Just in time for the fall semester, Temple is getting a killer new food option: Chef Peter McAndrews is bringing hit hoagie shop Paesano’s to campus.
Paesano’s Philly Style Temple will go into 2012 N. Broad St., right across from J&H Dining Hall and halfway between the Cecil B. Moore and Dauphin stops on the BSL. It opens Sunday, Aug. 14.
Like the other Paesano’s locations (Northern Liberties, Italian Market, Margate), the store will be counter-service with a chalkboard menu of juiced sandwich combinations. New creations that cater to college tastes will join classics like the suckling-pig roast pork Arista and the egg-topped fried lasagna Bolognese. For example, the Pasticciata, which McAndrews describes as “an Italian sloppy Joe.”
“It means mess,” says the Irish-heritaged, Italy-trained chef, who also owns Modo Mio, Monsu, Heffe and La Porta. “I think the students will like it. Cheap, quick and satisfying.”
Also joining the menu will be a list of “Italian milkshakes” — think Nutella with burnt marshmallow, or fior di latte with pomegranate.
Late hours are planned for the North Broad outpost (til 3 a.m. on weekends) , which takes over the former home of fourth-meal last resort U Got Munchies. Outdoor seating will complement around 16 inside, and the shop will be open for both lunch and dinner.
The August launch will mark the fourth location for the brand, which has has gained national recognition. McAndrews first opened Paesano’s in 2009 in a tiny hole-in-the-wall on Girard Ave. His “Philly style sandwiches with Italian inspiration” blew up locally when personalities like WIP’s Glen Macnow and the Inquirer’s Rick Nichols couldn’t stop talking about the top-quality ingredients and creative between-bread matchups.
Then celeb chef Andrew Zimmern fell hard for the spot, showcasing it in several episodes of his Bizarre Foods TV show — the 200th episode featured McAndrews cooking up a scrapple cheesesteak — and he regularly shouts out one sandwich or another as being in his top 10 all-time faves. He also partnered with the shop to sell its “Jaeatyet?” t-shirts online.
The Northern Liberties shop is currently closed in preparation for a move down the block to 143 W. Girard Ave. Store No. 2 opened in the Italian Market in 2010, and a seasonal third outpost down the shore in Margate joined the roster in 2013, the same year Paesano’s sandwiches showed up in the stadium eats lineup at Lincoln Financial Field. Now, North Philly gets one — but don’t expect it to be the last.
“My goal with Paesano’s is really to have one on every campus,” McAndrews says. “Every college in the area, then the region, then…who knows?”
