Jersey hot dogs/Philly cheesesteaks

It would truly be my pleasure! And I'll buy. Now I know you can't refuse that deal!

Cheesewit-
That is a very gracious offer, but once you see how much Mike and I can eat, you may be regretting it.  How about we take turns paying?

I am already looking forward to the trip to Philly!

This past weekend, I took place in a fun cheesesteak eating tour around Philly.  Travelin Man had been working in NYC and drove down Friday night.  We had discussed a late night jaunt to the great Tony Luke's, but by the time he got to the hotel at almost midnight, we decided it was too late.

At 11:00AM on Saturday, long time Roadfood poster Cheesewit, along with his son Landon, picked us up at our hotel in Mt. Laurel, NJ.  This was the first time ever meeting CW, although I have long been a fan of his posts.

Since CW was the local expert, TTM and I were happy to let him decide our itinerary.  Our first stop was the Roadfood reviewed Chink's. 

I got to admit, this place won me over just by it's outside appearance.  Doesn't it just scream Roadfood?  And from the street, you can watch the cheesesteaks being prepared through the front window. 

And with the short counter, wooden booths with jukeboxes

and tin ceiling, the inside

is even more charming.

No menu here that I saw, we just ordered from the old fashioned signs on the wall.



To drink, Landon went with the cherry coke,

while the other three all ordered milkshakes.  CW raved about their banana milkshakes and being a lover of all banana desserts, that is all I needed to hear.  What I didn't expect, was the young lady asked us what flavor ice cream we wanted.  CW went with vanilla, I got the chocolate, while TTM ended up with strawberry.  Here is all three of these extra large, thick shakes

lined up in a row.  These were some fine shakes!  Since the four of us were seated at the counter, we also had the pleasure of watching the young ladies making our shakes.  


Like Michael Stern says in the review, Chink's makes them the old fashioned way with ice cream, syrup and milk.

While waiting for our food, I went up to the grill and watched the cheesesteaks being made. 

He did a masterful job of juggling all the orders, with different cheeses and keeping everything moving.  Very impressive to watch.

Soon, our cheesesteaks showed up on white butcher paper.  Since we had a very busy day of food ahead, we all ordered the small size.  Being a non-traditionalist, TTM gets his cheesesteaks with provolone.

Although I am a fan of provolone cheese, that sandwich didn't appeal to me as much, since I prefer the meat and cheese to be more mixed up together.  I believe both CW and Landon ordered their's with American cheese.  Being a fan of Cheesewhiz, here is my sandwich.

As you can see, the meat comes in long sheets instead of being hacked up.  And there is more than enough cheese, well mixed with the meat.  Perfectly fried onions and a quality, chewy roll complete the sandwich.  In other words, just how I like my cheesesteaks.  Chink's version runs neck and neck with Steve's Prince of Steaks for me as my favorites, although I have only been to each place once now.

BTW, they do give you a bowl of pickles and peppers

to add to your sandwich as you like, but mine was just fine the way it was.

Now, as to the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, the name of the place.  From what I read, it is indeed named Chink's because the original owner of the place, a white guy, supposedly looked Chinese.  I don't particularly like that the name is used as a racial slur.  I asked one of the young ladies if they ever get complaints from people and she told they do, rather frequently.  On the other hand, I have a wonderful girlfriend, who is 50% Chinese and when I told her about the place, she just laughed and said she would like to get her photo taken in front.

While I don't approve of the name, if you can get past that, the cheesesteaks, milkshakes and atmosphere make this place a very worthy stop.

Chink's
6030 Torresdale Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-535-9405

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/6300/chinks

A couple of quick additional comments. As you can read on the soda menu, there are many options. They use real syrups added to carbonated water or Coca Cola. They make great chocolate sodas and chocolate egg creams (Vanilla too!) if that's your thing. 

Landon and I split a small American cheesesteak with fried onions. For years the only side option was potato chips, now they have fries too. We declined the fries and chips. 

The staff is very cool with photographing everything. In fact, they asked us to submit our photos to their website where they have a gallery page. There's a shot of the 4 of us at the counter taken by our lovely waitress.

 This is just getting good. I love the photos. I can't wait to read the rest.