I do like the fries. I actually like the place across the street much more. The way they do the meat at Genos is not my thing. Pats has way better onion/meat mix going. A steak is almost always good...I just chuckled at the dude who has been here for years taking people to Genos over some of the other options.
Went to one of the places from the Top 10 I Posted from a Newspaper article a while back.
I went to Curly's Comfort Foods last night for a Cheesesteak. I was in the area for a HS State basketball playoff game.
I got the LARGE one, with American cheese, and it was LARGE. (sorry, no clue how to Post picture). Plenty of Meat that was chopped up nice with the cheese melted through out nicely.
While it was very good, I've had better at Lillo's and Donkeys(though Donkeys needs to make ther's bigger for me=LOL)
Curly’s Comfort Foods
The cheesesteak at Curly's Comfort Foods in Levittown, Pa., features a full pound of ribeye on a seeded Aversa roll. Pictured here is half of a steak.
1140 Bristol Oxford Valley Road, Levittown, Pennsylvania, 267-639-0787,curlyscreations.com. Closed Monday,
Michael Sarian, a bald-pated “Curly” in a long line of bald-pated Curlys, first put his 1-pound cheesesteak on the menu as a joke. The longtime comfort-food cook had gotten access to a supply of premium ribeye, and figured what the heck?
“It was a gimmick,” he said. “But people liked them.”
During peak pandemic, May 2020, he was handing out cheesesteaks for free to workers at local businesses in need. And then the steaks caught on, especially on social media with a newly formed Cheesesteak Gurus Facebook page that’s now swollen to more than 80,000 members.
But it wasn’t just hype. It was also technique. Sarian layers meat, then cheese, then more meat, then more cheese, to distribute Cooper Sharp evenly and create a lovely substance that is neither meat nor cheese but gloriously both. His Aversa rolls are a special order that get extra time in the oven: sturdier, crisper, with more chew and an interesting sourdough twang.
And if you feel like a pound of meat is too much? Sarian added a “small.” It’s still 12 ounces.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Well, I could've ordered the 12" but I was hungry and wanted to give the LARGE one a try.
I was able to eat all of it. And yes, it is excessive and so is the price. I didn't look what it cost for one Cheesesteak but our total bill for 2 of us was over $43.00(2 cheesesteaks 1 small fry(which was not small) and 2 20 oz. Sodas.
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
So hoagie is right word? I cannot keep up. And in CT grinders were not alway toasted. Primos, White House etc. all great and a standard before all Camden shows.
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
There are no subs here.
And a grinder is merely a toasted hoagie.
In Philly, is the chain "Subway" known as "Hoagieway"?
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
There are no subs here.
And a grinder is merely a toasted hoagie.
In Philly, is the chain "Subway" known as "Hoagieway"?
It's known as "the shitty sandwich place".
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
There are no subs here.
And a grinder is merely a toasted hoagie.
In Philly, is the chain "Subway" known as "Hoagieway"?
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
There are no subs here.
And a grinder is merely a toasted hoagie.
In Philly, is the chain "Subway" known as "Hoagieway"?
It's known as "the shitty sandwich place".
It's known as that pretty much everywhere.
I mean, what's up with that bread. It looks disgusting even in the commercials.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
PA is a weird place for food. Great subs (I call them grinders), great breakfasts, and the odd local place serving long hots with clams. You just never know, unless you know.
There are no subs here.
And a grinder is merely a toasted hoagie.
In Philly, is the chain "Subway" known as "Hoagieway"?
It's known as "the shitty sandwich place".
It's known as that pretty much everywhere.
Well we do have Hoagiefest
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Nice! Just had a cheesesteak from a place I’d been meaning to try for weeks now, so I guess I was celebrating! It was delicious. My picture won’t do it justice, but the instagram feed does.
(Now, I’m down in Georgia, so don’t know exactly how these rate, but it was a serious sandwich.)
Nice! Just had a cheesesteak from a place I’d been meaning to try for weeks now, so I guess I was celebrating! It was delicious. My picture won’t do it justice, but the instagram feed does.
(Now, I’m down in Georgia, so don’t know exactly how these rate, but it was a serious sandwich.)
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I was thinking of going to John's Roast Pork for a Cheesesteak on Saturday but they close at 5:00, according to their website.
Why close so early? and on a Saturday?
John's Roast Pork caters to the blue collar workers in the area. That's a lot of what that article is about. I know it's expensive but I really believe in supporting our local journalism.
The Queen of South Philly sandwiches is gone. But Vonda M. Bucci is remembered by legions of fans of John’s Roast Pork, which she shepherded alongside three generations from a humble neighborhood luncheonette to an iconic sandwich destination of national renown.
“Keep moving! Order your sandwiches! Step down! Is that hard?” boomed Vonda in 2008 from her perch at the end of the counter, where she ran the register for more than half a century with a trademark seasoning of gruffness, warmth, and South Philly salt. “I try to be nice, I really do, but sometimes it doesn’t work.”
Vonda’s tough love worked just fine with longtime customers like Dennis Sweeney, a retired executive for the nearby CSX railroad who bought his egg-and-mushroom breakfast sandwich from John’s almost every workday for 20 years.
“She was a South Philly Special who cared about a lot but took no grief. She was very focused on her business,” he said. “But you could also see how much she cared for her customers. She was so appreciative of those people coming in. She always thanked them. And whenever she saw me, she wanted to give me a big hug.”
No one received that special Vonda stew of love and scrutiny as much as much as her son, John Bucci Jr., who took over the griddle full-time when his father, John Sr., became sick with cancer in 1987. The two would show up at 6 a.m. each morning to make hundreds of breakfast sandwiches for a standing order for UPS. It was Vonda who finally taught Bucci Jr. the tricky butcher’s knot needed to bundle the picnic hams seasoned with garlic and herbs for the roast pork that is the family’s birthright recipe, long the cornerstone of the luncheonette’s business, which was founded in 1930.
“My mom would always stand there when I was younger telling me I was being wasteful with the seasonings. ‘You’re seasoning the pork, not the floor!’ Or she’d tell me I was putting too much meat on the sandwiches. ‘Yo, John! Yo!’ Of course these are things I tell my employees now that I’m paying the bills.”
Vonda was the child of immigrants from the Abruzzo town of Tollo. Though she was born in South Philadelphia, she spoke no English by the time she went to kindergarten. When she graduated from the BOK vocational high school in 1951, her classmates voted Vonda Scutti “most likely to succeed in business.”
“And boy, did she show them,” says Carol Messick, Vonda’s oldest child.
Vonda was introduced by an older brother to John Bucci Sr., a neighbor on South 20th Street. While they were courting she would often join him at the Bucci family’s business events, catering weddings with roast beef and roast pork.
“It was a working date,” jokes Messick. “But they were out together making sandwiches and making money, and that was fine.”
“Roast pork has meant everything to me and my family,” John Jr. told the Inquirer in 2000.
Vonda’s business savvy was often on display during her frequent and noisy haggling sessions with purveyors, who thought they could take advantage of her in an era when most sandwich shop operators were men, “and she would have none of it,” says John Jr.
She also managed, through sheer persistence, to buy from CSX the triangular slip of industrial land that the John’s Roast Pork shack sits on at Snyder and Weccacoe — after 55 years of renting it from the railroad and its predecessor, B&O: “She wore them down and she was thrilled. Because then we were able to build and improve the property,” says Messick.
Vonda and her son became “best friends” as John Jr. began to drive the business and evolve it with his passion for cheesesteaks, which, after winning a region-wide survey of cheesesteaks by the Inquirer in 2002, took off in a major way. The restaurant was named an America’s Classic by the James Beard foundation in 2006.
“The James Beard ceremony was a black tie event at the Marriott Marquis in New York and it just blew her away,” says John Jr. “We were sitting next to great chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Tom Colicchio and Giada de Laurentiis and then they put the spotlight on my mom in the fifth row — and it was just surreal. We were just these sandwich makers from South Philly!”
Vonda never let that fame go to her head. She cherished the intimate relationships she had built over decades with old-timers, whose orders she knew the moment they stepped inside the luncheonette, says Messick. The more her clientele changed from truckers, railroad workers, and locals to a destination of national renown thanks to TV coverage from stars like Andrew Zimmern, who dubbed John’s “sandwich euphoria,” the more concerned she grew for regulars. That’s why she created a separate line for roast pork orders to bypass the longer wait for cheesesteaks, says John Jr.
Vonda’s biggest challenge, though, would be keeping the restaurant afloat when John Jr. became gravely ill in 2008 with pre-leukemia and had a bone-marrow transplant. She held down the business for 18 months along with John’s wife Vickie Bucci and Carol’s two daughters, Erica Messick and Bethany “Boo” Messick, who learned to work the grill and register — with a little advice from grandma, of course.
“She’d watch us like a hawk and you couldn’t get anything by her,” said Boo. “She’d sit by my side at the register and poke me: ‘They got mushrooms on that.’ Then she’d say, ‘Ask them if they got sweet peppers. Uh-huh. See? I told you.’ She was the toughest boss I’ve had — and I’ve worked for politicians. She runs a tight ship, but if you did right by her, then you were golden.”
Vonda put up a strong front during John Jr.’s sickness, but later confessed that “it was touch and go, and I was scared. But I didn’t show them anything. I just said, ‘It’ll be OK.”
A devoted Catholic, Vonda also prayed regularly for her son’s health, making a special trip to the shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Vineland, along with frequent visits to Saint Monica’s church in South Philadelphia and the shrine of Saint Rita’s at Broad and Ellsworth. But Carol Messick says her mother’s primary coping mechanism was always to focus on work: “The business was like her other child.”
But when John Jr. woke up from his transplant procedure, Vonda was the first one he saw standing beside his bed.
“Am I alive?” he asked her, still addled from the medicine.
“Well, I’m not dead yet, so yeah, you’re alive!” she said with her typical gallows humor.
John Jr. would slowly but surely make his way back to the restaurant, part time at first, then full time in 2013. Vonda had no interest in taking a break.
“Retire? Me? Never. When they carry me out of here, then I’ll retire and relax,” she said in 2013. “All I did was have a big family, cook big dinners, and try to make everyone happy. And I’m fine. I’m making myself happy.”
Vonda eventually did stop coming regularly to the luncheonette after a fall in 2018 that prevented her from driving. But even at 91, she remained owner of the business and still signed checks until six months ago, when she was diagnosed with throat cancer.
Even on the morning she died, her family knew the luncheonette should stay open that day. The fresh-baked seeded rolls and meat had already been delivered and “we all said mom would not approve of us closing,” said John Jr.
“Mom was the Boss,” he said. “Until the end and beyond.”
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
That is a great story. I never knew the railroad story. Been there a dozen times over the years and my local friends always said we have to go early. Like 10:30 am early. I am sure I interacted with Vonda but have no recollection of doing so. RIP to a legend.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I went there once a few years ago and really liked it. Thanks for posting that article, funny how they are from the Abruzzo part of Italy and your user name is Abruzzo.
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
I went there once a few years ago and really liked it. Thanks for posting that article, funny how they are from the Abruzzo part of Italy and your user name is Abruzzo.
Yeah I have fam in Abruzzo. And it's kinda like that one Pearl Jam drummer. Real deep stuff - you've cracked it Xavier!
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I went there once a few years ago and really liked it. Thanks for posting that article, funny how they are from the Abruzzo part of Italy and your user name is Abruzzo.
Yeah I have fam in Abruzzo. And it's kinda like that one Pearl Jam drummer. Real deep stuff - you've cracked it Xavier!
haha, guess I'm perceptive! Never had the cheesesteak there but am intrigued enough to try it sometime.
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
I went there once a few years ago and really liked it. Thanks for posting that article, funny how they are from the Abruzzo part of Italy and your user name is Abruzzo.
Yeah I have fam in Abruzzo. And it's kinda like that one Pearl Jam drummer. Real deep stuff - you've cracked it Xavier!
haha, guess I'm perceptive! Never had the cheesesteak there but am intrigued enough to try it sometime.
I got it once and it was really good, but generally I can't resist the namesake roast pork.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Comments
A steak is almost always good...I just chuckled at the dude who has been here for years taking people to Genos over some of the other options.
I went to Curly's Comfort Foods last night for a Cheesesteak. I was in the area for a HS State basketball playoff game.
I got the LARGE one, with American cheese, and it was LARGE. (sorry, no clue how to Post picture). Plenty of Meat that was chopped up nice with the cheese melted through out nicely.
While it was very good, I've had better at Lillo's and Donkeys(though Donkeys needs to make ther's bigger for me=LOL)
They could seriously lose 25% of the meat and it would add to the overall quality of the sandwich.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I was able to eat all of it. And yes, it is excessive and so is the price. I didn't look what it cost for one Cheesesteak
but our total bill for 2 of us was over $43.00(2 cheesesteaks 1 small fry(which was not small) and 2 20 oz. Sodas.
And a grinder is merely a toasted hoagie.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
It's known as that pretty much everywhere.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Well we do have Hoagiefest
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
(Now, I’m down in Georgia, so don’t know exactly how these rate, but it was a serious sandwich.)
https://www.instagram.com/weeyumsphilly/
https://www.inquirer.com/food/craig-laban/vonda-bucci-johns-roast-pork-obituary-20241004.html
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I was thinking of going to John's Roast Pork for a Cheesesteak on Saturday but they close at 5:00, according to their website.
Why close so early? and on a Saturday?
The Queen of South Philly sandwiches is gone. But Vonda M. Bucci is remembered by legions of fans of John’s Roast Pork, which she shepherded alongside three generations from a humble neighborhood luncheonette to an iconic sandwich destination of national renown.
“Keep moving! Order your sandwiches! Step down! Is that hard?” boomed Vonda in 2008 from her perch at the end of the counter, where she ran the register for more than half a century with a trademark seasoning of gruffness, warmth, and South Philly salt. “I try to be nice, I really do, but sometimes it doesn’t work.”
Vonda’s tough love worked just fine with longtime customers like Dennis Sweeney, a retired executive for the nearby CSX railroad who bought his egg-and-mushroom breakfast sandwich from John’s almost every workday for 20 years.
“She was a South Philly Special who cared about a lot but took no grief. She was very focused on her business,” he said. “But you could also see how much she cared for her customers. She was so appreciative of those people coming in. She always thanked them. And whenever she saw me, she wanted to give me a big hug.”
No one received that special Vonda stew of love and scrutiny as much as much as her son, John Bucci Jr., who took over the griddle full-time when his father, John Sr., became sick with cancer in 1987. The two would show up at 6 a.m. each morning to make hundreds of breakfast sandwiches for a standing order for UPS. It was Vonda who finally taught Bucci Jr. the tricky butcher’s knot needed to bundle the picnic hams seasoned with garlic and herbs for the roast pork that is the family’s birthright recipe, long the cornerstone of the luncheonette’s business, which was founded in 1930.
“My mom would always stand there when I was younger telling me I was being wasteful with the seasonings. ‘You’re seasoning the pork, not the floor!’ Or she’d tell me I was putting too much meat on the sandwiches. ‘Yo, John! Yo!’ Of course these are things I tell my employees now that I’m paying the bills.”
Vonda was the child of immigrants from the Abruzzo town of Tollo. Though she was born in South Philadelphia, she spoke no English by the time she went to kindergarten. When she graduated from the BOK vocational high school in 1951, her classmates voted Vonda Scutti “most likely to succeed in business.”
“And boy, did she show them,” says Carol Messick, Vonda’s oldest child.
Vonda was introduced by an older brother to John Bucci Sr., a neighbor on South 20th Street. While they were courting she would often join him at the Bucci family’s business events, catering weddings with roast beef and roast pork.
“It was a working date,” jokes Messick. “But they were out together making sandwiches and making money, and that was fine.”
“Roast pork has meant everything to me and my family,” John Jr. told the Inquirer in 2000.
Vonda’s business savvy was often on display during her frequent and noisy haggling sessions with purveyors, who thought they could take advantage of her in an era when most sandwich shop operators were men, “and she would have none of it,” says John Jr.
She also managed, through sheer persistence, to buy from CSX the triangular slip of industrial land that the John’s Roast Pork shack sits on at Snyder and Weccacoe — after 55 years of renting it from the railroad and its predecessor, B&O: “She wore them down and she was thrilled. Because then we were able to build and improve the property,” says Messick.
Vonda and her son became “best friends” as John Jr. began to drive the business and evolve it with his passion for cheesesteaks, which, after winning a region-wide survey of cheesesteaks by the Inquirer in 2002, took off in a major way. The restaurant was named an America’s Classic by the James Beard foundation in 2006.
“The James Beard ceremony was a black tie event at the Marriott Marquis in New York and it just blew her away,” says John Jr. “We were sitting next to great chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Tom Colicchio and Giada de Laurentiis and then they put the spotlight on my mom in the fifth row — and it was just surreal. We were just these sandwich makers from South Philly!”
Vonda never let that fame go to her head. She cherished the intimate relationships she had built over decades with old-timers, whose orders she knew the moment they stepped inside the luncheonette, says Messick. The more her clientele changed from truckers, railroad workers, and locals to a destination of national renown thanks to TV coverage from stars like Andrew Zimmern, who dubbed John’s “sandwich euphoria,” the more concerned she grew for regulars. That’s why she created a separate line for roast pork orders to bypass the longer wait for cheesesteaks, says John Jr.
Vonda’s biggest challenge, though, would be keeping the restaurant afloat when John Jr. became gravely ill in 2008 with pre-leukemia and had a bone-marrow transplant. She held down the business for 18 months along with John’s wife Vickie Bucci and Carol’s two daughters, Erica Messick and Bethany “Boo” Messick, who learned to work the grill and register — with a little advice from grandma, of course.
“She’d watch us like a hawk and you couldn’t get anything by her,” said Boo. “She’d sit by my side at the register and poke me: ‘They got mushrooms on that.’ Then she’d say, ‘Ask them if they got sweet peppers. Uh-huh. See? I told you.’ She was the toughest boss I’ve had — and I’ve worked for politicians. She runs a tight ship, but if you did right by her, then you were golden.”
Vonda put up a strong front during John Jr.’s sickness, but later confessed that “it was touch and go, and I was scared. But I didn’t show them anything. I just said, ‘It’ll be OK.”
A devoted Catholic, Vonda also prayed regularly for her son’s health, making a special trip to the shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Vineland, along with frequent visits to Saint Monica’s church in South Philadelphia and the shrine of Saint Rita’s at Broad and Ellsworth. But Carol Messick says her mother’s primary coping mechanism was always to focus on work: “The business was like her other child.”
But when John Jr. woke up from his transplant procedure, Vonda was the first one he saw standing beside his bed.
“Am I alive?” he asked her, still addled from the medicine.
“Well, I’m not dead yet, so yeah, you’re alive!” she said with her typical gallows humor.
John Jr. would slowly but surely make his way back to the restaurant, part time at first, then full time in 2013. Vonda had no interest in taking a break.
“Retire? Me? Never. When they carry me out of here, then I’ll retire and relax,” she said in 2013. “All I did was have a big family, cook big dinners, and try to make everyone happy. And I’m fine. I’m making myself happy.”
Vonda eventually did stop coming regularly to the luncheonette after a fall in 2018 that prevented her from driving. But even at 91, she remained owner of the business and still signed checks until six months ago, when she was diagnosed with throat cancer.
Even on the morning she died, her family knew the luncheonette should stay open that day. The fresh-baked seeded rolls and meat had already been delivered and “we all said mom would not approve of us closing,” said John Jr.
“Mom was the Boss,” he said. “Until the end and beyond.”
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Thanks for Posting that article.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16