They’ve been very easy to work with. [We’re] just bringing something that we believe that the community does not currently have with regards to sandwiches, soups, salads and spuds.”

At McAlister’s, Derrickson said they tend to be big on their club sandwiches and sweet tea.

“We’re just really hopeful that DeKalb embraces us as much as we are ready to embrace them,” Derrickson said.

One such thing that sets McAllister’s apart from the competition is its ability to cater to a wide audience, she said.

“We have something for vegans, for vegetarians, for gluten-free,” Derrickson said. “We have something to satisfy everybody’s wants and/or need when it comes to food. So we just really want to be that go-to place.”

On top of its dine-in and carryout service, Derrickson said McAlister’s is known for catering.

“We offer full-service catering for as little as five and as many as 900,” she said. “If you order it, we’ll make it.”

McAlister’s plans to keep the prior existing drive-thru window in place for pick-up orders.

“We will be on all third-party [delivery services] such as Grub Hub, Uber Eats, Door Dash,” she said.

Derrickson said the dine-in atmosphere will be similar to what’s experienced at other McAlister’s franchise locations.

“It’s a fast-casual dining experience where guests will order at the counter, have a seat and then we’ll bring out the food to them,” she said. “We’re very big on southern hospitality.”

Once it opens, the deli’s hours of operation will be daily from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.