A customer at Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia threw a cheesesteak at longtime general manager Tom Francano's face around 5 p.m. before fleeing down the street, and now the shop's owner is pushing for accountability. Video of the encounter shows the sandwich connecting with Francano, who has worked the window at the famed Passyunk Avenue steak shop for nearly 50 years, before the customer takes off on foot.
Francano told 6abc Philadelphia that the customer arrived carrying a camera and a tripod, leading him to believe the person might be an influencer looking to stage a viral moment. According to the station's report, the customer ordered a cheesesteak with whiz and onions, waited a few minutes, then complained that the sandwich was garbage before hurling it at Francano and running off.
Owner Calls It Assault, Weighs Reward
Pat's owner Frank Olivieri said he wants whoever threw the sandwich held accountable, and per the same account, he is considering offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the person's arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Olivieri said it remains unclear whether the customer is a well-known influencer or simply someone chasing online views and clicks, but he was direct about how he views the act itself: throwing a cheesesteak in someone's face, he said, is assault.
Police were called after the incident and have been contacted regarding the investigation and the possibility of charges, the outlet noted. Under Pennsylvania law, simple assault — intentional or reckless conduct that attempts to cause bodily injury or physical menace — is generally graded as a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, according to Zuckerman Law Firm.
A Landmark With a Troubled Recent History Outside Its Doors
Pat's King of Steaks has weathered serious safety scares before. In July 2021, an argument between an Eagles fan and a Giants fan waiting in line outside the shop escalated into a fatal shooting that Francano witnessed firsthand, as detailed by Crossing Broad. Just two months later, in September 2021, 28-year-old tourist Isidro Cortez was beaten to death with a metal trash can lid outside the same shop during a late-night fight between soccer fans, a case in which multiple suspects were later charged with murder and aggravated assault, per FOX 29 Philadelphia.
Pat's has stood at 9th Street and East Passyunk Avenue since 1930, when Italian-American brothers Pat and Harry Olivieri opened it as a hot dog stand before inventing the steak sandwich that made the shop famous worldwide, according to its entry on Wikipedia. Francano's tenure behind the counter spans decades of South Philadelphia history. During Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign visit, owner Frank Olivieri took the candidate's order at the window, a moment chronicled by the Los Angeles Times.
Fresh Off Leadership Change and Menu Overhaul
The incident comes as Pat's continues adjusting under new full ownership. Frank Olivieri Jr. took over the business in 1996, when his father retired. His father, longtime co-owner Frank Olivieri Sr., died in January 2026 at age 87, according to PhillyVoice. The elder Olivieri was credited with helping turn the shop into an internationally known landmark.
Under Olivieri Jr., Pat's has made some of the biggest changes to its recipe and menu in its 96-year history. In February 2026, the shop began melting cheese directly into the meat on the grill and started offering seeded rolls from Aversa Italian Bakery for the first time, a shift reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. That followed a May 2024 expansion — covered previously by Hoodline's earlier report — in which the shop added chicken cheesesteaks and breakfast sandwiches with a dedicated chicken grill and pickup window.
Cheez Whiz itself has a long history at the shop; it was introduced in the mid-1950s by Frank Olivieri Sr. and eventually became the most popular topping, outselling American cheese by roughly 8 to 1, per the Inquirer's 2008 reporting. It was a whiz wit cheesesteak, according to the same reporting pattern echoed in Thursday's incident, that ended up thrown at Francano's face rather than eaten.
