Rollin’ To Go, a made-to-order Italian sandwich shop, has shut its doors after over a decade serving loyal Evanston customers and an even longer family legacy in the city.

The restaurant, 910 Noyes St., has closed due to financial hardship and legal conflicts, said owner and manager Tim Camastro, who announced the closure online Monday. The family had been considering expanding the shop before their inability to pay rent halted those plans, Camastro said. They then decided to sell the shop to new owners while maintaining their brand, but a continuing legal battle led to a decision to shut down, he said.

“It was just time to just close it down,” Camastro said. “We were still looking to save the business, and an investor was interested to keep us going, but that fell through as well.”

The sandwich shop opened 13 years ago as an spin-off of Rollin’ In Dough, Camastro’s father and uncle’s pizzeria and catering business that opened in the 1980s, located three doors down from the current Noyes Street location. Before that, Camastro’s grandparents ran an Italian restaurant called Michelini’s Restaurant and Gallery on Foster Street just south of the current shop, Camastro said.

“It links all the way back to being in the family business for generations and generations,” he said. “It is sad, but it’s also a time to reflect on the good times that we have for so many years.”

Rollin’ was a staple among Northwestern students and staff, especially in the athletic department, Camastro said. Players and faculty on the football, basketball and golfs teams were avid fans of the shop — but it was the members of the men’s tennis team who seemed to frequent the shop every single day, he said.

Tennis player and Fedor Baev, a Weinberg senior, said the quality food, reasonable prices and friendliness of the employees led him to buy a sandwich from the shop on a nearly daily basis. Rollin’ was so beloved among team members that, a few years ago, the restaurant named a chicken and bacon sandwich “The Country Club” after the off-campus house in which several of the players lived, Baev said.

“I’m actually pretty devastated,” he said. “I don’t know where I’m going to eat right now. That was always my go-to.”

Many city employees also spent their lunch breaks at the restaurant, which is just around the corner from the Civic Center where they work. Luke Stowe, the city’s digital services coordinator, said he walked to the shop for lunch about once a week, usually spotting other city employees in line at the same time. Stowe said he’s surprised by the sudden closure because of the steady stream of customers, many of whom were friendly with the people making their sandwiches.

“You became familiar with the folks working there,” Stowe said. “That was a draw for some people because they got to know the people behind the counter.”

Camastro’s entire household — including his parents, brother and sisters — had at one point been involved in the family restaurant business, he said. But for the past three years, he has been the primary manager for Rollin’, and he said he is ready to move on. Camastro is in the process of getting a business management degree and seeking a job outside the restaurant industry.

“You never know, in the future we might bring that menu back somewhere,” Camastro said. “But as of right now we just need to go our separate ways.”

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