Primanti Bros (Strip District original) ★ 4.2
Primanti Bros on 18th Street in the Strip District serves its fries-inside sandwich late in Pittsburgh. The 1933 original runs to 2am on weekends.
Try: Almost Famous sandwich
History
Around 1933, Joe Primanti set up a cart and then a counter at 46 18th Street in the Strip District to feed produce truckers and overnight workers. Putting the fries and slaw inside the bread let drivers eat one-handed without sitting down at a deli. The Almost Famous sandwich became the city's signature street food, and the original counter still stands. Versions now run from capicola and cheese to pastrami and the classic Pitts-burger.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices Italian bread
- 2 portions thin-sliced grilled meat (capicola, pastrami or steak)
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- 2 cups shoestring fries
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- 60ml white vinegar
- 30ml vegetable oil
- 1 tsp sugar, salt and pepper
- Sliced tomato
Method
- Toss the cabbage with vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper to make a sharp, undressed-style slaw. Set aside.
- Fry or bake the shoestring fries until crisp and hot.
- Grill the meat on a flat top or pan until browned; lay the provolone on top to melt.
- Toast or warm the Italian bread slices.
- Build each sandwich: bread, meat and melted cheese, then a layer of fries, then tomato, then a pile of the vinegar slaw.
- Top with the second slice of bread, press gently and cut in half.
- Eat immediately, one-handed, the way the truckers did.
Tip from the editors. The slaw must be vinegar-based, not creamy mayo; that sharpness is what cuts the fries and cheese.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat the primanti sandwich
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