I’m a good food purist, so the Mexican food around Philly is disappointing to me nine times out of 10 after spending time in SoCal, Texas, Vegas, etc, and it’s very rare I get a good cheesesteak outside of an ~80 mile radius from Philly.
But before I went to the places in the US with legit Mexican food, I loved the Mexican food here, and if I’d started eating cheesesteaks somewhere else, I’m sure they’d still seem good.
Upon reflection, I agree that ranch and wiz don’t seem as good as I originally thought.
Sustained.
Outside Denver. There was a real cheesesteak place here but I haven’t been in years, my total cheesesteak count is probably still single digits so I may only know what I like vs a “good cheesesteak.”
Yea southern california mexican food is great and then you try authentic mexican and it’s even better, i go to a place in florida people swear is the best place in town and it’s very offensive. I dont want the florida version of a cheesesteak.
Some regional foods have disappointed me before. I looked at chicago deep dish and was revolted by the thought. Tried one at a highly recommended place in chicago, felt the same after I ate it. The worst was I was in the company of people who’d heard tales of me finishing off a large pizza solo so I had to pretend to like eating a lot more than I’d have chosen to otherwise.
I’ve had Philly cheesesteaks. Had a good friend who went to temple. It’s like a Nola po boy, it’s still a sandwich. Yuengling is overrated too
I truly believe these things but I think I just started a war
Yes, yes you did. Anyone with any Philly connection is ready to fight you right now.
You should see when the new draft picks come to town and order the chicken version or put ketchup or mayo on it.
Lettuce is pretty much a sin. Pretty much need to do the full Rocky run in costume to cleanse that off your soul.
Cheese (3-4 options depending) wit or witoit onions. Beef. That’s it.
Plus the wife grew up on Cinci chili.
Yuengling was great in the 90’s and early 00’s before craft beer really took off. But its time has past, beer has improved so much in the last 20 years in both quality and variety
Yuengling competes on price, too, though, and for a cheap beer, it’s fine, and it’s still one of the finest cheap beers.
I really hate the flavor personally. It was built up to me as some amazing beer by my buddy, and uh yeah I wasn’t about it at all
Ah, unfortunately I don’t know if there are any places there. The roll is the biggest differentiator, the rest is pretty easy to do anywhere. But to bake a good roll you need good water, which is why some of the west coast places in particular seem to struggle - same with pizza and bagels, I guess. The places that really mess it up beyond the roll use the wrong cheese, don’t melt the cheese in enough, add flavors/condiments that don’t belong, or use too low quality of steak (and it doesn’t have to be high quality at all, just no gristle in there).
IMO frozen Steak-umms aren’t bad. Not as good as getting one at a legit place near Philly, obviously, but way better than the bad knock offs in other locations. Get as good of a roll as you can, cook the steak in a frying pan (or on a griddle if you have one), break it off into a bunch of smaller pieces as it’s cooking, and add either American or provolone cheese to it just before you take it off and let the cheese melt throughout. You don’t want the cheese to just melt on top of the steak, you want it to really mix throughout the chopped pieces. Fill up the roll, add raw or grilled onions if you want, ketchup if you want, and enjoy.
Well, I’m not surprised some people hate it, but as a grad student at a dive bar in the northeast, even as one with a taste for the good stuff, I would never be disappointed if that was an option over *.lite. But OK, if not Yuengling, what’s your cheap beer of choice?
It has much, much more to do with technique than nuances in the water.
I’m not a big fan of po boys but cheesesteaks are awesome. Yuengling was my favorite beer for a little while in college, but I can’t remember the last time I had one. If I have to drink swill, it’s the best of the swill. Owner is nutso right wing, though, so I avoid it.
I’ll defend my chopped lettuce on there. Although I’ll also point out I remove about 90% of the lettuce before I start eating it. I like just a little.
What’s the fourth option?
I’ve always just heard that pizza, rolls, and bagels are not as good in Cali because of something to do with the water. I may have gotten that from Entourage, though, to be honest. Not true?
New Yorkers especially like to say that it’s the water to give their pizza an aura of exclusivity, but mostly it’s about giving a shit.
American, provolone, whiz, and…cooper sharp? Thats what Angelos is using in philly and everybody raves about their cheesestake.
Yeah the water stuff is bs, and something previously I’d only heard from New Yorkers
So bread bakeries in California are too laid back and don’t care enough?