Hankering for a hoagie? These hoagie havens are on a roll
How do you hoagie?
The beloved nickname bestowed upon specialty hot and cold specialty sandwiches served up throughout the Northeast, featuring various combinations of meat, veggies, cheese and toppings, is found on many a menu in Pittsburgh.
There’s even a day dedicated to all things hoagie — May 5 is National Hoagie Day.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the hoagie most likely originated in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia to be exact, when Italian immigrants worked at Hog-Island Shipyard and made sandwiches originally called “hoggies.” The name evolved into hoagies and caught on.
TribLive visited these seven independent eateries putting the “hearty” in hoagie.
Triangle Bar and Grill
2122 Monongahela Ave., Swissvale
“Often imitated, never duplicated.”
That’s the message from Triangle Bar and Grill owner Tom Crombie as the iconic Swissvale hoagie shop celebrates 90 years of serving hoagies this year.
“The Battleship came about in the 1950s when the original owners (the Catenzano family) created the hoagie and named it Battleship because one of their sons was in the Navy,” Crombie said.
The Battleship ($21.75) lives up to its name and is 2-feet long, served cold and piled with salami, ham, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and doused with a secret sauce.
Triangle has an onsite bread baking operations and only uses their own bread.
The Battleship hoagie lineup includes two smaller versions — The Destroyer (10-11 inches) and The Torpedo (6 inches.)
Crombie noted he is seeing a ton of new hoagie places, many of them corporate chains, open around the Pittsburgh region.
“They’re popping up like crazy. I’ve never seen a growth in hoagies like this before,” he said. “But we’ve held true to the test of time.”
Miller’s Hoagies
838 4th Ave. #1105, Ford City
140 N. Jefferson St., Kittanning
Miller’s Hoagies co-owner Wanda Smock has been making hoagies since the 1970s.
The small hoagie shop originally operated from the living room of Ed and Virginia Miller in 1951.
Smock and her two daughters, Tammy Dowling and Rhonda Petras, bought Miller’s in 2006 and kept the name as they carry on the hoagie tradition in downtown Ford City.
“We’ve been here since we were 14 and my son has worked here since high school,” said Dowling of the family-run business. “It’s just this small community and our orders are consistent. We use a soft hoagie bun.”
The hot steak hoagie is giant, popular, under $10 and takes both hands to handle. It’s piled high with chipped ribeye tips, provolone cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, fried onions, green peppers, a top-secret red sauce, mushrooms and tomato.
A special, secret spice blend is added to every hoagie.
“It keeps people coming. When people who have moved away come back to visit, they always say they have to come here to get a hoagie,” Dowling said.
Glads Deli
614 Monongahela Ave., Glassport
Head to Glads if you want to go really big with your hoagie.
Home of The Gladiator, a 3-foot hoagie ($49-$96) that requires a 2-3 day preorder to make, Glads opened last year.
“Glads is short for gladiators — the South Allegheny Gladiators — the school district. We’re a small hoagie shop trying to make a big name for ourselves,” said owner Jason Billingsley.
Other hoagie options include Italian hoagies with up to eight different kinds of meat. The eight-meat Italian is piled high with ham, capicola, salami, pepperoni, mortadella, proscuitto, hot sopressata, hot capicola, provolone and white American cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. A whole one will run you $25.99 and a half is $14.99.
“When we first opened, our biggest hoagie was six meats, the Josh, named after my brother. He passed away earlier this year,” Billingsley said.
The Josh has ham, capicola, salami, pepperoni, mortadella, prosciutto, cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion at $18.99 for a whole and $10.99 for a half.
Costa’s Italian Market
2240 Freeport Road, New Kensington.
Everyone’s Italian at Costa’s, a staple in the New Kensington community and a popular takeout destination for freshly made hoagies.
Owner Bill Mauroni insists on Mancini’s bread for every hoagie.
“Italian, turkey and cappicola are our three,” Mauroni said. “Hoagies have always been around and Mancini’s has the best hoagie buns — the taste and the texture are the best.”
All hoagies are $1 off on Tuesdays.
Leechburg Pizza Company
101 Market St., Leechburg
Don’t let the pizza name fool you.
“Our hoagies are very close to the pizza sales. Our Italian hoagie is our top seller,” said co-owner Steve Senjan of Gilpin.
Toasted or cold, Mancini’s bread and homemade Italian dressing are two reasons the hoagies keep customers happy.
“We don’t use jar dressing,” Senjan said.
Leechburg’s original cold Italian has ham, bologna, salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion and homemade Italian dressing.
On vacation out of state, Senjan once attempted to order several hoagies and encountered resistance.
“Someone who didn’t know what a hoagie was. The guy refused to even acknowledge what I was saying. I had to say ‘sub’ to him,” he said. “Here in Pittsburgh, we know hoagies.”
Peppi’s Old Tyme Sandwich Shop
1721 Penn Ave., Strip District
Peppi’s has been serving up specialty hoagies since 1983. And don’t get them started on the importance of which bread to serve.
“It’s always Mancini’s,” said longtime employee Celleste Ellwood.
As it happens, the Mancini’s Strip District shop is next door to Peppi’s. Erin Hodgkiss, manager of that Mancini’s location, knows why their bread is the hoagie go-to.
“It elevates the hoagie to the next level because it’s a fresh bread, never frozen, made and baked daily,” Hodgkiss said. “That is why it’s next level.”
Peppi’s is home to The #7, also known as the Roethlis”burger”, piled high with sausage and burger meat topped with a fried egg and American cheese ($10.99) and on the menu since 2003.
“It’s very good and it’s a hearty meal. If we got rid of it, the customers would complain. It’s gonna be here forever,” Ellwood said.
Johnny L’s Sandwich Works & 6 Pack Shop
Route 119 South, Greensburg
Owner Johnny Lastik grew up in South Greensburg and opened his hoagie shop in 1988.
Don’t be fooled by the unassuming exterior. Inside, the casual eatery is clean and welcoming.
All hoagies are served hot. Lastik has been serving up hearty helpings for 36 years.
“I guess I’d promote the cheesesteaks, hot sausage, Italian hoagies. They’re all really good,” Lastik said.
The deluxe cheesesteak hoagie ($9.85) is made from New York strip steak. It’s generously sized and includes provolone cheese, peppers, mushrooms, fried onions, and optional lettuce and tomato.
“It’ll fill you up,” Lastik said.
While Johnny L’s is best known for its fish hoagies, Lastik said, the hot sausage is another customer fave.
“It has a little bite to it. We cook it with peppers, onions and a red sauce,” he said.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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