Pittsburgh classic
The story
In 1926 James Mancini, an Italian immigrant who had started apprenticing with a baker at 14, was baking 100 loaves a night and delivering them himself the next morning. His father Frank built him a small bakery in McKees Rocks, and James made the twist bread his trademark.
His brother Ernie became his partner after World War II. Ernie's son Frankie joined in 1971 and created the raisin bread before he died in 1977. Today Mary Mancini Hartner owns the bakery, and the ovens run around the clock, every day, turning out more than 10,000 loaves.
The family motto is "Our bread makes butter taste better!" Plenty of Pittsburgh sandwich shops build their subs on it, Peppi's among them.