These New York food joints are 86ing the 76ers’ hometown sandwich.
Restaurants and bars from Manhattan to Long Island were banning “Philly” cheesesteaks from the menu as the Knicks take on the 76ers in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Empire State spots said they were rebranding Philly cheesesteaks as “the Philly SUCKS cheesesteak,” “the Big Apple cheesesteak” and other cheeky names in response to The Post calling around to see if establishments were ready to dunk on the B-rate city.
“Philly needs to understand, New York is the king,” said Louis Cretella, the co-owner of Dario’s Pizza in West Hempstead.
Cretella, who has been a Knicks season ticket holder for more than a decade, personally changed the menu item from Philly cheesesteak to the Philly SUCKS cheesesteak in the restaurant’s computer system.
Hard copy menus have the “Philly” crossed out and “F*** Philly” in black marker written over it.
Dario’s can sell up to 2,500 cheesesteaks and has been featured on “Good Morning America.”
“If Philly is so good at cheesesteaks, then why did ‘Good Morning America’ reach out to us on Long Island and not the guys in Philly?” Cretella said.
Philly-themed bar Wogies – which has three New York locations – took direct aim at Sixers star Joel Embiid and the appendectomy he had near the end of the regular season last month.
“We’ll be renaming one of our original cheesesteaks to be The Appendix Burster — a nod to Embiid’s miraculous recovery from appendicitis,” a business rep told The Post in reference to the center returning to the hardwood 17 days after surgery.
Other restaurants were also tweaking their menu names to roast Philly, including:
- Slate in Manhattan is dubbing one of their appetizers the Knicks Knockout Philly cheesesteak empanadas, while sister business Clinton Hall is introducing the Knicks Knockout Philly cheesesteak sliders.
- G’s Cheesesteaks in Manhattan is planning to change its cheesesteak to the New York Knicks steak on Wednesday.
- Birdie Bar in Northport is calling their food item The Big Apple cheesesteak.
“We’re here to not only show you that we’re a better basketball team, but we might make a better cheesesteak than Philly also,” said Birdie owner and devout Knicks fan Louie Selvaggio.
Evan Deitch, part owner of the Chiddy’s Cheesesteaks, which has multiple sites, said at the business’ Farmingdale location Tuesday Philly fans have always been sore losers.
“It’s not Philly, it’s Long Island cheesesteak,” Deitch said. “Ten times better! New Yorkers demand the best.”
The owners of Italian staple Mama’s in Copiague were giving customers the choice between two names instead of mentioning Philly.
“The Convert” because brothers Adam and Ahmy Sala grew up in Philadelphia as Sixers fans, but have since become Knicks fans thanks to watching point guard Jalen Brunson play at Villanova University and “Trust the Cheesesteak, Not the Process,” in a knock on former 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie’s questionable long-term plan of success.
“Philadelphia has been doing cheesesteaks forever. It’s time New York has a bit of an identity with that,” said Ahmy Sala.
The group of restaurants’ defiance comes as 76er fans tried to block Knicks fanatics of buying tickets to road games at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The cheesesteak originated from Philadelphia when two brothers who ran a hot dog stand in the south side of the Pennsylvania city, Pat and Harry Olivieri, were attempting to come up with new sandwiches to offer customers.
But for now, the Big Apple isn’t ready to serve Philly any props, especially as the Knicks faithful are reveling in Monday’s 137-98 Game 1win ahead of Wednesday’s game at Madison Square Garden.
Aristotle “Telly” Hatzigeorgiou, the CEO of The Lure Group, which is the majority owner of Clinton Hall and Slate, joked the kitchen staff “exorcised” anything Philly from the griddle.
“We just sat around, and all of a sudden we see the word ‘Philly’ there, and we’re like, ‘ugh!’ Teeth are grinding, and we didn’t want anything Philly that’s weak,” the Queens native said. “We wanted strong NYC grit. Not a weaky Philly cheesesteak.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
