Pat's King of Steaks

1237 E. Passyunk, Philadelphia, PA - (215) 468-1546

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Posted By Michael Stern on December 12, 2007 1:12 PM

Pat’s has no wine list, no silverware, and no maitre d’; but it has ambience galore. Observe the splattered hot sauce underfoot, the dropped and crushed French fries on the sidewalk. Listen to the rumble of trucks going past on their way to or from the Italian market. Smell the mingling of cheap after-shave lotion and fancy fragrances on customers in line – both aromas overwhelmed, as the line approaches the take-out window, by the powerhouse aroma of steak and onions sizzling on a hot grill. Dining facilities are quite comfortable, if you are comfortable standing up. At Pat’s the dining room is the sidewalk, and experienced customers have perfected a slightly bent-forward posture as they stand and eat, thus ensuring that drippage hits the concrete rather than their shoes.

Pat Olivieri invented the cheese steak in 1930. His family continues to operate the restaurant, and while connoisseurs enjoy debating the merits of the city’s many cheese steak restaurants (some operated by renegades from Pat’s own family), this joint’s shaved-beef-and-cheese sandwiches on serious Italian bread have stood for over half a century as the benchmark. This original Philly sandwich is oily, salty, meaty, i.e. everything nutrition prigs dislike. Thin flaps of less-than-prime beef are sizzled on a grill alongside onions and hefted into a roll (with or without some of those onions), then a trowel of melted Cheese Whiz is dripped on top. That's the classic steak sandwich. Peppers, mushrooms, pizza sauce, and extra cheese are all extra-cost options; and if you wish to dude it up further, there are big glass jars with hot sauce and peppers: near the take-out windows.

It is a combination of plebeian ingredients that transcend their lowly status and become something … if not aristocratic, then certainly distinguished. Side your sandwich with a cup full of cheese fries (French fries blanketed with more of that melted Whiz), and eat standing up on the sidewalk under harsh lights: for our money, there isn’t a meal in Philadelphia that can beat it.

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Posted By Robert Gallagher on October 10, 2010 9:25 PM

I have lived in Philly my whole life. Avoid this tourist trap if you can. The Steaks are just ok and most of the people I know do not like the rude service and think that a steak served with cheez whiz is disgusting go for the american cheese.The cheese steak can be a great meal if done right I prefer the steak meat chopped and not in squares as that tends to pull from the roll when you bite it there are hundreds of Cheese steak joints in and around Philadelphia ask somebody on the street or a friend and they can point you to a good one.

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