The Great Philly Cheese Steak Debate

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I went to North Sound Brewery in Mount Vernon yesterday to pick up  beer and I ended up chatting with the bartender, Rachel there about cheese steaks. Rachel went to school in Philadelphia and despite never having been to Pat’s or Gino’s (the tragedy in that), understands the cheese steak dilemma here in the northwest.

What is the dilemma you might ask? You can’t get a great cheese steak outside of Philly. I have never figured out why – there are whopping 3 ingredients in a plain steak – bread, grilled meat and cheese. You can ask 100 people what the best steak is and get 100 different answers on places and toppings, but for me, the true indication of a great steak is the base model (bread, steak and cheese wiz – it has to be wiz on the steak), similar to the way that the best way to judge how good a pizza is would be to order one that is just dough, cheese and sauce. For some reason, once you get outside of Philly, people can’t seem to make them anywhere close to the same level as the ones you get in Philly.

In Seattle, there are really 5 contenders for the “best” cheese steak. I haven’t been to all of them, but my goal is to get to them and see if any can compare to the ones you get in Philly.

The contenders are:

Calozzi’s on Occidental in Pioneer Square – haven’t been but I know a couple people who swear by their steaks.

Tat’s Deli on Yestler in Pioneer Square – see my post on places that I want to eat at. Tat’s is generally considered to be the best steak in Seattle.

The Original Philly’s on MLK – I don’t know a ton about this place except it has been around forever.

Philly Boys on 4th in Sodo – They are newcomers to the scene and the owners are from Philly. The streaks are decent by pricey and the place is difficult to find as it is tucked away in a gas station parking lot. They have the best steak I have eaten in Seattle, but I wouldn’t call it great.

Philly Ferve on 23rd in Madison Park – it has been years since I have been here, but I was told they had “authentic” steaks. They were terrible and based on the reviews; I don’t think it has gotten any better.

Before I start going to these places and reviewing them, anyone have any other suggestions for adding to the list?