Back on the Cheesesteak Trail

At least for blogging purposes, I’ve left the kitchen for the time-being and returned to more familiar territory – the steak shop circuit. It had been two weeks since my last cheesesteak going into Wednesday’s lunch. 

That’s when I made the 20-minute drive over to Wolf’s Superior Sandwiches in Aston, PA. The steak I ate there last year was as good as any I’ve had in Delaware County. It was also one of the honorable mentions on my top ten list.

Wolf’s is part of a garden-variety suburban shopping center in a busy commercial section of Aston, which is in southwestern Delco. 

The interior is fairly standard for a Philly-region sandwich shop, with sports and mafia film references on the walls, an ordering counter up front and a few tables in addition to a counter and stools by the window for those eating there, as I did. 

They have an unusually large and at times eccentric menu. I only photographed the sandwich portion of it. They also have appetizers and pizza.

Whenever possible, I try to get to the shops I write about before their lunch rush begins. It’s easier to take interior photos when a place isn’t busy and I figure the grill chef can give more attention to each sandwich when he or she is less swamped by orders. But circumstances beyond my control made that impossible Wednesday and I arrived at Wolf’s around 12:45 p.m. 

While there was only one other customer eating on site during my visit, they were was also getting hit with a steady stream of takeout, phone and online orders. So the small staff was busy and it took a little longer than usual for my sandwich to arrive. But the wait wasn’t extreme, especially given that I didn’t place the order until arriving. 

Although Wolf’s standard steak roll is seedless and from Aversa’s Italian Bakery, they also offer a seeded Sarcone’s roll for an extra charge. As I’ve said before, I’ll never hesitate to pay a little extra for a seeded roll, especially when it’s from Sarcone’s Italian Bakery. This is the roll that I ranked third when I put out a top five list last year.

The crust was gloriously chewy, while the flavor was more potent than is typical of sandwich rolls. 

My first Wolf’s cheesesteak included 12 ounces of chopped meat. There appeared to be less on the one I had Wednesday. I would guess it was in the 8-10 ounce range. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising if inflation and the rise in meat prices over the past year played a role in that.

However, while the decrease in meat would unquestionably bother a lot of steak lovers, I wasn’t overly troubled. If the beef is juicy and well-seasoned, anywhere in the 8-12 ounce range works well for me. And the meat on this cheesesteak easily met both of those requirements. 

I have complained about an excess of cheese on steaks more often than I have about there not being enough. But in this case, there could have been just a little more Cooper Sharp on there. Many of those who post about cheesesteaks in the various online steak groups will want to request extra cheese if they visit Wolf’s. But as was the case with the meat, it wasn’t a serious issue for me. I still enjoyed the overall flavor and texture of the sandwich very much. 

Overall, I would probably rate the cheesesteak I ate at Wolf’s last year slightly higher than the one I had this week. Yet they’ll still receive consideration when I expand my best-of list to a top 20 this coming fall.