Fans say farewell as a beloved South Jersey cheesesteak shop closes
A couple of booths, a dozen stools at a counter, a grill — and 42 years worth of cheesesteaks, hoagies, and memories. That was D&S Subs on the White Horse Pike in Winslow Township.
The grill has gone cold for good at D&S Sub Shop.
But fans of the little cheesesteak joint on the White Horse Pike in Winslow Township said D&S will always have a place in the hearts of the community it has nourished since 1982.
“It’s 42½ years exactly since the day we opened,” owner Daryl A. Salvatore Sr. said Saturday morning, as customers stopped by for final sandwiches and farewells.
“It’s time,” said Salvatore, 63, the father of five grown sons. “I want to be at home. I wasn’t there enough. My to-do list has a to-do list.”
By the time Salvatore closed the place at 10:45 p.m. Saturday, about 300 people had come through the door.
John Bertino Jr. and his sons Caleb, 19, and Connor, 16, were among them.
“We come here all the time,” said Bertino, 45, an operating engineer from the Waterford Works section of the township, where D&S is located.
“We come for the sandwiches and stay for the conversations. That’s the thing here — it’s a family place where the locals go, and like Caleb said, we can count on the consistency.”
Said former Winslow Mayor Al Brown, 66, a Saturday regular who usually orders an Italian hoagie with hot peppers: “Where am I going to go now? I don’t know. But I know where I won’t go: Wawa!”
D&S is a story of roadside America
The 42Freeway website has reported that Wawa, the ever-expanding convenience store chain, is proposing a super store with gas pumps on the D&S property. It already has dozens of stores along major South Jersey highways like the White Horse Pike.
The company, headquartered in Wawa, Pa., had no comment.
“From what I understand, the process is moving along,” Salvatore said. “I expect we would go to settlement after New Year’s.”
A “Streamline Moderne” architectural souvenir of an era when the White Horse Pike was a major route to the Jersey Shore, the modest white stucco over concrete block D&S building was erected in 1948. Little has changed since then, outside or in.
» READ MORE: Take a ride down South Jersey's version of Route 66: The White Horse Pike
“It’s a cute little building, and the sign out front is great,” said Jill Maser, author of The White Horse Pike, published in 2005 by Arcadia. “We’re losing these unique roadside landmarks because of all the homogenized development going on.”
D&S is also a love story
Daryl and Kim Salvatore were Hammonton High School sweethearts, and he was 20 and studying business at what is now Rowan University when he bought D&S in 1982.
“It had been closed for 10 years, and I thought, ‘There’s money to be made here,’” he recalled.
Said Kim: ”I would go to D&S and run it for him so he could finish his degree. I was happy to do it.”
Before COVID, she said, Daryl worked six days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day.
“He wasn’t able to spend as much time with us as he wanted,” she said. “He always tried to get to the boys’ ball games, but he missed some. And we missed him.”
Kim and their five sons, as well as extended family members, have worked at D&S — often while holding down their other jobs.
“My sons are stronger individuals for having worked with their father,” Kim said. “They know how to do things right.”
Extra cheese, please
The phone was ringing. The grill was sizzling. The orders were flying, and Daryl Sr. was in command of the grill Saturday — while somehow simultaneously feeding the well-wishers and keeping his emotions in check.
Mike Kelsey, 57, of Hammonton and his daughter Madison stopped by on their way home.
Kelsey said he had retired the day before after 30-plus years teaching public school in Monroe Township and wanted to make sure he and Madison could say goodbye to the home of “the best cheesesteak” anywhere.
“There, the cheesesteaks are just different,” said Madison, 15, a Haddonfield High School sophomore who runs track and cross-country and acknowledged she “will eat anything” after practice.
“The only thing better than the cheesesteaks,” her dad said, “might be the conversations.”
What’s next on the menu
Spencer Salvatore, 22, was answering the phone and helping his dad with logistics on the last Saturday.
“I used to do my homework here,” he said. “Now, I’m studying because I plan to apply to medical school.”
“I’m happy to help my dad,” Spencer said, adding, “I’m seeing people today I’ve known since I was 3 years old.”
His father said he will miss the work.
“I never thought of myself as a cook, but once I did it, I liked it so much that it’s been my life,” he said. “It’s hard to walk away. But it’s time to go home.”