One of the newest sandwiches on our menu is our Bistro Cheesesteak: a meaty, cheesy, pile of goodness that can barely be contained between two buns. While neither of us hail from Philly, we do have a soul connnection with this sandwich, thanks to Jeff's youth.
When Jeff was in his early teens, his folks would send him packing every summer to visit his cousins just outside Philadelphia. Most of the time he would board a train at Grand Central Station for the two-hour ride to Philly's 30th St. Station, where he would transfer to the Paoli local line to his final destination. On one occasion, Jeff was picked up at 30th St. Station by his older cousin, Dana, who had driven in to Philly. Jeff had arrived around lunch time, so Dana took him to Pat's, were he was introduced to the Cheesesteak -- a memorable departure from the Italian style meatball grinders he was used to as a denizen of the Big Apple. Pat's became a must hit destination whenever Jeff was in Philly. Jeff had tried Geno's once, but preferred the melted provolone cheese to cheese whiz, which was essentially the difference between the two versions.
A classic Philly cheesesteak uses skirt steak, or any low-end beef cut, frozen then very thinly machine sliced and cooked on a flat griddle along with onions, sweet peppers and cheese. The key ingredient is the crisp-crusted Italian style roll the whole melted conglomeration is spatulaed into (we thought it was high time to turn spatula into a verb).
Our version....since we do not used a per order griddle......is to slow roast a naturally fed Double R Ranch top round. We slice it thin and combine it with fire roasted peppers and onions on fresh baked bread topped with our own cheddar cheese sauce. The grease factor on ours is considerable less than a traditional version, which hopefully will keep our customers alive longer without having to sacrifice taste and mouth feel. You will, however, need to adopt a "wide stance" when handling this bad boy...but since we serve it on a plate, the more civilized among you can simply sit down and enjoy the experience. Just be sure you lean well over your lap .
Now, if you'd like to learn more about Pat's and Geno's, just follow this link to the "battle of the Philly Cheesesteaks" -- then come give ours a try!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/712611/philly_cheesesteak_restaurants_in_philadelphia.html