**SOLD** What's up? Wood for grabs
- Thread starter Eric Rorabaugh
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So what are some of the other local foods that you recommend?
Bacon cheesesteaks, Buffalo Chicken cheesesteaks, pepperoni steaks, pizza steaks
But for real, other similar types of food that we are known for are roast pork sandwiches (like a cheesesteak, but with sharp prov and spinach or broccoli raab) and of course hoagies (which are NOT the same as subs!). The best places for roast pork are John's roast pork on East Snyder Ave and Dinic's in reading terminal market. One of the best hoagies is Marinucci's in Mayfair. And while I'm at it, the highest rated cheesesteak (and pizza) in Philly is at Angelo's on S. 9th Street. I still have yet to go there cause parking is an absolute nightmare and Angelo's usually has a long wait. My favorite is Chink's on Frankford & Girard in Fishtown. It's now called 'Joe's steak + soda shop' cause of stupid politically correct BS, but everyone knows it as Chink's since that was the name for 70+ years. Best steaks and fantastic milkshakes too.
We're also known for our soft pretzels. But it's hard to get authentic ones anymore. They were sold by street vendors all over the place, but a lot of that disappeared after COVID.
The only time I've explored Philly was 40 years ago. Some of our time was spent in an Italian area. Won't say it was a sketchy area, but... I was drooling over all the cheeses, charcuterie, prosciutto, and such! Somewhere down in the area, there was, touted by my BIL, a "highly rated" cheesesteak place that we ate at. They used yellow American - which I thought was strange, because I was led to believe that whiz was the native way to go! Whatever, it was good and the first cheesesteak I ever had. After, would occasionally get one here in Nashville - insipid! I've made them many ways at home since - my favorite uses a truffled goat cheese you can get at TJ's. Not "original", but mighty good. And have used a variety of peppers. I like Yellow Onion, but my wife likes "Vidalia type" sweet onion. To go really wild, I'll add some mushrooms. I refrain from calling them cheesesteaks, just good sandwiches, though. Luckily, for the last few years, we've been able to consistently get the shaved meat - already shaved. Like the shaved Ribeye, but others ain't bad. FM has a White Cheddar Creamy Vinegarette that I sometimes further denigrate the cheesesteaks/sandwiches with.
I grew up here, and in nearly 42 years of life Ive only ever seen white American used in this area. Its not just a cheesesteak thing by the way. White American is just the American that is used here. Its a regional thing. If you order it from the deli at the grocery store and don't specify, you'll get white American. That's just how it is. Its a regional thing. My wife is from New Hampshire, and she says its the same way up there. But she and I met when we both lived in Baltimore, and Maryland almost universally uses yellow American despite the proximity to PA. By the way, a really good option for cheese on a steak is swiss. It compliments the onions very well. Swiss is absolutly not a common cheese to use on a steak in Philly and most places won't even carry it. This is just my opion from experimenting over the years.
The Italian section of Philly is South Philly, and its never really been a particularly bad or dangerous area. Its just an area with deep Italian familial roots and has had a lot of mob activity in its history, including within the cheesesteak world. The original and most famous cheesesteak joint is Pat's King of Steaks, founded by Pat Olivieri in 1930. They invented the cheesesteak and still very much sell them today. But Pat's and their biggest rival - Geno's who sits caddy corner to them at 9th & Passyunk - both have deep mob ties. Most of that was quashed with the passing of the RICO Act in 1970, but its believed thet there's still an underground mob scene down there in South Philly to this day.
Cheeseteaks use either vidalia or yellow onions. I think Vidalias are most common. Believe it or not, mushrooms on a steak is very common in Philly. Mushrooms are probably the second most common addition to a steak next to fried onions. And Ive worked at 2 cheesesteak joints, so I would know lol. Ribeye is almost universally the cut of choice for steaks, with only a few notable exceptions. In addition to being famous for their roast pork, John's Roast Pork also has a top ranked cheesesteak. But they are unique in that they use loin tail instead of ribeye. I am not crazy about the loin tail, but its still a great steak. One thing that we definitly do NOT ever use is green peppers! Nobody in philly puts green peppers on a cheesesteak...most places don't even have green peppers as an option unless they also sell sausage peppers and onions sandwhiches. I suspect (though not confirmed) that this misconception about the cheesesteak containing green peppers came as a result of someone misidentifying long-hots. In Philly, long-hot peppers are very common on roast pork and cheesesteaks. They are the same shade of green as a bell pepper, but the taste is vastly different, as is the spice level. Ive never seen long-hots sold anywhere outside of Philly, so I would guess that most people don't even know what they are.
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Now I don't feel so bad by adding the mushrooms! I do like the swiss - and use it often, usually after St Pat's day and my wife likes corned beef sanwiches on seeded rye with swiss - and always have a bunch left over (intentional on my part as I do the grocery shopping - I'm trained well). Did not realize that about the green peppers, but suspected that as the first ones I made did not have the same flavor. I think Publix usually has Italian Peppers, I suppose is the same thing. I wonder if shishito peppers are similar - can often get them.
Yup, that is the places on that corner. I think we went to Genos, but not sure.
BTW, yellow american down here is usually Velveeta or other cheese food product. Unless you get it from a deli or buy Sargento. The only white american I have seen is be a white velveeta with jalapenos. I guess supposed to be used for white queso dip. We use it in cheese grits and my version of shrimp and grits. But rarely make either anymore because of the large amount of carbs in the large amount that I would eat!
Your cheeses are placed disadvantageously to the French cheeses I eat for lunch. I propound your cheese inferior to French perfection.
You are probably 100% correct on that. Unless it is a semi-soft or mimolette, I don't see much french cheese around here. I seldom go to Whole Paycheck very often. But they usually have a little better selection and may have some. Right now I am partial to just about any aged goat/sheep cheese and Shropshire Blue.
A friend developed an old cast iron stove factory into a eating, entertainment, and shopping venue. Some NY cheesemonger was gonna rent some space to put in a high-end cheese shop. I've only been once since he opened and it was certainly a disappointment. I need to go again to see if it has improved.
So, Mike, are there any regional foods in your area that we may not be aware of? Chuck
Nashville Hot Chicken?
As I sit in the airport awaiting the taxi ride back to the Big D I was trying to count all of the cheese steak places that we passed along the way, or heard talked about. A place called Skinny Joe's kept getting mentioned although we were nowhere near it.
A diner on the other hand cannot be passed by. My guy up here absolutely loves them and can make 3 stops a day when he sees one. He knows them all! Breakfast & lunch today were at a diner. I've had many great meals in a NE diner, and a few that were forgettable.
@Big Ry
If you love reubens or rachels, next time you're in Philly go to Hershel's in Reading Terminal Market. Its right next to DiNic's roast pork. They have the absolute best ruebens and rachels and many other deli sandwiches.
Skinny Joey's is the new cool thing. It just opened up, and its run by former mob boss Joey Merlino. I was actually just talking with my buddies about this place on Saturday during the Stanley cup playoffs. I haven't been there yet, but everyone Ive talked to says its great. Though I can't say whether or not their life was threatened to push positive reviews lol
I always forget, but this area has historically been flush with diners. Here and southern jersey are known for having diners everywhere. They are falling out of favor with the newer generation, but I grew up going to them fairly often.
Somehow I opened Phillycheesesteak barter-?!?! Was hungry for wood but nowâ
Sorry to hear. Let them eat cake.
We have had hundreds of cheese factories vanish since I was little. Don't know of any within 100 miles anymore. However, know of several Cheese-cake factories within that same drive.
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Love French cheesesâfrom ComtĂ© to Brillat Savarin, Epoisses, Reblochon, Tete de Moine, and so many others.
âA widely cited, though sometimes debated, quote attributed to Winston Churchill during World War II is that a country capable of âgiving the world 300 different cheeses cannot die.ââ
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Thatâs good.
Same here.
That's about it! and pulled pork BBQ with thin red sauce, and Moon Pies with RC Cola. When I first moved here, there were a lot of fried chicken, fried catfish, and meat-n-three restaurants. All are much harder to find now. Except for chicken tenders. I think most people under 25 exist on chicken tenders - well, and pizza. We've gotten big-time with all the new restaurants and eateries. There are like five basic kinds - ones that cater to the tourists - generally very expensive steakhouses, restaurants that claim farm to table and add truffle oil to french fries and sell them for an enormous price (lots of them around now), star-named joints (mainly on Broadway and sell mostly chicken tenders, bad hamburgers and lots of suds), chain restaurants, and finally the locally owned affordable eateries and last few meat-n-threes (the places without fanfare, but good food). There's a bunch more of them glitzy, touristy, batcheroletty, loud, loud, loud, places - the places where the teeners and 20-somethings go to because it changes their life. Nashville Hot Chicken has been around for quite a while, quietly. It was a part of the soul food scene and had a very small following. Then the young folks found it, and got popular and went mainstream. I tell ya, the originals with the hot chicken were in sketchy areas, but one place I particularly liked. Depending on the day, tt had either a fried whiting or fried catfish sandwich - the fried fish having been dipped in the hot sauce. Man, that was good, and if you got the hot - you'd be sweating out of your eyeballs and sprouting ears like Spock. Nowadays, there are so many pansies around, the typical hot chicken - ain't hot! Early on, there was one place at the end of Music Row that sold Hot Shrimp. Now, don't get me wrong, I will eat some Nashville hot chicken, but if those shrimp were around - look out - no chicken would be consumed. They closed down 20 years ago, and nobody else sells hot shrimp. The type of restaurant we do not have, but used to have in my part of Texas, was an old house out in the country that was turned into a restaurant, an affordable steakhouse, or a BBQ joint. Had some of my favorite meals in them. Around here, they generally do not exist. The last one I knew about closed last year. Their catfish was terrible, but the rest was ok.