On the third day of our trip we headed to Philadelphia and arrived just in time for lunch. In search of the quintessential experience, we headed to the mecca of Philly Cheese Steaks--the Pat's and Geno's corners.
Much has been made of this rivalry. No matter which steak you prefer, you gotta love
these guys.
We got a steak from each. It wasn't really fair because Bob got provolone on the Geno's steak and whiz on the Pat's steak. So, you could say that it wasn't truly equivalent. Whiz is the classic choice and provo is pretty tasteless. BUT...even if the Geno's had been a whiz steak, we still would have given the prize to Pat's. Look at the meat....the Geno's steak was kind of solid, chewy slices vs. the Pat's steak which was more shredded up, tender, and juicy. Also, and this can't be discounted, the bread was better on the Pat's steak. Again, you can see in the pics that the Geno's bread is kind of sturdy, almost mass commercial steak roll. The Pat's roll is crustier and soft in the middle like a local italian bakery roll. For the Taters, there really was no contest.
All of that being said, we agreed that neither one could beat a northern Virginia Jerry's cheesesteak. On a scale of 1-10, that's our 10 and the Pat's might have scored an 8 with the Geno's at a 6 or 7. For once, the confederates get it right!
