The region’s restaurants have been busy preparing for a massive influx of guests. Frequently topping visitors’ “must-try” lists is Primanti Bros., maker of the so-called “Pittsburgh sandwich” that has become synonymous with the city itself.
As locals well know, the iconic sandwich, served on thick-cut Italian bread, features grilled meat, cheese and tomato, with fries and coleslaw stuffed inside of it. Created at a sandwich cart in Pittsburgh’s Strip District in 1933, the legend goes the Primanti’s sandwich offered a quick, portable meal for warehouse workers and truck drivers delivering to the neighborhood’s historic produce terminal.
But what do first-timers make of the towering Primanti’s sandwich? Are there any tips and tricks to eating it visitors should know? We visited Primanti’s original location in Pittsburgh’s Strip District and asked the company’s vice president of marketing Ryan Wilkinson.
‘Smash and grab’
On a recent Tuesday around 2 p.m., Primanti’s lunch rush was still going full force, with Kathy Corradetti cooking on the grill — as she has done for 44 years.
Corradetti said newbies aren’t typically too overwhelmed by the sandwich.
“They’ll be all right,” she said of incoming NFL Draft visitors. “Come smash and grab. That’s it.”
The first thing to know about the Primanti’s sandwich, Wilkinson said, is that it’s meant to be eaten messily.
“It’s a monster sandwich, right? So people are sometimes confused. What do you do with this thing? How do you eat it?” he said. “My best advice is that you just go for it.”
Wilkinson also recommended the “classic smash-down technique,” where diners press down on the sandwich to make it more compact. It’s a move that Primanti’s soft Italian bread (sourced from Cellone’s in Pittsburgh’s West End) already lends itself to.
“Whatever falls out, you just kind of deal with it,” Wilkinson said. “You put it right back on the sandwich, and you keep going. It doesn’t have to be a pretty thing.”
Fries stay inside
While there’s technically no wrong way to eat a Primanti’s sandwich, it’s a Pittsburgh taboo to put its fries and coleslaw on the side. Over the years, as Primanti’s has expanded to 40 locations in Ohio, West Virginia, Baltimore, Md., and even Florida, this is a key lesson the company has imparted.
But why are the fries inside? According to Primanti’s lore, a truck driver delivered a shipment of frozen potatoes one winter. Original owner Joe Primanti fried the potatoes and added them to a sandwich, which became an instant hit.
“Why not fries? I think is the real question,” Wilkinson said. “It’s something that Primanti’s has always done, and something that a lot of other people have never done. They give the sandwich its signature flavor.”
“It’s just something that people are not used to. It’s unexpected,” he added. “It’s certainly how we’ve built the sandwich and intend for it to be served. And it’s how I think it’s served best.”
1-handed eating
As far as connecting to the Primanti’s legend, do diners get bonus points for eating the sandwich one-handed, like truck drivers supposedly did? It’s fun, but not required.
“I think the beautiful part of what we do is that it’s silly,” Wilkinson said. “The reality lies somewhere between truth and lore. As you slam all the ingredients together, it does make for something that you can get done in one meal.”
One appeal of the Primanti’s sandwich is its connection to history and the sense of authenticity it confers, he said. Famous figures — presidents, princes, athletes and celebrities — have all visited Primanti’s and tried the sandwich, but “if you look at who’s sitting at the counter, it’s everybody, and the blue collar, hard-working people of Pittsburgh.”
The sandwich “just is what it is. It doesn’t change,” Wilkinson said. “People like that.”
Other do’s and don’ts
“My personal favorite, you’ve got to open it up,” Wilkinson said. He recommends adding hot sauce to the sandwich, especially Red Devil, Primanti’s in-house vinegar-based hot sauce.
Veteran diners add an egg to their sandwiches — “especially to the capicola,” Wilkinson said, a traditional Italian pork. “Cap-and-egg is a classic you can’t go wrong with.”
Add a pickle on the side (this also helps with digestion), along with an Iron City beer.
“The Primanti’s sandwich is for everybody, however you want to tackle it, however you want to eat it,” Wilkinson concluded. “It’s a big sandwich with a lot of history, so it’s been eaten every way you could possibly imagine. And I think they’re all OK.”
“If you can’t eat it all, find a friend,” he added, particularly during the NFL Draft.