By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
Nearly 50 close family, friends and hungry customers turned out Friday morning to welcome back the Sacco family, who have been serving up the best subs around for nearly 60 years in Ventnor.
Anthony Sacco, the grandson of one of the original founders of the Sack O’Subs sandwich shop that had become a mainstay in the Ventnor community, held a grand reopening celebration at the family’s new digs on the corner of Ventnor and Little Rock avenues. They moved into the space after a fire destroyed their business next door in June 2022.
Three generations of Saccos have been in the sub-making business since 1949, when Anthony “Fuzzy” Sacco opened the White House Sub Shop with other members of the family. Fuzzy then opened the store in Ventnor until his son Al took over and then opened other locations in Ocean City. Now it’s Al’s son Anthony who is once again carrying the torch at the Ventnor location.
Mayor Lance Landgraf attended along with Commissioners Tim Kriebel and Maria Mento to present a proclamation welcoming the family back to food service in Ventnor. Margate Commissioner Maury Blumberg, former Atlantic County Commissioner Frank Formica and NJ Sen. Vince Polistina were also there to welcome them back.
Landgraf presented “Fuzzy” Sacco with a certificate appointing him as honorary “Ambassador at Large” in the City of Ventnor.
“It’s really great for the City of Ventnor to have this institution reopen in our fine city,” Landgraf said.
It was “a tragedy to lose 18 months ago,” and to have it reopen at a newer facility just next door is a “great day for the City of Ventnor,” he said.
Mike Wiesen, who owns the AAAA Bike Shop across the street said he is looking forward to having his daily bowl of soup from Oct. 1 to April 1 and Sacco’s famous veggie wrap.
“I’m 18 pounds lighter over the last 18 months since it closed,” he said. “I’m just so happy to have them back. Having Fuzzy, Al and Anthony on the block makes this more of a family neighborhood. They are a testament to how great Ventnor is.”
Darryl Specter and his fiancée Remy Richman, regulars who live in Ventnor, purchased subs at the counter.
“I was the last person to get cheese steaks on the day of the fire,” Specter said. “I was picking up a sub when the cook came out from the back saying ‘Call 911, there’s a fire.’”
Richman said the grand reopening was the best news she’s heard lately.
“We’ve been coming here our entire lives, and our kids were raised on their food,” she said.
Karen Burnside of Margate sat at one of the tables with her mom Kathy Burnside of Ventnor.
Both of them worked with the Saccos at one time or another.
“I worked here as a busser when I was 15 years old, and for Al when he opened the store in Ocean City,” Karen Burnside said.
“My mom worked with Fuzzy at the White House when I was in grammar school,” Kathy Burnside said. “And I worked here too. We’re are part of their extended family. My son and brother worked here too.”
“We’re glad they’re back,” they said.
