Foodies more knowledgeable than I can tell you the culinary history of the famous Philly cheesesteak sandwich and what the differences are between Pat’s and Geno’s. It’s widely regarded that Pat’s made the sandwich famous in the 1930s and Geno’s wants a slice of the meat in the 1960’s. One of them cut the meat before they cook and the other cooks before they cut.
My site isn’t the place to delve into food technicalities, it’s for history, recommendations, and experiences. The two restaurants are across the corner from each other and I had sandwiches from both restaurants one after the other for dinner. I ordered a mushroom wit wiz at Pat’s first and then a provolone wit at Geno’s. They’re basically giant hot dogs with steak slices instead of sausage and onions instead of relish.
I found the rib meat from Geno’s to be more flavourful but the meat from Pat’s was juicer. The order from Geno’s felt rushed so the onions weren’t properly caramelized and the cheese didn’t melt one bit. Pat’s looks like they put more care into their work and is the clear winner in my taste test.
The line for Geno’s was a lot longer, but that might be attributed to Pat’s neon sign malfunctioning. After all, Pat’s does call itself the “king of steaks” and Rocky Balboa ate there. Are the sandwiches good? Sure. Are they $15 good? Absolutely not.
