By William Sokolic
In 1909, Rando Bakery opened its doors on Mississippi Avenue in Atlantic City. The Chicago Cubs were seven years away from their first game in Wrigley Field. Like the Cubs and Wrigley Field, Rando’s remains in business, one of two major bread manufacturers in the resort, responsible for making subs and hoagies the envy of the Western World, or at least the world of South Jersey. The other, Formica’s Freitag Bakery, opened its doors in 1919.
Together, they put Atlantic City on the bread map, and by connection, subs and hoagies.
Each company has its own niche, General Manager, Steve Rando, says.
Rando’s sells 30,000 long rolls a day to 300 shops, restaurants, stores, pizzerias, delis and more. One of Rando’s largest accounts is the famed White House Sub Shop on Mississippi and Arctic Avenues.
“We go as far north as Hammonton and south to Stone Harbor. Wildwood prefers softer rolls. We’re content with what we have,” Rando says.
Another of Rando’s customers is Absecon’s Joe and John’s Pizza & Restaurant, a relationship owner Giovanna Pugliese believes could go back 30 years or more. “We use a lot of rolls,” Pugliese says. “It’s fresh bread, not too hard, not too soft.”
You might say the bread is as much the cause of the success of subs as the meat and condiments.
“It’s important comfort food,” Pugliese says.
Formica’s produces 20,000 to 50,000 sub rolls a day. The most popular fresh variety is a 20-inch sub bread.
“Our fresh distribution is to over 500 customers, that includes all the Atlantic City casinos, Live Casino Philly, and the Wells Fargo Center,” says Frank Formica, grandson of the founder and a longtime executive with the company. “We make and deliver fresh bread 365 days a year. The fresh bread business is relatively stable but can vary with the national and local economic trends.”
Not everyone buys the rolls just to hold the content of subs. “I have one on my counter at home right now. My wife and I love them, and often buy them just to slather with butter and dunk into a hot bowl of soup,” says Joseph T. Sheridan, director of the Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management program at Atlantic Cape Community College.
“The Atlantic City sub roll is an iconic Jersey Shore tradition with a history spanning over 100 years,” he says. “With its crispy exterior and soft, chewy interior, the roll offers a perfect crunch and absorbs the moisture from meats, tomatoes, oil, and more. This beloved local product is a delicious example of how regional foods help define a culture and its culinary heritage.”
Legend has it that the unique flavor and texture come from the local water, making this roll impossible to replicate anywhere else, Sheridan says.
Ah. Here we see a divergence of thought among the two producers.
“The two key factors to the bread’s popularity and uniqueness are the century old recipe of time and the water source, the 17 trillion-gallon Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer which is the purest, naturally soft water source in the United States,” Formica says.
Anthony Sacco, of Sack O’ Subs, a Formica customer, supports the contention that the water contributes to the taste and texture of the bread. “The water makes a difference,” he says.
Steve Rando does not subscribe to the importance of the local water supply for the success.
“It’s not the water,” he says. Indeed, the same bread can be baked in California and Las Vegas just the same…with the right recipe.
That said, Rando will match Atlantic City bread with any state. The texture, the look, the way the bread is scored. “It’s in the middle between hard and soft.”
Formica’s, since 2022, known as Formica-Freitag Bakery, has added a frozen line. Over a three-year period, the team perfected this process of fully-baked-frozen Atlantic City sub bread. “After demonstrating it to national food distributors, sub chains and supermarkets we have an exciting task to complete this year,” Formica says.
That could boost production by 100,000 loaves a day. “For fresh sales, we deliver in a 60-mile radius, for frozen sales, nationwide. We ship our frozen to both Hard Rock Hotel Casinos in Florida and 41 ShopRites’ owned by the Saker Family in North Central Jersey,” he says.
History of the people who make the bread that makes Atlantic City famous
Francesco Formica opened the bakery with his wife Rosa in 1919 bringing his legendary hand-crafted loaves of bread to Atlantic City from Italy. The bakery moved to its current location – 2310 Arctic Avenue – in 1928.
Business took off during World War II when soldiers traveled through and trained in Atlantic City. They made the “sub” marine sandwich popular thereby increasing the demand for great Italian bread. After the war, Mario, Frank and Dominic “Tar” Formica took over the business from their father.
In 1987, Frank D. Formica, Mario’s son, purchased the business from his uncles.
Then in May 2019, entrepreneur Pat McKenna, from the restaurant, Taste of Italy, took over the 100-year-old bakery and continues to make the hand-crafted Italian bread with the same basic recipe that Frank’s grandfather used.
In January 2022, Formica partnered with Freitag Bakery, founded by August Freitag in Camden in 1890. Together, the two companies bring more than 200 years to the kitchen.
Anthony and Candalora Rando lived on top of the Old Atlantic City Italian Bakery while operating the bakery downstairs. Their first son, Jake Rando was born in 1912. Candalora traveled to Italy in 1913 and gave birth to their second child Bridget Rando. Vincent Rando was born in 1914.
Rando’s is a fifth-generation family owned and operated business,
The family lived at 122 N. Mississippi Ave (next to the Italy Terrance) where the bakery moved to and operated until they purchased property at 128 N. Mississippi Avenue. They built a house there in 1945. The current location of the bakery was built behind the house in 1949.
The family home was torn down in 2007 but the bakery still remains. The bakery was owned and operated by sons, Nicholas Sr. and Salvatore until Nicholas’s death in 1997 and Salvatore’s in 2003.
Rando Bakery
128 N. Mississippi Avenue
Atlantic City
(609) 345-6678
Formica Freitag Bakery
2310 Arctic Avenue
Atlantic City
(609) 344-2732
William Sokolic is a veteran journalist who has written for daily, weekly and monthly publications. He’s covered a wide range of news, features and entertainment stories. Much of his work concerns tourism, Atlantic City, and the gaming industry.
