joebabyny Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Ok, so yesterday morning I am in the jeep heading to lovely Newark NJ to the office when I get a call from mom. She wanted to know the best place to go for cheesesteaks in philly. My parents were watching their grandkid/my nephew and my little brother who was off from school and they were going to drive to Philly to get cheesesteaks since none of them have ever had one. I whipped my car around and met up with them just over the Outerbridge crossing. Now, Geno's and Pat's are the two famous ones, but ever since seeing Tony Luke on the Throwdown with Bobby Flay I have been dying to find out which was the best of the three. So 4 sandwiches later I am now in possession of the answer to one of life's great mysteries. Here is the lowdown..... First stop was Tony Lukes, a place I found out about from watching throwdown with bobby flay where he beat bobby. When we got there we were greeted by a line of about 25 people and a packed house with about 2 dozen tables full. It is worth noting that this place is not anywhere really near a tourist area and the people mainly looked like locals. Tony Luke has a decent sized menu but I was really interested in the sandwich he used to beat Flay, the Steak Italian, which is a cheese steak with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe. I also ordered a regular cheesesteak with whiz and onions as a control for my comparison. I first ate half of the regular steak and it was delicious. The bread is made in house throughout the day and it showed. The steak was cooked perfectly tender without lots of grease, and the cheese was just the right amount. I then ate half of the steak italian and it was every bit as good as they made it out to be on the tv show. WOW! Next was Pat's. I was quite surprised to see that there was no line whatsoever, and maybe 6 people sitting at tables eating. We were able to walk right up and order, and I got another regular "whiz with" which means steak with onions and cheese whiz. I was going to split this with my mother, but after 2-3 bites each neither of us wanted to finish it. Man, what a let down. The meat was lukewarm at best, very dry and chewy. The cheeze was way overpowering, and the bread was a little tough. We all threw our sandwiches out. Last we walked across the street to Geno's Steaks, the place that looks like it belongs in Vegas and the one I figured would be the worst based on over the top shtick. This was another place with no line, but about a dozen people eating at tables. These sandwiches were clearly the smallest of the three, but they were better than Pats. They were the most greasy of the three, but it wasn't in a disgusting way. The meat was cooked better and the amount of cheese was a little heavy but not a turnoff like the amount at Pat's. All in all the best thing I ate was the steak italian at tony lukes hands down. As for the control group, I also easily give that to tony lukes. Apparently I am not the only one who feels this way because that place was the only one that was genuinely busy, and not just with tourists. I would rank them as follows... 1Tony Luke's 2Geno's 3Pat's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC36 Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Tony Luke was also in Disneys "Invincible" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afosomf Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Ok, so yesterday morning I am in the jeep heading to lovely Newark NJ to the office when I get a call from mom. She wanted to know the best place to go for cheesesteaks in philly. My parents were watching their grandkid/my nephew and my little brother who was off from school and they were going to drive to Philly to get cheesesteaks since none of them have ever had one. I whipped my car around and met up with them just over the Outerbridge crossing. Now, Geno's and Pat's are the two famous ones, but ever since seeing Tony Luke on the Throwdown with Bobby Flay I have been dying to find out which was the best of the three. So 4 sandwiches later I am now in possession of the answer to one of life's great mysteries. Here is the lowdown..... First stop was Tony Lukes, a place I found out about from watching throwdown with bobby flay where he beat bobby. When we got there we were greeted by a line of about 25 people and a packed house with about 2 dozen tables full. It is worth noting that this place is not anywhere really near a tourist area and the people mainly looked like locals. Tony Luke has a decent sized menu but I was really interested in the sandwich he used to beat Flay, the Steak Italian, which is a cheese steak with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe. I also ordered a regular cheesesteak with whiz and onions as a control for my comparison. I first ate half of the regular steak and it was delicious. The bread is made in house throughout the day and it showed. The steak was cooked perfectly tender without lots of grease, and the cheese was just the right amount. I then ate half of the steak italian and it was every bit as good as they made it out to be on the tv show. WOW! Next was Pat's. I was quite surprised to see that there was no line whatsoever, and maybe 6 people sitting at tables eating. We were able to walk right up and order, and I got another regular "whiz with" which means steak with onions and cheese whiz. I was going to split this with my mother, but after 2-3 bites each neither of us wanted to finish it. Man, what a let down. The meat was lukewarm at best, very dry and chewy. The cheeze was way overpowering, and the bread was a little tough. We all threw our sandwiches out. Last we walked across the street to Geno's Steaks, the place that looks like it belongs in Vegas and the one I figured would be the worst based on over the top shtick. This was another place with no line, but about a dozen people eating at tables. These sandwiches were clearly the smallest of the three, but they were better than Pats. They were the most greasy of the three, but it wasn't in a disgusting way. The meat was cooked better and the amount of cheese was a little heavy but not a turnoff like the amount at Pat's. All in all the best thing I ate was the steak italian at tony lukes hands down. As for the control group, I also easily give that to tony lukes. Apparently I am not the only one who feels this way because that place was the only one that was genuinely busy, and not just with tourists. I would rank them as follows... 1Tony Luke's 2Geno's 3Pat's I concur...if you want the best lasagne evah, his at Tony Luke's House of Pasta was the phenomenal!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetscott Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 next time try "jims" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidhuman Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 next time try "jims" I was thinking the same thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gagoots Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I'm thinking of starting a similar thread: Best dogcrap on my lawn. So hard to choose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernJet Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 JGBs on a business trip, but I just sent a link to him so he can chime in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borgoguy Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 next time try "jims" Is that the one by South Street? If yes, that is my favorite, too. I haven't been to Philly since the early 80s, but I think about the cheese steaks from that place from time to time. Also think about the hottie I was "dating" at the time. We'd see each other every few weeks--I was going to school at Penn State--and it was just a sex fest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernJet Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Is that the one by South Street? If yes, that is my favorite, too. I haven't been to Philly since the early 80s, but I think about the cheese steaks from that place from time to time. Also think about the hottie I was "dating" at the time. We'd see each other every few weeks--I was going to school at Penn State--and it was just a sex fest. Jims is OK,,at times has been 'dry' for me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryK Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I'm thinking of starting a similar thread: Best dogcrap on my lawn. So hard to choose... It'll need a LOT of cheez-whiz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHJF Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Subway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEPRESSED JET!!!!!! Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Subway Yuck! I don't go to Subway's for nothing. There sandwiches suck. Jim's is good. Tony Lukes roast pork sandwiches are king. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Genos has the best steaks in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidhuman Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Is that the one by South Street? If yes, that is my favorite, too. I haven't been to Philly since the early 80s, but I think about the cheese steaks from that place from time to time. Also think about the hottie I was "dating" at the time. We'd see each other every few weeks--I was going to school at Penn State--and it was just a sex fest. Yeah he is on South Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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