A Tale of Two Cheese Steaks

At the end of June and for the first half of July my family went on vacation that took us to Atlanta where we rented a car and drove through eleven states and saw many historical sites, natural wonders, and the food. Oh the food. This story is about one city and its famous cheese steaks. This is the tale of two cheese steaks.

We didn't plan on visiting Philadelphia originally but once we made the decision we knew where we had to go. Pat's and Geno's. These are the most known cheesesteak restaurants in Philadelphia. Why are they famous? An age old feud or not as some have said. Well we had to try them regardless. We were worried about parking and lucked out that someone left their spot right in front of Pat's as we drove up. Score 1 for us.

Corinne and I decided we'd take on Pat's as he has a unique was of ordering and we sent Doug to Geno's. At Pat's King of Steaks you  have to be johnny on the spot with their ordering as Corinne and I found out. Here is what you do as they show you on their website and they also have a sign to help you along. The line at Pat's King of Steaks moves quickly, so it's best to be prepared — know what you want, and how to order it by the time you get to the front of the line!

Step 1 Specify if you want your steak with (wit) or without (wit-out) onions Step 2 Specify Plain, Cheez Whiz, Provolone, American or Pizza Steak Step 3 Have your money ready. We are cash only. Step 4 Order just your steak at the first window. The second window is for fries and drinks. Step 5
Eat up while it's hot!

Of course I was ready and had it all planned what we wanted nothing could be simpler than a cheese steak wit wiz, that is until it's your turn. The line moved so quickly and I was taking it all in and it's my turn. The girl in front of us ordered provolone so that was on my mind. Did I say wit wiz, no of course not it came out provolone, no wait onions and cheez wiz. What a moron I felt like. How did I screw that up? I know they yell at you if you're not fast enough. Geez I should have sent Doug here.

Next window is where we ordered pizza fries and drinks if we were getting them there. They were just as impatient at that window as they were at the first. I really wish I sent Doug here.

We met Doug by our car and it was time to chow down. He told me ordering was easy at Geno's and they were nice. How could that be? I'm the nice one and I got yelled at? Anyways time to try.

Pat's Cheese Steak

First bite of Pat's was really good, a little meat, wiz, onion and bread. Pat's has some incredible bread. Now time to wrestle the cheese steak from Doug, we did say before we got there we were SHARING & NO HOGGING the one you liked better. This was a really good cheese steak and I have only had one before and that was at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio so I had nothing to really base a good or a bad one on.... come on it was in Ohio. What are they known for? Oh, yeah the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, not cheese steaks.

Geno's Cheese Steak

Now time to try Geno's. First bite and you could taste the difference. It was more flavorful and you did have more wiz. I don't know if it was the combination of the wiz, onion, and juice of the meat but it was good. Did I want to share? No, of course not, but that was the deal.

We did try to be good and share, but my sweet husband did try to eat all of the Geno's cheese steak and there was talk of divorce and or murder, but we had our daughter there and he did remember his manners and we had to share.

After we sucked down these large sandwiches, where two were plenty for the three of us even though we looked like people who hadn't been fed in days while we were scarfing these down, we worked on the pizza fries. They tasted like fries with a good pizza sauce and wiz on them. They were good and just enough to satisfy us.

Time for the judgement. Who was our favorite? Pat's had our favorite bread, but as a total package the overwhelming winner was Geno's. To each is own and everyone has their own opinion and no one person is right or wrong. Thanks to Geno's and Pat's whether the feud is real or just a show, you gave us something to talk about and remember from our time in Philly.

If you have visited Geno's & Pat's let me know what your choice of favorite is.