Quiznos Subs is a restaurant chain that has been through some things over the span of its life. The chain saw rapid growth and then a precipitous decline that took the group nearly to extinction. Over the first 20 years of the century, Quiznos grew to 4700 locations and then fell to less than 400 - a swing Restaurant Business magazine called "one of the biggest restaurant chain collapses in industry history."

Now Quiznos is poised for a comeback with a totally different design concept and it's being built out in Michigan.

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Quiznos is focusing not on restaurant locations say in strip malls or stand-alone units with dine-in seating. Rather they are experimenting with a small-box concept that will only offer drive-thru and walk-up service and no dine-in option.

The concept is being called a Qube and they're being constructed by Michigan-based BCubed Manufacturing. Restaurant Business reports the units are

built off-site and shipped fully equipped, pre-wired, pre-plumbed and inspected — with the goal of dramatically reducing the development timeline

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Along with Quiznos, corporate partner DelTaco will also be building out these restaurant-in-a-box designs.

Not only are these prefab buildings made in Michigan, the very first in the nation are set to open in Michigan - and in a surprising location - the remote northeast Michigan city of Alpena.

Or, perhaps, Alpena is not so surprising when you learn that manufacturer BCubed is based there. And you may already be familiar with their work. Have you ever been to a Biggby Coffee drive-thru only location? Those are crafted by BCubed on the same pre-build concept.

Quiznos current Michigan footprint consists of 4 locations in Metro Detroit with the nearest location to West Michigan being in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Quiznos, Taco Del Mar and Biggby Coffee Form a 'Food and Beverage Park'

The forthcoming Alpena Quiznos will be part of what's being called a Food and Beverage Park that includes both a Biggy Coffee and Taco DelMar. Set to be constructed on the site of the former county jail, imagine this cluster of box-sized drive thru restaurants with perhaps some shared outdoor seating to accommodate the walk-up windows. It's an interesting concept - almost a mall food court with drive-thrus.

The BCubed concept and new Quiznos restaurants certainly mark an innovation in the fast food industry and it's been led from Michigan.

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Gallery Credit: Madison Troyer

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