As many of you know, I'm not local. I heard a report on the (Boston) news this afternoon that Geno's in Philly won't serve you if you don't speak english.
Thirsty, it was on Good Morning America this am, they spoke live with the owner. He has a sign on the window to speak english when ordering. There is a "different" sign saying they reserve the right not to serve people. The 2nd sign he explained means if anyone defaces his business or causes trouble while there, they will ask to leave. It doesn't mean if you dont speak english, he won't serve you. Sure made for good publicity tho. He also said, you're American, you want to stay here, learn the language!!! LOL
The place works in such a way that you stand outside in a line and order at a window. I believe that both Geno's and Pat's require that you order in a "Rocky" type accent. For instance, If you sau "with" insted of "wit" onions, then you might be sent to the back of the line.
Anyway, that's what it says on the sign by the ordering window, and it's mostly for humor.
One could also argue that nobody in S. Philly speaks English all that well! The AP had a story on it too, and how the servers will coach the customers on the 'proper' way to order: 'wit' for with onions, 'widdout' for no onions, etc. Vento's argument is that when his grandparents came over from Sicily, they made the effort to fit in and learned English (or what passes for it in S. Philly). My question is, how come someone in NYC that is rude & obnoxious (the 'Soup Nazi') is OK, and just funny, but this isn't?
BTW, the text of the sign is "This is America -- when ordering, please speak English"...
I asked who has the best cheesesteak when I first became mod here. As I recall the thread turned into a discussion on whether an authentic cheesesteak should be made with cheese wiz. I think the answer is "yes" right?
The owner Joe Vento was on the Fox with Neil Cavuto Friday evening. Those pinheads in the new media that think they were going to derail him because he wasn't politically correct enough only helped out his business even more. BTW, I get mine "provolone with". They're great. Just wished I lived closer.
All of this discussion made me hungry for a cheesesteak, so I convinced a couple of coworkers that we HAD to go for cheesesteaks for lunch today. Mmm, mmm! And this place does them all three ways: cheese whiz, provolone, or American, on rolls they get daily from Philly...
OK, since a Boston guy helped me out once at Bruins game, here ya go:
Not too hard or the South Philly guys brains will burn out (yeah, yeah, I hear yoos - lighten up, I'm kidding) steak - sandwich, no cheese or onions.
steak with - fried onions.
cheez with - you end up with cheez whiz, that same crap you used to put on your kids brcolli to make him eat it, and fried onions.
American / Provolone with - your choice of either cheese and fried onions.
Ask for cheese fries, they're perfect there.
Ketchup, hot sauce, and peppers are in bins on the sidewalk for free. get plenty of napkins, and even if there're more people in line at Pat's, Pat's sucks. Have fun. IF you wanna GREAT steak, go to Dalessandro's in Roxborough.
The place we go to (called Philly Steak & Hoagie) calls the cheese whiz variety "Original Philly", if that answers your question. Funny, in all the years I was in Philly, I never got a cheesesteak from Pat's or Geno's... What I really dislike are the places (in upstate PA) that douse their cheesesteaks (usually w/ provolone) with tons of marinara -- you can't taste the cheese or the steak, just the sauce. A little is OK, but c'mon! And it all depends on a good roll -- I don't hate the pizza joints that make their own, but the bakery does it better. I think Amoroso's are one of the best steak rolls...
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