Mention the White House to longtime Atlantic City residents, and their first thought isn’t the building with the Oval Office, but the local landmark at Arctic and Mississippi avenues.

Now part of the city’s gastronomical DNA, The White House Sub Shop dates back to October 1946, when Anthony Basile, a 20-year old Atlantic City native, home from serving his country in the Philippines, decided to open his own eatery.

Basile had deep roots in the city. His father, Natale, came to the United States from Italy about 1905 and settled in Atlantic City, working as a cement finisher, helping to build some of the resort’s best-known hotels, like the Ambassador and the Traymore.

Anthony, who attended St. Michael’s school, started making submarine sandwiches at the age of ten for an uptown sandwich shop. After coming home from the Pacific, he quickly found a newly remodeled location that, he thought, would make the perfect spot for his own shop. The building, at 1123 Arctic Avenue, had just been remodeled, with a fresh coat of white-painted stucco. Basile stood across the street looking at the place with a friend, trying to decide what to call it. After a few beers, he declared, “It looks like a little white house,” and his sub shop had a name.

In 1946, a half-sub cost 25 cents; a whole one, 50 cents. Today, that wouldn’t cover an order of mushrooms for a half-sub, but there’s been a bit of inflation since then.

Basile worked the business on his own for a while, then welcomed his uncle Fritz Sacco as a partner in the spring of 1948. Over the next decade, the White House became a must-eat attraction for visitors to Atlantic City. People waited in line for more than an hour just to get a sub, and the White House earned its share of celebrity devotees.  Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, who first performed together onstage at the 500 Club only a few months before Basile opened the White House, were early admirers.

Sometimes, stars were so besieged by fans that they couldn’t make it down to the counter, so the White House made a special delivery. Frank Sinatra and his entourage ordered sandwiches to the Claridge Hotel when he played at the 500 Club, and the Beatles got a taste of Atlantic City when they played Convention Hall in August 1964.

Joe DiMaggio was another frequent guest, usually coming in just after closing time to avoid the crowds. Former world heavyweight boxing champ “Jersey” Joe Walcott was another repeat customer.

For Basile, making great subs started with quality ingredients. Cold-cuts were sliced each day. The bread came from nearby bakeries—Formica’s and Rando’s—and had to be out-of-the-oven fresh. In the late 1970s, Basilie estimated that his high standards cost him 5,000 or 6,000 loaves of bread a year, but his customers agreed that it was well worth it.

Since the early days, the partners kept a focus on making the best sandwiches they could. No pizza, french fries or hot dogs were added to the menu. They did, however, create their own twist on the steak sandwich, the steak submarine, as a way of offering customers a bit of variety. The steaks became as big a hit as their “regular” Italian subs. 

Anthony Basile and Fritz Sacco each brought something different to their partnership. Basile was the more hands-on owner, presiding over the shop, while Sacco took care of most of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the business. Together, they built an Atlantic City icon. They worked together until the early 1990s, when Fritz passed away. Basile kept an active involvement in the business until his death on May 29, 2008.

Though the original owners are gone, the White House remains family-owned.  Anthony’s daughters, Genevieve (Jen) and Connie Basile, and Fritz’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Brian Conley, now own the White House, and they continue to run it in the spirit of its founders.

“Our parents did a great job with building up White House Subs,” says Genevieve Basile. “It’s an honor to carry on the tradition.”

Consistency, Basile says, is the key to the restaurant’s longevity. “That’s the most important thing. And there’s no substitute for the quality of our ingredients. Our bread is hand-picked from Formica’s and Rando’s and delivered every hour. It’s always fresh. We go back so far with them. Both businesses were started by the fathers of the current owners and handed down to the younger generations.”

Basile isn’t joking when she talks about consistency. One employee, Tom LaRocca (above right), has been with White House for more than 50 years, and the average employee has been with the shop for more than 25 years. The formula is simple: create some of the best submarine sandwiches in the world, and you don’t need to offer much more. 

The White House has continued to be a culinary mecca in its second half-century.  Daytime talk show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres have enjoyed the food, and a host of celebrity chefs, including Paula Deen, have given the restaurant their stamp of approval. The White House was recently featured in the Jennifer Anniston film The Bounty Hunter. 

There will soon be more than one place to get a genuine White House sub. A second branch is scheduled to open in early 2011, on Trump Taj Mahal’s retail and dining level Spice Road. The new outlet will retain the original winning formula. A few longtime employees from the original location will be there, as well as some new faces. So while things aren’t changing at Mississippi and Arctic, the White House Sub Shop is moving into a new era.

By David Schwartz

David G. Schwartz is the Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a noted author, speaker and consultant. You can learn more about his work at http://www.dgschwartz.com.