EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – If you call or stop by Primo Hoagies on Fire Road here, do owner Tony DeFino a favor: Don’t ask for a sub, zeppelin, hero or sandwich.
Ask for a hoagie.
The term hoagie is so important to Primo Hoagies that it is part of the franchise marketing materials and website. Apparently, it’s a South Philly thing.
“I grew up in South Philly near the original Primo and it was a hoagie, not a sub,” explained DeFino.
DeFino has been in the restaurant business since he was a child. At 12 his family was vacationing in Wildwood and his brother and sister worked in a restaurant that needed a dishwasher. Welcome to the bottom rung of the hospitality industry ladder.
DeFino moved up quickly and owned a coffee shop by the time he was 22. He worked in the Somers Point landmark restaurant the Crab Trap for 12 years and at Resorts Hotel and Casino.
Primo Hoagies started out as a South Philly franchise with several shops in the Philadelphia area. New Jersey locations were opened and Primo at the Jersey Shore soon followed with two restaurants, one in Wildwood and one in Ocean City.
The Ocean City shop eventually became available, and DeFino and his wife, Raquel, former owner of the Two Tin Crows gift shop in Somers Point, were in the hoagie business.
It wasn’t long before the DeFinos were looking for an offshore location.
“Summer in Ocean City is fabulous. We’re so busy it is hard to keep up. Winter is slower. My daughter now helps run the Ocean City store, and we were looking for a location with steady year-round business,” DeFino said.
A spot became available on Fire Road in Egg Harbor Township and the process of getting it ready to house Primo Hoagies began. What was estimated to take weeks ended up taking months, but the store has been up and running and getting busy.
DeFino said the secret to Primo Hoagies’ success is the quality of the bread and meats the franchise uses, along with carrying homemade sides.
The roll used by the original Primo is the same today as it was at the beginning.
“We use a seeded Italian loaf that is baked exclusively for Primo Hoagies. It is a key ingredient in our ability to produce a great hoagie,” said DeFino, who explained that the bread’s crusty outside protects a soft, fluffy inside and allows for storage of the hoagie.
 “Our roll holds up overnight. You can put it in the refrigerator and take it out the next day, and it won’t be soggy or falling apart. The Atlantic City roll has its place, but this is an authentic Philly roll,” DeFino boasted.
DeFino said the Italian is his bestseller, followed by the chicken cutlet hoagies and the Diablos series.
“The Diablos are spicy, but a good, flavorful spicy. We use cayenne and crushed red peppers and get our flavors from the spiced meats and cheeses,” DeFino said.
When it comes to meat, Thumanns is the only brand used at Primo.
“Thumanns is unbelievable. There is no MSG and the meat is like you cooked it yourself. It’s all we use.”
The meat for each hoagie is sliced to order, ensuring freshness, and piled high on the roll, not layered, for an eye-pleasing hoagie.
“Enjoying food is about the presentation as well as the taste,” said DeFino.
Side dishes at Primo include marinated mozzarella, pasta salads, potato and macaroni salads, pepper shooters and more. All are homemade and marinated items are prepared on site.
DeFino said repeat business has been good, and he expects business to pick up.
“Once people taste our hoagie, they come back, they tell their friends, and soon it will be jammed in here.
“The food is that good.”