FoodChasers’ Kitchen in Elkins Park was recently featured in an article by The New York Times’ sports journalism website The Athletic titled “Jalen Hurts made a ‘special’ cheesesteak and transformed twin sisters’ family business”.
The story describes the restaurant’s rapid growth after Hurts’ visit in June 2022 went viral a few months later after a Super Bowl news conference.
From the article:
In October of last season, Hurts appeared on ESPN’s “ManningCast” with Peyton and Eli Manning during a Los Angeles Rams–San Francisco 49ers “Monday Night Football” game. They showed the clip of Hurts on the grill making the cheesesteak. Eli Manning asked about the process. Before Hurts answered, he used this national stage to give a plug.
“Shoutout to my people at FoodChasers, the twins at FoodChasers,” Hurts said.
FoodChasers’ has been a national name in cheesesteaks ever since.
“So I have a cheesesteak that I made at FoodChasers,” Hurts said. “It’s in Philly. And it’s called ‘The Jalen Special.’ I put my little ingredients on it. I made it just right. So if you ever want to go try one, go to FoodChasers.”
Twin owners Drs. Maya and Kala Johnstone are lifelong Eagles fans and opened their lifelong dream—a restaurant—during the pandemic.
“When Jalen comes into your life and says: ‘You’re valuable, you’re good enough to be on the stage with the big boys in Philly to sell cheesesteaks, and you girls’ voices should be heard … so come with me, get in my articles, get on TV,’ we just cry about it, because we grew up not seeing ourselves like this,” Kala said. “He changed our lives. You couldn’t put money on it. You can’t put it into words. He literally changed our lives and he added value to us. And not just Maya and I. He added value to Black women. Because so many women come in and say, ‘You guys’ story inspire us.’”
For our previous coverage of Hurts’ visit, you can click here. For the full article by The Athletic, you can click here. You can also watch this review of FoodChasers’ cheesesteak by Elkins Park’s very own Jeff Chirico:
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