Pat's & Geno's

My trip to MD also became a trip to Philly to see Chris’ friend Andrew & his finance Melanie. I have been to Philadelphia on field trips to see a big broken bell and things like that but I’ve not been to hang out before. Melanie had to work during the day so Andrew was our tour guide. We got to see the Rocky stairs, although I’ve never seen Rocky and I thought Andrew might stop the tour right there to go watch the movie. We saw Love Park, boathouse row, and this cool junk garden.

The big tourist attraction however was Pat’s & Geno’s. Andrew told us we needed to try one of each to decide which one we liked better. Andrew even played along and wouldn’t tell us his favorite until we had decided.

We went to Pat’s first. It was busy and I knew there is a specific way to order a Philly Cheese Steak and I didn’t want to mess it up. We told Andrew what we wanted and he ordered, seemed like the best way. We then walked across the craziest intersection to Geno’s. Andrew ordered us the same thing we ordered at Pat’s. We grabbed a table covered in photos of famous people and stealthily unwrapped the Pat’s sub so no one at Geno’s could see.

First I tried Pat’s. Then I tried Geno’s. It was a really difficult decision. I had to try them both a few times before I decided.

Pat’s was pretty greasy, in fact some dripped onto my foot as we walked across the street. The meat was very tender. The bread was crunchy. I couldn’t really taste our provolone because of the slippery meat.

Geno’s wasn’t very greasy. The meat was tougher. The bread was soft. The provolone was easier to taste without as much liquid.

Chris, Andrew and I had a unanimous decision; Geno’s.

Our friend Jeff who lives in Orlando but it from Philly was appalled at our decision. He says that Geno’s is for the tourists and Pat’s is for the true Philadelphians. Maybe I’m just a tourist who doesn’t know a good cheese steak from a bad cheese steak but I do know this; that was the best lunch I’ve had in a long time.