You open the door to the rental and let in the roaring summer sun, and you’re fully prepared for a relaxing day on beach: Toy Story-themed towel, Cherry Float Coke Zeros, and a thin layer of suntan spray coating everything in the canvas tote bag.
But you could really use a snack.
There’s a lot going on this holiday weekend, and it’s a mess. So the last thing you need is another one.
What you’re looking for is a classic Jersey Shore treat, but ice cream isn’t built for travel and a slice of pizza has too many variables.
You need a “Walking Taco.”
Walking tacos are offered at the Wells Fargo Center.
I’m Tommy Rowan, and I’m once again subbing in for Amy S. Rosenberg. I’m a lifelong Jersey Shore-goer who was raised on visits to the Ocean City boardwalk and Wonderland Pier. I spent my teenage years on the Wildwood boardwalk, my 20s in Sea Isle City, and nowadays I have family in North Wildwood. And maybe it’s because I’m within spitting distance of 40, or because places I once loved are being torn down, I find myself wanting to cram in more of everything.
Which brings us back to the food that moves.
The “Walking Taco” is for people who want to walk and talk, and who want to fit in more and keep moving.
It’s a snack-sized bag of Fritos that’s crushed into pieces, garnished with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and homemade pico de gallo, and eaten with a plastic spoon.
It encourages you to get your steps in, but it’s not quite fast food. That’s why they don’t call it a “Running Taco.”
It’s best eaten on the walk to the beach, but if you’re a “save for later” kind of person, it still works: The bag is self-contained, and yet it’s protected from splashes of sand and saltwater. And it’s an easy disposal: Just crush the bag into a ball and toss it in a trash can.
It’s salty and crunchy and cheesy, but it’s not a true overindulgence.
A cheeky hot dog stand in Sea Isle City has unfound claims to “the original,” but the product can be found up and down the Philly-favored beach towns between Atlantic City and Cape May — and many swap out Fritos for Doritos.
And, honestly, what better way to ring in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence than with a uniquely American product: a nonrecyclable bag of ultraprocessed salty particles, topped with chemically altered cheese strings, covered in oily animal fat, and topped with what can only be described as a “modern interpretation” of pico de gallo.
It’s America in a fun-size.
📮 What’s your favorite beach snack? And how do you feel about the “Walking Taco?” What are you eating this holiday weekend? Let me know what you think by replying to this email, and your most interesting responses may end up in a future newsletter. Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them here.
😡 We’re in for a dangerously hot holiday weekend. Remember to hydrate.
🏖️ Pumped up. Sand-pumping operations are expected to begin next week in Ocean City, while replenishment of the Seven Mile Island Beaches will reportedly begin toward the end of the summer. Avalon’s beaches are up first, with work scheduled to start in mid-August, followed by Stone Harbor in October.
🛵 Take a number. A reminder that New Jersey is now taking appointments for e-riders to register their e-bikes, per a new state law (which doesn’t seem to affect visitors from Pennsylvania). We have a full look at the confusing law here.
🎃 Halloween in July? Spirit Halloween is getting a head start on the spooky season and listing seasonal job openings on its website, including for pop-up stores at the Shore in May’s Landing, Rio Grande, and Egg Harbor Township.
🏫 Stretching out. Dominique Dawes, a former Olympian who founded a chain of gymnastics schools, is planning to open a new location in South Jersey this fall. The new school is part of the former gold medalist’s expansion into the greater Philly region.
🇺🇸 The Declaration. Two days before the country’s 250th anniversary, on July 2, Avalon is hosting a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. And then a few days after, on July 8, Cape May is planning its own public reading and reenactment. Both are worth checking out.
👻🦀 Ghost crabs! Every Thursday between 8 and 9 p.m., the Nature Center hosts a ghost crab hunt on the beaches of Cape May. So grab a flashlight and watch the translucent crustaceans scurry in the spotlight. Preregistration is required.
🌭 Hot Dog Tommy’s in Cape May. No. 1, fantastic name. No notes. And No. 2, helluva chili cheese dog.
🎥 Beach movies. Catching a flickoutdoors at the Shoreis underrated. Ocean air, salty breezes, and overpriced ice cream cones coalesce to create the most perfect conditions to take in a picture. Cape May and Margate show movies on the beach, Sea Isle utilizes the Band Shell in Excursion Park, and Wildwood hosts at Byrne Plaza.
🧢 Card show. If you’re looking for an escape from the heat this weekend, the Sports Card, Toy, Comic & Collectibles Show will be trading in childhood treasures and autographed memorabilia at the Wildwoods Convention Center on the boardwalk.
🎸 Free tunes in Atlantic City. On Wednesday, Bayou Blues guitarist-vocalist Tab Benoit is playing Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk, a New Orleans-themed concert series at Kennedy Plaza. The free show starts at 7 p.m.
🥡 Delicious takeout. Craig LaBan is a big fan of the General Tso’s at China Sea of Absecon. He went inland for his latest list of places to eat at the Shore.
Shore snapshot
Jason Kelce takes a selfie with fans at his annual fundraiser in Sea Isle City.
After starting last year’s fundraiser with tear-away shorts and a Speedo, Jason Kelce was comparatively reserved this year for his entrance at his and wife Kylie Kelce‘s sixth annual “Shore Birds” event at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City. The event benefits the Eagles Autism Foundation.
I hope the next milestone after the Semiquincentennial is easier to pronounce and simpler to spell.
🧠 Trivia time
On June 27, 1958, this civil rights leader addressed a convention of Quakers in Cape May in a little remembered episode in this cultural icon’s extraordinary life.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Wonderland Pier and the unmistakable value boardwalk rides bring to the Jersey Shore, which is what made Joseph Farley’s recent submission jump out.
The station wagon seemed to bulge like in a Willie the Worm cartoon; where endless hordes of Mickey Mouse types invade a building. Our family of ten filled the seats with the baby on mom’s lap. It was 1955, the tires were near bald and Dad kept a gallon of water handy to feed the radiator should it geyser in heavy traffic. We left Cheltenham, PA for Wildwood already singing, “On the Way to Cape May.” My pockets bulged with the contents of my piggy bank, my life’s savings. It was a six-hour trip, four of them spent in Dorothy, a town on the Tuckahoe Road, enjoying lunch while Dad made repairs to the car.
That night I choose to ride the “Salt & Pepper Shaker” on Morey’s Pier; a scary ride that took you into the stars. At the top, it flipped upside-down. All the coins in my pockets fell out, clanking off the girders to oblivion. This broke ten-year old, turned moocher, still had a glorious vacation. I returned home brown as a berry with a tale that became family lure, a “feel sorry for dad story” that still brings sympathetic sighs every time I tell it.
Send us your Shore memory in 200 words! Tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.
✌️ That should do it. Amy’s back from vacation next week, so I’ll see ya at the rest stops.
— Tommy
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Philadelphia now has three Rocky statues. That is three statues celebrating a fictional Philadelphian. And while many great Philadelphians already have statues, there are so many who don't.
Who do you think should be Philadelphia’s Next Top Statue?
To decide, we’ll present you with two random Philadelphians from our list of just 26. For each matchup, you choose who deserves to be honored more. The winner will move on to the next round to face another Philadelphian.
You’ll keep going until we end up with your definitive Philadelphia’s Next Top Statue.
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If you're happy with , you can skip the remaining challengers, and lock them in as your choice.
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You think Philadelphia should build a statue of winner and percentageWinner of Inquirer readers agree with you. The most popular winning statues, so far, are popularWinners.
You stuck with longest for the longest, picking them over longestLength other statues.
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Jason Kelce must have learned that “no shirt, no shoes, no service” applies to pants as well.
After starting last year’s fundraiser with tear-away shorts and a Speedo, Jason Kelce was comparatively reserved this year for his entrance when he and wife Kylie Kelce hosted the sixth annual “Shore Birds” event at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City benefiting the Eagles Autism Foundation on Wednesday.
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) June 24, 2026
Local social media influencer Katie Begley, also known as Popstar Katie, led the workout, which took place on the grass at Sea Isle City’s Excursion Park.
While most of the other current and former football players opted to sport their own names and numbers on their jersey, Allen, who played with the Eagles across four seasons from 2014-17, instead represented one of his former teammates.
Allen, a staple at the Team 62 fundraiser, not only had a new jersey, but he also had a new job this year, helping Donna Kelce serve — or in Allen’s case, eat— water ice, alongside Eagles edge rusher Jalyx Hunt.
Cornerback Cooper DeJean, defensive tackle Ty Robinson, and safety Andre’ Sam were also in attendance, along with chief of security for the Eagles Dom DiSandro, and Cole Peterson, assistant to the head coach.
Entering his ninth season as an Eagle, Zach Ertz could see the writing on the wall. With the continued emergence of tight end Dallas Goedert and a rough four-win 2020 season at the front of mind, it seemed certain the two parties would be headed for a divorce.
But finding a landing spot for the three-time Pro Bowler took longer than originally anticipated. Expecting to be dealt before the 2021 preseason, Ertz was still on the roster when training camp arrived. So on a whim, the veteran tight end decided to dye his hair bleach blond.
“I essentially hadn’t been there all offseason. I had ankle surgery so I was missing OTAs anyway. And I showed up for training camp with blond hair,” Ertz said on his former teammate Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast. “I don’t regret much about my time in Philly or this career, but the one thing I do regret is kind of that phase, showing up to training camp with blond hair.”
Eagles tight end Zach Ertz jogs off the field after the Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons to open the 2021 season.
Jason Kelce, who played alongside Ertz for over eight seasons, was as sure as anyone that the Southern California native would get dealt before games started. He was so confident that he put his own head of hair on the line.
“It was so obvious, unfortunately, that my time was probably coming to an end, that Jason was like, ‘Bro, when are you getting traded? You’re going to get traded any day now. If you’re still on the team Week 1 then I’ll dye my hair,’” Ertz recalled. “I don’t think I had anything to lose in this situation.”
And as the summer days rolled on, Ertz’s wait for a trade didn’t materialize — at least not before the Eagles’ Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. So when the longtime teammates ran out onto the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, they were rocking a matching hairdo.
“I just wanted Zach to have something to look forward to if he was still on the team, like, ‘At least Jason dyed his hair to match,’” Kelce recalled.
Most important, Ertz’s wife and former U.S. women’s national soccer team star Julie Ertz, who was also a guest on this week’s episode, said she liked her husband’s new look.
“That’s really all that matters, honestly,” Zach quipped.
As for Kelce, Ertz referred to him as Guy Fieri as both the hosts and guests reacted an image of a blond Kelce, that Jason called “the worst photo of me possible.”
Jason Kelce dyed his hair to match Ertz’s at the start of the 2021 season.
“I don’t think Kylie [Kelce] liked your hair as much as I liked Zach’s hair,” Julie joked.
Ertz remembers his Philly days
Ertz was also asked to reflect on his time in Philly.
“When you spend nine years somewhere, you’re going to always have a natural affinity for the place,” Ertz said. “Unfortunately … I wasn’t able to play my whole career [in Philadelphia].”
But what Ertz most appreciated from his time on the Eagles were his teammates. After getting selected in the second round of the 2013 draft, Ertz quickly inserted himself into a young Eagles foundation designed to remain intact for years — one that also included Kelce, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Lane Johnson.
“The thing I look back on fondest is our core group of guys that we had together for a long period of time, with you, Lane, BG, Fletch, myself,” Ertz said. “It wasn’t easy all the time for any of us. Like there were times we’d get killed in the media or whatever it was, and I always knew you four always had my back regardless of what we were going [through]. And I hope you guys felt the same about me.
“And it is a little emotional talking about — I don’t know why — but just going through that, just being around the guys. No one is going to remember about how many yards or catches or starts we had, but I do remember the day-to-day, grinding, the stories of you kicking over a trash can because you didn’t like the way a coach was treating someone else, or Lane hiding your helmet — those are the things I remember.”
Eagles tight end Zach Ertz (left) and defensive end Brandon Graham (right) walk off the field after a 37-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in December 2020.
Ertz’s time in Philly ended in November 2021 when a long-awaited trade sent him to the Arizona Cardinals. The Eagles’ single-season receptions leader played two more seasons with the Cardinals and two with the Washington Commanders. But when Ertz, who is now a free agent, returned to the City of Brotherly Love with Washington, he couldn’t get the Birds’ fight song out of his head.
“Even when [I was] on the other sideline … It’s still like subtly in the back of my mind,” Ertz admitted, “singing it as I’m over there watching.”
Looking ahead, Ertz is aiming to suit up to play in his 14th NFL season, but he does not yet know where. Complicating the situation is a season-ending ACL tear that the 35-year-old suffered in a Week 14 shutout loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
But Ertz is pleased with the recovery progress he’s made and expects to be ready near the start of the season.
“We’re in a good spot. We’re like five, almost six months now from surgery, so just training every day, doing everything I can to get back to where I was,” Ertz said. “It’s a long process. There’s some long days, there’s some long weeks, some long months … it’s tough, but we’re just trying to stack these days right now.”
Ertz’s blond phase didn’t last long, but it was memorable.
The Eagles are headed to the shore on Wednesday for Jason Kelce’s sixth annual celebrity bartending fundraiser event at Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City.
The Team 62 at Ocean Drive fundraiser will raise funds for the Eagles Autism Foundation. During last year’s event, Kelce and the Birds raised a record-breaking $1 million — surpassing the prior year’s total of $865,000. Since 2021, they have raised more than $2.4 million for the foundation.
Ahead of this year’s Team 62 fundraiser, which is set to take place between 4-8 p.m., there will be a family-friendly event hosted by the Eagles Autism Foundation at Excursion Park between 12-3 p.m. It will feature activities like mini football as well as cheer and drum line clinics. A $25 donation will grant families access to the event.
In addition to the bartending session at Ocean Drive on Wednesday, the fourth annual Beer Bowl starts at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Sea Isle City Yacht Club, where guests can watch teams compete for a $50,000 cash prize.
For general admission to the bartending session, there will be a $10 cover charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Ticket packages for early admission are available online with all proceeds from the evening benefiting the Eagles Autism Foundation.
At noon on a bright June Tuesday, the scene at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza on the Wildwood boardwalk felt more like a South Philly block party than a soft opening.
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino worked the crowd at his new shop — hugging, shaking hands, posing for photos — moving easily among his friends and admirers. At 64, five years removed from the criminal justice system, the onetime alleged head of Philadelphia’s underworld is enjoying a second act that few could have predicted: cheesesteak entrepreneur, podcaster, and social-media personality.
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) and Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. (right) posing with a customer outside the Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza shop in Wildwood.
Orbiting him with a phone and a grin was Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. — 30 years his junior — Skinny Joey’s collaborator and the man who helped set him up with a new career. While customers lined up out front for steaks, slices, photos, $35 hats, and $25 T-shirts, Perri was shooting clips for social media.
Their partnership has transformed Merlino from a flashy, polarizing tabloid fixture into a flashy, polarizing Instagram-age brand. Merlino provides the mythology, while Perri supplies the algorithm.
Symbiotically, they are building an unlikely enterprise. Merlino gives Perri access, credibility, and a bigger stage. Perri gives Merlino comic relief, social-media fluency, and a way to be seen as entrepreneurial rather than simply infamous as a reputed former mob boss.
“Without me, there’s no him,” Perri said. “Without him, there’s no me. It’s just a good mix.”
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino joining customers at Skinny Joey’s in Wildwood during its soft opening on June 2. They call themselves “the Schuylkill Girls” (from left): Julie Shelton, Cindy McCullough, and Terry Landy, all of whom now live in Wildwood.
A ‘mob media’ moment
George Anastasia, who covered organized crime for more than 30 years at The Inquirer and now teaches an organized-crime course at Rowan University, said Merlino’s new career fits a broader moment in mob media.
Former wiseguys, associates, historians, and fans now gather in a true-crime subculture known online as “MobTube,” where the lore is packaged into YouTube shows, Patreon feeds, podcasts, clips, and merch.
Merlino has lived the story that fuels the genre. One of Philadelphia’s most recognizable organized-crime figures, Merlino was convicted in 1990 for his role in a $352,000 armored truck robbery in 1987.
In 2001, he and six co-defendants were tried on federal racketeering charges, including three counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Merlino was acquitted on those counts, but served about 12 years on other charges, including gambling and extortion. A supervised-release violation briefly returned him to prison in 2014, and a second major racketeering case ended in 2018 with a guilty plea to a single illegal-gambling charge after a mistrial. In a separate trial in 2004, he was acquitted of the 1996 killing of Joseph Sodano, an underling in North Jersey. Merlino completed federal supervision in 2021, but he’s been banned from New Jersey casinos since 1988 and from Pennsylvania casinos since a 2016 incident at the former SugarHouse Casino.
And Merlino has made it no secret that he is different from many of the former figures who populate the MobTube genre. Unlike Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, John Alito, and Jimmy Calandra, Merlino never cooperated with prosecutors.
“He saw guys who cooperated come back and become media sensations,” Anastasia said. “And I think he got [annoyed] that these are all guys who, in his view, violated the code, and now they’re making money on that old life. He did his time as a stand-up guy. ‘So [to heck with that] — I’m going to make money, too.’ And he created this brand.”
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) and Joe Perri Jr. on the set of “The Skinny” podcast.
Perri helped make that legible to a younger audience.
“Lil Snuff is part sycophant and part guide,” Anastasia said. “He’s the one who, in a lot of ways, sets the flow. Joey is going to be Joey, but somebody has to keep bringing him back to the point.”
The rise of Lil Snuff
Before he was Merlino’s co-host, Perri was Lil Snuff.
The nickname came from his father: As a 10-year-old, Joe Sr. turned around when a cousin was calling for a dog named Snuffy. Boom. He was Snuff. When his son was born at Methodist Hospital in 1992, Snuff became Big Snuff.
As a teenager, Lil Snuffbussedtables at Stogie Joe’s, the Saloon, and Fitzwater Cafe. At 18, he joined the stagehands union. At 21, he got a job at Mall Chevrolet in Cherry Hill. The older salesmen had relationships and repeat customers. Perri’s mentor told him that he needed a lane.
It was 2013, and social media was beginning to reshape promotion. Perri started making his own brassy, unscripted commercials. “Selling Chevys for less” became his tagline.
He also made videos about gambling and food, his two passions. He was not famous, but he was visible in the South Philly-to-South Jersey social media corridor where restaurants, sports, betting, family, and neighborhood identity blur into one feed.
At the same time, Perri said, he was abusing pills. In 2014, at 22, his parents found him a rehab center in South Florida. To make sure he got there safely, they called a family friend whose Italian restaurant in Boca Raton had recently opened:
Joey Merlino.
“My father grew up with his grandfather,” Merlino said, explaining the bond. “I grew up with his father. I’ve known him since he was born.”
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino in 2014 at the Boca Raton restaurant bearing his name.
Perri said it took several attempts before recovery stuck. He has been sober since Sept. 11, 2016. “I’m big with recovery,” he said. “That’s the main thing in my life. I put sobriety first and then everything after that.”
Merlino’s — where Merlino was maitre d’ because his legal situation then precluded ownership — closed in 2016, just before the feds arrested Merlino at his home in Boca in the lead-up to his second racketeering case. “If I didn’t have this trouble, it would still be open,” Merlino said earlier this month.
After Merlino attained freedom in July 2021, producers called with movie, television, and book deals. Merlino turned them all down. “Nothing seemed right,” Merlino said. Someone brought up the idea of a podcast.
“I didn’t even know what that was,” Merlino said.
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino leaving the federal courthouse in Manhattan after being sentenced on Oct. 17, 2018.
His friend Raymond “Wags” Wagner explained the concept and suggested a loose format built around food and sports betting. Actor Kevin Connolly of Entourage fame, who was involved early as a producer, told Merlino that he needed a co-host.
“They said, ‘Who would you want?’” Perri said. “They were sending him people, and he was like, ‘I’m not doing nothing with these people.’”
Then Ray Wags suggested Perri.
“Joey was like, ‘100 percent. Get him on the phone,’” Perri said. “Kevin Connolly said, ‘Send me your videos.’ I sent him my videos, and he said, ‘You’re the guy.’ The rest was history.”
The world of ‘MobTube’
Merlino and Perri launched the video podcast in 2023. Viewers are not just watching Merlino talk about the old life. They see him bust Perri’s chops about eating too much and mock his parlays. They get gambling tips, watch them interview athletes and celebrities — all part of a South Philly generational comedy.
Perri describes it in family terms. “My dad’s my dad, but he’s also my best friend, too,” Perri said. “We gamble together. We go out together. We have fun together. So they see me and Joey as that, and they can’t figure out how we mix so good.”
“He’s good,” Merlino said. “I’m old, he’s young. He talks good, he’s funny. He’s a pain in the balls, but it’s a good fit.”
They began The Skinny podcast on YouTube, but now focus more on Patreon, where the content is unfiltered. And better monetized. Perri says TheSkinny has 1,600 Patreon subscribers paying $15.95 a month. He said their social-media pages combined average 30 million views a month.
Perri’s wife, Danielle, handles bookings and schedules. “I produce,” Perri said. “I cut the clips. I do everything. It’s me and Joey. Two-man show.”
A wider audience
When they started, Perri was still selling cars at Mall Chevrolet. But the now-shuttered dealership got tired of people showing up hoping to see Merlino instead of test-driving a Suburban.
Perri quit. The show grew.Merlino’s reinvention has coincided with a broader shift in the gambling world. Legal sportsbooks, now ubiquitous on television and online, have largely supplanted the corner bookmaker, turning an activity once associated with organized crime into a mainstream consumer business. Guests span sports, hip-hop, gambling, and entertainment, including Wallo267, Fat Joe, Ric Flair, and Bernard Hopkins.
Each booking widened his audience, and Merlino was being absorbed into a broader celebrity ecosystem.
Last October, Netflix released Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia, a docuseries revisiting the violent 1990s power struggle between John Stanfa and Merlino’s younger faction. It steered even more viewers to Merlino and Perri’s world.
‘Skinny Joey,’ wit’
Then came the cheesesteaks.
One night, Perri, Merlino, and friends were playing poker. Merlino wanted cheesesteaks. Perri said he’d make them.
“He’s like, ‘You can’t make cheesesteaks,’” Perri said. “I said, ‘Are you nuts? I’ve been making them my whole life.’”
Perri cooked some. “He was like, ‘This is the best f— cheesesteak ever,’” Perri said. “He said, ‘Let’s open up a cheesesteak place.’ I said, ‘All right. Call it Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks.’ And that was it.”
The first shop opened in March 2025 at 3020 S. Broad St., near the sports complex. From the start, Skinny Joey’s was more than a sandwich shop. It was a set. The shop leaned into Merlino’s notoriety; the sandwiches are wrapped in a collage of newspaper articles about his past.
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) working the grill beside Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. at the Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia at its opening in March 2025.
Celebrities showed up: Jason Kelce, Landon Dickerson, Mack Wilson. A customer eating a cheesesteak was good content. A recognizable person eating one on camera was better.
The restaurant also became a magnet for the kind of drama that fuels digital engagement: online beef. Podcaster Gene Borrello, a former Bonnano crime family associate and Merlino antagonist, weighed in last year on an apparent feud between Skinny Joey’s camp and Frank Olivieri of Pat’s King of Steaks. Merlino and Perri had taken issue with a video posted by Olivieri — whose great-uncle invented the steak sandwich — in which he chided shops that chop the meat on the grill. Like most online food feuds, this seems to have subsided.
Then came the deal for Wildwood, where Skinny Joey’s replaced Joe’s Pizzeria, which had been on the boardwalk at Magnolia Avenue for 15 years. There, Skinny Joey’s added pizza and stromboli, which are not sold at the South Philadelphia location.
Reflections in the pizza display case on the boardwalk at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza in Wildwood.
The pizza recipe comes from Vito’s on Haddonfield Berlin Road in Cherry Hill, and the stromboli from Pizza Shack at 15th and Oregon in South Philadelphia, both owned by Skinny Joey’s business partners Stephen Casasanto and John Fioravanti, whom Merlino also described as longtime friends.
More locations are planned. Perri said a Boothwyn shop is expected around Sept. 1, and several others are in the pipeline.
Bypassing the gatekeepers
Merlino is an extreme case of a recent phenomenon. People with complicated histories — criminal, scandalous, controversial, or simply overexposed — no longer need traditional gatekeepers to reintroduce themselves. They can speak directly to followers and monetize the attention.
Perri is not a journalist, of course, or a publicist, exactly. He is not merely a manager, producer, or sidekick. He is something in between — a new kind of local media operator.
He knows the scene, and how to make content feel unscripted even when the business behind it is deliberate. He is close enough to Merlino to bust his chops and deferential enough to preserve the hierarchy. He can translate Merlino to younger audiences without making him seem managed.
Perri softens Merlino without sanding him down. Merlino still curses, rants, and mocks rivals. Anyone they disagree with is a “bedbug.”
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino greets a table of customers at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza in Wildwood.
“At the end of the day, Joey isn’t going to change who he is for anybody,” Perri said. “If he can’t talk the way he wants to talk, what’s the point?”
That is part of the appeal and part of the discomfort. The audience knows Merlino’s history. They may see him as funny, defiant, loyal, misunderstood, or simply entertaining.
“There’s a segment of the American population that has always been fascinated with the outlaw: Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Don Corleone, Al Capone,” Anastasia said. “What the internet has provided is: Here are these guys in their own words. Are they being genuine? I don’t know. You can say that about any personality. But here’s a look at them without any filter.”
The filter used to be people like Anastasia.
“I was, in a lot of ways, the middleman between the people who were interested in this and the guys who were doing it,” he said. “And people who are interested in this don’t need the middleman anymore. They just go online and listen to whoever they want to listen to.”
When New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill walked into Two Sweet Boutique in Deptford, she couldn’t help but noticephotos of the Kelce brothers taped inside the bakery glass.
Below the sign were gigantic mounds of Reese’s Puffs dipped in chocolate and drizzled with peanut butter — coined the Kelce Kluster and named after retired Eagles legendJason Kelce and his brother, Travis Kelce, who plays tight end for Kansas City Chiefs and is engaged to pop superstar Taylor Swift.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said the Democratic governor, who took office last month. “It looks fantastic.”
She directed her staffer to add one of the domes to her bakery haul. She said the sweet treat will go to her two hungry teenagers at home.
New Jersey football fandom is often divided by New York Giants fans in the North and Eagles fans in the South, but Sherrill, who grew up in Virginia before settling in North Jersey, roots for the New York Jets.
But her purchase during the South Jersey stop may appeal to Eagles fans, who watched Jason Kelce play center for 13 seasons and emerge as a fan favorite after his boisterous victory speech following the team’sfirstSuper Bowl win in 2018.
Rocco Centrone, who owns the Deptford business with his wife and daughter, said the idea of the Kelce Kluster struck him when he was listening to the brothers’ podcast and they agreed on Reese’s Puffs as their favorite cereal.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill speaks to reporters in front of the Kelce Klusters at Two Sweet Boutique in Deptford.
The Centrones and their supporters took to social media and successfully got the football stars’ attention. The Kelce brothers have chatted about the treat on their podcast New Heights, drawing customers nationwide to the small Gloucester County business.
“They look delicious, I can’t believe this isn’t a thing,” Jason Kelce said on a 2023 episode. “These are outstanding. Well, I guess this is a thing now.”
Dressed in Mummers attire, Eagles center Jason Kelce pauses during his colorful speech on the Art Museum steps in 2018 at the Super Bowl victory parade.
The label on the treat during the governor’s visit spelled the treat name as “Kelse Clusters,” but an employee assured The Inquirer that the misspelling was just an error and not the official title.
Sherrill visited the South Jersey bakery on Friday to discuss her “Save You Time and Money Agenda,” though the conversation largely focused on learning about the business and its sweet treats.
Sherrill said she visited the bakery because “small businesses really are the heart of our communities.”
“I find that everywhere I go with small businesses, they truly are the lifeblood,” she said. “So I want to make sure, as governor, I’m making it easier for people who are running these businesses, saving them time and money, cutting through red tape and bureaucracy, and that is a cornerstone to me.”
The Winter Olympics were full of exciting moments for Team USA — from the men’s and women’s hockey teams winning gold to Alysa Liu stunning fans every time she took the ice. And one man was there to witness it all: Jason Kelce.
The former Eagles center joined his wife, Kylie Kelce, who attended on behalf of NBC and YouTube. While Kylie was there on business, Jason enjoyed his time as a spectator and had no problem with CBC Olympics labeling him as Kylie Kelce’s husband.
“I really was just there to have fun and enjoy the Olympics,” Kelce said on the latest episode of New Heights. “So, I was 100% — this was the correct way to say it. I wanted to tell them I prefer ‘ball and chain.’”
During his time in Milan, Kelce got some bobsledding experience and attended four Olympic hockey games, the short program for figure skating and short-track speedskating. Here’s everything he had to say about his experience at the Winter Olympics:
Bobsledding experience
Ahead of the games, Kelce had the chance to get some hands-on experience with Team USA’s bobsledding team at their headquarters in Park City, Utah, where he learned about their training and got to see what it feels like going down the track with Team USA member Frank Del Duca.
“The ride itself, way more intense than I imagined,” Kelce said. “Like I thought it would be like a roller coaster. I really did. The energy that you are moving down this thing at over 80 mph. And when you go into these bank turns, it pushes you into the bottom of this thing.
“And on the bottom of the sled, there’s like these metal rails and my [expletive] is so [expletive] wide, they’re sitting on those metal rails. I’m being pinched down onto these metal beams. I’m trying to keep my head up so I can see. [Expletive] is flying by. I have no [expletive] idea how [Frank] was even knowing when to do the turns and everything. Like, you have to memorize it.”
‘The most fun sport to watch on the planet’
After the men’s U.S. hockey team made history, winning the gold medal for the first time in 46 years, Kelce went to social media to express his feelings with a simple, “Let’s [expletive] go!”
“There is just something about hockey, whether it’s playoff hockey or national hockey,” Kelce said. “When guys are like going all out, it’s just the most fun sport to watch on the planet. USA, hockey capital of the world. Men’s and women’s gold medal. Best country on the planet in hockey. I don’t want to hear any arguments.”
Kelce supported both teams in Milan, attending two women’s hockey games and two men’s games — including the men’s dominant 6-2 win over Slovakia in the semifinals, and the women’s gold medal victory over Canada.
“Canada got out to a quick lead and it made it very stressful,” Kelce said. “It was an electric game and then obviously we got to see USA men’s dismantle Slovakia. And I was sitting with the Tkachuk family. Keith Tkachuk was over there on the end of it. Got to shake the hand of a [expletive] legend … We were right by the Hughes family, too. Jack Hughes, who had the golden goal for the U.S. in the gold medal game.”
“After talking to her, you realize she is from the Heights,” Kelce said. “There’s just like this humbleness but also she’s a great person and it comes across very apparent when you speak to her. … They’re a great team, man. They’re tightknit. They’re playing jokes on one another. Just so proud for all of them. It’s an incredible moment to win a gold medal, especially in a team sport like that.”
Speed skating vs. figure skating
Kelce attended the short program for figure skating and he had just one recommendation when it comes to watching in the arena.
“I would have liked to have heard Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir announcing it live,” Kelce said. “When you don’t have that, especially for someone newer to the sport, you like to hear the excitement in the announcer’s voice that they just did something difficult or they just nailed a routine or they just missed something.”
But when it came to speed skating, Kelce had no notes.
“In speed skating, it is a [expletive] party in that speed skating arena,” Kelce said. “There’s DJ’s playing music. It’s fast paced, there’s bells ringing, it is high-stakes action in the speed skating short track.”
Kelce even had the chance to meet Apolo Ohno, a speed skating legend and eight-time medalist.
“Apolo, we watched him all growing up,” Kelce said. “Unbelievable speed skater. … Speed skating was electric as [expletive]. … These things were fast paced, they were moving. They’re doing Tush Pushes because we saw the relay version where they get in there and push the [expletive] of the guy in front of them.”
There was plenty of blame to go around after the Eagles’ postseason run ended early, following a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card round. But a few people are getting more heat than the rest.
One of the main culprits was offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was fired after one season in the role and is reportedly on his way to Miami. Another person who has taken a lot of the blame is three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown.
Throughout the season former Eagles center Jason Kelce defended the receiver. Now, with Brown’s future in Philly still in question, Kelce was asked about the receiver’s perceived lack of effort on 94 WIP.
“How hard is it to play with a player that’s not giving full effort?” Kelce said. “It’s incredibly frustrating, right. I think any player that’s out there when you’re seeing a teammate not go all out, like that’s all you want from your teammates. And that’s all we want as fans. And it’s a really hard thing to optically watch. It’s frustrating to watch.”
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in each of his four seasons in Philly.
Brown finished last season with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns. In the wild-card loss, Brown recorded three receptions for 25 yards and had a costly third-down drop late in the game.
“I think whatever was affecting A.J. affected the team,” Kelce said. “And I think that A.J. was clearly affected. I don’t know to what degree A.J. affected the other guys, probably a little bit. Whenever you have somebody who doesn’t have the right energy come through the building and you can just feel it. It’s not good, right? But, I think the reality is most of the words that come out of the building — from players, from coaches, from everybody — love A.J. Brown. … There’s a genuine appreciation for A.J. Do you know how hard that is when it’s so apparent that he’s frustrated on the field?
“ … He’s well respected. I think part of it is that he’s a great player and teammates want him there and know that he can be a dominating force for them. He’s just unfortunately a player who allows his internal frustrations to manifest into his play. And it makes him play worse, and makes the offense worse, and it makes his energy worse. And some guys can block that out and go out there and just play football. He is clearly not one of those guys.”
Jason Kelce on a perceived lack of effort from A.J. Brown this season:
"He's just unfortunately a player who allows his internal frustrations to manifest into his play, and it makes him play worse and makes the offense worse." pic.twitter.com/tsQxzKH1np
Kelce has since clarified his comments with a post on X.
“It seems people are taking this as a dig on A.J. Brown, which wasn’t really the intent of the response,” Kelce wrote. “It was apparent that A.J. was frustrated, and it’s apparent that A.J. lets that affect his play at times. That’s frustrating to watch as fans and people on the outside. But it’s more important that his teammates and coaches for all of this external frustration still love and only say positive things about A.J.
“That probably means that his teammates understand where he’s coming from, and that’s what really matters. If there was an issue with it, teammates would be saying different things publicly. That was the point I was attempting to say. That was the purpose of this response and I worded it poorly. I love A.J. Brown, I loved him as a teammate, and I think if he ends up getting traded, the Eagles, and fans will end up regretting it majorly.”
Brown is under contract with the Eagles through the 2029 season.
Former center Jason Kelce was one of the first people to share his thoughts when Jeff Stoutland announced last week that he was stepping down after 13 seasons as the Eagles offensive line coach.
Kelce, who spent 11 of his 13 seasons studying under the dean of “Stoutland University,” talked more about the departure of the longtime assistant on the most recent episode of New Heights.
“I mean, [he] just coached a ton of incredible players: Jason Peters, Todd Herremans, Evan Mathis, myself, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata — turned him from a rugby player into an All-Pro left tackle,“ Kelce said. ”He got Cam Jurgens to a Pro Bowl last year, Landon Dickerson to some Pro Bowls, Isaac Seumalo. He’s just done such an incredible job within the Philadelphia Eagles organization, and he’s been such a mainstay throughout multiple head coaches at this point.”
Kelce, who remains a regular at the team facility since his retirement and worked with the Eagles’ young offensive lineman during training camp at the request of Stoutland, also had personal reasons for not wanting to see his mentor go.
“It just sucks to see him go, selfishly. As an Eagles fan and somebody that played for him, and somebody that still goes to the facility — I still go to NovaCare on a regular basis — and I’m not going to be able to see Stout anymore,“ Kelce said. ”And that’s just frustrating for me, and I think frustrating for a lot of people in that building because he was a personality that a lot of people gravitated toward. And this is the reality of the business.”
In addition to Jason Kelce (left), Jeff Stoutland also coached left tackle Jason Peters (right).
He even offered a personal message to Stoutland, who won a pair of Super Bowls with the Eagles and has coached football longer than the 38-year-old Kelce has been alive.
Said Kelce: “Coach, I love you. I don’t know what’s next, but whatever it is, whether it’s coaching or whatever, I know you’re going to be great at it, as you always are.”
Stoutland’s greatness wasn’t lost on Travis Kelce either. While he never played for him, the younger Kelce brother admired him from afar, all while seeing the impact Stoutland had on Jason.
“You already know, man, we’ve got so much respect for him,” Travis said. “He’s one of those guys that you meet in crossing just because you were playing for him … And he’s one of those guys that you would [expletive] just know you’d love playing for, man. And it’s across the board, anybody that runs into him knows you’re going to get everything this guy has and on top of that he’s going to be real about it and we’re going to get [expletive] done.
“One of the best ball coaches I’ve known from afar, and couldn’t be more proud to say congrats on everything your career has gotten to at this point.”
Cam Jurgens (left) was Jason Kelce’s replacement at center. Kelce helped Stoutland coach him up before retiring.
In addition to serving as offensive line coach, Stoutland was also the Eagles run-game coordinator for many years, but Nick Sirianni shifted some of those responsibilities away from Stoutland last year with the ground attack struggling, as Jeff McLane reported. The team also made a change at offensive coordinator, with Kevin Patullo (now reportedly headed to the Dolphins) being replaced by Sean Mannion. And while Jason Kelce understands the nature of the business, he wishes the veteran assistant could’ve stuck around through yet another coordinator change.
“I get that the team is trying to move forward and really embrace this new system and really redesign what this offense is. I wish Stout could’ve been a part of that, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way,” Jason added. “Anyways, love you, coach. Couldn’t be more happy to have been coached by you.
“And 27 Pro Bowl linemen were with Stout over that 13 years. Wild.”
