The photo and caption above is from the Morning Call. I did not read the story. I saw the meme on facebook, where I also did not read the post or comments. Only the native Allentonian nostalgia types ponder which institution has better cheesesteaks. Before Vince's, the spot was outfitted for Tony Luke's, a Philadelphia cheesesteak king. The successive failures aren't related to the cheesesteaks, but to the changing demographics. Cheesesteaks aren't a staple in Puerto Rico. Cheesesteaks are not a staple to the younger office workers, who can't get out of Dodge fast enough, come five o'clock.
We aging dinosaurs remember when Hamilton Street was the place, and Brass Rail cheesesteaks were king. The demand was so great, that the establishment, in addition to the dining room, had walkup spots in both front and back. That business wisely moved its operation out of center city to Lehigh Street.
Until which time the newspaper understands that it is cheesy to write about the sandwich, and ignore the demographic realities, this blog will continue to serve the truth, both here and to take out.
The Morning Call has become our local definition of insanity, doing the same thing, over and over, expecting a different result
ReplyDeleteWhen a sandwich, soda, and chips run over ten dollars it no longer becomes a twice-a-week staple for young people making $35,000 a year. Yes, I recall the 1970s Hamilton Street workers, from the city hall area all the way up to Finance American and Blue Cross, would stand on line for those Brass Rail steak sandwiches....usually more than once a week.
ReplyDeleteI really feel for all the A-Towner's - who can think for themselves. The corruption runs rampant: Mayor convicted of 42 felony counts, 27% property tax increase, selling water works to a 3rd party, a state of the art building - the PPL Plaza, recently built for $90 million, now worth $22 million. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't tear it down.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally someone will ask me where I'm from. I answer 'a little north of Philadelphia'. If I answer Allentown, immediately they start "hey, isn't that the place where....".
From the original post, in reference to the Brass Rail Restaurant: "That business wisely moved its operation out of center city to Lehigh Street."
ReplyDeleteThat's quite an exaggeration, or at least a poorly written sentence, from a blog that prides itself on its historical accuracy.
The Brass Rail opened a SECOND location on Lehigh Street in 1961, and the original location on Hamilton Street remained opened until 2001. So it seems a bit of a stretch to imply that they were somehow fleeing Center City since both locations were operating together for about 40 years.
In addition, if my memory is correct the closure of the Hamilton Street location had more to do with the death of the founder (Phil Sorrentino) in 1997. I believe his two daughters owned the Hamilton Street property along with several adjacent properties. The daughters lived in Florida and wanted to sell the group of parcels and therefore didn't want to renew the lease of the business, which by then was run by Phil's son or grandson.
I don't know that the failure of Tony Luke's and Vince's was due to what they served as much as specifics of the operations themselves.
ReplyDeleteJosh makes a good point about price, and I think Tony Luke's was far above what people would likely want to pay for a cheesesteak on a regular basis.
Vince's had been gone from the Valley in almost all but it's name, and I'm not sure that the owners had the necessary experience to operate a brick-and-mortar location by the time Vince's opened on Hamilton.
I haven't been to the J's on Hamilton yet, but have been to some of the other locations in Northampton County. It's a once-again growing franchise, with good food (for what it is) at a reasonable price.
Whether that translates into success (for J's) on Hamilton Street is still uncertain. As MM notes, there are many options available in the area and downtown does become a ghost town after 5 on non-event nights.
Still, I wish them well, and I'm definitely willing to give them a try.
Judge Sam Murray is a fraud=fixed an All Star Vote for his Son Joseph and is not Irish !
ReplyDeleteI’m glad to hear Js is back on the upswing!
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