Pat's or Geno's for cheesesteak?

[irishnyc]

Heading to Philly in 2 weeks for a ballgame, and the boy and I love to search out must have food when we travel. Please don't tell us to go elsewhere -- Pat's or Geno's it is.

Which do you prefer and why?

[phantomdoc]

I went 2 years ago. Got 4 sandwiches. 2 from Pats, 2 form Ginos. Tried all with everything One each provolone and one each with Whiz. I liked Gino with whiz.

[Quine]

I'd say go elsewhere unless you want tourist stuff,

[waynefoodie]

Both are tourist traps. John's roast pork or Tony Luke's.

If you must, Pat's has more fans, but you may be disappointed.

[Vladimir Estragon]

Of the 9,846 places in Philadelphia that you can get a cheesesteak, Pat's and Geno's may not be at the top of the list, but they sure as heck are not at the bottom. I don't know why people on this board love to dump on them, when they are way better than at least 98% of the competition. Because they're popular, I guess. As to which of the two is better, they're very close. I prefer Geno's, but only because it's cleaner.

[irishnyc]

Thanks, Vladimir. Yes, we're tourists, and hey! we want to do the tourist thing. We've only got one night free, and if tourist cheesesteak is what we want, then dammit that's what we're going to get. It's not as if I asked which Applebee's we should choose.

[Hardart]

I appreciate that, but it would not take long to drive past the neon empire of those two and park instead at Tony Luke's or Jim's Steaks, equal in ambience but superior in cheesesteakery.

If you must choose between those two, I prefer Geno's foodwise b/c they don't chop the meat as much, but despise their anti-immigrant politics -- so I vote Pat's.

[Steve]

What makes Tony Luke's superior to Pat's? I ask only because I am an infrequest visitor to Philly and I don't know if I'll ever get past ordering the roast pork at Tony Luke's.

[Hardart]

It's just generally superior, food-wise. More of a cooked-to-order, less assembly line, higher quality.

I agree on menus -- when I go to TL's, I get a chicken or veal cutlet instead of the cheese steak, but the steaks are still darn good.

[productionjon]

Personally prefer Geno's. You might also try Jim's Steaks 4th and South. It's another traditional cheesesteak spot

[jodik]

I love Jim's! That's my favorite. Whiz wit, a bag of wise chips and soda.

[janeer]

Both are good. I like Pat's. They are NOT tourist traps. John's roast pork is great, Tony Luke's ok. Jim's not as good as Pat's or Geno's, in my opinion.
www.littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com

[mitchh]

I would definitely choose Pat's over Geno's. However, if you are looking for the "tourist" cheesteak I would go to Jim's.

The difference between Jim's and the other two is that Jim's chops up their meat while the other two do not (not to mention that you can get a beer at Jim's as well). My personal preference is the chopped meat, while I am guessing that Janeer prefers the other.

[janeer]

It's the roll/meat proportion I like at Pat's--and their roll itself. I do see your point about the beer--and agree that Jim's is the true tourist place, right on South St, always jumping.
I must confess I have been known to eat at Geno's and then cross for another at Pat's...Those recommending both are right.
www.littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com

[strutter billy]

I say Geno's and get a beer at Ray's.

[jzerocsk]

Why choose? They are right across the street from each other - sample both!

[dream_of_giusti]

I agree, choose both. Why choose one based on others' opinions? As a kid, whenever my great-aunt came to Philly she had to have Pat's. It was the highlight of the summer, half the family went to Geno's and half went to Pat's. I loved being able to get both cheesesteaks (I've always eaten two). I will say Pat's fries are great. I hope you enjoy your tourist adventure.

[QueenB]

I second (or third) this.
One of you get in line at Geno's, the other at Pat's. Order your cheesesteaks, then sample both. Since they're in such close proximity, this is easy to do.
Then you can make your own decisions on which is better!
Hey, if you want to come to Philly and have Geno's and/or Pat's, I say go for it. It's your trip, not anyone else's.

[OlderPhiladelphian]

Asking about Pats or Genos is not like asking about which Applebees. It is asking Applebees or Ruby Tuesday. Both are awful. I wonder why tourists insist on asking this question?

[mazza3]

because they don't have our advantage of being in the know. the curse of knowledge if you will. but hey, at least they are starting somewhere!

there are many better spots in philly, but if i were you i would try one from each. geno has better cheesefries IMO though (bith are covered in wiz)...i used to prefer geno's when i was younger, now i prefer pat's, but i still like both of them.

[KOK]

Hi Irish,

I will agree with the poster who said go to both. They are indeed right across the street from each other. Split one or two at Pat's and one or two at Geno's. I prefer Pat's over Geno's, "wiz with" (cheese wiz with onions) at both.

I've had cheesesteaks I like better in Philly but I've had many worse down here in Marylannd. I've never been sorry I went to Pat's/Geno's on any Philly trip and those who don't like them should simply not go.

Thanks,

Kevin

[mitchh]

I agree with you completely about those that say don't go to either Pat's or Geno's. I have had considerably worse cheesesteaks in places in the Philadelphia area and none of those places have the "ambiance" (if you can use that word when describing Pat's or Geno's) that Pat's and Geno's have.

Janeer, I can understand your point about portion size. I can honestly say that when I go to Jim's I dp get extra meat and extra cheese. But I definitely preferred the chopped version of a cheesesteak rather than Pat's/Geno's sliced.

I too must confess about having one at each place (but since I like Pat's better, I just get two there).

[SarahEats]

Friends of ours from GA were visiting a few weeks ago and wanted to visit Pat's and Geno's just to take photos. Once they got there they realized they were kinda hungry so they got a cheesesteak at each place and split it so they each only had one full steak. For comparison purposes they agreed they liked Geno's better.

[Den]

Check out this site for chow sites in Philly

www.hollyeats.com

[travlnmike]

if forced to choose between pats or genos i would eat at genos,but i second the suggestion earlier to have a cheesteak at john's roast pork or tony lukes.I was back up in philly recently and had the cheesteak "wit"also with greens and sharp provolone that was far superior to either pats or geno's at tony lukes.Get off the beaten path and be rewarded with superior product.(although at john's i liked the roast pork with greens and sharp provolone even better than his cheesteak.I had one of each just to make sure!)

[Delucacheesemonger]

To make your life more difficult, next time get that combo with the beef, and drown it
you may never go back

[travlnmike]

tony lukes is closer to the ballpark.Far superior to pats or genos(but i would take genos over pats if those are your only choices).Order the old italian with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe "wit".Only place that comes close is johns roast pork whose cheesteak is good as well(but whose roast pork and sharp provolone and greens is superior).We ate at tony lukes before the baseball game(unfortunately the phils lost to arizona ).There is even a tony lukes at the ballpark,.but i dont know if the quality is the same as the original location.

[lowrydr310]

The guy who runs that site highly recommends Campo's and gave it one of his highest ratings. On my quest for great cheesesteaks I decided to try it and I was disappointed. Geno's was actually better - Campo's used too much cheese that had a sour flavor and dominated the sandwich. I couldn't taste the beef! Geno's isn't bad at all, especially for someone who is visiting Philly. I prefer them over Pat's.

The best cheesesteaks I've ever had are from a little market near West Chester where they slice the beef fresh for each order, but that's not going to help someone visiting Philadelphia.

[mitchh]

Campo's was just featured on Road Tasted. I'd had not heard of it, but after seeing it, I was honestly not very impressed with what I saw and don't think that I will go out of my way to go there.

I'm in the minority in that I don't like Tony Luke's one bit. I think it's the roll that kills it for me. IMO their rolls overpower the sandwich.

[Steve]

So please tell me about this market....

[clim212]

Pat's all the way with the fake cheese whiz.

[ched]

clim, I think you mean GENUINE Cheese Whiz brand cheese flavored product

[Pool Boy]

I don't really like either place, but I guess I'd say Pat's, but it's really a toss up. I'd likely suggest a pizza steak instead of a pure steak as I think they both do those a tad better than a plain cheesesteak. What was interesting was that when I have done comparison tours that included both of these places plus some other much better off the beaten path places, one thing that I noticed about both Pat's & Geno's -- they are very light on the meat. Yes, we brought a scale and weighed the cheesesteaks from each place to see what we got. Both Pat's and Geno's weighed in from 7 to 8 ounces while other places weighed in from usually over 10 ounces (one place was over 14!).

www.roguefood.com

[Boognish]

I'd say that your most important consideration is time of day: you need to go when it's crowded so the meat doesn't sit on the grill and get all hard and dried out. I've brought friends from out of town to Geno's for a steak around 10 am, and it was TERRIBLE. And yet, I've been there at peak hours and had a nice moist delicious steak.

I think you asked a simple question, so I can't understand why these people have a problem giving you a simple answer. While I don't go to either, it's kinda fun to do a slightly touristy thing sometimes. Good ambience there, and it's close to the Italian Market. But ar you trying to tell me that all those folks lined up around the block at 2am on a Saturday are tourists? Neither Pat's nor Geno's could survive on tourists alone.

[irishnyc]

Boy was I surprised to see this at the top of the posts today!

Boognish, I couldn't agree more about getting a simple answer. If anyone was coming to NYC and asked such a simple question, I wouldn't steer them in a completely different direction!

Anyway... we ended up going to Pat's after a great cabbie said that was his favorite, and that people tend to choose Geno's because of all the neon. I got Cheeze Whiz Wit, and the boy got provolone wit out. My steak was delicious, his, not so much -- he said is wasn't cheesey enough. We got them to go and cabbed about 10 minutes back to our hotel with them, and we were really happy to see that the bread hadn't gotten soggy, the meat was still warm, the cheese whiz on my steak sufficiently mixed with the meat. (The fries were fantastic, and I don't really like fries.) The onions could have been a little more done for my taste, but it was really busy when we went -- 9pm on a Saturday night, 10 by the time we ordered. Worth an hour wait? Probably not, but I'd also say that an hour wait for pizza at Grimaldi's, DiFara's, or any of the other places often asked about on the NY boards isn't worth an hour+ wait either, but I'd never steer someone looking for the experience away from it.

[burghgirl]

"Boognish, I couldn't agree more about getting a simple answer. If anyone was coming to NYC and asked such a simple question, I wouldn't steer them in a completely different direction!"

Oops, sorry, I didn't read your question all the way through. Glad you enjoyed the experience.

[Pool Boy]

Um, Grimaldi's *is* worth the wait. So is DiFara's if it ever reopens.

If you ever find yourself in Philadelphia again with a car, head to Steve's Prince of Steaks. My personal favorite.

www.roguefood.com

[MiscDebris]

What you were not GETTING was noone was steering you away from something...you had already made up your mind anyway.
The EXPERIENCE is not a GOOD...AUTHENTIC cheesesteak..it was the physicla attraction and visitation of going to pats and genos specifically like you saw on tv or read about....not the less descript locations that have AWESOME cheesesteaks that might have made you TEAR inot them in the cab or before....
WHICH I might add was a major mistake at least for the provolone...by the time you got back to the room the conjealed prov was NOT as good as it was 15 minutes at least earlier...P & G DEF. meant to eaten right there best.....NO steak is as good taken away...bend bite nad drip...no matter where you are...or sit and drip....

If I come to NY I don't want you to send me to Taco Bell...hook me up with a REAL mexican/Latin joint....no glitz...No neon...no board walk if needed jsut the best slice of pizza...

I don't care..I know what to eat...

[irishnyc]

Rather silly of you to rant about this two years later, hmmm?

If you were coming to NYC and asked "Which should I go to, A or B?" I wouldn't send you to C, D, or E. I'd answer the question you asked.. just as I stated TWO years ago. End of story.

[Mawrter]

That's how I feel about onions, too. I try to remember to order them *well* cooked. I made cheesesteaks at home this evening and ran out of onions (!) so instead cooked my shallots until well done. Our whole sandwich was an exercise in (delicious) deviance: sesame semolina bread, lettuce from the garden, shaved Locatelli... nothing like either P or G.

When my high school friends got their first apartment, it was in South Philly & we did the obligatory P & G order, and inhaled them for comparison back at their new place. Of course you have to!

[burghgirl]

If you want a good old fashioned, traditional Philly cheesesteak, Jim's is the best IMO...cheapest too as I recall.

Can't recall if it was Geno's or Pat's that we used to call the "cheesesteak nazi"...there's a sign stating you must order by number, you're not allowed to order by ingredients. When a friend missed the sign and started ordering wrong, she was greeted by a loud "Can't you READ??" from the cook.

[peachacid]

I like Geno's with American cheese and no onions, and I also like Pat's the same way...Geno's beef is sliced more thickly, making the sandwich a little less juicy and runny. HOWEVER, I like my cheesesteak with ketchup, and Geno's uses Heinz while Pat's has Huntz. Clearly, there is only one option: Heinz.

[LikeTheWolf]

I tried Pat's and was disappointed. Got the whiz wit and should have gotten witout. The onions made the bread water soggy ruining the sandwich. The bread and cheese was delicious. Steak itself was unremarkable. I still enjoyed the experience and crossed off another on my to eat list.

A couple years ago also visited Philly and had way better cheese steak sandwiches out of a truck across from the liberty bell.

Likethewolf from Toronto

[matt29b]

My wife and i recently checked out Geno's and Pat's. Pat's was garbage. Geno's was better in my opinion. It was close mind you. I still think you can find a way better cheesesteak in Trenton or many other places in the Delaware Valley. I guess this is just a tourist trap.

[phrankguy1]

I have also done the comparison between Pats and Geno's. I liked Geno's much better. I recently tried Jim's while I was in town and was very very unimpressed and wished I had gone to Genos'.

[MiscDebris]

I love the origianl post says don't tell us to go elsewhere...but they don't know where to go.....

I still can't figure out and how a Philadlephian eats Pat's or Geno's!!!
Imean, it's better than a steak you get at a diner or (well maybe not) or in a high school cafeteria..but

PAT'S and GENO'S SUCKS!!!!

worst in the city....

BIGGEST HYPE in the world.....

if you have to eat the big boys Tony Lukes is the big name to eat and at that his steaks have gottne that mass produced kinda edge but they are still real steaks...

the whole WHIZ crap is....crap....you might LIKE it..and that is COOL...but a standarad cheesesteak from one of the 8,00 places you can get one is American!!!!
bottom line.....
I SOO want to pull the plug on these dumb ass tv shows and celebrities throwin' P&G and Cheese Whiz up as a Cheesesteak...

Tony Lukes does the soecial with raab and sharp--good...and the pork sandwich is good...

HOWEVER -

HAving been to most neighborhoods and had more than my share of cheesesteaks.....HANDS DOWN...
CHINKS has the BEST still to this day....Chinks is on Torresdale Ave in the northeast...Wissinoming.....THE BEST...really...no reason to claim this other than the truth....

I moved away from the area na dfound Pudges in Blue Bell area...they are good...the next best thing..pretty damn good sandwiches....worht driving if your only other choice is crap's or crapo's wit whiz and you GOTTA speak in english (yeah, casue I hear soooo many people coming up and yelling foreign languages at the window trying to order a steak....even though I agree everyone that wants to LIVE here should learn the language) -

CHINKS
CHINKS

Say no to Whiz, Pats' & Geno's....