I was recently thinking of “unique” dishes to my area and the Cheesesteak is probably the second biggest export from Philadelphia just behind crime.
I’d really like to also know from all of you where do you need to go for a Cheesesteak (restaurant, diner, food cart) and if growing up your school had Cheesesteaks on their rotating menu of foods.
Growing up my highschool always had Cheesesteaks atleast once every 2 weeks and my local diner is where I can most easily find a Cheesesteak
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I’m in northern California. My school never had cheesesteaks for meals. There are a few places nearby to get one though. The Cheesesteak Shop is a local chain with pretty good sandwiches (daily Amoroso roll shipments) and the closest is about a ten minute bike ride away.
Restaurants, bars, diners, fast food joints, stands, delis that do hot sandwiches. They’re kind of a staple option, not exactly rare though I’m sure purists would find some complaint with most of them. It’s like talking to a new Yorker about pizza sometimes.
My highschool didn’t have that but you can find a Philly cheesesteak at any sub or sandwich chain. I used to get them regularly at Firehouse Subs
Never saw it on the menu at school, but most sandwich shops offer them.
I don’t think they’re that uncommon elsewhere. I can think of a few local places off the top of my head that sell them.
It seems damn near every place serves a cheesesteak. From shit places like subway, to applebees, to pizza places, to my favorite restaurant. We usually have them at home once every week or two. We have the meat dude at Publix thin slice a ribeye for us and make our own at home.
No it wasn’t a thing at school when I was growing up.
I grew up about 10 miles outside of Philadelphia city limits. Never ate a cheese steak until I was in my 20s.
I have seen philly cheese steaks on restaurant menus in odd faraway places. Ate at a restaurant in Salt Lake City that had fresh Amoroso rolls overnighted daily.
Not very inquire anymore.
Also, they aren’t really that great in Philly.
I’ve been to a lot of places that had Philly cheesesteak sandwiches in the Midwest. They were quite different than what you’d find in the Philly area though. They had sliced steak with green peppers, onions, and swiss on a long roll. While they’re tasty, they’re not like the ones here.
Cheesesteak hoagies are much more common than cheesesteaks, outside of Philly people don’t really make a distinction between them. And it seems like whiz isn’t that common as a cheese option outside of Philly.
A good roast pork is also hard to find once you get outside the northeast.
In St Louis the best place for a cheese steak is what’s known as a Fish n’ Chicken shop. Most of them are in the lower income areas, and a lot operate out of gas stations and corner stores, and there’s some local chains as well. You know you’re at the right place if the sign says FISH CHICKEN GYRO PHILLY CHEESE STEAK.
As far as regional/unique food to us, we have Toasted Ravioli: Deep fried ravioli coated in parmasian cheese and served with marinara dipping sauce.
Not very unique, though arguably Philly still does it best.
In Buffalo we have an entire chain called Jim’s Steakout making them.
So… I don’t know any place nearby that does what I understand to be a traditional Philly cheese steak, in that no one uses cheez wiz.
But a cheese steak sub with American or provolone cheese is common enough in sub shops in New England at least.
The steak bomb is probably more popular around here though.
I don’t recall ever having it at school though. But I don’t like steak so it could be it was there and I just never had it so don’t remember it.
…it aint like the general concept is hard to get anywhere, purists’ll likely nitpick it no matter what though
Like others have said, “Philly cheesesteaks” are very common outside of the Philly area but they’re not the same sandwich. Not shaved ribeye and always with bell peppers.
But the thing I found in Philly that I have missed since moving is pizza egg rolls.
You can get one at the food court in the mall. Or several restaurants. Or make them at home easily enough. Of course, it’s not “authentic” — mainly because we use better cheese.
You can get them everywhere, everyone does it a little different. If you do it like Pats in Philly they use a velvita style cheese where as on the west coast we typically use a melted provolone for the cheese. Everyone has a little different take, the best one i ever had used pickled peppers instead of fresh peppers and provolone, flank streak and cartelized onions, they had some special sauce the put on the bread and Sriracha drizzled over the top….holy fuck they were good.
I think you guys really leaned into it because “Philly cheese steak” became famous?
Lots of Italian shops and local diners had steak and cheese grinders but just a bit less popular maybe?
We have been serving them for about 100 years in New England but still just call it a steak and cheese.
We still serve them in New England in school but still just call it a steak and cheese grinder.
We didn’t have them at school but they’re pretty normal in restaurants and bars.
The Fish and Chicken places you can find in urban areas of Indianapolis often have cheesesteak on the menu.
[There is one Hoagie place in town that also has cheesesteaks](https://hoagiesandhops.com/menu/). I haven’t been yet but apparently they get a lot of their ingredients from Philly producers.
Can’t say I’ve had a cheesesteak, though it certainly is on my to-do list next time I get to PA.
You cannot get a great cheesesteak outside the Philly area. In Florida, there is a chain that even ships the bread in from Philly, but it isn’t the same.
Provolone, no whizz.
Now, let’s talk soft pretzels in school. 🙂
Cheesesteak is on my daughters lunch menu here in Maine. Several local places have them (pretty much any sun shop from Subway to a local place). A couple are really good. I had them for high school lunch in Indiana. My college dining hall served them.
Around here, you can get a Philly Cheesesteak (or something approximating it) at most sandwich shops, corner grills, or diners. But it’s going to be a sandwich shop that also sells cheesesteaks, as opposed to a cheesesteak shop that also sells other things, like you see in Philly, know what I mean?
I found a place in Chicago that had them once, but that’s the only time I remember encountering them outside of Philadelphia.
Good phillys are basically impossible to find outside of the NE. Some places will do hot steak sandwiches, but not like a good Philly.
Never had it as a school lunch. But it is a common option in Restaurants, Bars, and the like. Particularly if they specialize in sandwiches.
You *can* get a great cheesesteak outside of Philadelphia, but you’re not assured one. It’s rare to find a place outside of the immediate Philadelphia area that does it authentically, but they do exist.
I grew up in the Philly area, although I haven’t lived there in over 20 years. If I wanted a cheesesteak, I would usually get one at either a deli or pizzeria. As long as they use the right ingredients (hoagie roll, flank steak, grilled onions, melted mild cheese), most of these places do a pretty fair job. It usually works best when kept simple.
My high school cafeteria served cheesesteaks every now and again, but they weren’t very good. Think steakums and Kraft singles on a roll that was usually damp.
Oddly, this is one of those things that was part of my childhood that I really don’t crave. I’ll take an Italian hoagie, Philly soft pretzel, water ice, scrappel, or Lebanon baloney anytime I’m in the area, but cheeseateaks are just a little more than my stomach can take these days.
Never had cheesesteaks at school, and people from Philly say there’s nowhere in my city to get a “good” one.
Grew up in California and now in Philly.
There are good cheesesteaks outside of Philly but they’re tough to find. It’s a dime a dozen around here. I can go to any pizza shop and they’ll have cheesesteaks on the menu.
My dad order a cheesesteak at a random deli in San Francisco and they basically made a cheesesteak hoagie. He laughed.
While there’s sometimes a place around that will do cheesesteaks, they’re still associated with Philadelphia wherever I’ve been and are often called “Philly cheesesteaks.” When I was in college outside of Chicago, a place opened called “Philly’s Best” and everybody was really excited. It was the first place I’d ever seen selling cheesesteaks.
You can get something called a Philly Cheesesteak just about anywhere that serves sandwiches but they never taste right.
“Second biggest export just behind crime.” I LOLed harder than I should have at that.
I lived out of state for about 7 years, in SC and FL.
Those states still have cheesesteaks, but they’re less common. There’s also a strong possibility of getting something that is just kinda weird from a Philly perspective.
I had a cheese steak in SC that was basically a steak cut into finger-sized slices and stuck into a sub roll with onions, peppers, and Swiss cheese. It wasn’t a bad meal, it just wasn’t much like a “real” cheesesteak.
Cheesesteaks were more common and better in FL, I assume due to more transplants.
You can get a “cheesesteak” at most diners. I’ve put it in quotations because most of the time, someone whose had a real Philly cheesecake will be offended at what is being passed off as one. They’re more like… idk. Smushed down burgers than actual cheesesteaks here.
Probably the only thing making them unique is the wiz. I’m sure almost all of America serves a steak sandwich of some type but outside of PA the wiz becomes harder to find unless you find a shop that specializes in cheese steaks or is owned by a Philly transplant.