Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Two grandsons of Pat Olivieri, the Philadelphia hot-dog vendor credited with inventing the cheesesteak sandwich in the 1930s, are battling in court over the right to be the city’s “King of Steaks.”

Frank Olivieri Jr., who runs the family’s 74-year-old South Philadelphia cheesesteak stand, Pat’s King of Steaks, sued his cousin last month for allegedly misusing their grandfather’s name. Rick Olivieri is accused of incorporating Pat’s trademark phrase and crown logo in advertisements for his own shops.

Being the experts on the cheesesteak scene that we are, we have a hunch what this is really about: the do-re-mi. To wit: The Rick’s Steaks that’s in Citizen’s Bank Park can’t exchange meat for cash fast enough at most Phillies games. (The line there is only bested by the one for crab fries, which, by the way, is ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT.) Anyway, this suit’s been brewing for a long time ‚Äî apparently, the Oliveris are the kind of Joneses that are obsessed with keeping up with each other ‚Äî and it’ll be interesting to see which way it goes. Will a judge deem Rick’s merely “Duke of Steaks?” Or maybe “viscount?” Either way, we’re keeping our eyes peeled. No onions, please.
Bloomberg: Whiz And Decist

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 7th, 2006 at 4:30 pm.