A beloved Delaware sandwich will be served at the Phillies ballpark. Here's what, and when

Maybe it was you. Maybe it was your cousin who lives in Philly.

But a whole lot of Delaware sandwich fans have apparently been going down to the home of the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park , and asking for a sandwich from beloved New Castle-area sandwich shop Ioannoni's Specialty Sandwiches .

This has apparently been true ever since Delaware Online/The News Journal first reported in March that Ioannoni's would be served there during some home games.

"I gotta come down to your sandwich shop," a chef at the ballpark told owner Michael Ioannoni during a conference call. "Every single game, we got people comin' through asking: 'Where's Ioannoni's sandwiches at?"

We understand the excitement: The roast pork and cutlets and hoagies at Ioannoni's loom large in the Delaware sandwich pantheon. And when Ioannoni's finally arrives at the ballpark, it'll be the only Delaware spot to rep food at Citizens Bank Park in recent memory, despite legions of Phillies fans in northern Delaware.

But you'll have to wait a little bit longer.

Ioannoni's will appear at the ballpark during just three or four home series this year, one of a few hand-picked restaurants that will pop up to serve their wares during selected home-game series this season.

For Ioannoni's, the first appearance at Citizens Bank Park will be when the Texas Rangers come visit starting May 21.

Here's what Ioannoni's will be bringing to the Phillies ballpark, when you can expect to see it, and also where you can order it if you show up to a game.

What sandwich will Ioannoni's serve at Citizens Bank Park?

It'll be the Giuliana.

Not familiar? Maybe you should be.

The Giuliana is an Ioannoni's invention: an Italian roll filled with sharp provolone cheese, garlic-fuming broccoli rabe, and a house-breaded chicken cutlet pounded flat to the approximate width of a pork tenderloin in Indiana, extending far beyond the confines of its Italian roll.

Slathered atop that is a top-secret spicy mayo sauce with some genuine kick to it. No long hots needed, though you can ask for them if you'd like.

For the sandwiches served at the ballpark, Ioannoni's will bread each of those cutlets in advance, and also prep the sauce and rabe. They'll bring all that down to Citizens Bank for chefs there to cook up and assemble according to meticulous instructions.

One gets the impression that a great many meetings have gone into replicating the Ioannoni's sandwich at Citizens Bank Park.

The only big difference? At Ioannoni's, an unseeded Cacia's Bakery roll is the choice. But ballpark chefs will instead use a seeded roll from Liscio's Bakery, the source of pretty much all baked goods at the ballpark. (Ioannoni also uses a seeded Liscio's for his cheesesteaks, but not for the cutlets.)

And that's it: That's the sandwich.

Where and when can you get an Ioannoni's cutlet sandwich at Phillies games?

Ioannoni's will serve its Giuliana chicken cutlet sandwich at fire-engine-red Coca-Cola Corner in the left field plaza, on May 21, 22, and 23.

For those of you handy with a calendar, that'll be when the Phillies face off against defending World Series Champions the Texas Rangers.

Ioannoni said future dates are less certain, but he's been told he'll likely also be at the stadium during a series in August, and another in September.

He may also slot in during other series, perhaps sooner than August. But those have yet to be confirmed. He'll announce each set of dates on the sandwich shop's Facebook and Instagram pages, as they're announced.

How did Ioannoni's get its sandwiches to Citizens Bank Park in the first place?

According to Ioannoni, it happened the old-fashioned way: People from the ballpark came down, tried the sandwiches, and liked them.

Specifically, representatives of Phillies sponsor Coca-Cola wandered down to Ioannoni's on one of many scouting missions throughout the region. And they liked what they saw. The meat is sliced fresh. The roast beef is roasted in-house, and so is the pork. The cutlets are breaded in the shop. We presume the Coca-Cola reps also weren't upset by the big Coca-Cola fridge Ioannoni's keeps in the corner.

Coca-Cola tried those chicken cutlets. And they tried the roast pork. And then called up Michael Ioannoni, and started a long set of conversations that finally led to Ioannoni's getting booked at the ballpark.

If he gets his way, he'll be at the ballpark permanently someday, Ioannoni said. But for now, he's happy to be there for a few home series.

If you'd like to say hello, he'll be there personally on May 21, back in the kitchen at Coca-Cola Corner in left field during the game's early innings.

"I'll be there in the pit," Ioannoni said, with evident pride.

Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all things related to land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations that call the First State home. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: A beloved Delaware sandwich will be served at the Phillies ballpark. Here's what, and when