932 S. 10th St
Finding Shank and Evelyns has been one of my biggest accomplishments since moving to Philadelphia. The reason for this is back in my hometown in NY, my uncle owns an awesome sandwich shop (yes, maybe I am biased, but I think my whole town agrees with me). So for years now I have been searching for a comparable place to just enjoy a cheap quality sandwich, in a place that isn’t fancy. Well, Shank and Evelyns is that place. As soon as I opened the door and looked around the very small room, I knew I may have just found my new favorite food destination in Philadelphia. Everything in the room is very simple, there is a counter on the left side and about 6 tables on the right. All the stools and tables look like they’ve been there for years, which makes you just feel more comfortable and at home. After I sat down, I looked around the wall and saw all these autographed pictures and awards this place has won. There was even pictures of the Sopranos, which is very fitting as I could see Tony Soprano eating many sandwiches here. I instantly knew that I was in for a treat and have really been missing out on something great all the previous years I’ve been in Philly.
The menu is very small. It’s just two pages. One page is breakfast, the other page is lunch. Nothing fancy here, it’s all just your basic Italian sandwiches: roast pork / beef, chicken parm, eggplant parm, meatball, hot sausage, etc.. Luckily I was with my friend because I couldn’t decide on one sandwich. So we ended up ordering a chicken parm and a meatball (which they kindly split on plates for us). Honestly I couldn’t tell you which one was better. They were both exactly what I expected, simple and delicious. Hands down the two best sandwiches I’ve had in Philadelphia.
On top of having awesome food, the ladies behind the counter are usually very friendly. I’ve only been there twice now, and I believe that it’s the same staff everyday. The woman working remembered me from the first time and even joked around about a five-second conversation we had a week earlier. As I was eating, I couldn’t help but overhear the same lady speaking with a gentleman visiting from California and her asking him about customers she hadn’t seen in over 10 years. These ladies down forget a thing it seems, and truly seem to love working there.
Be sure to make this one of the first places on my site that you visit. Just make sure you go early, unfortunately they close at 4:00 and they do run of certain items. Oh, and look closely, the only part of this establishment that stands out is the old-fashioned RC cola sign hanging out front. Chances are if you stop by on a Tuesday or Thursday, you’re probably going to run into me, I have full intentions of being a regular customer.