Brother vs. Brother: The story of Seaside’s dueling cheesesteak stands

Anyone who has passed by the corner of Dupont and Ocean avenues in Seaside Heights may have noticed two suspiciously similar-looking cheesesteak stands – Steaks Unlimited and The Original Steaks.

News 12 Staff

Aug 21, 2019, 11:47 PM

Updated 1,708 days ago

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Anyone who has passed by the corner of Dupont and Ocean avenues in Seaside Heights may have noticed two suspiciously similar-looking cheesesteak stands – Steaks Unlimited and The Original Steaks.
Both are painted bright yellow, sell nearly identical bread pocket-style cheesesteaks, and both claim to be the original creator of the cheeseball.
It turns out that the story behind the competing cheesesteak stands started out as a family squabble between two brothers – Sal and Clem Faruolo.
What happened? It's kind of a family thing,” says Mike Carbone, cousin to the brothers. “One brother moved away. Went to California for a couple of years and then when the other brother came back they decided to each run their own thing.”
Carbone says that both brothers were running Steaks Unlimited together when Sal decided to move to California. When Sal returned to New Jersey, there was a fight over the ownership of the business – a fight that ended up in court.
Clem got the name Steaks Unlimited and in 2012 moved across the street, painted the new place yellow and reopened Steaks Unlimited. Sal, who owned the original building, reopened as The Original Steaks.
The brothers did not speak for four years. But Clem tells News 12 New Jersey that the feud is now over. He says that his own divorce and the passage of time made him reconcile with his brother.
“We’re friends. We bike ride every day. We talk - he comes over here, I go over there. That's everything,” says Clem.
The brothers now say that they have a friendly competition over the two businesses.


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