Hey Phillystines!

[Nothing But Net]

I'm from Houston, and just registered on The Cellar a couple of days ago.

As fate would have it, I am flying into Philly on Oct. 3 (to visit a client in Cape May, NJ), but will be staying over the weekend of the 5-7th in town, probably. Can anyone make some recommendations on what to do? I always trust the locals.

Thanks for the help,

NBN

[Hubris Boy]

Eat cheesesteaks. Lots of them. Here's the thread. Sycamore, I believe, is our resident expert. Consult w/ him for specifics.

[Undertoad]

How old are you, and what do you generally like to do?

[elSicomoro]

UT makes a valid point.

Hubris, I am flattered. If it were safe, I'd send you a cheesesteak in the mail from Philip's. However, I CAN tell you the best sub/seafood/pizza restaurant run by Asians in Northern Prince George's County if you're heading down 95 anytime soon.

I will not assume anything here, so here's an example of things I would do on a weekend in Philadelphia...if I had money...and if I didn't have to work on Saturdays.

--South Street: Lots of great restaurants, lots of great bars, lots of little shops, lots of people period--probably the most diverse locale in the city at any given time.

--Art Museum: Walk the steps Rocky walked. Fine collection of works.

--Independence Hall/Liberty Bell: Obviously significant historic value.

--Manayunk: Another location with bars, shops, and restaurants...tres chic, but not as cool IMO as South Street.

--Franklin Institute: Philadelphia's museum of science.

--Old City: Eastern section of the Central Business District...some historical buildings and a variety of restaurants...also Penn's Landing (the waterfront).

--S.S. United States: You can't go on it, but you at least have to drive by it. It may old and rusted out, but it is just huge! Bigger than the Titanic...and still floating.

If you're a fan of shopping:

--The Plaza and Court at King of Prussia: one big mall and a smaller version--lots of stores

--Franklin Mills: Huge outlet mall w/2000 stores. Okay, more like 200.

Cheesesteaks...oooooh...so many places...so little time...see the thread. But if you're in Center City, try and find one from the "Cardiac Carts." Damn, they're good.

One thing I like to do when I'm in any new place is to drive around...everywhere. I would not recommend a visitor to drive into N or W Philadelphia, although I do it in a heartbeat.

[Nothing But Net]

South Street it is, apparently.

That seems to be the consensus, as it were.. I'm going to have to trust your opinion, thanks!

NBN

[Undertoad]

I was going to suggest the Mutter Museum ...

[mbpark]

If you want to try and get some real drinking done in a real atmosphere, with a great bar/restaurant owner, I recommend Fergie's (13th and Sansom) and Monk's (16th and Spruce).

If you like European beers, go there. It's also the friendliest atmosphere out there in this city!

Fergie is the man. He serves Duvel, Fin Du Monde, and many many good Hefeweisens. I highly recommend both places. Fergie owns both.

[jaguar]

Ok, i gotta ask now - what the hell is a cheesesteak?
I assume its a steak wiht melted cheese on top - so much fatty goodness in one meal! Can someone send one over - i want to se it to frighten anorexic teenyboppers..

[elSicomoro]

The bottom line on the cheesesteak: chopped meat (generally beef steak, but I prefer chicken), cheese (some like cheez whiz, but I like white American or Provolone), fried onions (sometimes), and peppers (no thanks) on a toasted hoagie roll. Some folks like ketchup, mayo, and other condiments on it. They generally cost between $3 and $6. You have your "originators"--Pat's and Geno's: both located on Passyunk Ave. in South Philadelphia. Truth be told, I think Pat's sucks! Geno's is okay, but I've had better. There is also Ishkabibble's--home of the original chicken cheese steak. Quite a tasty staple. In supermarkets here in the US, you will find Steak-Umms and the Philly Steak, or you'll have fast-food restaurants that offer some god-awful sandwich that calls itself a Philly Steak sandwich...but it will NEVER compare with a cheesesteak off the streets of Philadelphia.

You will find cheesesteak eateries on street corners, all along South Street, all throughout the city and suburbs of Philadelphia. Quite frankly, it could very well be the most popular food staple in Philadelphia, although soft pretzels and Tastykakes are up there as well.

It probably sounds so silly to the non-Philadelphian, and probably moreso to a non-American. But there is just something about the taste of one--for me, it is pure bliss. Probably the best cheesesteak I've ever had is from Philip's in South Philadelphia, although Pizza Fresh in NE Philadelphia makes a fantastic Chicken Cordon Bleu Steak.

It is probably one of the most unhealthy foods you could ever put into your body. Our Mayor, John Street, had a "vegetarian" cheesesteak from Geno's once, to which the owner of Geno's called it "sex without the orgasm." But the cheesesteak is so worth taking a day or two off your life.

Jag, as I offered Hubris Boy, I'd send you one from Philip's if it would make a trip. It'd be a hell of a lot tougher to send to you one though--Hubris only lives 90 miles away, you live about 11,000 miles away.

[mbpark]

A cheesesteak consists of shredded and reconsituted steak, thinly sliced and fried, with large amounts of cheese, and usually some fried onions in there too. It gets served on a hoagie roll.

Sometimes it gets served with mayo as well. As if we didn't need ENOUGH fat content.

It's a weight problem because it's mostly fat on a roll. Literally.

If you eat one for lunch every day, you will have a gut, and not just a gut, but one that hangs over your belt and makes you look bad.

This cheesesteak is so infamous that Philadelphia is one of the fattest cities in the US, I believe #2. I do not kid.

If you want to shock anorexic girls, this is the perfect way to do so. I don't even know the calorie count. It's just high enough to where I keep the intake down to once a month at most, with a long time at the gym afterward.

Literally, one of these cheesesteaks can offset a week of training at the gym. I am not kidding (and I weigh myself before every workout). The only time that they don't offset my weight or fat percentage is when they make me sick from the fat and grease. Usually that's often, because my body can't handle grease or preservatives very well.

A cheesesteak is Philly tradition, however, it's not recommended if your body can't stand grease or large amounts of fat. It WILL scare every anorexic girl around, however. Especially if you get one off of a food truck.

MBP

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by Nothing But Net
South Street it is, apparently.

That seems to be the consensus, as it were.. I'm going to have to trust your opinion, thanks!

My personal favorite bar on South Street is the Tattooed Mom (5th and South, I believe). Lots of great beers, good food, and a great jukebox. Plus, I believe they have furniture you can write on upstairs. (Look for the endtables that have rantings about Eric Lindros on them.) Caters to the 20 and 30-somethings.

Also good, and also in the area:

--Fat Tuesday
--Manny Brown's
--Abilene
--The Pontiac (although they may have a live band playing, hence, a cover)
--Dickens Inn (at 2nd and Lombard)
--XandO (Okay, yes, it's a national foo-foo coffee chain. But their liquor-coffee drinks ARE good.)

And if you've drunken yourself into a stupor at the end of the night, head over to South Street Diner at 2nd and South for some good diner staples or Greek dishes.

Cheesesteak-wise on South: Ishkabibble's or PhilaDeli (4th and South).

[jaguar]

*drools* Think i gonna try making one of those - i like pissing off female friends by having a diet of fat, salt sugar and caffine yet not gaining any weight =)
Does sound dman nice though...mmmmmm......I think the fat contest is still won by a lump of chrispy fat at a store next to my school that dosen't even have a name. Its a sausage thats dipped in batter, fried in fat, cooled, then fried again. The entire thing is a huge yellowy blob on a stick that sells like hotcakes. I don't even want to *think* what is in the sausage..

[elSicomoro]

We call that a "corn dog" here. The meat is a "hot dog" (Do you have those down there? It's sausage made primarily of pork, turkey, and/or chicken, although they also come in beef.) Think of the hot dog as the leftovers after making all the other prime cuts of meat.

This is what you need to make a cheesesteak, Jag:

--6-8 oz. (170-230g) of boneless chicken or beef steak
--2-4 oz. (60-120g) of white American or Provolone cheese (this can be substituted with a jar of Kraft Cheez Whiz)
--a good Italian hoagie roll
--your own condiments as you prefer (onions, sweet or hot peppers, ketchup, mayonnaise)

--Chop the meat into pieces and grill up
--Toss the bun into a toaster oven or standard oven for 3-4 minutes (Don't burn it--slightly crisp on the outside yet chewy on the inside)
--You may wish to put the cheese on before you toast the bread...it's up to you.

My personal preference is to toast the bread, load ketchup and mayo on the bread, add the meat, then the cheese. If you use onions, grill them with the meat for the best flavor.

Amazingly, the only Philadelphians that seem to turn up their noses at this type of food are the college kids and the foo-foo squad in Society Hill. (No offense to any cellar dwellers in Society Hill...it just seemed like the perfect target at the moment.) As Mitch mentioned, Philadelphia is the 2nd fattest city in the United States...and we only recently lost #1 to Houston. (NBN: What are the specialty foods there that make Houstonians fatter than us now?)

[Hubris Boy]

Originally posted by sycamore
Hubris, I am flattered. If it were safe, I'd send you a cheesesteak in the mail from Philip's.

I appreciate the offer, Syc, but you're right... it'd probably be a little too ripe by the time it got here!

Tell ya what... I do some consulting work for Amtrak from time to time, and I find myself at 30th St. Station about once a month or so. I'll get in touch w/ you next time I'm coming up. Maybe we can have lunch at Ishkabibble's or Jim's!

For that matter, any other Cellar Dwellars who are interested are cordially invited as well... we'll turn it into a Cellar-wide Cheesteak Tasting Event!

(Or, if somebody has an expense account we can abuse... we could head over to Le Bec-Fin instead! )

[elSicomoro]

Sounds good Hubris. I've not had Jim's on South Street, although I haven't heard good things about it. The one here in the NE is pretty good though.

Granted, it's already September, but we SHOULD try to hold a Cellar gathering. Tony?

I used to work for CVS at their store in Society Hill (off South St. on Headhouse Square). I hated CVS, but I truly enjoyed working in the neighborhood. We always had a ton of tourists in the area, so not only was I an Assistant Manager, but I was also the restaurant conoisseur, beer guide, city map, and phone directory.

Some examples:

Customer: "What's a good restaurant around here?"
Me: "Well, if you walk up the street to South and hang a right, you're going to find about 40 of them."

Customer: "Excuse me, I'm having a really hard time trying to find a 6-pack. Your grocery stores don't sell beer?"
Me: "You're not from here, are you?"
Customer: "No, Florida."
Me: *goes into explanation of how to get beer and why it is so difficult*

Customer: "I'm trying to find (insert restaurant name here). I was told it's on 2nd St., but I don't see it around here."
Me: "Let me grab my phone book."

I do miss the unassigned part of that job...