Philadelphia, PA - The day of cheesesteaks with Amigo Dan had us up on Home Avenue in Northeast Philly. We passed two pizza shops within a Half Mile of each other on our way to our target Cheesesteak.
Holme-Style Pizza & Stella's Pizza
Since I always hear, Cheesesteaks are roll, meat, and cheese, so they can't be that different. Everyone knows where to get a good cheesesteak. You're wasting your time eating cheesesteaks (that is mostly from my kids and relatives).
We decided to make a side-by-side comparison of our pizza shop cheesesteaks. In an ironic twist, they both had a Cheesesteak named after themselves. They had the same ingredients: fried onions, mushrooms, green peppers, sauce, and the cheese melted on top.
We needed a neutral location and beer, so we took our cheesesteaks to Penny Gardens Tavern. Penny Gardens Tavern had a friendly crowd, and the Miller Lites were only $3.
The Home-Style Cheesesteak
We started with the Home-Style Cheesesteak, and it came out of the gates slow. It did not score high on the eye test. I get melting the cheese on top for this kind of Cheesesteak, and I do like a lovely toasted Roll. But can I have more than one slice of cheese, please? Especially when it is the 1st thing I see.
I did like my first bite, and the meat had an excellent grilled meat taste. This Cheesesteak did have my other usual complaint of the extras. I wish the mushrooms, pepperoni, fried onions, and peppers spent more time on the grill together.
With the meat having a perfect grilled taste, I had high hopes for the other ingredients, but they came up a little short. They had a good flavor, and it's been a little time on the grill together.
The Stella's pizzas Cheesesteak
Stella's pizzas Cheesesteak was next and was the complete opposite. Stella passed the eye test with flying colors. I think she has her own mozzarella cheese sauce.
This Cheesesteak had an outstanding amount of cheese sauce melted on top. The roll did not look like a traditional-roll but looked like it would work really well with this Cheesesteak. Amigo Dan and I both really liked our first bites of Stella's Cheesesteak.
Unfortunately, it was straight downhill from there. I think the extras added a lot of moisture to this Cheesesteak. I think the extras spent very little time on the grill with the meat. Amigo Dan had a complete roll failure.
So, in the end, we had two cheesesteaks, one neighborhood, and two completely different outcomes.
About the Author:
"I'm Jim Pappas from Philadelphia Cheesesteak Adventure. I've eaten over 600 different cheesesteaks in "Two Years". Call The Philadelphia Cheesesteak Adventure podcast and let's talk cheesesteaks, 732-228-3140.
