A cheesesteak up-and-comer is coming to the Main Line
Gazzos Steaks isn't just opening another store in Ardmore: Like many other top-tier cheesesteak shops, it's going to start baking its own bread in Conshohocken.
Gazzos Steaks, a Pottstown-based outfit named for the Rocky loan shark, is finally opening its second location today at 2528 Haverford Rd. in Ardmore Park.
Started by Joe Lewis and Mike Lamson, a pair of native South Philadelphians who married sisters from the Pottstown area and were disappointed in the local steak offerings, Gazzos grew from a “very rundown food truck” to a brick-and-mortar based on social-media buzz.
Gazzos cheesesteaks feature rough chops of fresh rib-eye from South Philly supplier Ritter and a melted layer of Cooper Sharp (American, provolone, and Cooper Whiz are also available). One of its signatures, the Sanatoga, named for an exit off of Route 422, features 14-hour smoked Cooper Sharp cheese and fried onions. Fried onions, mushrooms, and cherry peppers are available at no extra charge; long hots are also available for an extra buck.
The new Gazzos will serve a pared-down menu with just steaks (starting at $15) and fries (starting at $8) to start, but other items from the original location — such as the cutlet and roast pork-inspired sandwich — will eventually be on offer. There’s no indoor seating, but there is a patio, and the takeout-window operation will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., or until it sells out of rolls.
For now, those rolls are custom from Aversa Italian Bakery in Turnersville. But in the near future, like so many other notable shops, Gazzos will bake its own bread: Lewis and Lamson are teaming up with AJ Bread & Bakery in Conshohocken to open a joint bakery in a yet-to-be-identified space.
The first batch of about 100 to 150 rolls, baked in Conshohocken — where the five-decade-old Conshohocken Italian Bakery was recently purchased by Angelo’s impresario Danny DiGiampietro to supply his growing operation —will be tested at the Ardmore location this Friday (prices will be raised a $1 for sandwiches served on the new rolls).
“We like the creative side of making them the way we see fit,” Lewis said.
The goal is for the new bakery to feed rolls to both the original Pottstown location as well as its new Ardmore outfit.