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Geno’s Steaks or Pat’s King of Steaks

The competition between these two South Philadelphia based shops dates back to the mid-1960s after Joey Vento founded Geno’s Steaks. Pat’s on the other hand, was founded in 1930, and found its niche, claiming to invent the cheesesteak (without the cheese of course). When Joey Vento opened up Geno’s, he followed suit but added a special ingredient, ‘Cheese Whiz.’ Ever since then, there has been a constant back and forth between the two as to whose steak is the original/better. This was put to the test over and over and over by many people, but there was never a straight answer (until my review of course).

I traveled to Philadelphia for one reason and only one reason, to crown the true ‘King of Steaks.’ (I understand that I am not from Philly (but man do I love food), I also understand that I only visited 2 out of Philadelphia's plethora of steak shops and vendors (bite me)). For the sake of this argument, I only judged the ‘original’ two. 

(Photo above: Geno’s Cheesesteak w/ Onions and Cheeze Whiz (Left) and Pat’s twin - Cheesesteak w/ Onions and Cheeze Whiz (Right))

Pat’s Review:

P.S. There is basically always a line

The general experience for Pat’s was pretty average. There was a long wait, busy atmosphere, nothing too special. When it came time to order, there was a specific way it needed to be done and memorized, which was a bit strange (like the ‘Soup Nazi’ from Seinfeld). Other than that, the atmosphere and pre-food experience were just fine. The food came out quickly after ordering, which was a plus. There was one window just for cheesesteaks (obviously where the line was), and another for fries and drinks. The overall order at Pat’s was a cheese steak with Cheeze Whiz, fries, and a soda, costing roughly $17, so pretty pricey for a regular meal, but definitely worth it if you’ve never had it before. Once I had the cheesesteak, I immediately tried/compared the food to its competition and the pros and cons are as followed:

Pros: 

Chopped meat feels like more (it may not be, but it sure feels like it).

Fries were fantastic (thicker and more crispy)

Cons:

Bread at the time was harder to pull apart and chew (getting stale maybe?)

Not a whole lot of cheese

Expensive

Rate: 7/10

Geno’s Review:

P.S.S. Make that a line for both places

To touch upon the atmosphere to start, it just seemed more lively at Geno’s than it did at Pat’s. I don’t know if it was the people at the time or the setup, but it was much more of a cheery environment (or it could have been my excitement to eat two $17 cheesesteaks for one meal). Ordering was easy, no memorization, just a simple order, and quick exchange, with the food coming out moments later. It was setup the same way where the line went to the first window to order the cheesesteaks while the other window was for drinks and fries. I ordered the exact same thing as from Pat’s, cheesesteak w/ onion, fries, and a soda. This order also came to around $17, equating to $34 on my meal. Once I sat down with the cheesesteak, I opened it up to reveal a Cheese Whiz mess. The rapper was covered in melted globs of the cheap cheesy goodness. I tried it and the following are the pros/cons/results.

Pros:

Bread was soft and amazing

Lots of cheese

Bigger onion chunks

Cons:

Shaved/Layered steak seems to be less steak in the roll

Expensive

Rating: 8/10

Final Review: 

Both Geno’s Steaks and Pat’s King of Steaks make a mean cheesesteak, both actually being different in certain ways, while also remain so similar. However, this being said, only one can be the better of the two. In my opinion, that will have to be Geno’s Steaks. Despite all of the reviews online saying how Geno’s is rushed and overrated, I think it was fantastic. Their cheesesteak and everything that went with it just seemed to be slightly better than Pat’s. This is in no way saying Pat���s is bad because it is not. Personally, I still believe that everyone should try both for themselves, but if that is not the plan then I am hoping that this article will save you some money by helping to choose one rather than both like me. Again, this is just a review so it is all a matter of my own opinion. It is perfectly fine if anyone does not agree, this is just was I chose based off of my experience.

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Welcome to CRITICally Hungry

The general purpose of this blog is to create food related posts personally judging, rating, and comparing foods from wherever I happen to be at the time. It is all personal preference, so all future posts are based strictly on opinion.