Established 1949 Previous owner(s) Samuel Sherman | Current owner(s) Joe Groh Dress code Casual | |
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Food type Cheesesteaks and other sandwiches Street address 6030 Torresdale Avenue (flagship location) | ||
Joe's Steaks + Soda Shop, formerly named Chink's Steaks, is a cheesesteak restaurant founded in 1949 in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The restaurant's former name was controversial to some, which led to the owner changing it. A second restaurant location opened in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia in 2015. In addition to its cheesesteak sandwich specialty, the company purveys other types of sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, and other foods.
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History
In 1949, Samuel "Chink" Sherman opened Chink's Steaks. Sherman, who was Jewish, was nicknamed "chink" because his eyes were almond-shaped. Sherman died in 1997. In 1999, long time employee, Joe Groh, purchased the restaurant from Sherman's family.
In 2013, Groh changed the name of the restaurant to Joe's Steaks due to controversy from its former use of the ethnic slur "chink". Groh did not change the name earlier because he wanted to "honor the wishes of some of the regular customers who were opposed to any kind of change, big or small", and because the name was a tradition. Some of the restaurant's customers from the neighborhood actually opposed the name change, and some even badgered Joe about the matter. Some people also left negative comments about the name change on various social media websites and on online restaurant review sites. The restaurant realized a loss of profits after some customers boycotted the restaurant due to the name change.
Groh expanded to a second location in Fishtown which opened on April 1, 2015.
Fare and atmosphere
Joe's Steaks specializes in cheesesteak sandwiches, and also serves other types of sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages, hand-cut fries, sodas, milkshakes and sundaes. The company also purveys a vegan cheesesteak sandwich. The original location on Torresdale Avenue has a 1950s diner style, with wooden booths that have small jukeboxes (which are no longer operational), a lunch counter and soda fountain. It has seating for about thirty customers. The Fishtown neighborhood location is larger, and also has outdoor seating.
Ratings
Erin O'Neill of NJ.com rated Joe's Steaks as "10 Philly cheesesteaks worth crossing the bridge for".