Delaware
It was super close: Top 2 Delaware cheesesteak shops are named. Which is the best?
Casapulla in Elsmere vying for bragging rights for best cheesesteak in Delaware
Casapulla in Elsmere has reached the final four in DelawareOnline’s best cheesesteak in Delaware bracket. 3/25/25
Two local restaurants are squaring off in the Delaware cheesesteak Munch Madness championship, and the contenders that made it to the final round may surprise you.
The championship (or Round 5) begins Saturday, March 29.
Lettuce explain: This is about Delaware cheesesteak glory. Readers can vote for their favorite cheesesteak they want to see crowned as the best in the state. As you’ll soon notice, every vote is important. (Go to the poll below.)
Final 4 recap: 1 Delaware cheesesteak match was close; the other not so much
Last week, before the championship round, we were halfway correct when we predicted the matches between the last four finalists would be close.
Casapulla & Sons in Elsmere cruised to victory against Ioannoni’s near New Castle, racking up 2,290 votes to 1,705. In our prediction, we gave the edge to Casapulla because the family business has six locations across the state, compared with Ioannoni’s one and only shop. But we didn’t expect Casapulla to win big. Ioannoni’s, however, didn’t shrink away from the fight. The restaurant went the distance and hung tough. Yet, Casapulla had too much fire power and eventually forced the stubborn Ioannoni’s to get out of the kitchen.
Owner shares what makes Little Vinnie’s Pizza & Pasta’s cheesesteak the best
Michael Degnars shares why Little Vinnie’s Pizza & Pasta’s cheesesteak is the best in Delaware as it advances to the Final 4 of the Munch Madness tourney.
The nail-biter match came when Little Vinnie’s Pizza & Pasta in Wilmington faced off against Nick’s Pizza Parlor & Bar in Brandywine Hundred. It was a battle of new school versus old school, and the more seasoned restaurant had the upper hand.
Little Vinnie’s squeaked by with 1,620 votes to 1,612 votes. Close cheesesteak battles like that can be hard to swallow, especially for the fans who poured blood, sweat and cheers into the voting ballots. Munch Sadness is real, but there could be only one winner from those two juggernaut restaurants. It was a heck of a match.
Delaware cheesesteak championship: Munch Madness winner prediction
It’s easy to assume Casapulla is going to be the favorite to win the Delaware cheesesteak Munch Madness championship because the restaurant has used its brute strength to power through the last two rounds. They’re on a roll.
Then again, it was no tiny feat for Little Vinnie’s to get past Nick’s Pizza. The spirit of the late great George Foreman has followed Little Vinnie’s into the championship, where the restaurant steps in as the underdog.
Can Little Vinnie’s take down Casapulla? Yes, but it’ll need its fans to vote like crazy to help the restaurant win. That could be too much to ask for a smaller shop like Vinnie’s to ask for, since Casapulla has great name recognition throughout the state, along with locations in every part of Delaware, except Kent County.
All in all, we predict Casapulla is going to be too hot for Little Vinnie’s to handle. But this is March Madness; surprises are always in play.
Thousands of nominations for best Delaware cheesesteak
Last month, you sandwich lovers cast 1,100 votes for your favorite go-to spot for cheesesteaks around the First State that you wanted included in our Munch Madness challenge.
We sliced that thick mountain down to a chewy bracket featuring 32 shops ready to unapologetically smack you in the mouth with a fresh cheesesteak.
How does the Delaware cheesesteak tournament work?
Each week, readers vote and determine which restaurant/shop has the top cheesesteak in each face-off.
And each week, cheesesteak shops are sliced in half, based on your votes.
The bracket began with 32 shops, then 16 and then eight and then four. Now we’re down to the final two competing in the championship, and after this week, a winner will be selected and that sandwich will receive a greasy and golden crown.
To vote, simply click below on the cheesesteak you want to win. That’s it.
Schedule for Delaware cheesesteak March Madness
Below is when new brackets will be announced for the tournament:
- Round 5 with 2: Saturday, March 29 to Friday, April 4
- Winner: Monday, April 7
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.
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The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
100 years ago, The Evening Journal, June 21, 1926
Jealous man kills woman, wounds boy
Oliver K. Higgins, aged 33 years, of Washington Street, in a fit of jealousy late Saturday night, is alleged to have pumped seven bullets from an automatic revolver into Mrs. Edna M. Martin, 40 years old, of Spruce Street, killing her.
Charles Brown, the 15-year-old of Mrs. Gladys Brown, was shot in the jaw and shoulder by Higgins but will recover. Mrs. Brown, also of the Spruce Street address, is the sister of the slain woman. …
Mrs. Martin, who was employed by the Home Baking Company on Market Street, left the store at a late hour Saturday night, accompanied by Paul A. Crawford of Marshallton and went home. They found Mrs. Brown sitting in the dining room with Julius K. Bowman of Newport.
The women and men sat around the table for a short time. At 11:45 o’clock, hearing someone taking out a window screen in the parlor, Mrs. Brown went to the hall to see what caused the noise.
She saw Higgins step in the window with a gun in his hand. She opened the door and ran off the porch.
Higgins failed to see Mrs. Brown and continued to the dining room where Mrs. Martin and the two men were sitting. He leveled the revolver at their heads and said, “Stick your hands up everybody, and I don’t mean maybe.”
Higgins then asked for Mrs. Brown. Learning she had gone out the front door, he ran after her, passing her as she crouched behind a hedge a few feet from the doorway. He returned to the dining room, but the men had fled. He then turned to Mrs. Martin and fired as she ran. …
Leaving the dead woman at the head of the steps, Higgins rushed in the back room in search of Mrs. Brown. Charles Brown, who had been sleeping, awoke because of the noise. …
Hearing the boy going down the stairs, Higgins stepped to the stair rail and shot him twice. …
Mrs. Brown went to the drug store of Otto H. Miller at 22nd and Pine streets to telephone police. …
Officers surrounded the Brown house … and arrested Higgins. …
Higgins met Mrs. Brown several months ago when he was in the employ of the United Cigar Store, and Mrs. Brown was working nearby. He is said to have become jealous over the attention of other men to Mrs. Brown, who is divorced. She asked him to stop annoying her and appealed to police.
After Higgins threatened Mrs. Brown with a gun, she told her employer who called the United Cigar Company and made a complaint to the manager. Shortly after this, Higgins was discharged.
50 years ago, The Morning News, June 23, 1976
Bill would jail parents of delinquent kids
A tough measure that provides for jailing the parents of delinquent children or requiring them to spend weekends with delinquents at juvenile detention centers has been introduced in the Delaware Senate.
The bill is the brainchild of the community-based services staff of the juvenile corrections bureau.
“This gives a way to coax them (the parents),” said John J. Mulvena, juvenile corrections chief. “If not to coax them, to require them. If not require them, jail them.”
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Herman Holloway Sr., D-Wilmington.
Mulvena said it is “directed at parents who are reluctant to participate in the responsible supervision of their children.”
He said due to “stubbornness, ignorance or neglect,” his staff often ends up acting as “mother, father, aunt, uncle or surrogate” for children “while the parents get off scot-free.”
20 years ago, The News Journal, June 26, 2006
Storms wallop Sussex with 6-8 inches of rain
Jack English knew he was in trouble early Sunday morning.
He kept waking up to the sound of his Seaford basement sump pump trying to keep up with the downpour outside….
At first, he found a few inches of water on his basement floor. Then, all of a sudden, his backyard was completely flooded and the rising water blew out his basement window. …
“I was evacuated by the fire department,” he said. …
In six to eight hours, 7 inches fell in Bridgeville, more than 8 inches in Georgetown and nearly 6 inches in Laurel….
The Seaford Fire Company had its first sign of trouble at 7:30 a.m., when a crew responded to a person trapped in a car by rising water. As the morning went on, rescue crews turned to boats.
An estimated 300 people were evacuated from homes at three mobile home parks southeast of Blades.
Meanwhile, in Seaford, concern grew as water levels rose in the Nanticoke River and Williams Pond. As a precaution, 110 residents of Lifecare at Lofland Park rehabilitation center were evacuated to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital. …
At the Seaford Walmart, a team of swift water rescuers from Salisbury, Maryland helped people trapped in the parking lot, with water up to the top of some cars. …
Bridges at Craigs Mill Road and Woodland Road washed out. …
The American Red Cross opened a shelter at Woodbridge High School in Bridgeville. About 30 people were staying there Sunday night.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — All lanes closed on I-69 in the southbound direction in Delaware County on Friday morning.
Authorities with the Indiana State Police were dispatched to the 240.5 mile marker on a report of a crash involving a semi at approximately 8:08 a.m.
All lanes are now open.
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