By Mark Woolsey
Steven Renner got hooked on Woody’s CheeseSteaks after the Nashville native moved to Atlanta in the early 1990s, but he also developed a tremendous appreciation for original owner David Pastoria.
The midtown spot reminded him of the unpretentious rough-around-the-edges restaurants his granddad had taken him to as a youngster. The steaks were to die for.
As for Pastoria, Renner marveled that he’d be “talking to everyone, knowing the names, knowing their kids’ names, watching people grow up there.”
Renner kept that approach after acquiring the tiny original location in 2010.
Now the eatery’s fourth iteration has debuted in Cobb County, with a spot in the Bridger Properties Church Street Development downtown.
Renner says his co-owner, Matt Porcelli, led the push to open locations in Buckhead, East Atlanta and now Cobb County, describing him as “younger and hungrier.”
Renner and Porcelli had worked together before, when Renner ran a company in the special events industry. Later, when Renner bought the cheesesteak spot, Porcelli became his first employee and manager, transitioning into a partner role in later years.
As Renner puts it, “He was meticulous in his attention to detail. He had proven himself honest to a fault. One of those rare birds…I never questioned my choice.”
And with plenty of enthusiasm. “We can’t wait to get a cheesesteak into your hands,” he told a reporter in an e-mail a few weeks before the opening.
The pair sticks to a tried-and-true approach.
“We rely on keeping it simple. Not much has changed from the original,” the co-owner says.
Accordingly, their basic cheesesteak is straightforward: sliced steak, grilled onions and white American cheese, although they also offer provolone and Cheese Whiz as alternatives. It’s a melty, robust member of the sandwich pantheon. A variety of toppings are available, hot peppers, green peppers, bacon, chili. They also have a chicken and a veggie style cheesesteak, cold subs, hot sandwiches such as Italian and Polish sausage offerings and hot dogs.
The owners have made very few tweaks over the years, but one notable exception is their bread.
All that comes on a hoagie roll that we source straight out of Philadelphia. And that gets shipped to us every week,” he says.
On the drink side, they offer soft drinks beer, seltzer and other beverages.
Renner says his shotgun-style, brick-walled Marietta location is just under 1400 square feet and has many of the touches of the original location, such as tables adorned with the Woody’s logo. There’s a patio/deck behind the building that they will share with an ice cream shop. And just outside is a park and gathering space converted from a parking lot.
He says their other locations do a lot more takeout. “But in the Marietta store a lot of people are having them on-site. People are grabbing their order and going out to the park to eat.”
But he points out that there’s no clear, longer-term trend associated with that, with their having been open less than two weeks.
Catering is another thriving part of their business.
Renner says in addition to folks from the neighborhood and other businesses along the square, he’s also hoping to draw patrons from the nearby Strand Theater, the Theater on the Square and the several museums close by. And don’t forget nearby watering holes and residential neighborhoods.
Interestingly enough he says, “on our opening day there was a long line waiting to get in headed up by several city employees (but) the first person in line that day was from the Strand Theater.”
They open at 11 a.m. each day. Weeknights find them closing the doors at 10 p.m. but on Friday and Saturday nights they’re slinging steak and onions until 2 a.m.
Renner hopes that their stacked-to-the-rafters opening will translate into the kind of success the original location has garnered for almost 50 years
“Our Midtown location is directly across the street from Midtown High School (formerly Grady),” he says.
“We’ve had a number of people tell us “when we skipped school we’d come to Woody’s whether it was the mid-70s, mid-80s, mid-90s or mid-two-thousands.”
He says the kids and grandkids of those youngsters are still coming in.