Screpesi's Sandwich Shop — Restaurant in Reading

I'd give this place 5 stars on their food but I am very very unhappy at the moment with them. I was in this place just yesterday around dinner time 5/8/2020, ordered 2 sandwiches and got a gal of icy tea paid with my bank card, but they never handed me my card back and therefore I forgot my card there. Now with all this COVID stuff going on, not using my card like I would normally so I didnt notice I had left it. On 5/9/2020, I am at a store and go to pay and my cards not there. I call screpesis right away because it was last place I had used it. I'm placed on hold, then get told that the manager cut my card last night because I didnt call last night about it!!! Really?! Not even 24hrs and you destroy my card my means of paying my Bill's, gas for my car, I have Bill's paid on auto pay with that card as well. As soon as I call bank it's going to mess that all up and I'll need to change ALL my accounts payment info, any Bill's coming out now will be messed up, and to top it off I will need to wait AT LEAST 2 weeks for a new card, so no atm usage for me to get my money, banks aren't open inside smh. Thanks a lot for putting me in a deeper crisis over here in less than 24 hrs. I dont understand why someone would jump the gun like that, especially with what's going on, why not just keep it in the register for 24 hrs, or better yet... back in the office?? This really screws me up, like badly. I am not happy, and I am a regular customer there, well....I was. Now with this extra hassle on top of this covid it might just put me off. To everyone else just a warning in advance DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING BEHIND THERE BECAUSE IT WILL BE DESTROYED IN UNDER 24HRS!!!!!! Figures, go and support a local establishment at this time and they were real quick to screw me over smh. When I went there after talking to them on phone, nicely, they just said my card was in the trash....nothing else. I'm very disappointed that this even happened. Such a huge unnecessary...

Big Disappointment:

In early May (2020), we were traveling back from Philly from burying our Aunt. We wanted a "hoagie" and wanted to support a local establishment. We googled hoagies and Screpesi's came up (Lancaster Avenue, Reading, PA). We read reviews on how good the sandwiches were and decided to place an order for pick up (Covid -19 times). Telephone service was good and staff was pleasant and we tipped them $5 each on an $8 sandwich to show support.

On, Thursday, May 20th, we decided to patronize them for a cheesesteak. We did not call ahead and my husband went into the store and placed the order for two cheesesteaks: 1 cheesesteak with fried/grilled onions and provolone cheese only - NOTHING ELSE not even salt and pepper; 2nd cheesesteak with provolone cheese, fried/grilled onions, sweet peppers and sauce. When we got home, my husband informed me that the steak was pre-cooked and in a pan on top of the stove and that the male staff took steak out and put it on the grill to cook it. He said, "Hope it's good."

It was not. Both steak were done exactly the same. Both had provolone cheese, onion and sweet peppers. Big Disappointment. I was so upset and grabbed my receipt to call them but the receipt only has the price on it and not what you actually ordered so I did not bother. Although, I cannot eat a steak like this, I bit into it just to see what it taste like. It tasted terrible and I don't know what kind of meat that was. Now, being a native of Philly, I understand what a real cheesesteak taste like. This was horrible.

I usually don't rate a company until after the 2nd or 3rd visit. But, since there will not be a third visit, I wanted to provide this review so that others could govern themselves accordingly. I am not sure is Screpesi's has someone to check their reviews and if so, I hope that you care about the comments that customers are leaving and take this and other reviews seriously. Personally, I will not...

I have been getting mostly the Italian hoagies from here for a couple years now, and typically was satisfied with my order. I love some onions on my hoagies but not the ENTIRE onion (at least this can be remedied by simply taking the excess off). Lately the hoagies would also be literally bathed in oil and vinegar and this one is not so easily remedied as everything slides off and gets soggy fast (so forget saving any for later). We typically get 2 large Italian hoagies on a hard roll (we do not like the soft rolls). The last time we called for our order a few weeks ago, they were out of the hard rolls. Well, this was not told to us until we called later to say we didn't get what we ordered. I said to the girl we ordered hard rolls and were never informed they were out of them. Being asked if soft rolls were OK to substitute would have been appreciated as we would not have ordered that day. There is definitely a taste and size difference in the rolls, and you won't know until you're home excited to satisfy your hunger only to find it isn't what you ordered. The girl said she would have their manager call me. I left my name and number and never received the call. Typically, I am not one to complain, but I am big on customer service and having a satisfied customer. So, if I am choosing to take out, and a particular place over everything else, I expect satisfactory service and order. I ended up throwing my greasy incorrect hoagie away that evening and have not ordered again.

Side Note: When the hoagies ARE made correctly, they are 4/5 stars hands down, which is why we were getting them there. No place is perfect 100% of the time (hence why I said the onion and oil/vinegar excess was not the #1 issue). Communication is your best...