The Great Tourist Cheesesteak Taste Test

This week my old friend J. from University is in town with the Stars on Ice tour (no, he's not a skater). I took Tuesday off work to spend the day showing him around the city.

As a tourist he could not not go to Pat's and Geno's for cheesesteak, that quintessential Philly food. But which one to choose? Thus began the Great Tourist Chessesteak Taste Test.

We got a cheesesteak with onions from bot Pat's and Geno's (American cheese from Pat's and Provolone from Geno's - it didn't look like provolone was an option at Pat's). Since it was cold out, we brought them home and began the test.















First impressions: Geno's was pretty skimpy on the meat and Pat's had far more meat and onions. The bread at Pat's was softer and the bread at Geno's had a much firmer crust.

We both agreed on the results of the taste test. While Pat's had far more stuff in the sandwich, the flavours were bland and the bread was too soft. In comparison, the steak from Geno's, although skimpy on the fillings, had a much more developed and savoury flavour and the bread had a nice amount of chewiness. It might have been the different cheeses, but the Geno's steak won hands down for flavour and texture.







































This win by Geno's is disappointing to me since Geno's is the restaurant with the disturbing sign in the window that say "This is America, When ordering speak English" I also don't like the sign that says "If you can read, thank your teacher. If you can read English, thank a marine".

But I don't have to go there again, because that's one more tourist experience crossed of my list. Locals know that to find a good cheesesteak all you have to do is head out to your local food cart.















J. went out on Thursday to a cart around 20th and Market and got a cheesesteak for $2.75 less than Tuesday night, with more stuff inside (as well as mayo, which makes it nice and juicy). His verdict was that the cart steak was better than the Tuesday night tasting steaks.

Another delicious sandwich is the Chicken Cheesesteak, which was not part of the test but my personal favourite in terms of really unhealthy Philly food that I probably shouldn't eat.