I'm doing Pat's and Geno's just because they have the namesake, the thought of cheez whiz does gross me out bigtime.

THANK YOU! for the alternate suggestion.

Well, if you just ask for a "cheesesteak" (i.e. don't specify), then they'll serve you Cheez Whiz. Alternately, you can get a American Wit or Provolone Wit. No Swiss, however, as John Kerry discovered to his embarrassment (and the local press' delight) a few months back.

Or you can get any of the three Wit'Out, as in "hold the fried onions."

I echo the sentiment of the other Philly resident earlier in the thread; Tony Luke's makes a far better cheesesteak than either Pat's or Geno's. However, it's worth going down to 9th and Passayunk if you've never been; what you miss in overall quality you make up by soaking in the overall atmosphere - especially on a summer evening.

I'm partial to DiNardo's for crabs, but their prices have gone way up in the last couple of years - it's no longer the "really good cheap" alternative to Bookbinder's. Avoid the latter, by the way; one of their two locations has closed down, and the other has never been any good and really only caters to tourists these days.

Also, I don't believe anyone's answered the OP's BBQ query. For my money, the Jamaican Jerk Hut (on South St. just west of Broad) serves the best BBQ food in the city. If you want a more refined atmosphere, you could try Warmdaddy's on Front St. in Old City, but they offer more of a general "Southern" menu than true BBQ. Great live blues, though.

Mook

Being a displaced Philly native, I must suggest Jim's on South St. You can have CheeseWiz or real cheese. I like the American which melts through the meat and roll. I will be in Philly this weekend for a Jim's on Saturday. PM if anyone else will be there. BTW, the wife who is from Kentucky, will experience her first authentic Cheese steak. The food I was weaned on.

As someone who greatly missed cheesesteaks while living away from Philly (which, IMHO, is far from ugly!!) I take no shame in avoiding the Whiz and going with American Cheese instead.

My order at Pat's (a great stop on the way from the airport into town...) is:

"American pizza without." which translates to "American cheese, pizza sauce, no onions"

Thanks PHLbuddy for the quick reply to my PM. Made the run from Wilmington DE to Villa di Roma tonight. It's on 9th St right in what looks like would be a bustling Italian Market in the daytime. Chicken Parm wasn't the best I've ever had, but was good and fairly priced. Service was friendly & quick. The south Philly feel was fun for this suthurn-er.

Well....this thread did it for me. My fiance and I did a roadtrip this past Saturday just to go to Pat's and get a chee wit. It was delicious!!! Then we drove back to Manhattan.

But that is why God made cheesesteaks in the first place

Tangential, but off thread, I was driving up to PHL from DC to visit family, and my colleagues had heard me talk so fondly of cheesesteaks. One person asked if I would bring her one when I came back. -- Ugh, Cheesesteaks are NOT a food that ages well.

Last time I was in PHL. I had a cheesesteak craving but not enough time to get down to South Philly. The aforementioned Tony Luke's also has a branch in Center City called Tony Luke Jr's. It's on S. 18th St between, I believe, Chestnut and Walnut. Excellent cheesesteak there and also sampled a roast pork italian sandwich which was very, very good. Recommended. Can't wait to check out the original at Front/Oregon next time I'm in town.

Now, if only I could get a good cheeseteak in Dallas. The standard-bearer of Texas cheesesteaks here is an AUS based chain called Texadelphia that insisits on mircowaving the rolls. Sad. Truly sad.

[QUOTE=Herb687 Now, if only I could get a good cheeseteak in Dallas. The standard-bearer of Texas cheesesteaks here is an AUS based chain called Texadelphia that insisits on mircowaving the rolls. Sad. Truly sad.(edited by DaDOK) [/QUOTE]


[SIZE=2]Microwave the bread!??!
[/SIZE]Scandalosa!!!!

It's all about the bread.
My father always said that when I was little, and I did not know what he meant, but now I do -- it's gotta be the right bread (preferably Amoroso rolls): soft and gooey on the inside to soak up the grease, but hard and crunchy on the outside to prevent it from soaking through. This isn't food, it's art, golldarnit!

DaDOK!
Have you forgotten your roots? Amoroso is a commercial sell out.

The best rolls in Philadelphia are at Sarcone's. Nothing less will do!

1. It is impossible to get a good Philly cheesesteak sandwich in any restaurant in the entire world, including Philadelphia. The only way to get the top quality in cheesesteaks is to find a good street vendor working from a truck. There used to be a great one outside of the Bulletin offices, but seeing as they are no longer publishing I don't know what happened to the cheesesteak guy.

2. No Philly cheesesteak is complete unless topped off by a hot pretzel smothered in mustard.

3. If you are going to insist on being classy in Philly forget the cheesesteaks and go for the snapper soup!

The Bulletin has been closed for many years but there are plenty of truck vendors just across the street at Drexel University. The truck vendors helped me gain twenty pounds while I attended Drexel.


Jay, aka 1095

Same here for me while I was at Penn (that's Univ of Pennsylvania, NOT Penn State, to you non-locals). Perhaps it's the right mixture of bread, cheese and auto exhaust that brings out the best in a Philly cheesesteak. Come to think of it, most of the best cheesesteaks I have eaten were from outside food stands. ummm, I see a research paper on this . . . or maybe a documentary "Steak Wit' "

And to Dovster:
There are still many places in Philly and the environs that make a good cheesesteak. Gotta know where to go!

But, snapper soup! I guess if you had to grade any of the indigenous Philly cuisine as classy, it would be snapper soup. Now awfully hard to find anyway.

And no one has mentioned that other of Philly's gift to the culinary world (he says with tongue firmly planted in cheek) -- scrapple. Scrapple and eggs for breakfast is a real treat.

Sadly, that is typical of the lack of education available to those who attend second-rate institutions. (To wit, any university not located in Mercer County, N.J.)

Scrapple is not native Philadelphian. It was invented in Lancaster County by the Pennsylvania Dutch.

I believe they foisted it on the rest of the world out of revenge for:

a. Being called "Dutch" when they are really German.

b. Facing the loss of their farms by constantly betting that this year the Eagles will finally make it to the Superbowl.

I am glad you cleared up the U of P thingee. Now how about clearing up the ex-teachers colleges using the ABC University of Pennsylvania name scam (where ABC stands for the Penna small towns with the ex-teachers colleges). Totally disgusting!

The better Philly cheese steak places are always outside. It is well known it is impossible to properly remove cheesesteak residue from indoor flooring.

I refuse to elaborate (or eat) scrapple. Dont do chittlings or rinds either. Dont do the once yearly boney shad or shad roe thing either. Local two largest shad rivers are disgustingly filthy.

MisterNice