Loving Joey’s Famous Philly Cheesesteaks

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Last fall our family went to the grand opening of a new sandwich shop in our area.

Fifteen minutes into our visit I said, “I give this place 12 months top and then they’ll turn it into a Yoga studio.”

The food was bland.

The people were mean.

The walls were empty.

I told Lisa, “If I were opening a sandwich shop I’d want to capture people’s imagination with the place – deck the place out with fun stuff. People go to sandwich shops to eat great food, at a great price, and have a little fun.”

Well, someone must have been listening in on my conversation, because on Saturday my family and I stumbled onto what could become our new favorite sandwich shop in the area: Joey’s Famous Philly Cheesesteaks in Phoenixville.

Everything was South Philly…

…Bright colors everywhere

…Autographed pictures of Philly sport’s team celebrities on the walls

…Rocky III playing on the TV

We loved the place.

The food was great -- authentic South Philly. Every time someone rang the bell on the counter the whole staff screamed “Yo!” To top it off they even had a kind elderly woman everyone affectionately called “Mom” serving the food.

The whole time I’m thinking, Church leaders should go to school on this place.

What made the place so great?

1. People were obviously having a blast doing what they were doing.
Everyone working at a new restaurant has fun on opening day. Have you ever noticed that? But 8 times out of 10 when you go back 3 months later people working behind the counter are so bored they’re ripping their eyeballs out. This place has been open for almost a year and they were still having fun.

2. It was authentic.
Customers kept coming in and talking about South Philly and what it was like “back in the day.” The place didn’t come across as if they adopted some cheesy “theme” to sell sandwiches.

3. They went over the top to serve us.
“Mom” saw that my youngest wasn’t eating her ham and cheese sandwich (because they had put Italian dressing and onions on it), so she came by, asked my daughter what she really wanted, and even though my daughter said “No! No! It’s fine!” she grabbed it from her, remade the sandwich and brought it back with a smile in under two minutes.

Dude, this is how to do a restaurant if you’re going to go into the restaurant biz.

It’s also a pretty good way to go about building a great church.

If you’re ever in Phoenixville and looking for a great meal at a good price, check ‘em out and let them what an awesome job they’re doing.

http://www.YoSteaks.com/

413 Schuylkill Rd.
Phoenixville, PA 19460
610-933-Yo44 (9644)

Have a favorite sandwich shop?