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Butter chicken has taken an indirect route to South Street\u2019s Pronto Pizza<\/a>: from its roots in North India to a Pakistani family kitchen in Northeast Philadelphia<\/a>, then into an Italian American pizza shop and, finally, onto a roll.<\/p>\n At Pronto, just off Broad Street, it\u2019s a secret menu item. Owner Umair Cheema tops chopped marinated chicken with Cooper Sharp and butter chicken sauce based on his mother Asma\u2019s recipe. The $12 sandwich is Cheema\u2019s addition to a citywide assortment of cheesesteak variations that includes versions made with oxtail and salmon.<\/p>\n Cheema does not skimp. He lightly toasts the Liscio\u2019s roll before adding nearly a pound of a mixture of chicken and melted cheese. Then comes a ladle or two of the rich butter sauce, which comes perilously close to gilding the lily. <\/p>\n Cheema, 28, had eaten plenty of butter chicken in Pakistan, but he credits his younger brother, Adil, with inspiring Pronto\u2019s version. After the family moved to Northeast Philadelphia in 2019, Adil routinely asked their mother to cook for him.<\/p>\n \u201cOne day my mom made butter chicken, and I was like, \u2018Mom, this is outstanding. This is the kind of butter chicken I eat at restaurants,\u2019\u201d Cheema said.<\/p>\n A staple entree on Indian restaurant menus in the United States, butter chicken typically features yogurt-marinated chicken in a mild, creamy tomato sauce seasoned with onions, garlic, and spices such as garam masala, turmeric, cumin, and coriander. The dish has proved adaptable to other formats. Chef Reuben Asaram<\/a>, for example, has incorporated it into his Mexican-Indian \u201cReubychanga<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Pronto is also not the area\u2019s only shop making a butter chicken cheesesteak. Double Down Kitchen<\/a> at Ridge Hall in Ambler<\/a> serves one alongside versions made with jerk chicken and bulgogi-marinated ribeye.<\/p>\n Cheema\u2019s sandwich is part of his effort to broaden the menu at Pronto, which he bought from restaurateur Rob LaScala<\/a>. He largely retained LaScala\u2019s offerings of pizza, sandwiches, wings, pasta, meatballs, chicken Parmesan, and grilled salmon platters.<\/p>\n Cheema had not expected to enter the pizza business. After arriving from Pakistan, where his father had worked as a banker, he took a job at Kabobeesh<\/a>, his aunt\u2019s West Philadelphia<\/a> restaurant. His father was diagnosed with severe diabetes soon afterward, while his mother found warehouse work.<\/p>\n \u201cI took charge,\u201d Cheema said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Let me deal with all of this now. It\u2019s my time to handle this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n His opportunity came when an uncle learned that Naz\u2019s Pizza in Chester was for sale.<\/p>\n \u201cHe called me and said, \u2018Someone is really desperate. They want to sell their pizza shop. I know you have some money saved. If you really want to look into it, I\u2019ll help you out, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Cheema drove to Chester the next day and arrived around 3 p.m., hardly prime time at most pizzerias. \u201cI saw people coming in and the phones ringing,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means a business is working. So I told my uncle, \u2018Everything seems OK. They are short a couple of things, but we can fix it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Cheema and his uncle bought the shop, and Cheema said sales doubled within six months. They eventually expanded to six shops before dividing the business to pursue separate growth; Cheema sold off the Chester store. Besides the Pronto at 1347 South St., Cheema owns another Pronto in Torresdale<\/a>, Holme Style Pizza near Holme Circle<\/a>, and Old English Style Pizza in Olney.<\/p>\n