Will a New Steak Shop Live Up to Its Hype?

For this week’s cheesesteak I visited a South Philadelphia sandwich shop that opened just a few months ago with high expectations driven by local media coverage. Nipotina received the spotlight due in large part to its owners having already achieved notoriety with popular pizza and burger-centered restaurants. The question was whether they could make a similar mark with long-roll sandwiches in a city that has plenty of stiff competition in that department. 

My thoughts were on answering that question as I drove toward the city for an early lunch Thursday. After missing my exit and having to take a longer-than-desired route through South Philly’s narrow streets, I still managed to arrive early enough to beat the lunch crowd.

The menu featured a nice array of beef and chicken cheesesteaks, cutlets, hoagies and a few other hot sandwiches. They also offer an every-day lunch special that includes any sandwich on the menu and a drink or side. I went in that direction and chose ‘The Eye,’ which happens to be my standard order of a steak with Cooper Sharp cheese and fried onions. I requested it with the optional seeded roll and opted for a Hank’s black cherry Wishniak – a storied soda flavor in the Philly region – to wash it down.  

While eating on site, I also ordered a cutlet sandwich to go for my wife. She requested ‘The Nad’ minus the prosciutto. 

Nipotina has an interior that is both nicer and roomier than the typical South Philly sandwich shop, making the relatively short wait for my lunch a pleasant one. Yet my mood was lifted to an even higher level when I got my first look at the steak.

They use Liscio’s seeded rolls. As I’ve said in past posts, they are a bit softer than I prefer, but they are generally fresh and get the job done nicely – as was the case with this one. 

Although I was happy with the overall amount of Cooper Sharp that was on there, it could have been distributed a little more evenly. Most of the bites were good as far as meat-to-cheese ratio, but there were a few with too much cheese. That was a shame because it interfered with my enjoyment of what was unquestionably the star of this cheesesteak – the meat.

There appeared to be about three-quarters of a pound of ribeye on my steak, and the grill chef chopped it a bit more coarsely than I generally see at most places. That made for a more enjoyable chew and enabled me to better appreciate the meat’s high quality. It was exceptionally tender in addition to being juicy and nicely seasoned. 

With the exception of the small portion of the steak that had too much cheese, this sandwich was a joy to eat – again, in large part due to how tender and flavorful the beef was. 

And on the strength of that wonderful pile of ribeye, Nipotina will get consideration when I revise my list of the Philly region’s best cheesesteaks later this year. 

As previously mentioned, I also brought home a chicken cutlet sandwich for my wife. While she skipped the prosciutto, the cutlet was still topped with fresh Mozzarella, arugula and Mike’s Hot Honey. It came on the default Liscio’s seedless roll. 

Unfortunately, it was wrapped long enough before I arrived back home to not be at its best from a photogenic standpoint. Nonetheless, my wife enjoyed the sandwich very much and singled out the hot honey for elevating it.

So Nipotina lived up to the hype. It was also nice to get to a section of South Philadelphia that was new to me. Hopefully I’ll return at some point to sample more of their menu.