Jalen Hurts borrowed an apron last summer, stepped behind the grill at the FoodChasers Kitchen, and attempted to cook his first cheesesteak. And that’s when the quarterback, who has looked flawless at times this season while guiding the Eagles to the Super Bowl, revealed his shortcomings as a short-order cook.

“He wanted to put mozzarella on it,” said Maya Johnstone, who owns the Elkins Park restaurant with her twin sister, Kala. “We said, ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘But I like mozzarella.’ This is Philly. You can’t.”

Hurts called an audible, swapped mozzarella for Cooper sharp, and got to work. The cheesesteak also includes fried onions and mayo and has become a menu staple, aptly called the “Jalen Special.”

Hurts was at the restaurant to film a Pepsi commercial and his attempt at making a cheesesteak was an added wrinkle after he wandered into the kitchen. When he left, Hurts pulled the twins aside and told them he would keep supporting them. “We thought he was going to come back and buy a cheesesteak,” Maya Johnstone said. It, instead, has been much more.

When he left, Hurts pulled the twins aside and told them he would keep supporting them. He posted the commercial onto his Twitter account and tagged the restaurant. He mentioned FoodChasers in October when he was on Monday Night Football’s ManningCast and told the NFL a month later that his Thursday Night Football interview had to be filmed at his favorite spot on Montgomery Avenue, which is about a post route from the Elkins Park regional rail train station.

The quarterback’s seal of approval, the twins said, brought their small business a sizable buzz. But that wasn’t it.

That Pepsi commercial netted them a $10,000 grant. He next connected the twins with Truist Bank, who donated $5,000 to the sisters’ foundation that donates lunches to Philly students. Louisiana Hot Sauce, which recently released a Hurts sauce, now wants to partner with FoodChasers. Hurts even gives the sisters marketing ideas.

The FoodChasers Kitchen - which is open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. - is thriving with Hurts under center. The Eagles QB, they said, has “truly changed our lives.”

“Dad, you wouldn’t believe what’s happening,” Maya Johnstone said. “This is unbelievable. It’s dreams that we didn’t even have for ourselves. He’s putting us in rooms with people who we would never dream of meeting. We got laughed out of banks when we tried opening.

“This would never happen if he didn’t always tell people, ‘Call the twins. Call the twins. Call the twins.’”

Hurts’ marketing agent texted the sisters on Saturday to see if the restaurant could open for Hurts and his family if the Eagles won the NFC championship. Of course, they said. They prepped the food in the morning, took the Broad Street Line to the Linc, and cheered like crazy for the Birds as they knew a win meant they were cooking for the quarterback.

They hustled back to Elkins Park and jumped in the kitchen. A few hours after the win, Hurts - his NFC championship hat still on his head - arrived at FoodChasers with 15 friends and family.

They stayed until after midnight as they ate a dinner that included ribeyes, chicken, sweet potatoes, a “Jalen pasta,” macaroni and cheese, wings named after Hurts, and of course the Jalen Special cheesesteak.

The sisters said they were in tears. The Eagles just punched their ticket to the Super Bowl and the quarterback picked their restaurant - a Black-owned business opened less than two years ago that they dreamed about owning for years - for his celebration. They told Hurts how thankful they were. He stopped them.

“He said, I see what you’re doing with kids in the community,” Maya Johnstone said. “I actually admire you. All I want to leave you with is dream bigger. Let’s do something bigger now. I give something to you and you give something to someone else.”