Yeah, I know. Normally I don’t do these stereotypical touristy things*.
But I’ve never been to Philadelphia, and I’ve never had the “real deal” Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Also, locals seem not only unembarrassed by the reputation of their eponymous foodstuff, they’re apparently genuinely proud of it, and contemptuous of other cities’ attempts at replicating its cheesy, steaky wonderfulness. So while in other circumstances I usually shy away from this kind of compulsory activity, in this case, I think I ought to make an exception.
Plus, it sounds delicious.
So: where do I go? I’ll be in a hotel close to Rittenhouse Square, if that helps narrow it down some. I want the good stuff, the traditional and authentic sandwich, not something with t-shirts and refrigerator magnets for sale. I don’t want to go in blind, get just any Philly cheesesteak, and then find out later I went to the equivalent of Planet Hollywood.
So hit me. Tell me where to go. And if there are special rules about it (e.g. never put ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago), please mention those too.
*Comparison: When people come here to Seattle and say, “I want to visit the first Starbucks,” we locals roll our eyes a bit, at least internally. Ditto, visitors to New York wanting to go up the Empire State Building, or in San Francisco, asking to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. Hey, maybe there’s another thread there: “conventional tourist activities in your city that longtime residents snicker about.” Hmmm…
Philly Cheesesteaks, as a rule, generally suck donkey balls. I’ve been there dozens of times, had numerous different Philly natives drag me to every cheesesteak shop in town “Oh, you just have to try them from XXX”, “You must not have had them from YYY, they invented the cheesesteak!” ad nausium. Phooey! Greasy messes of fatty, low grade beef and cheese whiz, all of them. Ain’t one of them that’s half as good as what you can get at a little neighborhood Greek place down here in Baltimore.
Cheesesteaks are okay – I’m a hoagie gal myself. There are a couple of stands for each in Reading Market (12th and Filbert – a block north of, believe it or not, the Hard Rock Cafe). Overall, one cheesesteak really is pretty much like another – the *sine qua non * is the Amoroso’s roll, which just about everyone uses.
When are you coming? Can we organize a Doper Dinner in your honor?
Personally, I prefer D’Allessandro’s. No idea of the address but it’s not downtown. They use real cheese instead of cheez-whiz, plus there are yummy hot peppers.
When I was a teenager, there was a small Italian place down the road that made THE BEST cheesesteaks. Lots of greasy meat, tons of real cheese, mushrooms and onions (no peppers for me). The thing was the size of a football and cost $5.00. They went out of business years ago. It will be tough to top that.
That’s your problem. There’s a weird subset of people that like the Cheez Whiz, but most people put real cheese on their’s.
Honestly, Cervaise, you can go almost any hoagie-type place (eta: I mean a local pizza place, not a national chain like Subway) that looks clean and has a decent sized non-tourist crowd, and get an excellent cheese steak. The recipe isn’t complicated, you just need the right materials and a grill, so almost everyone gets it right.
If you’re looking for the authentic cheesesteak experience, the only place to go is 9th and Passyunk where Pat’s and Geno’s face off against each other. I prefer Pat’s.
Some native Philadelphians I’ve known seem to pass on the cheesesteaks in favor of the aforementioned hoagies and roast pork sandwiches. I’ve had both, and can’t fault them for this.
I come from the other part of the state, myself, and visit this shrine of sandwich perfection often when I visit home.
If you do go to 9th and Passyunk, you need to follow proper ordering protocol. If you must do the Whiz thing, and you want fried onions (necessary to my mind), then order a “whiz steak, wit”. My personal favorite is a “mushrooom provolone steak, wit”.
If you don’t feel like that much of an excursion, Tony Luke Jrs. is on Rittenhouse Square; if you’re a Food Network watcher, Tony Luke is the one who beat Bobby Flay in the cheesesteak Throwdown! episode (bringing out the secret ingredient, broccoli rabe, probably helped.)
There’s a little Pizza place right by where I work (out in Bala Cynwyd, just a little down from the city line that divides it and philly) called Mama’s that makes (i kid you not) a 2 lb monstrosity that is SO good. And they use provolone…whats with this cheez whiz on a cheese steak? Eh.
I’ll be there this weekend. I appreciate the consideration, but the schedule’s already pretty packed. Odds are we’ll be grabbing these sandwiches for lunch when we have a free half hour somewhere.
And thanks for the thoughts, y’all. Definitely some stuff to consider.
Was going to recommend the Reading Market (Twix took me there for my cheesesteak initiation, I believe, a few years back)–thought it was pretty good. I mean, greasy, yes, but isn’t that what you go to cheesesteak for? Yum, grease.
I think hitting the Pat’s Geno’s corner is the place to go. If you go with a friend get one from each place and have a taste test. Unlike many others I love the whiz, but I do enjoy a switch up with provolone, or if I am feeling really adventurous a pizza steak with some sauce and mozzarella.
Really, you could go to most places in town and get a delicious example of the peculiarly Philadelphia food. But, going to the Pat’s/Geno’s corner gives you the whole experience, disgusting fellow diners, hard to find parking, rude counter person, delicious sandwich, and a fun time.
Having said that, yes, I agree with Twickster the roll is the thing. My time in Philadelphia has really taught me to enjoy the rolls as much as possible, because I will only have imitations rolls wise when I get back to Santa Barbara.
Hoagies are nice. But, if we are talking peculiar Philadelphia foods aside from cheesesteaks, I say go for a fresh soft pretzel. The pretzels in malls are great, but they aren’t the same fun thing as a Philadelphia soft pretzel.
pat
ps:
If a place sells you a cheese steak that isn’t a greasy mess. Call a cop, because they ripped you off.
Actually, the real gem in my view was the nearby neighborhood full of Italian storefront and streetside stalls. We got some amazing bread, mozarella, and prosciutto there. It’s really worth visiting.
Natural follow-up, in addition to where should we go to get a philly cheese steak but… um… how do you order it?
For example, if I say to the person “I’ll take a cheese steak please.” (“Please” because I’m from Ohio and we have manners and are polite) will I get the meat and chez whiz version? Does that assume automatically I want onions and mushrooms? What about other toppings like lettuce or tomato?
I get one shot at this people, I don’t want to screw it up!
Pat’s has a very detailed set of instructions posted. You’ll have time to peruse them and practice while waiting in line. They even tell you how to pronounce “with.”
Frankly, I suspect that the ordering thing is more put-on that not. I didn’t see anyone get sent to the end of the line for screwing up.
The one and only time I got a steak at Pat’s, a tourist ahead of me made the mistake of saying “With what?” when asked whether he wanted it “wit or wit’out?” The guy behind the window said to the kitchen help, “Hey, we got one”. Everyone in the place came over to the window and shouted in unison:
“WIT’ ONIONS, STOOPID!!”
Anyway, yeah, get a cheese steak pretty much anywhere. There’s not that big a difference amongst them.
