Gourmet magazine rates cheesesteak shops

This month’s issue of Gourmet magazine rated the best cheesesteaks in Philly, and as someone who grew up in the area I was particularly interested. They profiled five shops, none downtown, leaving the most famous shops off, but including my single favorite steak shop, Dalessandro’s.

To be fair, your favorite shops are often influenced by your preferred type of steak. My preference is thinly chopped steak, provolone for the cheese, translucent onions and mushrooms. Hand’s down, Dalessandro’s does that the best, and they serve heaping portions onto crisp Amoroso rolls. Plus, the shop’s feel is frankly awesome with a mix of kids in sports uniforms and construction workers crammed into a 25by5 space, all waiting for one of 8 counter stools or for their name to be called for takeout. Dalessandro’s has won the Best of Philly award for cheesesteaks a few times previously and they deserve to continue that tradition.

On the flip side are the most famous steak shops, Pat’s and Geno’s. Although everyone imagines cheesesteaks to be enormous creations, not all places serve them so large, like Pat’s and Geno’s. Their beef is served as long strips (which simply isn’t as flavorful), their main cheese is whiz, and you order and eat them outside. They may have distinctive neon signs, but they serve tourist quality steaks – why any Philadelphian goes there I have no idea.

But anyway, Gourmet certainly got it right with Dalessandro’s as well as Mama’s Pizzeria, a place that proves good steaks can also be made in the burbs. The only shop I’d add to their list is Jim’s Steaks, a great example of where a “celebrity cheesesteak” can actually live up to its hype. Spend 30 minutes waiting in the long snaking line at 3 am at Jim’s on South Street absorbing the fame, character, and delicious meat and cheese smells and you’ll understand why it’s so revered.

Read the whole Gourmet article here.