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Perhaps the biggest well-known secret to Nick Maiale’s success at Lil Nick’s Deli, 1311 W. Moyamensing Ave., is his refusal to find a home for an appliance so many delis and restaurants rely on: A freezer.
“Nothing comes out of a freezer. We don’t own one here,” Maiale Jr. said.
The Readers’ Choice winner for specialty sandwich could point to a small handful of popular orders the small shop cranks out weekly.
“Everything’s homemade, everything’s made from scratch by me or my mother,” Maiale Jr. said, with his father, who runs the adjacent Big Nick’s, checking in on his son with pride. “She showed me everything,” the 44-year-old LoMo lifer says of his early start in a kitchen with his mother, Arlene.
Everything from meatballs to soups is all made from scratch. Even their famous chicken cutlets are treated with uniqueness. “Our cutlets are friend in a pan, not deep-fried,” Maiale Jr. said.
If it’s not the cutlet hoagie varieties that earned them the honor, it’s the veal scaloppine (“Tender chunks of veal in mom’s homemade sauce”). But Nick prepared a new favorite, the fried meatball friadelle sandwich; with pan-fried meatballs (without sauce), sweet Italian friadelle peppers and cheeses, both American and sharp provolone.
On a rare Wednesday last week, he’d already run out of veal for the day.
“That pretty much never happens,” he said.
The family’s been in business for nearly 40 years but Maiale Jr.’s taken their hoagie business to a finer, fuller service since 1997. Over the last year, with the help of his mother and father’s tutelage, he’s started delivering way more than hoagies. They’re built with devotion to a neighborhood and familial tradition.
Steak Em Up came close to winning, and Chickie’s & Pete’s finished third.
Contact Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
2014 Readers’ Choice Awards
Cuisine
Steak ‘Em Up French fries
Philip’s Steaks and Geno’s Steaks (tie) Cheesesteak
PrimoHoagies Hoagie
Lil Nick’s Deli Specialty sandwich
City Pizza Pizza crust
Green Eggs Cafe Brunch menu
Penrose Diner Omelet selection/Diner
Scannicchio’s Italian Restaurant Date night/BYOB
Ristorante Pesto Italian restaurant
Johnny Chang’s Ethnic restaurant (non-Italian)
Breezy’s Café New restaurant (January 2013 to present)
Stogie Joe’s Tavern Bar menu
Nick Elmi Top chef
Sweet Tooth
Isgro Pastries Cannoli/Bakery
Pop’s Water Ice Gelati
Potito’s Cupcakes
Termini Bros Cookies
People
Jason Douglas DJ
The Business Local band
Bobby Rydell South Philly celebrity
Dana Smith Elementary school teacher
Vikings Mummers Brigade
Carl Arrigale High school coach
Neumann-Goretti High school team
Bryan Hughes Youth/recreation league coach
Nick Foles Philly pro athlete
Places
DiBruno Bros. Italian specialty store
Galdo’s Catering Hall
Ten Pennies Florist
Monti Rago Funeral Home, Inc., Funeral home
Packer Park Neighborhood
Epiphany of Our Lord Church Church
Lombardi’s Prime Meats Butcher shop
TLA Music venue
On the Move
Planet Fitness Gym/health club
DanceAdelphia Ballet program
Barry Playground Community pool
Fitness Works Place to take a Pilates class
And Let’s Not Forget
Bartender Category not on this list
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