South Philadelphia: A Night with Cigars

The smoke screen of cigar clouds fill the room, as the neighbors of South Philadelphia gather for a night filled with poker games, free food and cigar puffing.

This is how Twin Smoke Shoppe owner Anthony Renzulli celebrates the arrival of his good friend Rocky Patel.

“This is what life should all be about,” Patel says. “Being down to earth in the neighborhood where people except you, where you can make instant friendships and I love that.”

Though Patel is the founder of the successful Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Co., he didn’t  start his career as a cigar manufacturer. He explains how he used to be an attorney for Hollywood stars. On the movie sets he would see the actors leisurely smoking cigars while waiting for the  crew. This is what attracted him to this culture, and what led him traveling to Honduras to educate his cigar pallet. He ended up loving everything about cigars, and this is what inspired him in developing his own manufacturing company.

Currently, Patel has developed over 15 types of cigars, and is one of the most well-known faces in the cigar industry. “The key to our cigars is to make cigars that have character and have flavor, but at the same time very elegant and well balanced,” Patel says.

Standing behind the counter bombarded with cigar boxes, Renzulli explains how Patel happened to stumble into his shop while on one of his sales calls. He was recommended to the place because of the friendly atmosphere and once he stepped foot in the shop, he considered it to be one of his homes. They have grown to be great friends, and on Sept. 11,  the regulars of The Twin Smoke Shoppe came and celebrated Patel’s arrival.

As well as Patel, Renzulli wasn’t always the owner of his cigar shop. He grew up in South Philadelphia and when he became older, he opened a corner store as well as owning a vegetable stand in The Italian Market. He knew the past owner of his current location and was aware that he was interested in selling the building. In 1950, Renzulli bought the establishment, which makes his business the oldest smoke shop in South Philadelphia. At first he sold candy and cards as well as cigars, but eventually both the candy and cards left, and it turned into what it is now known today.

“Smoking a cigar builds a great relationship, and at 10th and Tasker at the Twin Smoke Shoppe you become family,” Patel says. “That’s the beauty about it.”