Mapped out within HBO’s beloved family drama, “The Sopranos,” there are a host of infamous locations where bad deals have gone down — and where blood has been shed — for the good of the business. Whether it’s in the booze-soaked halls of the Bada Bing, or that isolated round room that Dr. Melfi called an office, these spots contain just as much character as the people that have inhabited them. According to one fan, though, there’s one place in Tony’s kingdom that may have held far darker truths than the ones we were already aware of.
One regular hangout for Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his cohorts is outside the butcher’s shop, Satriale’s Pork Store. Besides functioning as a meeting point for this particular mob, the butcher’s shop is also an easy disposal point for anything or anyone they need to be rid of quickly. Tony has had Christopher and others use some of the tools to carve up and stow away bodies of individuals they no longer had use for …
… which, when you think about it, begs the question: what happens after? What gets done with the chopped and bagged bits and pieces they need to see less of? Well, it’s here where a certain Reddit user suggested that all these leftovers have to go one place you wouldn’t expect (or hope), and that’s the shop’s customers.
Are Tony and pals cannibals in The Sopranos?
The theory posits that once Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) or some other stooge on garbage disposal duty is done with a body, and these prime cuts are then sliced and diced, there is a possibility — if not a likelihood — that the evidence is eaten by humans afterward.
In the show’s 12th episode of its second season, “The Knight in White Satin Armor,” Christopher himself admits during the dismemberment of Richie Aprile (David Proval) that “it’s gonna be a while before I eat anything at Satriale’s.” Is there a possibility that some ‘bad meat’ gets through the cracks and somehow ends up in the butcher’s window? While it’s hard to believe, cannibalism and organized crime have had their connections in the past. Even Chase himself used a name that refers to a character that was thought to have a hunger for humans in real life.
In the hit show, Tony takes over as head of the DiMeo family, previously ruled by Jackie Aprile (Michael Rispoli). Dimeo is named after Roy Demeo, a real-life gangster who disposed of his victims by cutting them up, much like the method often applied in the show (per The Mob Museum). Given this connection, while it’s never confirmed that Tony, Christopher, and the rest engaged in the vicious act of cannibalism, the truth is that you always saw someone going into Satriale’s, but very rarely going out. Food for thought.
