For many years, our family has celebrated Christmas Eve with the traditional Southern Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes (Festa Dei Sette Pesci), also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia). The origins of this celebration are Roman Catholic — on Christmas Eve in particular, it is a commemoration of the wait for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus (Vigilia di Natale), and stems from the Catholic tradition of abstinence, in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products, on Fridays and specific holy days — but, as with many Americanized traditions, it is now celebrated by people of all backgrounds and faiths.

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Sometimes cultural epicenters sprout up in unlikely places. Take Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut, for example — absent any previous knowledge, one wouldn’t expect to find arguably the best pizza in the world here, but one does. Similarly, Newtown Square, PA happens to have a mile-long stretch of Rt 3 in that houses three of the best Italian-style roast pork sandwiches anywhere. Because Philadelphia is famous for these sandwiches (much like NYC is famous for pizza), it is not all that surprising to find a good pork sandwich in the suburbs — but 3 great ones in one mile? It’s odd for sure, but we aren’t complaining.

All three are slightly different, but excellent in their own way, and we haven’t been disappointed with any of them. Here’s a little more info on each:

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