Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Philly cheesesteak



So the rivalry between Pat and Gino about who invented the Philly cheesesteak still goes on today.

Pat Olivieri invented the steak sandwich in 1930 - its open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and is called "Pat's King of Steaks", Gino's Steaks is across the street. We're going to both to get 1 steak sandwich at each and make our own decision.


Some say that Gino, Pat's brother actually added the cheese to the steak sandwich in 1966. Then, the story goes Pat responded by adding cheese wiz which has become the preferred cheese of choice on South Philadelphia cheesesteaks. I think we would prefer the provolone. We'll see.

When ordering a cheesesteak, the idea is to let the cashier know
A: that you would like a cheesesteak
B: what type of cheese you want
C: if you want fried onions

You have to be concise as possible when ordering. Locals are so adept that they have it down to 3 words: saying - "One wiz with" meaning 1 cheesesteak with cheese wiz and onions.
Or "one provolone without" which would get you 1 cheesesteak with provolone and no onions.

Ok well we had one at Pats and one at Geno's. Pats was juicier and the bread was like French bread. Geno's bread was a little chewy and the onions a little big. We choose Pats.
It seems like everyone was doing the same thing. Back and forth