Phoodie.info: The New Food And Drink Blog For Philadelphia » Cheesesteak

Is Rick’s Steaks Returning To Reading Terminal?

Jim Adair — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:52:16 +0000

You may recall that Rick Olivieri up and left Reading Terminal Market back in 2008 after his lease was not renewed by market management. After leaving the Market, Rick’s Steaks bounced around from the Bellevue to The Shops at Liberty Place and Lincoln Financial Field. The Liberty Place location is now closed, and according to Philly.com, Rick’s may be looking to get back into Reading Terminal.

According to the piece, Olivieri dropped off an application to re-enter the Market about three months ago, and received a letter of receipt, but the application has not yet been acted upon. Our guess is, since there are already cheesesteaks in the Market, and “50-75 applications have been received in the last 24-36 months,” it’s going to be a bit of a long shot.

Philly SteakOut Would Like To Clear A Few Things Up

Jim Adair — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:51:26 +0000

In a city saturated with places to get a cheesesteak, sometimes it can be a little confusing which places are good and which are all hype, which places are basically tourist traps, and which places have a great sandwich. This is the question Philly SteakOut is hoping to help answer. Using information from foursquare, Philly SteakOut ranks the top 25 cheesesteak places in Philly in real-time. In the rankings, PSO includes total check-ins, Yelp rating, and the hours of peak activity (to avoid those crowds).

But by far our favorite feature is the percentage breakdown of locals and tourists visiting. What does this tell us? Well Pat’s is #1 in total check-ins, but is 82% tourist. The highest ranked venue with more local chek-ins than tourist is Steve’s Prince of Steaks (whose 276 check-ins is significantly less than the top 4).

We assume this is all gonna get better and more accurate once people know about it and therefore check-in more, but we’re looking forward to following along with the rankings.

Tony Luke’s At The Borgata Not Up To Standards

Jim Adair — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:08:56 +0000

Whiskey Goldmine has given a certainly unfavorable review to the Tony Luke’s located at The Borgata in Atlantic City. While we have personally never had a sandwich from that location, we have eaten at the Tony Luke’s inside the Springfield Mall in good ol’ Delco. While the cheesesteak we had was definitely not the same as Tony Luke’s on Oregon Ave (or even the one at Citizen’s Bank Park) it was far from terrible. However, we wholeheartedly agree with Whiskey Goldmine that $9.75 is a bit much.

Out-Of-Towners Surprisingly Adept At Filtering Cheesesteak Rhetoric

tips — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:21:32 +0000

Rhett and Link are two nerds from North Carolina who apparently got hired to make a bunch of phoodie-type videos for Alka-Seltzer. In the clip above, they tackle the ages-old Pat’s Vs. Geno’s war of asshats and do a surprisingly good job of proving that Mr. Olivieri and Mr. Vento just need to make out already.

NY Travel Blogger Attempts To Cook Philadelphians Cheesesteaks

kwinks — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:50:05 +0000

Mike Barish, travel aficionado, who you may know from his column in Sky Mall, is starring in a new web series that promotes the Cheverolet Cruze, but also gives this guy a chance to travel across America in search of great food and local experiences. You can catch future episodes here.

What’s his first stop? Of course, none other than Dalessandro’s, cooking up glorious cheesesteaks in Roxborough since 1960. Here, Mike learns the secrets behind their amazing cheesesteaks. No whiz? That’s right. If you’ve never been to Dalessandro’s, go get yourself some. How bout this weekend?

Food Feuds: Philadelphia Snoozebattle

Elizabeth Malleus — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:00:20 +0000

Food Network’s Food Feuds travels the country, city to city, settling feuds over each city’s signature dish. Boston has their pizza and New Orleans has po’ boys. So it’s no surprise that in their Philadelphia episode, airing on October 10th at 10:00 pm, they chose cheesesteaks as their food feud. They got really crazy for the battle and pinned Pat’s King of Steaks against Geno’s Steaks. Real original, guys.

Cosmi’s Deli: Best Sandwich In America, Or Just Best Sandwich You’ve Never Had?

tips — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:00:47 +0000

Behold, Cosmi’s Deli, which has been open since 1932 on the corner of 8th and Dickinson streets in South Philly. And while many others — Primo’s, Pat’s, Geno’s, et al. — are frequently sited in these Best Sandwich Ever-type polls (and indeed, have walls lined with certificates proclaiming such distinctions), somehow it has come to pass that humble Cosmi’s cheesesteak has been nominated for “Best Sandwich in America” by the women’s pop culture website Lemondrop. Do you agree? Or just want to rep Philly in a contest that probably only employees of Lemondrop care about? Well, hurry! Voting closes at the end of the day, and well, just look at these old Cosmis. Don’t you think they deserve nice things? What is wrong with you? Just go vote for them already. What, you want Vegas to win it? Seriously: What is wrong with you.

Pat’s & Geno’s, Feel The Wrath Of The Furious Gods Of L&I

tips — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:33:59 +0000

KYW is reporting today that the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I), that bastion of regulatory integrity, has presented both Pat’s and Geno’s with citations for operating with illegal outdoor sidewalk seating. According to our folks in the know, any restaurant within certain zones is allowed to “erect, construct or maintain a sidewalk café” provided they have a “sidewalk café license” from L&I. Additionally, the ordinance states that “All parts of a sidewalk café shall be easily removable.” Both of our neon-strewn, beef-providing institutions fall within a zone where outdoor seating is allowed, however, at last count those tables are practically earthquake-proofed into the sidewalks down there.

So what – no more day-glo patio furniture to spill your Whiz on?

Not so fast, kiddos. Philadelphia City Council’s Streets Committee is reportedly passing bills to give Pat’s and Geno’s special permission to keep their tables in place. It may be assumed that there is nothing but paperwork and money-changing to be done here, so you won’t be seeing those Got Junk? Trucks lined up on Ninth Street anytime soon. Tourists, Douchebags, and South Philly Lifers, worry not – no need to get your cheesesteaks wit a to-go bag just yet.

Let’s just hope those bills are written in AMERICAN.

Tony Luke Is Showing You How To Make A Cheesesteak In Your Microwave

tips — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:58:32 +0000

The world is a vampire.

Campo’s Officially Announces Name-Your-Own-Cheesesteak Contest

K-Fai — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:05:41 +0000

With their new name-your-own-cheesesteak contest, Campo’s has opened itself up to a swarm of potentially gross sandwich names, the majority of which will indubitably point out the comparison between sandwich and indiscreet human physiology. Both the campaign and the creativity that ensues are not necessarily original, but always fun.

According to the press release, “the [winning] cheesesteak will be a featured item on the menu for one full month with 10% of all proceeds going to Helen’s Hope [a nonprofit whose mission is to relieve the financial burden of those undergoing breast cancer treatment]… All cheesesteaks and all names will be considered (the funny, the controversial, political); it’s all up to you.” You can email submissions to: CamposPHL@gmail.com, and the deadline is October 15th.

Campos is posting submitted names on their Twitter page, which is worth checking out simply for the background image (sandwiches from a perspective that weirdly abstracts them in the style of Kandinsky).