D'Angelo Bros. Meat Market
D'Angelo's Specialty Meats storefront
9th Street Market: Origins, Continuity, Change
Italian chef figure at D'Angelo Brothers Meat Market
Ostrich tenderloin at D'Angelo's
Skull and horn display at D'Angelo Brothers
Show all 11 images.
The shop was founded in 1910 by Santo D’Angelo, an expert butcher who immigrated to Pennsylvania from Sicily. Now the shop is owned by D’Angelo’s son, Santo II, and his grandson, Santo III “Sonny.” Sonny continues a tradition that spans over three generations and two families of selling quality game meats, sausages, paté, and other specialties. In his book of family recipes and stories, And Now We Call It Gravy, Sonny recounts how his grandfather originally settled in Downingtown and opened his first butcher shop there at the age of 16. However, the Italian method of cutting meat was very different from the German and Dutch styles, and the business faltered. So Santo came to South Philadelphia, where he could sell his cuts to fellow Sicilians and Italians from other regions.
Sonny remembers his grandfather going to the stockyards at Washington and Grays Ferry avenues for goats, lambs and pigs to butcher and sell. Inside the shop, the walls are adorned with animal skins and furs, reflecting D’Angelo Bros.’ tradition of selling fresh game meats.
One of Santo’s wholesale clients was Anthony Viso’s butcher shop at 9th and Ellsworth streets. Anthony’s daughter, Theresa, married Santo’s son, Santo II. The Viso family shop closed in 1972.
References
- D'Angelo, Sonny. And Now We Call it Gravy" Recipes and Memoirs of the Italian Market. Copyright © 2000 by Sonny D'Angelo. [self-published]
- D'Angelo,Sonny. 2008. Interview by Joan L. Saverino. Videotape recording. April 18. Philadelphia, PA.
