Too Famous to Ignore: Pat’s and Geno’s

It was roughly ten months ago that I set out for South Philadelphia’s most famous intersection with the intention of eating cheesesteaks from both Pat’s and Geno’s. But not all plans come to fruition and after eating what was unquestionably the worst steak I’ve had since starting this blog at Pat’s, I couldn’t bring myself to fork over another $14 for what I feared would be another terrible one at Geno’s. 

While no other steak shop can match either place for name recognition, both are widely regarded as tourist traps by the local denizens of the social media cheesesteak groups. It would be nice to just skip them and continue to seek out the area’s top steaks at other locations. But how can one have a blog with an emphasis on cheesesteaks in the Philadelphia region and not visit Pat’s and Geno’s?

It had been my intention to make it to Geno’s at some point, and with no clear plan for where to have a cheesesteak this week, I decided late Tuesday morning – before the lunch lines materialize – would be a good time to knock them off my list. Once that happened, it was only a moment or two until the notion of having one at both places for comparison sake jumped back into my mind. It just seems like the natural thing to do – and I wanted to give Pat’s another shot. I could have just gotten unlucky last time. No steak shop is perfectly consistent.

Depending on how my appetite held up and my reaction to the first steak, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that I’d call it quits again after a single. So I started at Geno’s to make sure they’d get their due this time. 

Geno’s serves a slab style steak, meaning the meat is unchopped. It comes on an unseeded roll, and while they offer American and Provolone cheese, Whiz is the popular pick there. 

I took some flak on Facebook’s Cheesesteak Gurus board last year both for not making it to Geno’s and getting American instead of Whiz at Pat’s. I made sure to avoid at least the latter of those “mistakes” by saying the magic words – ‘Whiz Wit’ – at the order window. In one of those weird South Philly customs, there is one window for sandwiches and another for sides and drinks at both places. I had a drink with me and never get a side with a cheesesteak, so I headed straight to an open table after receiving my order.

I was surprised by how much juice dripped off the sandwich and onto the wrapper when I picked it up. There also wasn’t as much Whiz as I expected, which was a good thing. I don’t like when it oozes out onto the outside of the roll. 

And speaking of the roll, while it was softer than I prefer and not in the same league as many of the others I’ve written about, it was fresh and had a nice chew. It also worked well for this style of steak. 

The meat was fairly moist, but most of its flavor came from being mixed with the Whiz and onions while being chewed. The three ingredients came together for a solid overall taste.

After last year’s experience at Pat’s, my expectations for Tuesday’s steaks were about as low as they could get. Geno’s managed to reach them, but not with a whole lot of room to spare. If that steak from last year was flat out terrible, this one was good enough to be called mediocre. It’s a couple steps in the right direction.

On top of that, I still had enough of an appetite left to eat at least some of another steak from Pat’s. After walking across the unusually shaped intersection where three streets come together, I once again said the magic words at the sandwich window and waited approximately 30 seconds for my steak with Whiz and fried onions before grabbing a table.

The Pat’s grill chef didn’t do as well as his counterpart at Geno’s when it came to keeping the Whiz inside the roll – violating a pet peeve of mine in the process. Nonetheless, I didn’t hesitate to jump in and take a big bite.

The roll wasn’t as good as the one I had across the street. It was also soft, but had a less enjoyable chew. After a couple more bites, I was able to conclude that the meat, which gets a light chop at Pat’s, was again flavorless. It also wasn’t distributed very well, with one end of the steak having hardly any. But unlike the one I had last year, it was hot and fairly tender. At least that’s what I thought until taking what had to be one of the more unpleasant bites of a cheesesteak that I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing. I hit a section of the meat that was like rubber and only ate a little more before wrapping the rest for later. 

As bad as that bite was, overall, this Pat’s steak was unquestionably an improvement over last year’s. Yet I still didn’t think it was as good as the one from Geno’s. If that steak was mediocre and the previous one from Pat’s was flat out lousy, this one needs a label somewhere between those two adjectives. I’ll keep it simple and just go with “bad.” It’s a sad commentary when a bad cheesesteak can be viewed as progress. 

I should also mention that both times I went to Pat’s, the counter staff seemed more interested in keeping their personal conversations going than taking my order. The wait wasn’t long, but it was the principle. And if they’re going to put out a lousy product, they should at least try to partially make up for it with good customer service.

And yet people will continue to line up night after night at both Pat’s and Geno’s and they’ll still get plenty of mentions on various best-of lists. 

Don’t get suckered by the hype. Have a photo of yourself taken in front of both places, then go to Angelo’s Pizzeria or John’s Roast Pork for a great South Philly cheesesteak.