One of television’s most recognizable fictional businesses once stood in Kearny, but today the famous filming location has been replaced by a public parking lot.
For millions of fans of The Sopranos, Satriale’s Pork Store was the center of Tony Soprano’s world. The neighborhood butcher shop served as the backdrop for countless meetings, conversations, and memorable moments throughout the HBO series.
What many New Jersey residents don’t realize is that the iconic storefront no longer exists. The building at 101 Kearny Avenue in Kearny, which portrayed Satriale’s for nearly the entire run of the series, was demolished in 2007 and the site now serves as a public parking lot.
The original Satriale’s appeared only once
When The Sopranos filmed its pilot episode, producers used a real neighborhood butcher shop—Centanni’s Meat Market in Elizabeth—to portray Satriale’s Pork Store.
After HBO ordered the series, however, filming at an active business became impractical. The production instead leased an abandoned commercial building in Kearny and transformed it into one of television’s most recognizable fictional locations.
Before HBO moved in, the building had operated as an auto parts store.
HBO transformed an abandoned building into a TV landmark
Production crews boarded up the vacant storefront and installed the now-famous Satriale’s Pork Store sign featuring silhouettes of a pig and cow, closely matching the sign used at Centanni’s during the pilot.
For the remainder of the series, the Kearny location became synonymous with Tony Soprano’s inner circle, appearing in dozens of episodes as the gathering place for the show’s mobsters.
Although viewers saw a bustling pork store, the building itself never operated as one in real life during production.
Demolition ended an iconic TV landmark
Shortly after The Sopranos concluded, property owner Manny Costeira demolished the building in October 2007.
Costeira initially proposed redeveloping the property into a condominium project called “The Soprano,” but those plans never materialized.
Instead, the site was converted into a public parking lot that serves nearby residential buildings.
Fans can still own a piece of Satriale’s
Before demolition was completed, Costeira preserved portions of the building’s cast-stone façade and sold them to fans.
The pieces became known as “Porkstones,” allowing collectors to own a small part of one of television’s most famous filming locations.
Today, visitors who travel to 101 Kearny Avenue won’t find the familiar storefront where Tony Soprano held court. Aside from the parking lot occupying the property, little remains to indicate the location once served as one of the defining settings of one of television’s most acclaimed dramas.
Key Points
• The Satriale’s Pork Store set used throughout The Sopranos stood at 101 Kearny Avenue in Kearny.
• The abandoned building, originally an auto parts store, was demolished in 2007 after the series ended.
• The property is now a public parking lot, while pieces of the building’s façade were sold to fans as “Porkstones.”
