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In case you missed it, a few weeks ago I posted about the less than on time flight I had from Salt Lake to Philadelphia. Sure, during this time Delta bragged about how they had not canceled a flight during that time, and while true, we were many many hours late arriving at our desired locations and the home of legendary Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches.
We had planned on trying a number of spots day one and then a few more on day two before we flew home. But, due to the extreme delay by Delta (and issues with two jets), we only had day two. So we started at what was recommended as the absolute, one and only, best place to go for the, without question, best Philly Cheese Steak sandwich on the planet. Yep, Tony Luke’s!
We took an Uber ride from our Sheraton hotel (paid for with SPG points clearly) and our driver was great. He agreed this was a great 1st location to go to and most in the are also agreed this was the best. I mean, who can argue with Tony right?
We were informed that, despite the humble look of the locations, we would be impressed. Also that this place would be simply packed the later the day went. It was empty when we got there but that did not last. Also we were informed about the “right” way to order the sandwich. That is what you see below:
There was only one right way. That is: “Cheese Steak with Whiz (cheese) & Fried Onions.” Any other choices were just not OK.
We did as we were told and I have to say it was impressive and most nummy. We each had a rather large sandwich but with now only one day (thanks to the lengthy Delta delay of our arrival) we should have just had 1/3 of sandwich each so we would have room for many more samples of delicious in the PHL area.
I say this because we then hailed another UBERx and a Mercedes Benz showed up (Gosh I love UBER). The driver was great and we were told that John’s Roast Pork, just a mile or so down the road, was the next best place to go. Again our UBER driver was amazing and we thought about the numbers (the tiny amount he would get) and asked if we could buy him lunch. He agreed and we enjoyed what I think was a sandwich even BETTER than the one from Tony Luke’s (sorry Tony).
Oh my. This was amazing. We split one in 3 to try to save room for the next stop along the way. This one was pork with pepper jack cheese and then we put some jalapeno on top as well (well, maybe they were banana peppers but they were really good). I have no words to tell you how amazing this was. If I had room I would have eaten a whole sub and taken one home. You need to try one of these when you visit the PHL area.
Then it was on to the next spot. We kinda got the directions wrong but it worked out. Our lunch driver set his app to accept our next request for a ride and we were off to our next suggested sandwich location that is DiNic’s. On the way to the location we had planned to go, we passed the SS United States that is awaiting both money and a lot of effort to bring it back to its original glory. But that is for another blogger I know (MJ on Travel).
When we got here, all of us were working to find room for one more sample (Again I wish we had another day or had taken smaller sandwiches). Unfortunately there was no more room. But the location was a good one for AVgeeks like me and those with me.
We took the time to digest and enjoy the flight path of jets coming in to PHL. Few of them were Delta tails but we enjoyed the Plane Finder App to check what was on the way in. Good times.
So while I am sure I am about to get flamed by those who just “know” what the best spot for a sandwich is in the PHL area, I am telling you that to me and those with me, forget the “whiz” and the steak and go for the pork at John’s (you can thank me later)! 😉 – René
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Rene,
You are surprising no one from Philly with this post! Glad you enjoyed your sandwiches – next time you’re here, try Dalessandro’s if you truly want the best cheesesteak (it’s a bit out of the way from the airport, sadly).
I agree 100%. The pork was incredible! I also have to admit that I prefer my cheese steaks to be made with provolone … I mean what did they make them with before “whiz” was invented? Guess I will need a disguise next time I visit Philly …
Philly native here, and there’s nothing wrong with preferring John’s Roast Pork over Tony Lukes. I do too. On your next visit, try the same itinerary with Italian Roast Pork instead, or hit up Steve’s Prince of Steaks for my favorite steak in the city.
As someone from Philly, I always tell people the best sandwich is not the cheese steak but the roast pork in all of its glorious forms. I’m glad you got to have one. For your next trip I strongly suggest Paesano’s , but really any sandwich in Philly with sharp provolone, broccoli rabe, and roasted long hot peppers is going to be delicious.
I love your blog, but having lived in philly for the past 34 years I can tell you that no one from the city eats cheesesteaks more than 4 times a year and everyone knows that DeNics in Reading Terminal is the best sandwich in the city, Toney Luke’s is a tourist trap
While we love cheesesteaks in Philly (Tony Luke’s isn’t the best, but you will get varying opinions on who is), every good Philiadelphian knows the true best Philly sandwich is the Roast Pork sandwich. I personally prefer the one from DiNics in Reading Terminal Market. If I had a friend come into town for a few hours, I would take him for a roast pork over a cheesesteak every time.
All the previous comments pretty much hit the mark–most knowledgeable Philadelphians will tell you a good roast pork sandwich will always beat a cheesesteak.
I’m a philly guy and I can tell you that John’s is among the best in the city. The limited hours are the only drawback to John’s.
Their breakfast sandwiches are also awesome.
He had cancer a few years ago and said that he was going to open longer… that hasn’t happened yet.
Way off topic, but, question: is an exit row seat more expensive than a C+ seat? My husband, a platinum million miler, just got an email saying that his medallion upgrade had just been approved and, yes, it was to the middle seat in C+. He tried to change the seat to an exit row seat and the screen responded by saying that he could only pick a seat that matched his fare class. It was the only seat left available for selection, other than first class, of course. It’s only a one hour flight and he’s not paying $68.34 to move to first class. The return flight was also changed to a C+ middle seat but he was able to select a window C+ seat. I don’t understand and I don’t think a middle C+ seat is an upgrade from the aisle seat he had pre-selected.
@Sarah – See these two posts:
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http://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2016/04/27/delta-medallions-must-call-to-downgrade-from-comfort-plus-per-delta-corp-and-changes-to-fare-class-upgrade-wording-on-delta-com/
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http://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2015/11/15/the-delta-upgrade-elites-want-to-just-say-no-to-avoid-delta-comfort-plus-upgrades-medallions-exit-row-seats-becomes-the-new-elite-battleground/