PHILADELPHIA — It was not enough to have invented the Philly cheesesteak. Frankie Olivieri was sure of that, even if his father disagreed.

The sandwich that had tempted four presidents, Oprah Winfrey, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, the pope’s valet — need he go on? — was, per one food influencer, “dying.” Other internet critics slammed his great-uncle’s creation as touristy, insisting diners could find tastier versions among the legion of copycats.