PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WFRV) – It’s been featured on National Geographic and Man vs. Food and apparently Packer fans have taken notice.

Ahead of the Packers’ big matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend, Primanti Bros. Restaurant was the place to be to grab a bite to eat. Many Packer fans were trying the sandwiches for the first time.

“It’s a 10 it’s wonderful,” said Holly Dailey a Packers fan from central Illinois trying Primanti Bros. for the first time ever. “My husband and co-worker invited us down here and wanted to give us the authentic Pittsburgh experience so we are here.” 

The restaurant has been around since 1933. On Saturday night, Local Five visited its original location in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

An official there told Local Five the restaurant began when somebody brought some frozen potatoes to the restaurant (which was a cart at the time). The founder, Joe Primanti, fried the potatoes and put them on the sandwiches. The story goes that this was a hit and its popularity only grew from there.

“It’s like the mecca, they’re coming to Pittsburgh they want to cross Primanti Bros. off their list,” said restaurant operations director Mike Mitcham.

Now Primanti Bros. has multiple locations in Pittsburgh and has expanded to several other states. They attract a lot of tourists and, sure enough, over the weekend there was lots of green and gold mixed in among the black and yellow of the Steelers fans.

While Packer fans told Local Five News that Primanti Bros. sandwiches aren’t going to replace their cheese and brat tailgates, Packer fans did give the restaurant the green and gold seal of approval.

Restaurant officials said they love welcoming the out-of-state visitors and enjoy starting some friendly banter with them.

“We tell them to stop by the stadium and take a look at all the trophies that are in there and they remind us what the trophy is called, so it’s some good razzing back-and-forth,” said Mike Mitcham who is the restaurant’s operations director.

Pittsburgh did give Packer fans an opportunity to try some food that was more familiar.

Dailey said she tried some cheese curds at a different restaurant while she was in Pittsburgh. She said they were good but was quick to say that they weren’t nearly as good as Wisconsin cheese curds.