{"id":182357,"date":"2025-08-28T12:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182357\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T12:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:04:09","slug":"5-times-philly-foods-were-at-the-center-of-crime-and-political-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182357\/","title":{"rendered":"5 times Philly foods were at the center of crime and political drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Pennsylvania delicacy was at the center of a political scandal last week. A bag of Herr\u2019s Sour Cream & Onion rippled potato chips was the alleged vessel of choice for a longtime adviser to New York Mayor Eric Adams<\/a> who stuffed an envelope of money inside before handing it to a city hall reporter. <\/p>\n

Quickly, the quirky scandal made headlines and sparked memes from snack enthusiasts \u2014 especially those in the Northeast who are familiar with Herr\u2019s game. <\/p>\n

Even the snack company weighed in. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we can\u2019t speak to the details of the story, we can confirm that our Sour Cream & Onion flavor is money,\u201d Bob Clark, Herr Foods\u2019 vice president of marketing, said in a statement to The Inquirer. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not the first time a favorite Philly food has been in the headlines. Here are five local food-related controversies from over the years. <\/p>\n

1. The viral hoagie thrower <\/p>\n

A man who worked for the Department of Justice was charged earlier this month after allegedly throwing a Subway footlong hoagie at a federal officer in D.C. amid President Donald Trump\u2019s order to expand law enforcement presence. Video footage of the incident went viral<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In the weeks since, Sean Dunn, 37, and his hoagie-hurling antics have become a resistance icon<\/a> among Trump critics, calling him \u201csandwich guy\u201d and slinging merch. He faced a felony assault charge and lost his job. <\/p>\n

As the news about Dunn spread, national media outlets referred to Dunn\u2019s weapon of choice with different terms, like sandwich and even submarine. But let the record show, even the United States Attorney\u2019s Office called the instrument by its proper name<\/a> in its news release: It was a hoagie. <\/p>\n

The New York Times reported<\/a> that federal prosecutors were unable to secure a felony assault indictment against Dunn. It\u2019s unclear of prosecutors will try again or potentially refile Dunn\u2019s case as a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

2. Alleged tax evasion<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s something in the sauce. Some of Philly\u2019s landmark dining purveyors \u2014 locally and down the Shore \u2014 have faced tax evasion charges in recent years. <\/p>\n

In May, Frank Santucci Sr., who took over the Santucci\u2019s Original Square Pizza empire from his parents nearly 50 years ago, pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Years prior, Anthony Lucidonio Sr., the founder of Tony Luke\u2019s<\/a>, and his son, Nicholas Lucidonio, were charged in an $8 million tax evasion scheme, where they paid staff under the table and kept two sets of books.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Charles Bangle, owner of Jersey Shore pizza chain Manco & Manco<\/a>, reported to a federal prison as part of a sentence for hiding close to $1 million. That year, Big Slice Pizza\u2019s owner pleaded guilty to tax evasion after trying to conceal his ownership of the Ocean City boardwalk shop, failing to report over $680,000 in taxable income in 2012, according to the IRS. <\/p>\n

And in 2013, five owners of the 1950s throwback chain, Nifty Fifty\u2019s<\/a>, were sent to prison for concealing more than $15 million from tax collectors. <\/p>\n

3. JD Vance asked about Swiss on cheesesteaks \u2014 but John Kerry actually tried to order it that way<\/p>\n

When stopping by Pat\u2019s King of Steaks on the campaign trail, now-Vice President JD Vance asked about Swiss cheese.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t order it \u2014 which could\u2019ve arguably been a campaign-ender around these parts \u2014 but he did have questions. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like Swiss cheese either. \u2026 Why do you guys hate Swiss cheese so much, what\u2019s the story?\u201d the Republican vice presidential nominee asked at the counter.<\/p>\n

A manager at the shop later told The Inquirer that staffers thought the line of questioning was funny. <\/p>\n

Candidates ordering cheesesteaks on campaign visits is a time-honored tradition. Sometimes it goes better than others. John Kerry infamously did order Swiss in 2003 as a presidential candidate. Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan covered the culinary gaffe at the time<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201dSwiss cheese, as any local knows, is not an option,\u201d LaBan said. \u201cThe Massachusetts Democrat may as well have asked for cave-aged Appenzeller.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vance ultimately ordered his cheesesteak whiz wit. <\/p>\n

4. Crabfries impostors<\/p>\n

Chickie\u2019s & Pete\u2019s takes its branding seriously. The popular chain sent Betty\u2019s Seafood Shack in Margate a cease-and-desist letter<\/a> last year for using the term crabfries on its menu. <\/p>\n

In 2007, owner Pete Ciarrocchi registered \u201cCrabfries\u201d and \u201cCrab Fries\u201d as a trademark, and since then, his lawyers have sent cease-and-desist letters<\/a> to many restaurants that advertise theirs as such. <\/p>\n

For those uninitiated, Chickie\u2019s & Pete\u2019s famous crabfries use an Old Bay-like seasoning on crinkle-cut fries and include a white cheese sauce for dipping (no, there\u2019s no actual crab). <\/p>\n

As of publication time, Betty\u2019s still offered a fry smothered in cheese sauce and jumbo lump crab and sprinkled with Old Bay. The menu item is now called \u201cFor \u2018Pete\u2019s\u2019 Sake<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Taco Bell said it bought the Liberty Bell<\/p>\n

It was April Fools\u2019 Day in 1996 when Taco Bell placed an ad across prominent newspapers nationwide, proclaiming it had purchased the Liberty Bell, \u201cin an effort to help reduce the national debt.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will now be called the Taco Liberty Bell,\u201d the ad<\/a> said. Outrage spread promptly. <\/p>\n

Upon revealing to angry audiences that they\u2019d been duped, many said the campaign was in bad taste. But someone thought it was funny \u2014 Taco Bell\u2019s sales reportedly surged in the days after the ad ran. <\/p>\n

Then-Mayor Ed Rendell even got Taco Bell to chip in $50,000 toward the new Liberty Bell pavilion. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Pennsylvania delicacy was at the center of a political scandal last week. A bag of Herr\u2019s Sour…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":182358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,102700,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-182357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-herrs-chips-philadelphia-food-political-scandals","10":"tag-pa","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115106300766637891","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}