I’ve got a rather laid-back schedule here in Philadelphia, and I took advantage of it this morning — I took a little walkabout around the neighborhood. Unless you’re from Los Angeles, cities are great places for walking, and it was very pleasant to idle along.
Then, of course, I was required to get lunch at a truck. And, of course, I had a cheesesteak. Wow. They only make these greasy confections right in this particular city, I’ve found: onions and peppers and chopped beef all fried together and slathered onto a slightly chewy roll, with a little cheez-whiz and ketchup (not mustard, Sidaway — you’ll catch me putting mustard on a cheesesteak on the day you put ambergris on your spotted dick). It is to die for, and you can’t have too many or you will die.
The rest of my afternoon is going to be spent tweaking my talk, then off to have tea with graduate students and Janet Browne — you are allowed to be jealous — then to Browne’s talk and Drinking Skeptically. It’s going to get a bit busier the rest of the day.
I bet you put ketchup on hotdogs too.
BLASPHEMY
You should really check out Morimoto (723 Chestnut) while you’re there, if you have the time. The ambiance may not be to your liking, but the food is to die for. (Omakase or bust! Hehe…)
Plus, how many times do you get to eat food designed and quite possible prepared by an Iron Chef? ;-) Especially the awesome one.
(Though I’ve always had a place in my heart for Sakai…)
Putting whale head juice on a dish whose name evokes venereal disease and which is also British — gee, thanks, I hadn’t yet lost my appetite today.
A base canard! There are some great neighborhoods to walk in Los Angeles. You just have to know where. I would suggest Downtown around the central library, Westwood, Museum Row on Whilshire Blvd and long stretches of Ventura Blvd. Not to mention a number of near by cities like Santa Monica and Pasadena.
Enjoy your cheessteak sandwich and Drinking Skeptically.
Last time I was in Philadelphia, the tourist magazine in the hotel rated Philly Cheesesteaks from 30 or so eateries. They used clog arteries to describe how good a particular cheesesteak was. Four clog arteries were the best, and these were often found at smaller bars and grills.
Dammit, PZ–now I want a good cheesesteak. And there is nowhere to get one here in St. Louis.
Natasha, there may be neighborhoods in LA that you can walk around, but walking cannot be considered a useful means for getting around LA. Philly is a wonderfully compact city in which you can often opt to walk from place to place as a primary mode of transportation.
Actually, you can get a pretty good cheesesteak built in just such a manner here in New York City.
Try Carl’s Steaks or 99 Miles to Philly if you’re interested. Generally, Carl’s is better but they’re both good.
Yes, it’s true.
Cue screams of blasphemy now…
The cheesesteak may be the best known Philly comestible, but you can get a tripe sandwich at George’s in the 9th St Italian Market that blows it out of the water.
Funny. A foodie friend of mine originally from the area was just telling me about that place.
Some Philadelphia expats have opened 2 Philly Cheese Steak joints in rural NW California (Eureka and Arcata). They’re the real thing.
Rev., has your friend ever told you about the roast pork sandwiches with provolone and broccoli rabe? If you’re skeeved out by eating offal, that’s the way to go.
Hey PZ,
Where did you find the truck? The Trucks on Drexel’s Campus (Ludlow St between 31st and 32nd, next to the Main building) are some of the better ones in University City. Besides they’re in the heart of Geek central.
Also, as a life long Philly Resident, my favorite Cheese Steak is with American cheese, Fried Onions, and Mayo. yes Mayo, it takes the greasy to a hole other level.
Steaks from the street vendors are the best. You should also try some Taylor Ham, also known as Pork Roll. Best for a breakfast sandwich IMHO.
Yes, but what about the best hoagie? Chick’s?
And what’s the best place for those pork/provolone/broccoli rabe sandwiches? I heard about them a while back but forgot the name of the place that was supposed to be the best.
I love Philadelphia! I grew up in Harrisburg and saw Philadelphia as the big city even though I lived in the capital. I haven’t been there in years, I’m sorry to say. Once when I was a child, I ate at a Horn & Hardardts (sp?) where you could pick your food from little windows that would open when you put enough coins in the slot. It was very hi-tech in the sixties.
I’m far from skeeved by Ofal. Hesitant occasionally, but not skeeved.
But yeah she did tell me that that place is a little hole in the wall with the best sandwiches in town. Mentioned something about the veal sammies, the pork sammies and the sausage sammies.
makes me want to go. I love little hole in the wall places. In the south that’s where you find the best BBQ in cities it’s where some of the best ethnic food is..
minimalist@14
Tony Luke’s is the name that pops up most frequently.
Maybe a little late, and nothing to add to the Cheese steak controversy, but if you have a few hours in Philly, PZ, you should check the Mutter Museum.
http://www.collphyphil.org/mutter.asp
FYI, as an Angeleno, I feel that walking in this city is also extremely awesome for the following reasons:
#1. Fewer people on the sidewalk means less bustle.
#2. So many awesome shops and things that you miss as you drive.
#3. It’s never too cold for shorts.
#4. As an addendum to #3, it’s also never too cold for attractive women to show off.
#4 should really be #1.
Never been to Philly… I do like a good cheese steak though. Although I guess according to some I have never had a good one if I have never been.
I was in Philly myself yesterday and almost decided to stop by your talk, but wasn’t sure if it required student id or tickets.
Glad you’re getting a chance to relax a bit, old bean.
Tripe sandwiches? Only had tripe once – in Florence (I gathered it was local speciality) – since I didn’t get around to get a ticket for conference banquet. Ironically enough the place I ended up eating was right next to the castle where the banquet was held.
Ah well – the wee piano recital I went to afterwards was very nice.
The sound of GOD being let out of the “Pubbies”:
Brought to you by Kathleen Parker…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111802886.html?nav=hcmodule
OT to this thread, but I’m sure on topic for most here.
Yum! Cheesesteaks!
A friend’s mom used to work at a little joint called Cromer’s Soul on a Roll here in Lansing MI. The Soul on a Roll was a cheese steak sandwich. Delicious. Unfortunately the place closed down a number of years ago but luckily for me I still get a call when she makes up a batch of sandwiches.
Hmmm, tripe sandwiches… I have a friend who’s wife is doing her residency in Philadelphia. I will have to make the drive east to sample both an authentic Philly cheesesteak and menudo on a bun.
One word: Scrapple!!!!
Lana said
As someone who was born and grew up in Philadelphia, I remember the Horn and Hardart’s “automats” vividly. They had the best Phildelphia “cinnamon buns” too. We used to take them as gifts to our New York cousins.
Some years ago I was in D.C. at the Smithsonian Museum of American History eating in their cafeteria, and I needed something to drink. Along one side of the cafeteria was a wall of automat windows. I headed for them to fill my cup — only to find that it was an historical display, not still in use! It was from the 8th and Chestnut automat where I had eaten many times.
Other foods Philadelphia foods include the big soft pretzels (descended from South German pretzels but eaten with yellow mustard). Not the same as the ones sold in other cities.
I like Jim’s on 4th and south, Ishkabibbles also on south street, there’s a veggie place at broad and south that makes a good cheese steak (despite not using any meat) and there are several lunch trucks that make good ones. There is one in front of the vet school at upenn that is really good. Personally, though Pat’s and Geno’s get all the press, they aren’t that good. In fact, they’re pretty subpar to mediocre.
Maybe i’ll drag my ass out to Drinking Skeptically, it is only 5 blocks away.
Ask for a strawberry phosphate.
Watch out, the cheesesteaks are how Jonathan Wells got started. They clogged up his cerebral arteries…now he sees design everywhere.
Noooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww you’re talkin’
Some friends of mine in Telluride made a move called Scrapple.
It’s not about the pork mush though. :)
Pete’s Lunch Truck (34th just north of market) is my favorite in U City. I am completely biased as they fed me through Drexel Undergrad for 5 years. Even though Pete left like 6 years ago, they’re still the best. Roast pork from John’s down on Snyder and Front is probably the best thing in the city though.
I really like your arriving post. I go through 30th st all the time when coming home from visiting family in the south. 30th St Station is my favorite place to sit in the city sometimes. A very different experience than Union Stations in DC and NYC.
Cheesesteak from a truck? Good call!
Cheesesteak with cheez-whiz? Bad call!
Now, a cheesesteak with provolone and pizza sauce… GRRRRRRRRRREAT call!
I’ve found that Philly is also one of the greats when it comes to pizza…
If I’m ever in Philly I’ll just have to try a cheesesteak. I’ll bring some real cheese, though (cheese whizz? good grief!), and perhaps a smidgeon of dijon mustard.
Cheesesteak with ketcup? Oh no!
Take back some Tastykakes with you too!
Damn you all to Hell!
You are making me hungry
For food I can’t get!
Ha! That was hilarious! We all know mustard in fact belongs on EVERYTHING. Now that you’ve succeeded in making me hungry, I’m off to get a burrito.
I’m so lame.
I lived in Philly for 10+ years and miss it.
I’ve lived outside of Philly for the past 15+ years and hardly go into the city.
I can see myself on my deathbed not converting, but wishing I spent more time in the city.
Ah, those Philly cheesesteaks! Every time I’ve been in Philadelphia, which is many, as it is one of my favorite cities, I’ve eaten at Pat’s, Geno’s, Steve’s Prince Of Steaks, and several of the lesser known places, and if I was there for a week or longer I had one every day! To try and counter the cholesterol bashing, I would walk from my hotel in Center City to these joints and then back again to the hotel each time I had one. The walking was beneficial but I doubt if it affected my cholesterol level. My last visit was last year and I don’t think it has gone down one notch! Better to be afflicted with the results of good eating than with the mental ravishes of religion. A great city, and try to see as much as you can, and warm regards to Janet Browne.
I have one word for you, goetta, not really philly but so what.
Dang sorry I’m missing seeing you in Philly. We have a crazy schedule this week with Mr. Geeky out of town.
We have our own local cheesesteak place here in the burbs and I love it. It rivals anything you can get in the city. Next time you’re over this way, we’ll have to get cheesesteak and beer together.
Sadly, even though you’ll be just a few blocks from my house (once owned by one B. Franklin, printer), I won’t be able to join you for Drinking Skeptically as I currently have the mother of all colds and don’t wish to spread it among a bunch of freethinkers. Fundies, on the other hand…
Mustard does suck it big time.
Talking of fussy eaters, PZ’s mustard aversion reminds me that in Europe the Dutch practice is to serve french fries with mayonnaise, which some British people affect to find disgusting.
I’m not a great fan of french fries myself, but as the British habit is to smother them in salt and drown them in vinegar, I don’t think they’re in any position to look askance at the Dutch.
Sir, What sort of savage are you?
Heretic! Burn him!
I’m the Torquemada of the One True Church of Colman’s English Mustard. That stale slop, pre-prepared “wet” mustard of the kind that comes in jars or tubes, is an abomination.
Depends on the mustard, of course.
Years ago when I was a good christian in Kentucky, I had some goetta. Haven’t seen a scrap of it since.
Pepper pot soup (the tripe version, not the Jamaican pork abomination) is my favorite Philadelphia food.
I’d join a religion that made Cheez-Whiz a sin.
Man I miss cheese steaks. I ordered a “Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich” at one of the places down here in Texas. I wasn’t even expecting anything great, only mediocre, and I was still disappointed – it was served on two pieces of white bread. You can’t even make good cheese steaks at home here since you can’t find any good rolls.
I was up in Pittsburgh the other weekend and found some scrapple (it gets harder to find the further you get from Lancaster county). I think I miss that more than cheese steaks.
Pat,s at 9th and Passayunk in So. Phila. Cheesteak with grilled peppers and onions. No ketchup, mustard, mayo or anything else best eaten on a chilly night.
I like Philadelphia (from brief visits in 2000) but my friend who lives in the region doesn’t like it. Something about gunfire in the street one time.
All I know about Philly is
1) if you’re there with PZ Myers, don’t put mustard on your cheesesteak.
2) “I see dead people.”
DONT GO TO PAT’S, unless drunk, they are overrated.
Sonny’s Steaks between 2nd and 3rd on Market. Besides Jim’s on South, they are the best in Center City. And if you make it into the burbs around Bala Cynwyd Mama’s Pizza on Belmont Ave. has a great tasting steak that is so huge if you eat one for lunch you can forget about dinner.
Utz’s potato chips.
Tastykakes.
Ma’s rootbeer.
Cheesesteaks FUCK YEAH.
Pepper slaw.
Scrapple.
Anything at all from anywhere at all in the Italian Market.
Chocolate-covered pretzels–the real thing, not those disgusting little twisted turds in a bag. And pretzels with your ice cream, any time you have ice cream.
Shoo fly pie!
Real coleslaw, not that stuff with mayo in it.
Chicken pot pie. Not the kind with crust; the kind with homemade fat noodles. With vinegar as a condiment.
Schnitz un Knepp! I bet you can find some.
Blue crab.
Lebanon bologna!
But not Irish coffee. Many years ago I went back there for a visit and ordered an Irish coffee in some trendy spot in, oh, I forget. It came in a big stemmed beerglass with whipped cream and green sprinkles on top. Abomination!
Pat’s lunch truck does have awesome steaks and any foray to South Street would be amply rewarded at either Jim’s or Ishkabibbles. Most of the pizza places in Center City offer up a fine steak, just don’t order the pizza. Greek pizza is awful.
Atlanta sort of sucks, too – homeless people asking you for money every block or two. Plus, everybody leaves town for the suburbs once the sun goes down.
So I only recently learned that tastykake is only a philly-area thing. Everyone else has no idea what they’re missing. oh man, those butterscotch krimpets are the best.
Between that and the cheesesteaks and the pretzels… I hate cities but I just love cheap philly food.
Julie in #58″ The natural range of Tastykakes has spread at least as far as northern Florida, AFAIK; I don’t know how far west. And yeah, butterscotch krimpets, and chocolate cupcakes, gimme some NOW.
Cheesesteaks with ketchup? Mayo? Wow, talk about godless heathens!
Look, “pizza sauce” – or much, much better, a combination of the juices from the fried meat and onions with not-too-much tomato sauce – drizzled over top of a Philly steak sandwich is IT, man, and naught else need apply. (Gimme some sliced hot cherry peppers and a side of pierogies, and we are talkin’ Nirvana. Near where I live in Pennsylvania, that can be found at a place called the Brass Rail. BTW, they ship pretty much anywhere if you wonder what you’re missing. Oh, and Tastykake ships, too. Krimpets and chocolate cup cakes are wonderful, but surely the Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes rate a mention as well?)
Three comments after scanning this thread:
1. Isn’t Cuttlefish haiku (@35) a variety of sushi?
2. Tony (@43): Maybe it’s the conversation we’ve been having about colloquial insults over in the Spineless thread, but I had to read this — “Talking of fussy eaters, …” — twice to be sure what you were saying! ;^)
3. I hereby declare myself a Mustard Slut: I love the stuff in every variety and variation, from the lowliest store-brand yellow to the fanciest foodie chow.1 Ketchup, OTOH, sucks donkey ass.
1 Hey, can anybody tell me where I can buy Chinese mustard that actually tastes like the stuff on the table at Chinese restaurants?
I moved from Philly to L.A. in ’99. When I called Pac Bell to get the phone turned on in my new apartment, the rep said, on hearing that I was from Philly, “I have to warn you- you cannot get a decent cheessesteak out here”. He was right.
For a while I had a job in West Hollywood and found a place right down the street on Santa Monica called the “Philly Steak Stop”. They almost had it right- the meat was correct, the fried onions were right, the cheese was right- but the bread was all wrong.
If it isn’t on an Amoroso’s roll, it isn’t a cheesesteak! I’ve heard rumors of some place in Beverly Hills that has Amoroso’s rolls flown in for their steaks, but have never confirmed this by observation.
And I do miss scrapple, which is nonexistent in CA. About the best we have to offer in the way of “stuff to eat for breakfast made out of pig parts which should not be too closely inquired into ” is chorizo.
BTW, Tastykake has a Web site where you can order all sorts of goodies. I have a friend back East who occasionally sends me a Care package of fruit pies.
this is a disclaimer: I haven’t been to Pat’s (or philadelphia) sice I moved to Denver in 1969. And yes I was usually drunk when I went there. However; I will be in philly july 09 and what I’d really like is the best hoagies (here they call them “subs” can you believe that!) which I actually like better than cheesesteaks especially in July in philadelphia (barf). Agreement also on Utz’ anything and butterscotch krimpets.
My partner and I visited Philadelphia for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it. Pat’s King of Steaks has great Philly cheesesteak. I had mine “wit” (onions) and with provolone. Also loved Reading Terminal Market. Food paradise. Awesome beer, too, at Monk’s and Eulogy and Benelux Tasting Room. Urp.
So, how was Drinking Skeptically? Were there many Phact members there? I wanted to go but I was busy.