Not from Philly, I diligently tried to get an overall consensus of the best place for a Philly from locals. Our first trip to the city, we were told to go to Jim?s Steaks. From all the celebrity photos, I got the impression they know what they are doing so my opinion doesn?t matter much. However, I wasn?t overwhelmed by the product. The meat was chopped up (which seems to be a debate on this preparation as being ?true Philly? or not), it was not greasy (kind of dry in fact), and lacked something (I added salt). The onions were great and the bread was fantastic. I ordered with provolone as I heard that was the way locals ordered it. Probably mostly Italians since we were in South Philly. Good sandwich but nothing to stand in line for in my opinion. Our second trip we stopped at Pat?s on the way to the airport. I ordered with onions and this time wit whiz. The meat was not chopped finely so now I was confused about how a real Philly steak should look. Concerned that I would be biting into a chewy greasy mess like the ones I could get at TGI Fridays, I was not disappointed. The meat was very tender and juicy. The mixture of whiz and the juices from meat and onions was fantastic. I thought the whiz was going to be thick, salty and just plain sick. Maybe that?s why the meat at Jim?s was not salted in preparation to get whizzed on. Anyway, I thought it was great. Lot?s of meat and bread must have been good because I downed it in 5 minutes. Next time we are going to Geno?s and maybe Tony Luke?s as seen on the Food Network in Bobby Flay?s Throwdown. Any suggestions on where to try is welcome. Also want to try a real Philly Hoagie.
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