Neighborhood Cheesesteak Shop Expands With New Food Truck

When some people think Philly, they visualize Santa Claus being bombarded with snowballs at Veterans Stadium, Rocky Balboa or the Broad Street Bullies.

Benjamin Coia, the owner of Philly Phlava, said the city where he grew up is best known for cheesesteaks.

“What makes it authentic, No. 1, is Amoroso rolls we bring in from home, Philly,” said Coia, who is expanding with a food truck to serve the surrounding areas. “We have all the authentic cheeses that are offered — white American, provolone, mozzarella and Cheese Whiz. We don’t do Swiss. We don’t do Pepper jack.”

“We try to keep it the way it is supposed to be, nothing fancy, just real. We say the cheesesteak is not supposed to be pretty. It is supposed to be good.”

He leaves it up to his customers using his catchphrase, “build your own Philly Phlava cheesesteak.” Pick your cheese. Pick your veggies. There are no “mis-steaks.”

His customers are now able to grab a cheesesteak from their new food truck while enjoying local entertainment events.

Coia said the food truck is his baby. “We have been chipping away at it little by little — meanwhile keeping the Philly Phlava storefront going on,” said Coia.

Coia said in addition to the cheesesteaks, he also carries popular Philadelphia food favorites such as Tastykakes, Herr’s Chips, Philly Soft Pretzels, Hank’s Sodas and Birch Beer.

“Our business has been growing,” said Coia, adding he encourages customers to bring in their Philly memorabilia. Hanging on the walls of the Dale Mabry Philly Phlava are jerseys from different players on the Philadelphia sports scene.

Coia said that between 2005 and 2009, Philly Phlava had two stands in the Amalie Arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play.

“We had regulars from day one and it seemed like literally 99 percent of the people coming up were like, ‘When are you going to open up a food truck?’ Coia said. “Our business is exploding. Tampa Bay is so big and densely populated. When this opportunity came up, we said let’s do it.”

Coia grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He moved to Tampa when he was 26.

“We are here to serve everybody,” Coia said. “We are trying to get the name out there. Right now we are not a franchise. We are a family-owned business. Every store is owned and has family members working there.”