Shealy's Sandwiches / not Stewart Sandwiches(?), 530 Devine Street: 1980s(?) 10 comments
My high school didn't have a cafeteria, so you either brown-bagged lunch, ate off campus if you had a car, or ate microwaved Stewart Sandwiches from the canteen. These were universally acknowledged to be awful, but they had a strange fascination, and we ate them anyway even as we joked about them. I for one, never could tell the difference between the Stewart "Steak Sandwich" and the Stewart "Hamburger".
The company was apparently originally called Stewart In-Fra-Red Commissary of Minnesota and their slogan was the dubious "Sold Almost Everywhere". After my encounter with them in the 1970s, they bought a couple of other companies, changed their name to Stewart Foods, Inc. then merged with Blevins Concession Supply, Co. and changed their name to Stewart Blevins, Inc.. That was in 1992, and I can't seem to find them after that.
Anyway, I was driving around off of Huger Street in the 1980s, and came across their local office. It was something of a revelation as in my mind, Stewart Sandwiches more appeared than were made and distributed on purpose!. The place now appears to be yet another barbecue restaurant: The Palmetto Pig. It may well be a great place, but while the location seems reasonable to me for a food distribution operation, I think it would be a bad place for a restaurant.
UPDATE 1 June 2011: Commenter Andy says this was Shealy's Sandwiches, not Stewart, and that Shealy moved here from the Assembly Street location (now TakoSushi).
Well, I'll try to verify that it was never a Stewart in old City Directories when I get a chance, but in the meantime, I'm leaving all the Stewart's memories here. (Similarly to what I had to do when I screwed up Krystal..)
10 Responses to 'Shealy's Sandwiches / not Stewart Sandwiches(?), 530 Devine Street: 1980s(?)'
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Dennis
12 Nov 08 at 5:52 am
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Neither the Palmetto Pig nor Docs can hold a candle to Millanders. Nothing like a couple of double wides slapped together with some addons here and there to make a BBQ place.
ChiefDanGeorge
12 Nov 08 at 6:10 am
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Millender's IS good.
Can anyone explain to me why real BBQ places like these never have beer? What's up with that?
Dennis
12 Nov 08 at 9:06 am
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Palmetto Pig is definitely worth a visit. Great food always served with a smile. They've been there for around 7 years, so they're doing something right.
Payne
16 Nov 08 at 5:31 pm
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Palmetto Pig is INCREDIBLE! I believe it's the same owners as Duke's in Orangeburg. I highly recommend a visit to Palmetto Pig for a lunch buffet. You will definitely not be disappointed.
Tripps86
21 Jan 09 at 9:14 pm
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For some reason, I actually liked the Stewart Hamburgers.
jamie
15 Jan 10 at 2:50 pm
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I was researching Stewart Sandwiches. From what I have found, the Blevins merger didn't end up happening. It was renamed Stewart Foods, and later announced the merger with Blevins on July 27, 1992. But on Dec. 31, 1992, Stewart Foods filed for bankruptcy. The former founder, owner, and president had a 120-month deal for payments after his retirement and fought for a claim against them. The bankruptcy court ruled against him, but it was overturned by a federal appeals court. However, after that, I have no idea what happened to the company. It's possible the merger did happen, but the Blevins name was dropped; either way, I can find neither company following the 1992 bankruptcy filing.
David M. Fitzpatrick
4 Nov 10 at 10:15 am
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I used to go to Stewart's back in the '70s and although I do remember that they had a refrigerator display of the kinds of sandwiches that you could get from vending machines back then (pimento cheese, ham and cheese, roast beef and cheese, tuna salad, egg salad and the like) the primary focus was their noon-time hamburger business. I'm not sure they were associated with the "other" Stewart's Sandwiches which were all of the type you had to heat (hamburgers, hot dogs). The difference between the hamburger and the steak sandwich was that the steak sandwich had a pat of a butter-like substance on it.
Stewart's staff appeared to be at "just before retirement" age and I think that's why they finally closed.
Mike
4 Nov 10 at 3:55 pm
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It was Shealy's Sandwiches at this location. No relation to Stewart Sandwiches (usually sold in C-Stores). This restaurant was great---used to be on Assembly St. Operated by Brist and Tim Shealy for years. Was sad to see it close.
Andy
1 Jun 11 at 9:09 am
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They sell Stewart Sandwiches! Yay!
27 Sep 12 at 9:14 pm
Barbecue lovers will find your place wherever you are. It adds to the mystique, I believe. BBQ restuarants that are too clean and modern and located on a busy street are always suspect to me. Multiple locations and franchising are bad signs too.
Palmetto Pig is good, but to me not nearly as good as Doc's a mile away on Shop Road.