Mama’s Pizzeria, which has served its signature cheesesteak with a three-cheese blend twisted throughout finely chopped sirloin on the Main Line since 1960, is closing its doors next week.
Second-generation owner Paul Castellucci Sr. said the last day will be either Nov. 28 or Nov. 29, depending on how much meat and bread remain.
Castellucci had planned to close up the Bala Cynwyd shop after his son, Paul Jr., earned his accountant’s license. He is slated to graduate from St. Joseph’s University in 2026.
But the timeline was moved up with the elder Castellucci’s recent health issues. The 65-year-old grill man is set to have triple bypass surgery in January, but will start preoperative assessments the first week of December.
Paul Castellucci Sr., who has two stents from previous heart issues, was complaining to his cardiologist about shortness of breath. The doctor asked if he had any shoulder pain.
“Do you know what? I do,” he responded. “I’ve had shoulder pain for 40 years.”
Over the years, the entire Castellucci family was put to work at Mama’s: kids, grandkids, spouses, cousins.
Paul Castellucci Sr. started working the grill in 1974 at age 14. Fast-forward to 2025, and “I’m the only one who stayed,” he said in March.
Paul Castellucci Jr. (right) takes an order from a customer while his dad, Paul Sr., runs the grill at their family restaurant, Mama’s Pizzeria.
Since word of the closing began to spread on social media, business has picked up.
Store hours are traditionally 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. But on Saturday morning, orders started rolling in around 10:30 a.m. By 12:30 p.m., the phone was ringing incessantly, orders were piling up, and there was an hour wait for walk-ins.
The restaurant was even concerned about running out of rolls.
“I’m feeling it,” Castellucci said.
Customers who ordered by phone or in person on Saturday took turns wishing him good luck with his surgery and good health in the new year.
The former business manager of St. Matthias Catholic Church in Bala Cynwyd has been charged with theft of more than $1.1 million from the church, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced Friday.
Sean Sweeney, 60, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., served as the church’s business manager from 2017 until his firing in 2024, Steele said.
Investigators found that from 2018 through 2024, Sweeney was responsible for providing the church’s payroll records processing company, PrimePay, with records for who should be paid and how much. PrimePay paid $1,134,906.35 by direct deposit into bank accounts owned and controlled by Sweeney, Steele said.
Bank records show that the money Sweeney received was used for his personal expenses, including educational tuition, vehicle-related payments, and vacation costs, Steele said.
Sweeney surrendered to Montgomery County detectives on Thursday and was arraigned by District Judge Todd N. Barnes, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured, Steele said.
Sweeney was required to surrender his passport, was ordered not to have contact with employees connected to the case, and is not allowed at or near St. Matthias Church, Steele said.
Sweeney could not be reached for comment Friday night.
In December 2024, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office of Investigations referred the case to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Steele said.
Kenneth A. Gavin, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, said in a statement Friday night: “These charges are serious and disturbing to all of us. The Archdiocese and the parish will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as the criminal matter enters its next phase. The Archdiocese is committed to seeking full restitution to the parish.”
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a member of the church’s finance council who had been a school classmate of Sweeney’s warned a church official in May 2024 “that Sweeney had personal finance issues and was borrowing money from family members and not paying them back.”
Sure, you could pick up hot dogs, falafel, or shawarma from a street vendor while watching the Philadelphia Marathon. But here are 10 options for a family-friendly sit-down experience.
Menu style: Greek street-food café with gyros, souvlaki, salads, loukoumades, pita platters.
Kid-friendly notes: Counter-service; quick and easy food; typically calm; just off the Parkway near the start/finish corrals; there’s also a Center City location with counter service at 120 S. 15th St.
Kid-friendly notes: Pizza is an easy win; quick service; plenty of room inside the dining rooms; outside along the Parkway for stroller parking and snacking while watching runners.
📍 1701 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, 📞 215-801-5198
Pedestrians fill the 12th Street sidewalk outside Reading Terminal Market.
Menu style: American comfort food, featuring burgers, chicken fingers, mac & cheese, salads, brunch dishes.
Kid-friendly notes: One of the most reliably family-friendly restaurants in the city, with a kids’ menu; plenty of room for strollers; drinks for adults; outdoor seating when weather allows.
Menu style: Food hall with an interesting mix of Peruvian, Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Indian food, sandwiches, burgers, salads, coffee, pastries, and a Federal Donuts location.
Kid-friendly notes: High-ceilinged, spacious, good bathrooms; fast service — extremely easy for families and large groups; steps from the Walnut Street bridge spectator zone and across from 30th Street Station. There’s a bar, too.
📍 3025 Market St. (Bulletin Building at Drexel), Philadelphia
Menu style: Neapolitan-style pizza, pastas, shareable antipasti, wood-fired dishes.
Kid-friendly notes: Pizza and pasta are always kid wins; roomy layout; easy access relative to Center City; its East Falls location is right next to the Kelly/Ridge spectator stretch.
Menu style: Pizzas, salads, sandwiches; upstairs bistro has more plated entrées.
Kid-friendly notes: One of the most kid-friendly restaurants in Manayunk — booster seats and high chairs; pizza by the slice; lots of families on weekends; right on the marathon’s Manayunk out-and-back.
📍 102 Rector St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-483-2233
The Landing Kitchen is an all-day cafe at the riverside redevelopment of the Pencoyd Ironworks.
Kid-friendly notes: Huge outdoor space in Bala Cynwyd overlooking the river (across from Manayunk); very stroller-friendly; plenty of room for kids to move around; great for families who want a calmer scene than Main Street.
Barry Leonard, 87, formerly of Philadelphia, celebrated crimper, longtime innovative owner of the Barry Leonard Crimper & Spa in Center City, unisex beauty salon groundbreaker, fashion and marketing trendsetter, haircutting mentor, and Army veteran, died Sunday, Oct. 12, at his home in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.
Born in Philadelphia to a family of hairstylists, Mr. Leonard swept the floor at his father’s beauty salon in West Philadelphia as a boy and, in 1955, became the first male to graduate from the beauty culture curriculum at Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School. He went on to help rewrite state statutes to allow unisex beauty salons in the 1970s, wow the marketing world with innovative ads that featured Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Santa Claus, and the Wolfman, and own high-end shops in the old Marriott Hotel on City Avenue and then on Chestnut Street for 43 years.
A proponent of what he called “natural haircutting,” Barry Leonard, Crimper, counted politicians, musicians, actors, and other celebrities as well as local residents as his regulars, and most of them were fine with waiting months for an appointment. He moved his bustling salon from the Marriott to 1527 Chestnut St. in 1972, relocated to 1822 Chestnut in 1995, and retired to Florida in 2005.
In the early 1970s, he saw that men appreciated hair care, too, and he successfully challenged an old state law that required separate locations for male and female haircuts. So unisex salons became common in the 1980s and ’90s.
Mr. Leonard is shown styling the hair of Annie Halpern, his future wife, in this 1985 photo in the Daily News.
“Hair,” he told The Inquirer in 1973, “is the only part of the body that can be changed readily and allows the individual to play his role as he feels it at that particular moment — protest, freakiness, sensuality, anything.”
His New Age salon featured wicker furniture, hanging plants, big pillows, Japanese koi, and free coffee, fruit, and wine. He charged $12.50 per cut in 1973 and $25 in 1991. Sometimes, he booked 75 heads a day, his wife, Annie, said.
Most often, he consulted with customers before the cut, assigned the job to an assistant stylist, and checked back when the work was done. Over his career, he told his wife, he likely attended to more than 1 million customers. In 1991, he told The Inquirer: “My general philosophy is to make people happy.”
He also created and distributed do-it-yourself manuals for those who couldn’t get appointments and introduced computerized styling technology in the 1980s so clients could design their own cuts on video screens. “I’m a firm believer that nothing lasts forever,” he told the Daily News in 1977. “But right now, I’ll stay the way I am. It’s really a matter of the world catching up with me.”
This then and now photo appeared with a story in The Inquirer in 1973.
He was featured often in The Inquirer, Daily News, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Business Journal, and other publications, and writers dubbed him the “top hair gun” in Philadelphia, “the dashing haircutter,” and “Philadelphia’s leading proponent of hair as art.” He dabbled in selling franchises, endorsed a new Japanese hair-straightening process, and hosted runway-style hair shows and crimper workshops.
Women told him his beauty advice changed their lives. Men said his haircuts improved their sex lives.“I was the image changer,” he told The Inquirer in 2002.
In the late 1960s, Mr. Leonard gave local advertising whiz Elliott Curson a haircut, and Curson, delighted with the result, suggested rebranding Mr. Leonard as “a crimper,” British slang for hairdresser. What followed was a hugely successful ad campaign and a friendship that lasted more than 50 years.
One of their first ads featured the phrase: “When I come out of Barry Leonard’s, I won’t look like my mother.” Curson said: “He had that look, the outfit, and the vision that worked so well.”
Mr. Leonard and his wife, Annie, married in 1986.
Mr. Leonard liked to wear a work shirt, vest, blue jeans, boots, designer glasses, and turquoise jewelry to work. His own hair flowed down to his shoulders when he was young. He told the Daily News in 1977: “Anybody can be where it’s at. But I’m where it’s going to be.”
He was a member of Intercoiffure America and participated in its competitive showings in New York and elsewhere. He was included in a display called “Movers and Shakers” at the now-closed Philadelphia History Museum.
“He would meet you once and have an impact on the rest of your life,” his wife said. “Everybody loved him. He was passionate and compassionate.”
Barry Leonard was born Jan. 27, 1938, in Philadelphia. He grew up in Wynnefield and Bala Cynwyd, and served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division for two years after high school.
Mr. Leonard (second from right) celebrated his 80th birthday with his children.
He wore a traditional tie and jacket, and cut hair with his father and in a few local shops before opening his place at the Marriott in 1962. He also spent some time working in London and first heard the word crimper there.
He married Charlene Brooks, and they had daughters Karen, Susan, and Elizabeth and a son, Brett. After a divorce, he met Annie Halpern at a party in 1983. They went to a Neil Diamond concert on their first date in 1984, married in 1986, and moved from Center City to Florida in 2005.
Mr. Leonard was an avid boxing fan, and he knew his way around the popular Blue Horizon venue on Broad Street. He had a summer home in Longport, N.J., and enjoyed time at Gulfstream Park racetrack in Florida.
He was spiritual and loquacious, his wife said. He had favorite witty quips, and his family and friends refer to them as “Barryisms.”
This article about Mr. Leonard’s fashion sense was published in the Daily News in 1977.
He attended all kinds of galas and benefits, and doted on his children. “He gave me my first shag” haircut, a longtime friend said on Facebook. Another friend said her neighbor cut her hair once. “The results were not good,” she said. “Barry fixed me.”
They called him “one of a kind,” “truly the best around,” and a “mentor and a friend.” His wife said: “He was the love of my life.”
In addition to his wife, children, and former wife, Mr. Leonard is survived by eight grandchildren and other relatives. A brother died earlier.
A celebration of his life is to be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at Gulfstream Park, Third Floor, Flamingo Room, 901 S. Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, Fla. 33009. RSVP to blcrimper@aol.com.
This ad by Mr. Leonard and Elliott Curson appeared in The Inquirer in 1982.
Lower Merion Township’s effort to limit where guns are sold violates state law, Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday.
In a case that holds major implications for the power of local governments across Pennsylvania, the court threw out the township’s zoning ordinance that sought to block holders of federal firearms licenses from operating in walkable downtown areas and residential neighborhoods.
The question at the heart of the case was whether the ordinance regulated land-use decisions, the bread and butter of local government, or the sale of firearms, which only the state can do.
A majority opinion, signed by five judges, said the township’s ordinance violated state law that prohibits local governments from regulating guns because its requirements went beyond geographic limits.
“The Township’s ordinance here is clearly intended to regulate the sale of firearms, rather than to regulate zoning,” wrote Judge Matthew Wolf in the opinion. “It is a gun regulation, not a zoning regulation.”
In a statement, Todd Sinai, the Democratic president of the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners, said the township was considering its legal and legislative options.
“We, of course, are disappointed in the Commonwealth Court’s decision today. It is a fundamental and important right of municipalities to be able to zone the location of uses to best serve their residents and property owners,” Sinai said.
Frustrated with the lack of gun-control measures out of Harrisburg, advocates and officials have sought to use local ordinances to limit gun sales and where guns can be carried, and to ban certain firearms. Philadelphia has fought for years for the ability to enact gun laws. But ordinances passed by Philly and other cities, including Pittsburgh, have largely been struck down by courts.
One strategy that has had limited success is the use of zoning ordinances to limit the locations of firearms-related activities, such as shooting ranges or gun stores. The Lower Merion case was seen by some as a test on how far zoning can go to bypass state preemption.
“The Commonwealth Court has reaffirmed once again that local forms of government cannot regulate firearms and ammunition in any manner,” said Joshua Prince, an attorney with Civil Rights Defense Firm who filed the lawsuit.
Lower Merion can appeal the decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which would have to agree to hear the case, but the ruling delivered a blow to gun-control advocates who had hoped Lower Merion’s ordinance could be replicated elsewhere in the state.
“The decision to treat firearm operations as different within zoning than any other business is unusual and concerning,” said Adam Garber, the executive director of CeaseFire PA.
The ruling, he said, creates a road map for how municipalities can zone firearm stores but also puts the impetus on the state to address gun regulations, something lawmakers in Harrisburg have refused to do.
The township approved the zoning rules for firearms dealers in 2023 after the opening of Shot Tec, a gun training facility and seller in Bala Cynwyd, sparked community outrage. The zoning rules established a set of criteria for sellers to operate under and said they could open only in strip malls and industrial-use areas.
The township argued that, while local governments are not allowed to regulate firearms, they have broad power over zoning and land use.
Grant Schmidt, the owner of the Bala Cynwyd shop, sued after the zoning ordinance impeded his ability to open a second location in his home.
He responded to the news of the ruling Thursday with a gif of Ric Flair cheering. His business, which offers training and education on firearms in addition to buying, selling, and storing them, has had four locations in five years. He said he hoped he could now focus on expanding his business rather than fighting local policies.
“Now I’m looking to just grow and be normal and invest in my staff more,” Schmidt said.
The litigation focuses on the requirements Schmidt had to adhere to for his most recent Rock Hill Road location, which is within one of the four districts that were zoned for businesses that require a federal gun license. The ordinance went beyond restricting place and imposed 12 additional requirements, such as installing smash-resistant windows, an alarm system, and internal video surveillance.
Montgomery County Court found that all but three requirements were preempted by state law. Following Schmidt’s appeal, Commonwealth Court struck down the remaining requirements and the place restrictions.
Lower Merion argued that other businesses, such as medical marijuana dispensaries, animal hospitals, and funeral homes, are subject to compatible conditions to operate. These types of requirements are “traditional local land use control not specific to firearms,” the township argued, according to the majority opinion.
To make its case, Lower Merion cited a previous, non-precedential decision by Commonwealth Court that allowed Philadelphia to limit gun shops to specific zoning districts.
The difference between the cases, Wolf wrote, is that Philadelphia limited the location of the gun shops but said nothing about how they need to operate. Lower Merion went a step further to restrict how gun shop owners “conduct their business.”
Two judges, Renee Cohen Jubelirer and Lori Dumas, disagreed with the majority’s analysis, saying the decision “strips the Township of its traditional power over land use and zoning.”
“Contrary to the Majority’s conclusion, none of the provisions of the ordinance at issue here regulate the ownership, transportation, or transfer of firearms, ammunition, or ammunition components,” Jubelirer wrote in the dissent.
Correction: An original version of this story incorrectly identified the gif sent by Schmidt. It featured Ric Flair.
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