Cheba Hut's got a smokin' 4/20 deal and booze on the horizon

If so, there's really only one place to be today: Cheba Hut.

"We are throwing a party system-wide," says Matthew Trethewey, spokesman for the Fort Collins-based sub sandwich chain, which has a dozen stores in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon and celebrates its anniversary every year on April 20. "4/20 is our Christmas. It's our biggest day of the year."

To mark the holiday, all the Cheba Huts are offering a $4.20 deal that includes a four-inch sandwich, chips and a drink, all served in a commemorative, dated Frisbee. And since the Denver store, at 1531 Champa Street, is only blocks from today's massive 4/20 rally at Civic Center Park, Trethewey says they're expecting quite a bit of traffic.

"Our customers identify with our brand and want to celebrate with us," he adds. Sammies at Cheba Hut come toasted, of course, and in three sizes: four-inch Nugs, eight-inch Pinners and foot-long Blunts. And they have names like Panama Red, Magic Mushroom, Endo, Afghani, Schwag and Pacific Blue.

Cheba Hut will celebrate even more if the City of Denver approves its liquor license application (a hearing is scheduled for May 10). Before it opened last August, franchise owners Matt Clark-Johnson and Seth Larsen had planned to have the liquor license in place, but they held off so they could focus on the sandwiches and building a customer base.

"We're in phase two now, and this is the cherry on top," Trethewey says. Cheba Hut had a little trouble with its liquor license in Greeley last year when a judge there took issue with the store's marijuana theme, but the store eventually won that battle.