Primanti Brothers Restaurant

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The Cheese Steak variant of a Primanti Bros sandwich. The AA battery is in the picture as a size reference.

Primanti Brothers Restaurant is a chain of sandwich shops found throughout Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and its suburbs, with an additional two locations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Its signature items are its sandwiches, which consists of grilled meat, a vinegar-based cole slaw, tomato slices, and french fries between two pieces of Italian bread.

1 History
2 Acclaim
3 Derivatives
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The sandwich is said to have its origins from wishing to provide truck drivers a full meal that they could hold in one hand while driving.^[1]According to the restaurant, Lou and Dick Stanley invented the sandwich during the Great Depression. They opened their hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Smallman Street in the Strip District of Pittsburgh and served the late-night and early-morning workers unloading fish, fruits and vegetables.^[2]

The restaurant has evolved to become a casual neighborhood restaurant with 13 Pittsburgh locations, including those found in the new Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers stadiums, as well as two locations in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.^[3]

[edit] Acclaim

Primanti Brothers has received many awards, from all over the world.^{[citation needed]} Primanti Brothers Restaurant has been referenced to in The New York Times, Playboy and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.^{[citations needed]}

[edit] Derivatives

In July 2004, Pittsburgh native Mike Feczko opened a restaurant in Chicago named Lucky's Sandwich Company, which serves Primanti-style sandwiches. However, Feczko and his restaurant do not specifically mention Primanti Brothers as an inspiration for the concept, but mentions Pittsburgh as the origin.^[4]

San Francisco has a similar restaurant called Giordano Brothers. Former Pittsburghers gather there on NFL Sundays to cheer on the Pittsburgh Steelers.^{[citation needed]}

A restaurant in Erie, Pa. called Steel City Sandwich Co. offers a "Pittsburgh-style sandwich."^[5]

A restaurant chain in Ohio called "Panini's" that also "borrowed" the Primanti/Pittsburgh style sandwich.