Some restaurant chains offer an impersonal and sterile customer experience. Chiddy’s Cheesesteaks is an exception to this rule. Mike Chidester ’89 has crafted a vivid self-portrait through his business and shares it with his customers in six New York locations.
A new frontier
After graduating from Lehigh with a degree in industrial engineering, Chidester found his first job after graduation working with UPS. It paid well and was engaging enough for him to stay for nearly 10 years. While working full time at UPS, Chidester took the opportunity to go back to school, received an MBA from St. John’s University, and found himself having different aspirations for his career. He went on to work in supply chain management consulting and leveraged those experiences to land a job with Coca-Cola, where he enjoyed a ten-year career in sales and operations leadership.
But after more than 20 years in corporate America, Chidester was no longer excited by his work and decided to follow his entrepreneurial passions in the next chapter of his life. He wanted a fresh start, and when a friend suggested the food truck industry, Chidester was immediately intrigued by the idea and operated his first truck in 2014. 
Why Chiddy’s?
For Chidester, Chiddy’s is a convenient mix of business and pleasure. He had the nickname “Chiddy” since his days as a Lehigh student and thought “Chiddy’s Cheesesteaks” had a good ring to it. The decision to sell cheesesteaks was the result of a longstanding love affair between him and Philadelphia’s most famous dish. The deeply personal origin of Chiddy’s Cheesesteaks and the opportunity to turn one of his favorite foods into a business made the restaurant an easy venture for Chidester to sink his teeth into.
Chiddy’s carries an inviting and casual energy that can be seen in its owner. The hard work and dedication he put into Chiddy’s has made it a force to be reckoned with. Chiddy’s became a great success over time, with Chidester purchasing a second truck in 2016. To keep up with the growing demand, he decided to expand into brick and mortar, joining forces with two friends as business partners. Together, they have since opened four more locations and are now franchising.
Engineering success
You may think a cheesesteak restaurant ventures far from his training as an industrial engineer, but Mike Chidester would challenge that assumption. He believes that the “methodical approach to problem-solving” he learned while studying engineering at Lehigh prepared him for whatever journeys he chose to embark upon.
His strength in problem-solving can be seen through the way he executed Chiddys’ expansion into brick and mortar. After purchasing the first storefront space, Chidester thought it was important to stick to its roots and keep the fun, informal vibe of the food trucks. His solution was to simply place the trucks in the store. When you enter one of Chiddy’s six locations, you order and receive your food from a truck. You can then enjoy your meal in traditional restaurant seating.
Although the original locations are on Long Island, the Chiddy’s vibe has extended into NYC. The most recent opening is at Citi Field, where a collaboration with Coca-Cola and the New York Mets provided Chiddys an opportunity to share its signature cheesesteaks with Mets fans and immediately become a crowd pleaser.
Let them eat steaks
Chiddy’s is an accessible and exciting place to grab a bite. If you choose to dine there, Chidester recommends Chiddy's signature steak. It comes with sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms, and the thinly sliced steak that has made the cheesesteak a staple in Philadelphia cuisine, as well as both provolone and whiz cheese. Another popular choice is the build-your-own cheesesteak, which gives customers six different options of cheeses and up to nine toppings for the sandwich. 
Personality and hospitality
Hospitality has both a business and a personal definition. The latter refers to making someone feel comfortable in your personal space, offering them what is yours. Chiddy’s Cheesesteaks is a prime example of this definition. Through the name, the signature dishes, serving good mood food, and the atmosphere of Chiddy’s, the success of the restaurant should come as no surprise.
