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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Yes to Philly No to Cheesesteak

As my hubby gets ready for a business trip to Philadelphia, I'm left reminiscing about my first (and last) experience with the iconic Philly cheese steak sandwich. I was so excited to try this blue collar special,  it was basically all I could think about during our 11 hour drive in. We were told we just had to try the sammy at Geno's - a 24 hour legendary spot in south Philly. I couldn't believe the line on a random Friday in August. People just kept on coming, locals tourist you name it. I figured by the line this sandwich was going to be something special however I was sadly mistaken!  I will admit I some what enjoyed
bites 2-5 but beyond that I totally grossed 
out. The bread was fresh and chewy, but the gloopy cheesewiz and petrified beef left me feeling queasy and empty inside. Here's where the Snob in me really comes out. I give the sandwich a 4.5 out of 10 and I have to say it was totally overpriced at nine bucks. The only redeeming part of my meal was the delicious Birch Beer which tasted suspiciously like Dr. Pepper one of my all time indulgences. In short there are much better sandwich spots in Philly and you won't have to wait in a line for your meal. 


We found one of the absolute best chicken Parmesan sandwiches at a quirky little place called Criniti restaurant. Yes the photo looks like a hot mess but please trust me when I tell you it was amazing.  At $6.75 the sandwich is a steal! This colossal sammy is ooey gooey mozzarella dripping of the sides of the perfectly crispy Italian roll. The golden fried to perfection, plump juicy chicken breast was wonderful and the tomato sauce was zesty and drenched through the bread as it should be. One bite of this sandwich erased any ill feelings I had towards Geno's. All was right again in the world.  

4 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree with you more! I lived in Philly for 10 years and the cheesesteak is SO overrated! I never enjoyed it...ever. I even went back and tried again because all of my friends in PA thought I was NUTS for not liking them. The greasy meat and the cheese is just grotesque.

    I suggest you go to Reading Terminal Market, next time you're in Philly and check out the pulled pork and broccoli rabe sandwich at Tommy DiNic's. It is messy but the quality is WAY better than Pat's or Geno's

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  2. I'm with you on this one. I've never had a cheese steak IN Philly but I've tried so called authentic cheese steaks and they are far too salty due to the processed cheese, far too greasy and just too heavy overall. When I can say that what they call a cheese steak at Arbys is better (uses veggies and mozzarella not American Cheese Goop), that tells you something about my dislike for "the real thing".

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  3. I love the IDEA of a cheese steak sandwich, but when I had one I was disappointed, too. If it's not real cheese, I'm not interested....

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  4. RavieNomNoms thanks for the delicious sounding tip! Pulled pork is a wonderful thing - unless your pulling the pork yourself which I did last Monday eeewww... I think I should post the photo perhaps a halloween post.

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Thanks for your two cents. I love change!