Cheesesteak wid ... a surprise

Rick Olivieri, whose cheesesteak operation in the Reading Terminal Market is about to be booted, is determined to fight on.

Olivieri is rounding up troops to fight along with him, and he's promised a surprise tactic the day his lease ends.

So far, Rick says, he's gotten 2,300 people to sign his petition to keep the family business he's run in the market for 25 years from being evicted.

"I've gotten a lot of public sympathy and we need to be heard," he said yesterday at his shop.

But he's not stopping there. He's posted fliers around his restaurant urging patrons to complain to the market's board chairman and even the mayor's office.

But his last defense, he said, will be on the day his lease ends.

"You don't let the enemy know what you're going to do," he said.

He has less than a month to clean his grill and get out. And the clock is ticking.

"I'll just lock myself to my grill," he said.

As far as board spokesman Kevin Feeley is concerned, Olivieri is wasting his time. He won't have a lease, Feeley said, and he'll have to leave.

"He's known about this for a year," he said over the phone yesterday.

At lunchtime, the line at Rick's Philly Steaks curved around the counter.

Some folks there didn't know about the shop's potential demise while others have followed the story closely.

Larry and Kate Gabb, an elderly couple from upstate, had been following Rick's story since it broke. They were in town for the King Tut exhibit, they said, and made a point to get a bite to eat at the soon-to-be-defunct restaurant.

"We had to come here before Tony moved in," Larry said.

Tony Luke's, the South Philly sandwich shop, is scheduled to replace Rick's Steaks after the lease expires.

Tony Luke Jr., who also has shops in Atlantic City and Citizens Bank Park and a new one opening up in New Jersey, said he doesn't want to get involved.

"It's between them," he said, "so I'm waiting to be told when to move in."

Never, if Olivieri has any say.

If his campaign is unsuccessful, Olivieri will look for other locations nearby, he said. But failure "is not an option."

And the last attempt? Olivieri refuses to say what it is and instead - with a mischievous grin and a wink, he said - "It'll be a surprise." *