High Steaks

Originally published in Time Out New York, March 3, 2005

Meet the jury

We’re not sure why here and why now—maybe the City of Brotherly Love wasn’t tough enough turf—but a few Philly cheese-steak artists have decided to settle their score on the streets of New York. They’ve arrived one by one during the past two years with their Cheez Whiz and chopping blocks, their special bread and secret formulas, each claiming to serve the most authentic, most delicious, most carefully balanced combination of meat, bread and cheese ever assembled outside Philadelphia.

We could have handled this the easy way, by sending our critics to sample each one. Instead, we designed a tougher test: We bused in Philadelphians to examine them for us. At 5:45pm on Friday, Feburary 11, all the elements for an official cheese-steak taste-off were in place. The sandwiches had arrived, still warm, from Wogie’s Bar & Grill, Tony Luke’s, Philly Slims, BB Sandwich Bar and Carl’s Steaks, and our tasting panel had also arrived—three cheese-steak lovers so dedicated to the cause that they agreed to travel up the turnpike to let us know whether we’re getting the real thing (plus one local former Philly resident). Read on for the results, but first, a disclaimer: As one participant pointed out, to accurately judge cheese steak, every panelist should have sampled these at 3am. Drunk.

Wogie’s Bar & Grill

Opened: February 21, 2004
No one can rival Aaron Hoffman and his brother, Todd, for cheese-steak experience: Their father ran several cheese-steak and pizza joints outside of Philadelphia, and the two grew up eating them almost daily. These guys know the golden rule: “The secret’s in the roll,” Aaron says. But oddly, they’ve broken that rule big time by offering—egads!—whole-wheat wraps as a low-carb option at their West Village restaurant. “People from Philly would probably kill me,” Hoffman says. The wraps, including a sacriligious portobello mushroom version, have become popular, but we judged the Hoffmans on the real thing, their basic cheese steak made with chopped top sirloin steak and Cheez Whiz.
Jury says: The steak itself won points from our panel—they noted fresh, flavorful meat—but the roll was all wrong for this crew. The right bread should require some ripping and pulling with your teeth, Ed Foley says. “It doesn’t fight me enough. You should have to wag your head like a dog to tear off the bread.”

Philly Slim’s

Opened: June 14, 2004
Owners John W. Yih and Steven Kay, friends from college at Cornell, didn’t grow up in Philadelphia, but they made up for lost time by eating hundreds of cheese steaks all over the city while planning to open their Hell’s Kitchen store. The name of their joint refers to the thickness of the meat (and not, unfortunately, to your waistline after you’ve consumed a few of these puppies), which they slice in-house daily. The sandwiches are made with prime or top round meat and served on rolls from Santos Bakery in South Jersey. Kay says the meat separates their sandwiches from the rest.
Jury says: One panelist who spent her college years at the University of Pennsylvania chose this as her favorite, noting the perfect thickness and chopping of the steak. “The meat has to be chopped,” she says. “It’s not supposed to look like Steak-Umms.” The bread received mixed reviews from our panel. One taster found the Italian roll to be slightly soggy; another too soft and a third thought it was hearty enough to stand up to the juicy steak and globs of cheese without making for overwhelmingly bready bites.

BB Sandwich Bar

Opened: June 2003
One of these cheese steaks is not like the others, and it’s easy to guess which one: Renegade cheese-steak artist Gary Thompson, who trained as a French chef, threw out all the rules when he opened his one-hit wonder restaurant and created what he considers to be a superior cheese steak. His formula includes sliced rib eye, marinated onions, white American cheese, a tomato-based secret sauce and a poppy-seed kaiser roll. Thompson considers the kaiser roll easier to handle than the usual torpedo roll, and therefore more convenient for New Yorkers on the go. If you don’t like his newfangled version, don’t bother going. It’s the only item he serves, other than drinks. (Each comes with a moist towelette, and a chocolate mint to counteract all the onions.)

Jury says: Our panelists didn’t even want to touch this version, let alone bite into it. “I’m a little afraid of this,” Foley said. The sight of the kaiser roll was enough to turn them off, and sauce in addition to cheese is an abomination, according to our crew. It’s not a bad-tasting sandwich; though, as Foley says, “Kaiser rolls are for breakfast. This isn’t a Philly cheese steak. It’s a perfect what-not-to-do.”

Carl’s Steaks

Opened (new branch): January 2005
Philadelphia transplants have been whining about the lack of good cheese steak in New York for ages, and Carl Provenzano was one of the first to fill the void. He opened the first branch of his restaurant in the fall of 2003, promising the same sandwiches his wife grew up on in Philadelphia. Like his competition, he claims to serve superior hoagie bread (he, too, won’t reveal the source), thinly cut sirloin (never frozen) and Kraft Cheez Whiz. No substitutes.

Jury says: Cheez Whiz is a necessary addition to every authentic cheese steak; however, it shouldn’t be the glue that holds the sandwich together. The meat should stick to itself. Although the bread was top-notch and the flavor of the meat was excellent, our panelists described the steak as slightly crumbly, a common mishap—yet one that can be forgotten by consuming a mountain of chili cheese fries and a few Buds.

Tony Luke’s

Opened: December 2004
Some purists believe that you can’t find real cheese steak outside Philly. While technically this branch of the Tony Luke’s chain is not in Philly, everything in it comes from the source: the bread, meat, cheese and all the toppings are trucked up I-95 from the Tony Luke’s commissary. Even the kitchen is identical to the ones back in Philadelphia. Owner Evan Stein studied the art of cheese-steak making from the master, Tony Luke himself, and stayed at Tony’s house for two months to observe the ins and outs of the business. He won’t reveal his secret bread source; however, he did tell us that the bread arrives partially baked, and he finishes a batch on-site about once an hour—which is why the place smells a little like a Subway shop.

Jury says: One panelist instantly recognized this as the real deal, at least on the outside. “That’s good chewy bread,” he said, noting the golden crust. But another jury member who has lived in Philly for 38 years took issue with the insides, noting that the steak wasn’t chopped enough and that the cheese was “soupy.” Ed Condran, meanwhile, picked this as his favorite: “the best replication of a cheesesteak, and the best of the bunch.” Looks like you’ll have to taste one and decide for yourself.