A couple of weeks ago, I went on a cheesesteak crawl in Philadelphia.  Our goal was to visit the best cheesesteak shoppes and determine the best one.  We were going to evaluate them solely on the joy f the cheesesteak.  We ordered the same cheesesteak at each place.  We tried to minimize the differences in what we ordered but could not eliminate them since each of these shoppes prepared their cheesesteaks differently.  The differences in our tasting including the type of cheese (provolone or cheese wiz), whether the bread was heated or not and the inclusion of peppers (most of the time, we excluded them).  We visited Mama's Pizzeria, Tony Luke's, Pat's, Geno's and Jim's Steaks.  Our unanimous decision was that Tony Lukes had the best cheesesteak  in Philadelphia.  The complete ranking is:

• Tony Luke's
• Mama's Pizzeria
• Jim's Steaks
• Pat's
• Genos

MAMA'S PIZZERIA

426 Belmont Ave., Bala Cynwyd, PA PH(610) 664-4757
A pizzeria that had an excellent cheesesteak list. A great looking place but I could not get over the fact that we were in a pizzeria.  The most over stuffed cheesesteak of the night.  There was no attitude from the people that worked there which is definitely a plus when compared to Pats and Genos.

TONY LUKE'S Old Philly Style Sandwiches

The best cheesesteak of the night.  A real cheesesteak environment.  We even tried their Roast Pork sandwich which some liked more than others (in fact one of our group said that this was the best sandwich of the trip but the broccoli rabe killed it for me).  I think that I rated they number one because they had the right combination of steak, cheese and a little grease.  They even have their own Walk of Fame honoring famous South Philadelphians (not too many though).  A must visit when going to a game in Philly.

PAT'S KING OF STEAKS

9th and Passyunk South Philly

The start of our tourist cheesesteak stops.  Very authentic environment.  The servers had attitudes especially in how you ordered your cheesesteak.  They even have a sign demanding that you speak in English only.  I did not have a problem with this other than feeling that I was in a Seinfeld skit.  My major issue is that their cheesesteak was not in the same class as the Mamma's or Tony Luke's.  Try to avoid this Kin of Steaks.






GENO'S STEAKS

9th and Passyunk South Philly
The best part of Geno's was their support of the various police departments around the country.  One again, another tourist trap.  They had the worst cheesesteak that I have ever had.  It was so bad that I hesitated to include them in our review.  Avoid at all costs.












JIM'S STEAKS

4th and South Street - South Street, Philadelphia ph.- (215)928-1911
Great cheesesteaks in an authentic environment.  They have walls filed with celebrities who have enjoyed their cheesesteaks over the years.  It was a shame that they came in third but we call them like we see them.  The top three were all close together (with 4 and 5 being way behind).