When Citizens Bank Park opened this season for the Philadelphia installment of the "Futures" series, there was a noticeable empty station next to the Harry Kalas statue in the "Alley Grill" concession stand. Next to Wayback Burger's was an empty stand that once housed The Schmitter, the signature sandwich of McNally's Tavern in Chestnut Hill. After being one of the founding concession items in Citizens Bank Park, where did it go?
Michael Klein, who covers restaurants for the Philadelphia Inquirer explained the absence of the sandwich thanks to information from Joe Pie, husband of McNally's co-owner Anne McNally:
Its drawback is the labor involved in building it. From 2004 till 2012, the Schmitter was next to Section 140, with a proper kitchen setup. Then it was moved to an open-air stand in Alley Grill, near the left-field gate. Pie said being open to the elements, in a field-kitchen-type setup, was not ideal.
Pie said he and Aramark management had long talks about the setup, "and they have always been accommodating. But we're just a small piece of the puzzle there." He is cautiously optimistic that the sandwich will return.
Food service provider Aramark publicly said that they hope they will return:
"We had several conversations with Joe this off-season in an effort to continue serving the Schmitter at the ballpark. We respect Joe's decision and thank him for his partnership and for bringing the Schmitter to Phillies fans for over ten years. We remain hopeful of finding a solution that will allow us to offer the Schmitter in the future."
The Schmitter was once housed in the current Federal Donuts location before moving to the Alley Grill.
The sandwich is NOT named for former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt, but rather after Schmidt's beer, the Philadelphia-based beer which regular customer Dennis Krenich drank frequently. It was Krenich who had the first sandwich created by McNally's founder Hugh James McNally. Phillies fans can still purchase a sandwich at 8634 Germantown Avenue at McNally's.
