Sub Dock Owners Retiring: 'I'm Tired, My Body Is Not The Same Anymore'

JOLIET, IL — Many fast-food restaurants don't survive very long without a drive-thru window, but the Joliet Sub Dock has beaten the odds for years. As many Joliet area residents know, Sub Dock has thrived since Pete Dedetsinas opened his restaurant at 923 West Jefferson St. in 1984.

After 38 years of running Sub Dock, Dedetsinas practically knows what many of his customers are going to order the second he makes eye contact with them as they step inside Sub Dock.

His wife, Nanci, is also a steady force. She's worked at Sub Dock since 1990.

Last week, the owners of Sub Dock announced they are putting Sub Dock up for sale. Brian Bessler and Maribel Martinez of Joliet's Karges Real Estate are asking for $374,900.

"We're a family owned business," Pete Dedetsinas told Patch. "Being here since 1984, the customers were family. They weren't even customers. It was just more than a business. This is my home and everyone who walks through the door is my family.

"It's time now to slow down and spend a little time with the grandkids. I'm tired. My body is not the same anymore."

Sub Dock is known around Joliet for having one of the best gyros around, and its sign along West Jefferson Street lets motorists know this is "Home of the Gyros."

During this week's interview, Joliet Patch asked Pete Dedetsinas about the key to Sub Dock's success over the past 38 years. After all, there are dozens of fast-food restaurants along Jefferson Street and Larkin Avenue, and yet Sub Dock always looks busy.

"You've got to invest time in the place, you have to be here," Pete Dedetinas remarked.

Patch asked Nanci Dedetsinas to name a few of Sub Dock's most popular menu selections.

"Poor boy, gyros, Italian beef. Our salmon healthy choice dishes are really popular," she said.

This summer, Sub Dock is open Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The owners will keep their restaurant open even as they try to sell it.

Pete and Nanci Dedetsinas have lots of fond memories of their 32 years working together at Sub Dock.

"I met my wife here," he said. "I came here a young man and became a man here. We love Joliet. It's been my home many years. It's home. It's home."

What else does Pete Dedetsinas have to say about his 38 years operating Sub Dock?

"You appreciate the customers. You can't thank people enough. It's something that lives in your heart forever."

Given that the owners of Sub Dock just put their property up for sale, it's anyone guess how long it will take before a new owner is found.

"It's all in God's hands," Pete Dedetsinas said. "We trust the Lord in wherever he takes us."

At this week's interview, Joliet Patch got to meet two of Sub Dock's most faithful long-time customers, twin brothers Mike and Dean Scaropoulos.

"We come here five days a week," the twins remarked. "Pete and Nanci, they're the best. They're very special people."

The brothers order the salmon salad twice a week. Other days, they like to get tilapia with broccoli and rice or the chicken breast salad.

"And they're very healthy," Dean Scaropoulos stressed. "Our doctor tells us whatever we're doing, keep it up."

Joliet, like most mid-sized cities across America, has more than its share of national fast-food chains including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, Taco Bell, Culver's and Dairy Queen.

But the owners of Sub Dock never chose to turn their fast-food restaurant into a chain.

For them, running the one Joliet Sub Dock was more than enough to handle.

Pete Dedetsinas told Patch that a quote from the late Texas billionaire Ross Perot always stuck with him.

"Ross Perot said just because you can run a mom-and-pop store doesn't mean you can run Walmart."