Tamaqua is set to welcome a new highly anticipated restaurant in the coming months.

Savas Logothetides, owner of The Wheel in Pottsville, will open a second location on East Broad Street in May.

“This was a vacant lot that was burned down in the ’80s, I’m not exactly sure what year,” said Logothetides. “We looked at about seven properties when I first came here last year. We did our research and we realized that the vacant lot was actually part of this parcel. I thought we could build it and that it would be a perfect setup to create an area for an outdoor patio.”

The outdoor section on East Broad will seat between 20-25 patrons and connects to a brand-new building addition, which can be accessed through the beautiful Anderson sliding doors. The new addition space can seat about 30 people and will also be available to rent for private functions, equipped with televisions and surround sound.

The main pre-existing part of The Wheel features a full bar that seats 10, with an eating section that seats about 34 in all. The venue has sleek hardwood floors and walls that feature a vintage brick appeal. In fact, Logothetides is working with the Tamaqua Historical Society and a few local residents to decorate and put different Tamaqua artifacts on display.

“It will almost have a historical wall with the history of Tamaqua. We’ll actually have a lot of pictures of Tamaqua that we will blow up into 3-foot-by-3-foot decals and we’ll put them along the top,” Logothetides said. “The inside is basically going to have the same premise as the Pottsville location. We have really big windows in the front that look onto Market Street (in Pottsville). What we did, is we elevated the area almost into a stage to have people actually sitting in the window, and we’ve done the same thing here in Tamaqua.”

Time to dive into the important part - the menu. The Wheel is much more than a typical grilled-cheese sandwich, it is a “build your own” concept.

“We have 75 or 80 ingredients; different breads, cheeses, proteins, toppings, sauces and you go through and create your own grilled cheese. We have Kowalonek’s Kielbasy and Mrs. T’s Pierogies. We make our own soups and have locally made desserts. It’s a really nice menu that emphasizes those locally sourced ingredients we pride ourselves on. You’ll see a lot of things from the Tamaqua area ending up on our menu. Grilled cheese is a universal appeal for the most part. When you start to add in vegan cheese, gluten-free or keto-free bread, it really becomes universally appealing for people.”

Logothetides will aim to hire 25 new employees for the new Tamaqua site. The Wheel will host a few soft opening during the first week of May and will be open to the public by the middle of the month. There will be a joint ribbon cutting between the Schuylkill and Tamaqua chambers on May 20. Logothetides’sPottsville location has been successfully feeding Schuylkill County since September 2016.

“We’re super excited to get open,” Logothetides said. “I know that the process has been longer than anyone anticipated - including myself. I can say that it’s been great working with the borough of Tamaqua and the leadership of Tamaqua. Any time I needed assistance or help, they were there to really direct me and make sure that I got what I needed to keep this project going. There’s nobody happier than me to say to you that we’re opening in May.”