With the summer season upon us, iconic Jersey Shore culinary delights await, and one of them has reached legendary status in these parts – the cheesesteaks at White House Subs.
Though the Atlantic City region doesn’t have a “cheesesteak war” à la the long-running competition between Pat’s and Geno’s in Philadelphia, residents and summer visitors have their favorites, and they’re not shy about telling you about it.
There are those who swear by Dino’s Subs & Pizza in Margate. Others claim that Sack O’ Subs in Ventnor, Absecon and Ocean City make the finest steak sandwich. Still others love Vic’s Subs in Absecon, Charlie’s in Somers Point – and that’s just a sampling.
As good as all of these cheesesteaks are, there is only one place for subs that can be described as “legendary,” and that’s White House Subs on Arctic Avenue in Atlantic City. Note that, while White House does have a location within the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the “legendary” description applies to the Arctic Avenue store.
Though parking is at a premium around 2301 Arctic Ave., and seating inside is limited, the original White House Subs is, with rare exceptions, packed daily from its 10 a.m. opening until the 8 p.m. closing. And it’s been that way almost since the day the door opened in 1946.
Their iconic subs have been shipped around the world, and just a glance at the dozens of dog-eared, autographed photographs that have long adorned its walls confirms that just about every celebrity who has visited Atlantic City since 1946 has stopped into White House Subs for a bite. Yes, it’s true that The Beatles chomped down on a “built-for-four,” 72-inch sub when they came here for their 1964 appearance at Convention Hall.
There’s a reason the place has been filled, with celebrities, and everyone else, for 80 years. The reason is that their cheesesteaks, and other specialty subs, are terrific. Others have come in from out of town through the years, in an attempt to compete, including Subway and Philadelphia’s Pat’s Steaks, but they didn’t last long in these parts.
The founders of White House were Anthony Basile, his uncle Alfred Sacco, and aunt Basilia. Before it was White House, Basile ran a tailor shop out of the 2301 Arctic Ave. location. As the story goes, when business was slow during World War II, his wife sold sandwiches out of the side door on Formica Bakery’s bread – the bakery was just across the street.
The sandwich business was evidently better than the tailoring business. So at war’s end the store became a sandwich shop that served nothing but cold sandwiches for the first few years of the business. Grills and fountains came later.
What makes White House Subs so special? In 2016, South Jersey Times writer Kristie Rearick became one of the few journalists to get a close-up look at the White House cheesesteak “formula.”
“Fresh bread is brought in every hour,” Rearick wrote. “Jen Basile said they’ve been getting their bread from the same two local bakeries for the past 65 years: Formica Brothers and Rando Bakery. Basile wouldn’t reveal where White House purchases its beef, but she did say that it’s fresh, not frozen, and that the 91 percent fat free, top round beef is cut daily. A pot of sliced white onions and bright red, fresh meat sits next to the grill and (they’re) put on in layers. The onions go down first and the meat on top. It’s broken up a bit with a spatula and then four slices of thick provolone are laid on top.
“They keep pieces of parchment paper on top of the meat to keep it moist and help it steam as it cooks. Then, they take the bread, sliced open and lay it face-down on top of the beef. That keeps the bread soft, one of their cooks told us. Once the cheese is good and melted, they scoop it into the bread and finish it off with lettuce, tomatoes, hot peppers and oil and vinegar – or, if you’re getting one without the works, as a number of customers opt to do, they wrap it up without all that stuff and send you on your way.”
Cheesesteak aficionados are fond of saying that “it’s the bread that makes the sandwich.” Those at White House are well aware of that, and have recently announced that their iconic sandwiches will be served exclusively on bread made by Atlantic City’s Rando Bakery, in business in this area since the turn of the 20th century.
White House’s popularity enabled it to expand, first to the Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino. The Taj closed in 2016 and when it reopened as the Hard Rock two years later, White House was there.
The only time in recent history that White House was stopped in its tracks came when Hurricane Sandy hit. According to owner Brian Conley, “The cellar flooded, the refrigerator failed and the electrical system crashed.” It took two months to reopen and when it did, White House had a new floor, equipment that was weatherproofed and the decades-old orange booths were finally refaced.
White House has received numerous awards through the years, with the most prestigious being the America’s Classic award, presented to White House in 2000 by none other than The James Beard Foundation. The foundation gives the award mainly to family-owned restaurants “that are treasured for their quality food, local character and lasting appeal.”
My personal appeal story happened in the mid-1980s, when I was drumming for Sinatra song stylist Sonny Averona. We were booked for a month at Elaine’s Lounge within the Boardwalk’s original Golden Nugget and it was a six-night-per-week engagement.
To conserve energy, I stayed in Atlantic City for the entire month, holed up in my tiny studio apartment on Kingston Avenue. To make the meal process as simple as possible for the month, I decided to eat a White House sub every single day. When the month was over, I was 15 pounds heavier.
“Lasting appeal?” You bet!
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
