PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There is no longer a need to drive down to the City of Brotherly Love to get Geno's or Pat's or Tony Luke's cheesesteaks. Authentic Philly cheesesteaks are now available right on North Street.
Xavier Jones opened Bigg Daddy's Philly Steak House in Crawford Square on Friday. It is his second location since starting what he envisions will be a local franchise.
"I wanted to do something different. You've got pizza, Chinese, so my thing was let's do something I know that I'm really good at. People always have to travel to Philly to get a good cheesesteak. Now the people up here they can get the same cheesesteak they'd get down there right here," Jones said.
While steaks are in the name, Jones said the restaurant offers a whole lot more than that. And, with the new location, the menu has expanded to include offerings for vegans, gluten-free, and healthy eating options.
"We're more than a cheesesteak place though," Jones said. "We have burgers. We have chicken. We have 12 different flavors of wings. We have 17 different cheesesteaks, four different chicken cheesesteaks."
Jones began with a restaurant in Adams. He said the response had been great and showed him that his idea was worth it. About three months ago, Jones was put in touch with landlord Steve Oakes about the availability of the former Red Apple Butcher's location. Jones said he looked at it and within a week signed a lease.
"I wanted to find a place that was around a bunch of other restaurants. When you have a district, a place people go, a destination area, you do a whole lot better than being isolated. I always wanted to be here on North Street. The first restaurant that I worked in Pittsfield was here, Spice in 2006," Jones said.
Jones has a lengthy history in the culinary industry. The Philadelphia native was trained at Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts and after graduation came to the Berkshires to work at the Red Lion Inn. He then went back to Philadelphia in 2004 to work as a corporate trainer for Longhorn Steakhouse.
"I started liking opening restaurants. I used to be a corporate trainer in Philadelphia for Longhorn Steakhouse. I would travel the country opening restaurants for them. It was sort of a niche that I had that was fun," Jones said.
In 2006, he received a call asking him to return to the Berkshires. This time Jones moved here to open Spice on North Street. Since then he has gone through a series of opening restaurants. Eventually, he crafted his own and opened the first Bigg Daddy's location.
"I'm trying to franchise out. I don't want to close a location. I'm looking to open this up and then open something else up," Jones said.
The Pittsfield location is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and on Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m. for pick up, eat in, and delivery. But Jones said as long as the orders keep coming, he'll stay open. Bigg Daddy's delivers to Lanesborough, Pittsfield, and Dalton.
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Pittsfield School Committee OKs $82M Budget, $1.5M Cuts
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school budget is less grim than the original proposal but still requires more than $1.5 million in cuts.
On Thursday, the School Committee approved an $82.8 million spending plan for fiscal year 2025, including a city appropriation of $80.4 million and $2.4 million in Chapter 70 funds.
The cuts made to balance the budget include about 50 staff reductions — some due to the sunsetting of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
"The final version does not answer all needs. It will be unacceptable to some or to many but I must say that tonight's final proposal is very different than where we started when we believed we would have a $3,600,000 reduction. I want to assure everyone that every effort has been made to minimize the impact on both students, families, and staff members while also ensuring that our district has the necessary resources to progress forward," Superintendent Joseph Curtis said.
"Nevertheless, there are incredibly passionate, dedicated staff members who will not be with us next year. This pains me as I've been a part of this organization for now 30 years so I want to assure everyone that our team, this has weighed very heavily in our hearts, this entire process. This is not a group of people that is looking at a spreadsheet saying ‘Well that can go and this can go’ and take that lightly."
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke and other officials worked with the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education to rectify an error in the Chapter 70 funding formula, recognized 11 more low-income students in the district, and added an additional $2.4 million to the FY25 budget.
Curtis commented that when he first saw the governor’s FY25 budget, he was "rather stunned."
"The extraordinary circumstances we face this budget season by the conclusion of the substantial ESSER federal grant and a significant reduction in Chapter 70 allotment caused challenges for this team and our school principals and our educators and our staff that have been nothing short of all-consuming," he said.
Downtown Pittsfield Inc. proposed angled parking on North Street and was pleasantly surprised that the city responded with an in-depth study and new plans — even if they don't include angled parking.
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Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.
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Albert Ingegni III was applauded for four decades of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals during City Council. Mayor Peter Marchetti presented him with a certificate of thanks for his commitment to the community.
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