One of Philadelphia’s signature sandwiches is heading back to Citizens Bank Park after a decade away.
The Schmitter, the classic cheesesteak-salami creation from McNally’s Tavern in Chestnut Hill, will return during the forthcoming Major League Baseball All-Star festivities, Aramark announced as it unveiled a lineup of foods and merchandise at the ballpark Wednesday.
The Schmitter, which has a spot on The Inquirer’s list of 76 essential foods, will be served at Pass & Stow, the sports bar accessible to ticketed fans, throughout All-Star Week. Aramark, the Phillies’ concessionaire, plans to keep it on the ballpark menu through at least the end of the season.
It joins a lineup of fan-voted creations and Philadelphia chef collaborations at Citizens Bank Park, which hosts four days of events starting with the HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday.
At All-Star Village, which runs Saturday through Tuesday at the Convention Center, Aramark will offer signature dishes from ballparks around the majors, including a pastrami sandwich from Citi Field, the Crawford Dog from Houston’s Daikin Park, and Taco Momalona from Coors Field in Denver.
The food is only part of the attraction.
The two-level Phillies Team Store at the ballpark — open to the public without a ticket every day except Sunday — has been completely reset with merchandise exclusive to the All-Star Game. The usual Phillies caps, jerseys, drinkware, and other souvenirs have been packed into storage for the week while Major League Baseball takes over.
The store is stocked with about 400 All-Star items, “about 80% of them exclusive to the ballpark,” said Francis Winkey, Aramark’s senior merchandise manager. Winkey, an avid trading-pin collector, said he designed and sourced 84 exclusive pins, including one representing each major-league team.
“I’ve spent way too much of my life over the last two years developing and dreaming up the bobbleheads, the pins, the bats and balls and pennants, and all the other merchandise we’re offering,” Winkey said.
Additional All-Star merchandise will be sold at All-Star Village.
On the ballpark menu for the All-Star events, the showcase dish will be Betsy’s Banana Split Sundae, the winner of a fan vote. The dessert combines banana pudding and vanilla soft serve with crushed vanilla wafers, peanut brittle, hot fudge, strawberry sauce, toasted marshmallow topping, and red, white, and blue sprinkles, all served in a commemorative cap. Because voting was close, Aramark will also feature the runner-up, a rib melt made of braised short rib, sharp provolone, charred onion jam, fried peppers, and pickle butter on ciabatta.
Inside the premium Cadillac Hall of Fame Club, Aramark will feature dishes from Philadelphia chefs and restaurateurs, including Marc Vetri’s meatball Parmesan sandwich from Salvy, Matthew Cahn of Middle Child’s honey mustard chicken wrap, Nish Patel’s Del Rossi’s cheesesteak, and Evan Snyder’s Emmett lamb merguez hot dog. Pricing was not announced.
But the loudest applause at Wednesday’s unveiling was reserved for … a sandwich.
The Schmitter was a Citizens Bank Park staple from its opening in 2004 through the 2015 season. McNally’s owner Joe Pie said it arrived at the ballpark at the request of late Phillies chairman David Montgomery, whose family lived near the tavern. It was originally prepared in a full kitchen near Section 140, but after being moved to an open-air stand near the left-field gate in 2013, Pie said the quality suffered.
“We were serving a sandwich that wasn’t up to par,” Pie said.
McNally’s ended its partnership after the 2015 season, though the Schmitter continued to be sold for a time at Lincoln Financial Field.
Pie said he and Aramark general manager Kevin Tedesco stayed in touch over the years. Aramark nearly revived the Schmitter before last year’s postseason, but the Phillies’ early playoff exit ended those plans. Tedesco approached Pie again while planning this year’s All-Star festivities.
“Chef Vonnie [Negron] is totally invested,” Pie said of the ballpark’s executive chef. “He said, ‘I understand the sandwich.’”
The Schmitter dates to the late 1960s, when McNally’s founder, Hugh J. McNally, improvised a sandwich for a regular customer who drank Schmidt’s beer. Built with chopped steak, grilled salami, melted cheese, tomatoes, fried onions, and the tavern’s signature Schmitter sauce on a Kaiser roll, it has become one of Philadelphia’s defining sandwiches and earned a place on The Inquirer’s list of essential local dishes.
Its appeal lies somewhere between a cheesesteak, a deli sandwich, and a burger — indulgent enough that former Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez famously joked it came with “a paramedic.”
