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Taste With Tori: Dagwoods Pub

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Look for the blue and white sign on the corner of Torresdale and Linden. Walk in and you'll uncover an undeniable upbeat energy, unpretentious american fare and packing the seats, aren't strangers, just friends you haven't met yet.

"Everybody's hidden spot is everybody's favorite spot," Edward Gzeskiewicz said.

Well, the word's out. Welcome, Dagwoods Pub!

How they got the name is a funny story, comical, you might say.

"Do you remember [the comic strip] Blondie and Dagwood?" owner Joan Grzeskiewicz asked. "Remember they used to have a sandwich this high? My husband liked everything big and a lot of it!"

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And you'll see Gzeskiewicz and her sisters rolling up their sleeves making a lot of big meatballs in the back -- 500, to be exact.

It was in 1987 when Joan's husband, Ed, opened the doors.

"A lot of people thought it was a house," Joan said.

And more than 30 years later, the house is still a home for Joan, their son, Ed, and all who enter.

"I have butterflies in my stomach," Joan said of the pub's success. "Thank you, Ed. He'd be very proud of my son."

"My father passed away in 2004 and I vowed to my family to not only keep it going, but make it better," son Edward said.

From the tangy, melt-n-your-mouth meatballs to the crunchy and smokey classic clams casino and the tender prime rib melt with the side of seafood fries, there is no place like Dagwoods Pub.

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