
Pat's Whiz Wit

Rear view of Pat's. Because of the sun angle there was no way to get a good picture of the front.

Geno's Steaks

Geno's Whiz Wit

Top: Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, and Jerry Blavat
Bottom: Fabian, Bobby Rydel, Al Martino, Eddie Fisher.
While in Philadelphia last year I led some friends to Jim's Steaks for a Philly cheese steak dinner. I had been to Jim's a couple of times before and the sandwiches were pretty good. That visit -not so good.
On the drive down to Washington last week I decided to try either Pat's or Geno's to prove to myself that there are good cheese steaks in Philly. The two restaurants sit across the street from each other at the intersection of Passyunk Ave, Wharton, and 9th Streets.
Geno's looked more tourist-oriented so I went to Pat's. I had the "Whiz Wit", a cheese steak with Cheese Whiz and onions. Pat's really slops on the Whiz. It was delicious if you like Cheese Whiz. If you're looking for a complex interplay of ingredients look elsewhere. Skip the fries.
Did I mention it was cold? Oh, man, it was freezing and Pat's doesn't have indoor seating. You can see the cheese solidifying in the top photo.
After polishing off a sandwich and a few fries before they became inedibly cold, I walked across the street to get a better angle for a photo of Geno's. As I got closer it occurred to me that I was still hungry and... wouldn't it be nice to compare Geno's sandwich to Pat's. Geno's has indoor seating but I stayed outside to equalize the eating experience.
Geno's was far skimpier than Pat's on the Whiz. I could even taste the steak and onions! The steak seemed to me to be a different, lesser, cut of beef than at Pat's. I don't what it was about the bread but it was far superior to Pat's.
As I got back on I-95 I debated which was better. After a bit of thought I realized that that was the wrong question. Both were really good but in different ways. I'd go back for both, but probably not at the same time.
Next door to Pat's and Geno's was this new mural of Philadelphia singers. Philadelphia has great murals all over town. From his absence in this mural I assume Mario Lanza must have one of his own.
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