The Cheese Steak Shop began in San Francisco in 1982 (construction began in 1981) on Divisadero St.

The location was decided upon by current owner and CEO Keith Layton and former partner Jerry Potter in the purely scientific process of "whoever would have us". The above method proved worthy for the 2nd store in Berkeley as well... Well, we're still in the same location in Berkeley, and only one block down from the original location in San Francisco, so the scientific method has served us well over the years.

Both of those stores were open in 1982. Subsequent openings from 1983-1996 included Walnut Creek, Concord, Oakland, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, San Jose, Castro Valley, and Pinole. All stores are in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

In the Year 2000, Steve Oakes, another native Philadelphia product (Chester, PA) hooked up with Layton (Coatesville, PA) to talk about how Steve could fit into the organization.

After discussions over many lunches (Oakes never paid), it was decided that franchising would be the most logical path to build upon the current foundation of 10 stores.

In 2002, we were finally approved by the State of California Department of Corporations to sell franchises. The first franchise was sold that year with 3 more fairly quickly to follow.

Franchised stores are now open and thriving, and more will continue to be added. At the current time, we are active in Northern California and Nevada as well as other neighboring states.

Franchised or company owned, The Cheese Steak Shops hold three elements in place to make our experience the best:

Ingredients-We use quality meats and cheese, but the real secret to great cheese steaks and hoagies is in the bun. Our rolls come directly from Amoroso's Bakery in Philadelphia. We also import our peppers and Tastykakes from Philly.
Quality-From the time we take the ingredients off the trucks until we serve our customers, each step of the process is carefully followed to make sure that every sandwich meets our high standards.
Customer Service-We offer our customers the products and service to keep them coming back for more! We take care of our customers efficiently, courteously, and properly.