Shut Up and Eat

Shut Up and Eat was a sandwich shop in Portland, Oregon.[2] The business was established as a food cart in 2010 by John Fimmano and Glenn Hollenbeck, and later became a brick and mortar operation in 2012. Shut Up and Eat garnered a positive reception before closing in 2019.

Shut Up and Eat
Circular logo with the text "Shut Up and Eat" and "Sandwich Shop"
Photograph of the exterior of a building
Hapa PDX (pictured in 2021) operates in the building, which previously housed Shut Up and Eat from 2012 to 2019.
Restaurant information
Established2010 (2010)
ClosedMarch 2019 (2019-03)
Owner(s)
  • John Fimmano
  • Glenn Hollenbeck
ChefJohn Fimmano[1]
Food typeSandwiches
Street address3848 Southeast Gladstone Street
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97202
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45.4932°N 122.62281°W / 45.4932; -122.62281
Seating capacity30

Description

Shut Up and Eat was a "Philly-inspired" food cart at the A La Carts pod on Division Street,[3][4] and later a brick and mortar sandwich shop at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Gladstone Street in southeast Portland's Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood.[5][6] Portland Mercury's Ned Lannamann described the interior as containing indoor and outdoor seating, additionally noting the large kitchen.[7] Willamette Week's Martin Cizmar wrote that the restaurant's design looked similar to "a classic lunch counter", stating that the restaurant had no patio.[8] Shut Up and Eat had a seating capacity of approximately 30 people.[9]

The casual counter-service restaurant's menu included breakfast, meatball, and submarine sandwiches, as well as cheesesteaks, such as the "Broad Street Bomber".[10][6][11][12] The "Butternut Squash" sandwich had roasted butternut squash, egg, and arugula on an English muffin.[13] The mortadella sandwich had mortadella, provolone, fried egg, and caramelized onions.[14][15] Pearl Bakery supplied the bread.[16] Shut Up and Eat also offered happy hour.[17]

History

Former Philadelphia resident John Fimmano and Glenn Hollenbeck started Shut Up and Eat as a food cart in the A La Carts pod on Southeast Division Street in 2010.[8][18][19] According to Willamette Week, the duo met working for a commercial painting company.[20] The business transitioned to a brick and mortar operation in 2012.[5][21][22]

In 2011, Shut Up and Eat was a vendor at the Indulge at Jupiter festival's Food Cart Land expansion. The event was held at Jupiter Hotel and highlighted local eateries.[23] In January 2014, Eater Portland's Erin DeJesus said Shut Up and Eat was planning to "open a next-door deli" with Fimmano's side dishes available by the pound. The deli opened on January 31.[24][25][26]

For Pizza Week in 2014, a collaboration between Shut Up and Eat and Gladstone Street Pizza resulted in a special pizza with toppings from the roast-pork sandwich.[27] In June 2017, there was a break-in.[28]

The restaurant closed unexpectedly in March 2019. A note posted on social media and the restaurant's windows said:

Regretfully, after nearly ten wonderful years, Shut Up and Eat has served its last sandwich. As of 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 3rd, we have closed our doors for the final time. We are very grateful to everyone who has supported us over the past decade.[11]

The Japanese-Hawaiian restaurant Hapa PDX began operating in the space, opening in August 2019.[29]

Reception

In her 2014 book Food Lovers' Guide to Portland, Oregon, Laurie Wolf said Shut Up and Eat "makes great sandwiches" with "terrific and well-matched toppings". She called the meatball sub "excellent" and said the restaurant, "despite the possibly disquieting name, is inviting and worth a trip. Or two."[30] Anna Katz recommended the chicken or eggplant parmesan, seasonal salad, and shoestring fries in her 2019 book Easy Weekend Getaways from Seattle: Short Breaks in the Pacific Northwest.[16]

Bradley Foster and Andy Kryza included Shut Up and Eat in Thrillist's 2013 list of bars and restaurants.[31] Shut Up and Eat ranked first in the Portland Mercury's 2014 search for Portland's best Italian hoagie. The newspaper's Chris Onstad wrote, "The overly deep channel of tender peppers, the olive tapenade, and the hidden vein of hammered bitter greens aren't traditional, but the volume and variety make this a sandwich you tangle with to find big new flavors in every bite."[32][33]

In 2014, Michael Russell of The Oregonian gave the restaurant a satisfactory rating.[34][35] He wrote, "Shut Up and Eat might seem to be at a disadvantage compared with the flavor bombs at Portland sandwich hot spots Bunk and Lardo, with their remixed Cubanos, banh mis and tuna melts. But customers can't seem to get enough of these traditional subs, especially the super-burrito-sized cheesesteak."[36] Russell included the mortadella sandwich in a 2015 overview of the city's best sandwiches,[14] and ranked Shut Up and Eat number 9 in the newspaper's 2017 list of the city's 17 best sandwich shops.[37]

Martin Cizmar of Willamette Week recommended Shut Up and Eat over Lardo, the restaurant's rival, in 2012.[8] Thrillist called Shut Up and Eat "a sandwich shop favorite in Southeast Portland" and praised its expansive menu.[38] The website's Drew Tyson included the Bomber in a 2015 overview of Portland's 11 best cheesesteaks.[39] Alex Frane included Shut Up and Eat in The Daily Meal's 2015 list of five "amazing" sandwich shops in Portland and said the bacon cheddar fried egg is "probably the best bacon sandwich" in the city.[40]

See also

References
  1. "Shut Up and Eat". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  2. "Shut Up and Eat... these delicious Italian sandwiches". Thrillist. August 20, 2012. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  3. Culverwell, Wendy (July 12, 2012). "Shut up and Eat Sandwich cart to open in SE Portland". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  4. Gunderson, Laura (March 30, 2012). "Fast-food chains rev up their food trucks". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  5. Singer, Matthew (March 4, 2019). "Southeast Portland Sandwich Shop Shut Up and Eat Has Closed". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  6. Lannamann, Ned (March 4, 2019). "Sandwich Shop Shut Up and Eat Has Shut for Good". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  7. Lannamann, Ned (March 4, 2019). "Sandwich Shop Shut Up and Eat Has Shut for Good". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  8. Cizmar, Martin (October 30, 2012). "Shut Up, Lardo". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  9. DeJesus, Erin (July 10, 2012). "John Fimmano on Shut Up & Eat's Upcoming B&M". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  10. Onstad, Chris (January 30, 2013). "Shut Up and Eat". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  11. Frane, Alex (March 4, 2019). "A Popular Sandwich Shop Just Shuttered in Southeast". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  12. DeJesus, Erin (February 5, 2013). "Onstad Says Shut Up and Eat; User's Guide to Ava Gene's". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  13. "5 Breakfast Sandwiches In Portland". Willamette Week. March 22, 2016. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  14. Russell, Michael (November 3, 2015). "National Sandwich Day: Where to find Portland's best sandwiches". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  15. Russell, Michael (November 7, 2014). "Your best bets between two slices". The Oregonian. p. 26. Mortadella at Shut Up and Eat: Charred mortadella, melted provolone, fried egg and caramelized onion from this Creston-Kenilworth sandwich spot. Best when you sub the house-made English muffin for the biscuit.
  16. Katz, Anna (June 11, 2019). Easy Weekend Getaways from Seattle: Short Breaks in the Pacific Northwest (1st Edition) (Easy Weekend Getaways). The Countryman Press. ISBN 978-1-68268-391-0. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  17. Frane, Alex (August 10, 2016). "Try These 19 New Happy Hours in Portland, Mapped". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  18. Russell, Michael (March 4, 2019). "Shut Up and Eat serves its last sandwich". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on March 5, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  19. DeJesus, Erin (June 7, 2012). "Another Cart Going Brick-and-Mortar: Shut Up and Eat". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  20. "Eat Mobile Judges". Willamette Week. April 19, 2012. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  21. Blum, Alex (August 30, 2012). "Food carts swap wheels for a roof". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group.
  22. DeJesus, Erin (August 21, 2012). "A Look Around Shut Up & Eat, Now (Softly) Open". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  23. Beck, Byron (July 27, 2011). "Indulge Adds "Food CartLand" to Annual LoBu Food Fest". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  24. DeJesus, Erin (January 22, 2014). "Cheese & Crack Shop; Growlers Hawthorne Forthcoming". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  25. DeJesus, Erin (January 31, 2014). "Opening Report". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  26. Russell, Michael (March 30, 2014). "The expanding marketplace is all around Portland". The Oregonian. p. 11. Shut Up and Eat, the Southeast Portland sandwich shop known for its cheesesteak, recently expanded with a market and deli next door. The move was designed to increase the restaurant's prep space, but co-owner John Fimmano said he also wanted to offer Portland a taste of his Philadelphia-area childhood. 'When we were growing up, we used to go down to the store and get 10 pounds of roast beef, a quart of au jus, some rolls and provolone and go home and make our own sandwiches and watch some football,' Fimmano says. 'We wanted to create that option here.'
  27. DeJesus, Erin (March 18, 2014). "Introducing Gladstone Street's Shut Up & Eat Pizza". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  28. Bamman, Mattie John (June 23, 2017). "8 More Restaurants Confirm June Break-Ins". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  29. Groff, Elizabeth Ussher (August 30, 2019). "Japanese-Hawaiian cuisine follows 'Shut Up and Eat' on Gladstone Street". The Bee. Pamplin Media Group. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  30. Wolf, Laurie (January 14, 2014). Food Lovers' Guide to® Portland, Oregon: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-0670-0. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  31. Foster, Bradley; Kryza, Andy (November 12, 2013). "The coolest bars and restaurants in town". Thrillist. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  32. Onstad, Chris (January 29, 2014). "Who Loses an Italian Standoff?". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  33. DeJesus, Erin (January 30, 2014). "Hoagies, Heroes". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  34. Russell, Michael (February 26, 2014). "At Shut Up and Eat, consider the cheesesteak, then grab the mortadella (review)". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  35. DeJesus, Erin (March 3, 2014). "Onstad on Ava Gene's; One Star for Shut Up & Eat". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  36. Russell, Michael (February 28, 2014). "You'll want to obey at Shut Up and Eat". The Oregonian. p. 14.
  37. Russell, Michael (April 11, 2017). "Portland's 17 best sandwich shops, ranked". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  38. "Shut Up and Eat". Thrillist. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  39. Tyson, Drew (January 14, 2015). "Where to Get the 11 Best Cheesesteaks in Portland". Thrillist. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  40. Frane, Alex (December 20, 2015). "5 Amazing Sandwich Shops in Portland, Oregon". The Daily Meal. Archived from the original on April 3, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
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