Official Cheesesteak Thread (NGC)

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

So I lived in Hamburg PA for five years. As an official GA boy that was a valuable life experience. I attended MSC in Reading PA, bought my first bike in PA. I learned that Schuykill and Reading are not pronounced as one would expect. I also learned about real Italian food, some thing that is hard to find in the south unless you know what you’re looking for. Another thing I discovered was authentic cheese steak sandwiches! Not any of this subway or Arby’s crap!
Anyway, I belong to the “American cheese” school of cheese steaks. I’ve had the ones made with cheese whiz and in my opinion they fall short. Now I know that this may be contentious, almost up there with what oil to run in my motorcycle, but I’m willing to take the risk of Dusty having to referee. 😂
I’m going to be in the PA/NJ area with a couple of friends who have not had authentic cheesesteaks and since I’m a man of science, as well as girth, I figure the only way to settle the debate is to try one of each variety. So do any of you good folks have a suggestion for awesome cheesesteaks around SE PA? Friday we are making the grueling journey from Lancaster PA to Sicklerville NJ, so you have an idea of the areas we’ll be around. Thanks very much for giving thought to such an important topic! 😄

[twowheeladdict]

One of the best Philly Cheese Steak sandwich I have had in the south was here. 

https://clinchfield-sub-station.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

Erwin, TN

[Kev m]

There's a small chain called Gaetanos with locations mostly in NJ and a couple in southeastern PA. Actually the one I go to the most is in Berlin only a few miles from Sicklerville.

[Two Checks]

You will be in the Lancaster area and looking for cheesteak sammiches?
No, no, no.
You want scrapple, or pondhaus!

[jumpmaster]

I don't know the route you're taking (from GA?), but if you're traveling anywhere close to just west of Washington, DC and aren't pressed for time, the "Village Green" restaurant in Gaithersburg, MD has got a dynamite Philly Chicken sandwich and I'd guess the Philly Steak is also worth making a short detour for.  The place is a real neighborhood "hole-in-the-wall" place, although they've recently ruined the ambiance a little by sprucing up the interior to a more generic style.  A bonus to considering this place as a stop along the way is that MD and northern VA west of DC are chock full of Civil War and other historic sites, as well as some really nice non-superslab roads.

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

Thanks for recommendations guys! And two checks, no sir, looking for cheesesteaks for lunch whilst on the way from Lancaster to NJ

[Perazzimx14]

South Philly Hoagies on Paxton Street in Harrisburg makes a really good cheese steak. But if you are going to be in Harrisburg for lunch to hell with any cheesesteak. Go to the Jackson House for a burger! Hours are 10:00am to 2:00pm at the latest. Is a hole in the wall and run like the soup Nazi but it is sooooo worth it.

Jackson House
1004 N 6th St
Harrisburg, PA 17102

[cliffrod]

South Street in Philadelphia is the epicenter for real Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, with multiple shops trying to prove it.  If you're gonna go for the real thing, that's where you'll find it and why it's called a Philly cheesesteak....

My wife is from Wayne, near Villanova just west of the city.   Regardless of what cheese she happens to order, She's in the cheese whiz camp in terms of authenticity. She's as far from being a food snob as anyone I've ever met, but she suffers no fools when it comes to whether or not a Philly cheesesteak is "real" or not.  She just said she thinks South St has been closed to vehicle traffic.   But going into the city is a PIA... 

So when we visit the inlaws, we ALWAYS go to Conestoga Pizza in Drexel Hill near Wayne/Villanova.  Whether it's for a cheesesteak or a Stromboli, it's our neighborhood favorite.  Little shop with no city traffic chaos, but not a lot of parking.  You should be able to stack three bikes into one of their few parking spaces.  Conestoga is one of the only absolutely mandatory visits of every trip to PA.   There's other places with really good product, but they aren't Conestoga.

Closer to home & along the way, There's a pair of Real Deal Philly Cheesesteak sandwich shops here a few miles on either side of I-85, one on Asheville Hwy in Spartanburg and the other off Exit 75 on SC 9 in Boiling Springs. Bare bones stuff by a real Philly native family, but my wife was impressed about how authentic they are when we've been. Good stuff.

Ride safe.  If you have any needs around here when traveling, don't hesitate to get in touch.

[cloudbase]

First, provolone only.

Matt's in Easton, MD (on US 50) makes a great cheesesteak.  There was a place in Pennsville, NJ that made a great one as well, but that was 40+ years ago, and I can't remember the name, much less know if they're still around.

If you want a good one in Houston, make your own.

[Kev m]

If you're traveling Lancaster to Sicklerville you don't want to be anywhere near Philly.

Best to come across the DE Memorial Bridge (from Lancaster go Southeast on backroads into Chester County near Gap or Cochranville, drop into DE on 41 to 141 to 295 briefly enough to come across the bridge).


If you're leaving Lancaster first thing in the morning it's only about 100 miles and 3 hours taking backroads like I suggest to Sicklerville.

Any bridge north of that is gonna mean at least twice the traffic and crappier and crappier roads to get to the bridge the further you go north.

[Bulldog9]

Been in and out of Philly for years.  Dalessandro's in Manayunk has been my favorite since the 80's. It is a few miles West of the city proper on the Schuylkill parkway.  If you go into downtown proper, Jim's on South Street.  Or do the Tourist thing and go to Pats or Geno's.  IMO the average Pizza and Hoagie shop puts out a better steak than either of those places.

Just walk in and say 'Fried onions and sweet peppers with ketchup salt/Pepper and white American' (how I like it).  Or go with the Classic and just say 'wit wiz.....'  The Pizza steak isn't half bad either.   They know you want a Cheesesteak ;-)   darn it, now I am craving....

[Lannis]

This is going to be just like the Buffalo Chicken Wings thread we had some time back.

Everyone's got a "School of Thought" that they follow.    For some, NOTHING is a true Buffalo Wing except one made at Frank's with Frank's Hot Sauce.   Others have favorites made out of everything EXCEPT Frank's Hot Sauce.  My own favorite of the genre is my own - wings coated with seasoned flour, fried, dipped in a 50-50 mix of Louisiana Crystal hot sauce and Kraft French Dressing, and baked for 15 minutes.  But to some, that is absolute heresy and has nothing to do with a true Buffalo Chicken Wing.

Somewhere in Philadelphia, I betcha, is a little diner where someone first made what was later to be known as a "Philly Cheese Steak", including some sort of chunked or chipped roasted beef, some sort of white cheese (maybe provolone), some sort of dressing, a toasted roll, and that's the ONLY thing that can truly be called a Philly Cheese Steak - anything else is pale fakery, including anything with American cheese on it, or mayonnaise, or whatever.

I don't know what it is, but someone probably has what they think is the right answer .... !

Lannis

[willowstreetguzziguy]

If you’re near Lancaster, PA and Strasburg Railroad (SE of Lancaster), two places in Strasburg... Pizza City on the square and Strasburg Pizza on Heritage Dr. are my go to places.. I order them with fried onions and fried sweet peppers and no sauce.

[Amboguzzi]

Italian Kitchen - Landsdowne, Pa

[Turin]

cheese whiz is nasty. Cheese should not come out of a pump or a can.

My recipe which I freely share due to the fact I gave up eating beef/pork/mammals

kosher roll of choice, cut in half, buttered and dosed with garlic powder. Toasted.

top round steak sliced into London broil strips and sautéed with bell peppers and onions. finish by topping off with two pieces of provolone.

place on toasted garlic toasted roll and top off with a smear of marscapone,

[jcctx]

Cheese is a terrible thing to do to a steak!!!

[Lannis]

Cheese is a terrible thing to do to a steak!!!

Been a long time since I saw a sandwich marketed as a "Philly Cheesesteak" which actually had "steak" associated with it ... !!!

Lannis