Category Archives: Immigration

Meet Peter Shin

Burger Tank is run by Peter Shin, a man passionate about the people he serves. His
parents, Korean immigrants, opened a convenience store when they came to America. Peter’s adventure into the food industry started when he opened a breakfast store on Broad and Girard Avenue.

Peter purchased Burger Tanks and has been running it since 2013. His mother operates the Top Bap food truck just a few trucks over. His sister also graduated from Temple University, so his family has deep ties to the university. He actively works to employ Temple students to help give back to the community.

In this interview, Peter touches on how he’s seen the food trucks and their culture change over the past decade. Peter’s business, like many of the food trucks on campus, was hit hard during the pandemic, and he’s recently faced issues with finding workers to help him keep his truck open to meet the requirements set by the license agreement. He’s been an advocate of vendors at Temple since taking over Burger Tank, but he is concerned about his business’s survival.

Listen to Peter Shin’s interview below.

Meet Jim Amzovski

Jim Amzovski, with his brother Feim, have been operating Fame’s Famous Pizza since 1985. Born in Philadelphia to Macedonian immigrants, Jim grew up helping his parents operate a hot dog cart down in Center City. After their father passed away, they inherited the family business. They purchased a food truck and moved over to the Temple area. They brought with them their mother’s recipe and were the first original pizza place to offer fresh made pizza, not frozen.

The Amzovski brothers were eventually invited to make their business more permanent, and in 1994 they moved into the 12th Street food court. The food court was on the edge of main campus in the 1990s, and attracting clientele to the outskirts was challenging for the brothers at first. As campus was built around them, Fame’s popularity grew.

The Amzovski brothers have operated Fame’s through different administrations, changing campus culture, and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As a veteran institution, Jim says he values his relationship with Temple students. He is also considering retiring soon. Listen to Jim’s oral history interview below.