A family legacy continues as familiar faces take over this State College deli
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- The deli at McLanahan’s Downtown Market is now under new management.
- Customers may recognize the sandwiches from Eddie Agostinelli, who once ran a local deli.
- The new operator, Pasti Bella, hopes to improve menu offerings and customer service.
Though many changes are in store, a family legacy is set to continue at a downtown State College deli.
Eddie and Dana Agostinelli, the husband-and-wife pair behind Centre County’s Shanny Farms, have taken over the deli counter at McLanahan’s Downtown Market at 116 S. Allen St. There, they plan to offer an improved menu and customer experience after rebranding the deli to match their catering business, Pasti Bella.
Eddie, whose cousins operate both McLanahan’s locations in State College, has long viewed the Allen Street market’s deli as an opportunity, especially after he closed his own deli, Agostinelli Market in Boalsburg, in 2008. Nearly two decades later, he and his wife are eager to reintroduce themselves to the community.
“The deli has sort of been a second thought in recent years,” Dana said. “The pandemic shut a lot of stuff down, and [the market] had a hard time recovering. They wanted to give us the opportunity to revive it and bring back the concept of his ‘little Italian market’ in the deli.”
Fans of the former Agostinelli Market will find plenty of favorites on Pasti Bella’s initial menu, including Eddie’s famed Italian sub and Gorgonzola cheesesteak. The latter, for example, is stuffed with fresh-cooked beef, American cheese and a Gorgonzola cheese sauce before being topped with pecorino Romano cheese.
Other hot options on the deli counter’s debut menu include traditional beef or chicken cheesesteaks, cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Italian, turkey and ham subs round out the menu’s cold sandwiches alongside chicken Caesar salad wraps. Longtime fans of the downtown market should note its beloved Meatball Monday sandwiches are sticking around, too.
Eddie said he hopes to offer sandwiches of a higher quality now that Pasti Bella — Italian for “beautiful meals” — runs the downtown market’s deli. To get things off on the right foot, he worked with the market’s Boar’s Head supplier to begin using better cuts of meat for sandwiches. Sub-style sandwiches are available on baguettes or hoagie rolls from Liscio’s Italian Bakery and Deli in Philadelphia.
“My cousins did a great job for many years, but we’re bringing our own vision,” Eddie said. “The Italian sandwich is no longer just capocollo and ham. Now, it’s prosciutto, soppressata, cured coppa and more. It’s the little things that make it ‘us.’”
Deli comes full circle
For Eddie, a passion for food and cooking came largely thanks to his Italian family. He grew up working at McLanahan’s and knew from a young age that he could pursue a career surrounding food.
“When I was 6 or 7 years old, my parents had to teach me to cook because they couldn’t keep me out of the kitchen,” he joked.
Eddie’s interest in food took off while he worked at the former Victorian Manor restaurant in Lemont as a teenager. There, a stern French chef took him under his wing and infused in him a passion for the culinary arts.
In 2006, Eddie took a major step forward by opening his own deli, Agostinelli Market, in Boalsburg. He built a loyal customer base while it operated for two years.
“When I decided to close, there were a lot of personal things going on at what was just a very difficult time in my life,” Eddie said. “I had grown men come in with tears in their eyes, I swear to God. That’s just how much it meant to them. Now, they have an opportunity to come back.”
Deciding to return and take over the McLanahan’s Downtown Market deli was a challenge in its own right, Eddie said. His cousins frequently flirted with that very idea and offered him the chance, but Eddie usually declined and said the timing wasn’t right for such a time-consuming opportunity.
“I’m not a young man anymore, but I’m not ancient,” said Eddie, 50. “I didn’t know if I wanted to do it, but I talked with Dana, and she said we should give it a shot. There might be days when I saw this was a terrible idea, but I’ll mostly say I love it.”
Eddie’s return to the deli counter comes as he and Dana also run Shanny Farms in Shingletown, where they raise quail, gather eggs and even bake quail-based pet treats. They recently launched Pasti Bella as their catering business before expanding it to McLanahan’s Downtown Market.
Managing those ventures at once often feels “virtually impossible,” Eddie said, but the opportunities are exciting. The operation should run more smoothly once staff is trained and Pasti Bella finds its footing after launching on New Year’s Eve.
“It’s kind of insanity, but we’re trying hard to keep things in a straight line,” Eddie said.
‘An experience’ for Penn State students, State College locals
Though a souped-up menu remains the focus, the Agostinellis hope the new-look McLanahan’s Downtown Market deli can offer more for Penn State students and State College locals alike.
“We want to cater to the locals in town, and we want to bring them back downtown,” Dana said. “We understand that this is a college town and college students want certain things, so we’re not taking away favorites like Meatball Monday. It’s an opportunity for us to bring people in, show them how much we’ve changed and what else we can do.”
“I think a lot of people feel college students are all poor and just want cheap food,” she continued. “We want to show them that there’s good food outside of what you might consider college student experiences.”
Pairing a good menu with even better customer service elevates every trip to the deli, Eddie said.
“You’ve got to sell the sizzle and the steak,” he said. “A lot of people make good food, but I try to engage with everyone who comes in here. If someone’s at the counter, I talk with them, listen to them and get to know them. I want this to be an experience.”
As Pasti Bella irons out its menu and finds its footing, the Agostinellis hope to expand the deli’s offerings and services. They floated plans to offer select table service options in the future and provide take-home dishes for customers on the go. They intend to host a themed Valentine’s Day dinner in February and hope to eventually offer larger deliveries for offices, parties and other events.
So far, Eddie says feedback from customers has been stellar.
“When people come in for something, leave and come back just to tell us how good it was, that’s huge,” he said with a laugh.
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 5:56 AM.
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