by Frank L. Parker

Created on: August 07, 2009

Is a Philly cheesesteak as good as they say? You better believe it. For many of us who are chained to a desk in an office every day, lunchtime is a particularly happy time when we venture out with coworkers and spend an hour enjoying each other's company eating together. Near my office in lower Manhattan, we have a fair number of places to choose from, and while some are better than others, one that I always looked forward to going to is a cheesesteak place on Chambers Street. They have good food, and the best cheesesteaks I've ever tasted. Well, at least that's what I thought until a business trip I took to Philadelphia.

The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, is the home of the classic cheesesteak, and much to my surprise is something that Philadelphians all seem to take very seriously. At the conclusion of a particularly dull presentation, I innocently asked a small group colleagues from our Philly office where I could go to get the best cheesesteak.

"Geno's!"

"No, not Geno's, let's take him to Pat's."

"Pat's? Are you crazy, Jim's is the place!"

Starting a fight was not my intention, and I just wanted to grab a bite to eat. John won that particular battle, and off to Jim's we went. The first thing that really got my attention was the line wrapped around the block. The last time I saw a line like that was when Revenge of the Sith came out, but this was not a movie line, it was a cheesesteak line!

As we got closer to the door, John asked me if I knew what I wanted and explained that if I wasn't ready with my order, we'd have to go to the back of the line. Wow, these guys are as hardcore as that soup guy back home! My big dilemma was American cheese or provolone cheese, and I really couldn't decide. John suggested a tiebreaker with cheese whiz. "Cheese whiz? Are you serious?" He was serious. Apparently, in the cheesesteak realm, cheese whiz is pretty popular, and since I had committed myself to having my first real Philly cheesesteak, I went the whole route.

Piping hot, and made with peppers, mushrooms, and cheese whiz, I took my first bite, and like a connoisseur of fine wines held it in my mouth for a second longer than necessary, then chewed into the fresh and delicious meat. I was a big enough person to admit, right there on the spot, that Philly cheesesteaks are better than any I've ever had in NYC or elsewhere. Being in Philadelphia for three days, I made it a point to try some of the other places as well, and I know what you're thinking, but yes, this means that I had a cheesesteak every day I was there. You know what? They were all as delicious as the first.

The rivalries in Philadelphia regarding which cheesesteak places are the best still confuses me a little. They seem to be driven more by which place they went to as a kid, or hold the best memories for them, rather than actual differences in taste and quality. Perhaps my cheesesteak palate is not finely honed enough, I don't know, but to me they all tasted about the same and they were all terrific.

While I continue to treasure my lunchtime, the cheesesteaks here in New York City just don't do it for me anymore. Being a diehard Mets fan and as much as I hate the Phillies, please believe me when I say that there is no cheesesteak better than a genuine Philly cheesesteak.

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