A Tie-Breaking Steak at an Old Favorite

For my final cheesesteak before posting the long promised top 20 list, I revisited Steve’s Prince of Steaks in Northeast Philadelphia. They served my favorite steaks years before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye. When I went back there for the first time in ages last year, it was every bit as good as I remembered and I ranked them fifth on my initial top ten list. 

Yet my return visit to Steve’s earlier this year didn’t go nearly as well, with the steak being a major disappointment. Had I left it at that, they’d have had no shot at making this year’s list. But I didn’t want to write off a long-time favorite after one bad experience. So the steak I had there Friday was a sort of tie-breaker to determine where they stand. 

As usual, I arrived early enough to beat the lunch rush.

Steve’s is known for serving a unique style of slab – or unchopped – steak. Rather than the usual bun-length pieces of meat, they use smaller pieces and pile them onto the roll. Whiz is the most popular cheese option there and that’s what I went for along with fried onions. 

It didn’t take long for my order to be called out. I grabbed a stool and ate the steak at the long counter that runs along the walls at Steve’s. 

The first thing that jumped out at me about this steak was its size. If memory serves me, Steve’s steaks used to be slightly smaller than average. But this one looked and felt considerably bigger than I was anticipating – both in terms of the length of the roll and the amount of meat on it. 

The roll also didn’t seem to be quite as good as I recall the smaller ones being. The crust had less character. I noticed that during my last visit in March as well. Steve’s used to serve one of my favorite seedless rolls, but I’m afraid that’s no longer the case. Having said that, it wasn’t a bad roll by any means. There just wasn’t anything special about it. 

The meat was well-seasoned and tender for the most part. A couple bites were just a tiny bit chewy, but that wasn’t a serious issue. The Whiz was well-proportioned as always seems to be the case. 

What used to make Steve’s cheesesteaks so special was the way the meat, Whiz and onions combined for a tremendous overall flavor. The steak I ate there last year had that in spades. The one from earlier this year lacked it. Friday’s steak fell somewhere between those two. It’s definitely not top ten worthy any longer. Whether it belongs in the top 20 will take a lot of consideration when I sit down to draw up my final list. 

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And speaking of my top 20 cheesesteaks list, I’ll have it posted here Wednesday morning. Then I will probably give myself a little respite from blogging. It’s felt a bit more like a job than something I do for enjoyment in recent months. Hopefully stepping away from it for some weeks will recharge my desire. I also have to figure out whether I want to go on posting primarily about cheesesteaks or take the blog in a different direction.