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3 high school friends expand Gateway Subs to Ellenton

By Jason Wright
Published  June 21, 2025 3:08pm EDT
Manatee County
FOX 13 News
Gateway Subs Ellenton grand opening on Saturday

Gateway Subs Ellenton grand opening on Saturday

FOX 13's Jason Wright shares the story of three high school friends and their mission to help feed young athletes across the area.

The Brief

    • Three friends from high school opened a sandwich business in St. Petersburg in 2021.
    • The success of the first restaurant led to the opening of five others across Tampa Bay.
    • The owners give back to the community with a summer meals program for local schools and Feeding Tampa Bay.

ELLENTON, Fla. - Several high school friends had a dream of subway sandwiches with a creative flair.

The franchise places offered basics, but no personality, so rather than fall into the same mold, Grant Strayer, Brandon Ruditz and Morgan Zook started their own restaurant and Gateway Subs was born.

The backstory:

That was in 2021. Since then, they have expanded and are opening their 6th location in Ellenton this weekend.

Their growth isn’t just about expanding into different cities, it’s about reaching more people.

"We love to get involved with the community, feeding local youth athletes," said Morgan Zook, one of the owners.

As a former athlete in school, he recalled how he and the team were always hungry. Food was the fuel for the fun they would have on the basketball court.

What they're saying:

"If you’re going to play well, you gotta have a good meal before the game," admitted Zook, "A lot of these schools in the area don’t have the resources, the funding to supply the pregame meal, so we want to bridge that gap."

Gateway Subs has partnered with high schools in St. Petersburg and with Feeding Tampa Bay to get meals for student athletes and those in need.

In the summer, youth athletic programs still do workouts and conditioning, but with school closed for the summer, the food resources aren’t always there.

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"Our mission over summer, when kids aren’t in school, we want to feed them, especially around sports," said Zook, "The purpose of the community involvement is dealing with connection."

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The giving isn’t about creating a fan base or even promoting a cause, it’s about serving their community.

Zook described it this way: "Whether we’re feeding local youth athletes, partnering with schools or donating subs to those in need, we lead with service, not sales."

Gateway celebrated their grand opening of their Ellenton location at 2215 60th Avenue East next to the Premium Outlets location.

The first 100 customers got a free 6-inch sub sandwich beginning at their ribbon cutting at 11 a.m.

For a look at their website and menu, you can visit their website here.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jason Wright.

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Manatee County