Michael Paparella is the owner of Philly’s Steaks, the first cheesesteak shop to open in Italy, which serves authentic cheesesteaks, reports Wakisha Bailey for CBS News Philadelphia.

With the new shop, which opened in August 2023 in Trani, Paparella makes the connection between Philadelphia and Italy, as the cheesesteak was invented by an Italian-American immigrant. 

“When someone walked into the place, they felt like they were in Philadelphia,” Paparella said.

The shop features numerous Philadelphia sports team jerseys framed on the walls and the iconic LOVE landmark sign. 

At Philly’s Steaks, Paparella commits to the original cheesesteak recipes without any modifications and uses local products only. 

The goal is to share Philly’s famous cheesesteaks with all of Italy.

About 25 years ago, Paparella thought fast food would never be successful in Italy; however, he now sees that is not necessarily the case.

“I saw that over the last decades, Italians started learning how to eat hamburgers, like they would eat a pizza or a plate of pasta. I always asked myself how is it that in all these years, the Philadelphia cheesesteak has never made it over Italy,” he said. 

It now has and Paparella hopes to open two more locations in Rome and Sicily.

Read more about how a Philly food staple is making its way to Italy in CBS News Philadelphia. 

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