D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is a chain of 83 neighborhood-style

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

shops found throughout

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. Founded in 1967 in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest ...

, D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches serves various kinds of grilled, hot and deli sandwiches, rice & grain bowls, lobster rolls, grilled topped salads, wraps and hot soups. Famous for its Steak & Cheese sandwiches, the company's grilled sandwich Number 9 was called “the finest fast-food sandwich in the land” in a Bloomberg News column.

History

In March 1967, 21-year-old Brian J. McLaughlin and Jay Howland opened "Ma Riva's Sub Shop" in

. The name was later changed to Angelo Sub Shop, and the letter D was added around 1978, supposedly standing for "delicious." The name change was to avoid any confusion with Angelo supermarkets. D'Angelo sold salads, Syrian pocket bread and sub sandwiches. Their most popular sub was the Steak & Cheese sandwich. D'Angelo owned Liberty Bakery which baked and delivered all the bread to each store. They also owned Progressive Foods distribution center which delivered all the food to each store every week. Later they added a USDA meat processing plant to shave the 50,000 lbs. of steak consumed each week. Beginning in the mid-1980s, many of the D'Angelo locations were co-branded and the store footprints were reworked to include full service

Steve's Ice Cream Steve's Ice Cream was an ice cream brand which began as an ice-cream parlor chain owned by Steve Herrell. He opened his first establishment at 191 Elm Street in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1973. Known as the Original Steve's Ice Cream, the busi ...

counters. After several years, the Steve's component was replaced with a new brand, Chip's. In 1993 PepsiCo bought D'Angelo with the intent to grow the chain into a national brand alongside its other properties such as Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken; however, this plan never came to fruition. At the time the chain had 173 locations. Pepsi eliminated D'Angelo's ice cream brand, Chip's, shortly after purchasing the chain. During the time it was owned by Pepsi, some restaurants replaced the Chip's ice cream add-on, with a full service Pizza Hut add-on. Later some locations would also integrate a

Honey Dew Donuts Honey Dew Associates, Inc., doing business as Honey Dew Donuts, is a privately owned and operated Massachusetts-based coffeehouse chain selling donuts and other breakfast foods that operates in New England. The chain is mostly known for its donu ...

add-on. In August 1997, Papa Gino's Holdings Corporation, the parent company of Papa Gino's, acquired D'Angelo, from Tricon Global Restaurants (then known as PepsiCo Inc.'s Pizza Hut unit). At the time of the acquisition the sandwich chain had 203 locations. On November 4, 2018, numerous locations were abruptly shut down as part of their parent company's bankruptcy. In February 2019, the company, which includes its sister brand, Papa Gino's, was sold to Wynnchurch Capital and operates under the name New England Authentic Eats, LLC.( In January 2020, industry veteran Tom Sterrett, who previously served as COO, was appointed president and CEO of New England Authentic Eats LLC, parent to D’Angelo and Papa Gino's.

References

External links

D'Angelo's WebsiteD'Angelo's Corporate Website
{{Dedham New England Economy of the Northeastern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1967 Former PepsiCo subsidiaries Fast-food franchises Submarine sandwich restaurants 1967 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Dedham, Massachusetts 1993 mergers and acquisitions 1997 mergers and acquisitions Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018