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Tony Luke's Old Philly Style Sandwiches

herbacidal

By herbacidal
in New York: Dining

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PDC

PDC

Posted
Posted

Ahhh Tony Luke's. Brings back memories of....ECW! ECW! ECW!

Not to mention some awesome pepperoni chicken cheesesteaks. Altough whoever said the roast pork Italiano is the best thing on the menu is bang-on!

Gotta get to the NYC one soon....it isn't far from my office.

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Daniel

Daniel

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Thats so funny that you would say ECW.. This guy in my office traveled to every ECW match .. He was a fixture in the front row with his son.. He would drive down from Westchester and spend the night at the hotel where all the wrestlers stayed and go to Tony Lukes after each match.. He was the first person to get me to go to Tony Lukes in Philly.. While walking in the down the street a month or so ago I saw him in the poster advertising the big match at the Garden.. He didnt go to the Garden but drove to Philly to go to the old place, the night before, where they use to hold the matches.. Funny stuff..

edit to add: pepperoni chicken cheesesteak... Wow, now thats genious.. Was this your doing or was it a menu item.. What kind of cheese?

Edited by Daniel (log)
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R Washburn

R Washburn

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Posted (edited)

Daniel,

It is the same pork, since everything is trucked in from Tony Luke's in South Philly. The differences were probably in the skill of the person assembling the sandwich. i know my cheesesteak hoagies in the NY location have ranged from better than the typical oregon ave. version to considerably worse.

Edited by R Washburn (log)
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Daniel

Daniel

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When you say its the same pork, do you mean the pork is cooked in Philly and then transported? if it is, maybe it was in the slicing.. The pork seemed sliced a lot thinner and almost shredded. This definately changed the sandwich.

Or if the pork is cooked in New York, then maybe it was the way it was cooked on top of the poor slicing.

And tell me about the rabe.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Daniel

Daniel

Posted
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gallery_15057_1519_27013.jpg

a side by side just shows the difference.. Sorry about the camera phone of New Yorks.. You can see the perfect thicker pieces at the Philly version below, while new yorks was curled and ragged...

gallery_15057_181_872062.jpg

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Holly Moore

Holly Moore

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Posted

I don't think institutions like Tony Luke's are easily duplicated. There is too much 'tude, and look and feel about the original. Plus the employees at the orginal, the institution, very likely have more pride in their restaurant and the food they put out. Plus some of the employees at Tony Lukes have probably worked there for decades.

Tony Lukes opened a place in Center City. It flopped big time. Just wasn't Tony Luke's.

Don't know if the the Center City Philadelphia Tony Luke's or the NYC Tony Luke's are operated by Tony Luke, or franchised out. But it really doesn't matter. There will never be a Tony Luke's equal to the South Philly Tony Lukes.

Holly Moore

"I eat, therefore I am."

HollyEats.Com

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Daniel

Daniel

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Exactly.. As I said before, the staff lacked any character or interest of being there.. They had no idea what great tradition or standard they represented.. I blame this on the management.. I mean you are going to spend all this money on opening a restaurant in New York.. I think its your job to hire and teach the staff..This could mean constants trips to the original so they get it.. Also philly isnt so far away that it wouldnt be shocking for someone to commute.. Or have 2 different managers live in an apartment switching every 3 to 4 days out of the week.. Its something that should have been done.. And it shows that they didnt.,.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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slkinsey

slkinsey

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Posted
I don't think institutions like Tony Luke's are easily duplicated.  There is too much 'tude, and look and feel about the original.  Plus the employees at the orginal, the institution, very likely have more pride in their restaurant and the food they put out.  Plus some of the employees at Tony Lukes have probably worked there for decades.

That said, while it isn't easy it is possible to duplicate the quality of the food if management is dedicated to that proposition and not just in it to make money by franchising the name. A perfect example is the (sadly defunct) Philly branch of Lombardi's Pizzeria, which made a high quality pizza and maintained high quality while the original went into decline.

--

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R Washburn

R Washburn

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Posted

Holly and Daniel,

Same bread same everything. All ingredients are trucked in from Philadelpia, which is only 90 min. away. I would say that the Philadelphia location is more consistent, but the NY location is good enough that I don't bother visiting Tony Luke's when I am in Philadelphia. I am much more likely to get a Hoagie from Sarcone's, if I am eating at that price point.

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Daniel

Daniel

Posted
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Holly and Daniel,

                        Same bread same everything.  All ingredients are trucked in from Philadelpia, which is only 90 min. away.  I would say that the Philadelphia location is more consistent, but the NY location is good enough that I don't bother visiting Tony Luke's when I am in Philadelphia.  I am much more likely to get a Hoagie from Sarcone's, if I am eating at that price point.

R Wash,

I know you are saying same ingrediants.. Can you please tell me about the pork.. Do they cook the pork in Philly or New York? Same with the rabe, are they transporting already cooked rabe and then reheating it?

Edited by Daniel (log)
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PDC

PDC

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Posted

THe chicken pepperoni pizza steak was theirs, and it was with sliced up chicken (probably processed and formed, but who cares for this purpose), pepperoni, tomato sauce, and what they called "sharp provo" which I assume was supposed to be provolone but wasn't really although it was still damn tasty.

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Jeff L

Jeff L

Posted
Posted
Holly and Daniel,

                        Same bread same everything.  All ingredients are trucked in from Philadelpia, which is only 90 min. away.  I would say that the Philadelphia location is more consistent, but the NY location is good enough that I don't bother visiting Tony Luke's when I am in Philadelphia.  I am much more likely to get a Hoagie from Sarcone's, if I am eating at that price point.

R Wash,

I know you are saying same ingrediants.. Can you please tell me about the pork.. Do they cook the pork in Philly or New York? Same with the rabe, are they transporting already cooked rabe and then reheating it?

Well I'm not sure if they transport cooked pork to NYC or not, but I just stumbled upon New York Metro.com magazine best sandwich of 2005 (http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/bony/food/2005/11368/index.html)

and guess who was the first entry? Yup, Good ole Tony Luke's hoagie. Now if the reviewer only ate the roast paork italien with rabe and sharp provolone, they'd have to make a new category.

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Daniel

Daniel

Posted
Posted

Good news about Tony Luke's reported by Andrea Strong.. Supposedly, they are moving around the corner and opening a place that seats 80 and serves liquor.. They are to open in Sept.. Hopefully this will turn the place around..

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slkinsey

slkinsey

Posted
Posted

As reported in Off The Menu in today's New York Times, Tony Luke's is moving around the corner and will reopen in a few weeks as Tony Luke's Sports Bar and Lounge: 355 West 41st Street: (212) 967-3055

I've modified the title of this thread accordingly.

--

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  • 2 months later...
-sheila mooney

-sheila mooney

Posted
Posted
I don't think institutions like Tony Luke's are easily duplicated.  There is too much 'tude, and look and feel about the original.  Plus the employees at the orginal, the institution, very likely have more pride in their restaurant and the food they put out.  Plus some of the employees at Tony Lukes have probably worked there for decades.

Tony Lukes opened a place in Center City.  It flopped big time.  Just wasn't Tony Luke's.

Don't know if the the Center City Philadelphia Tony Luke's or the NYC Tony Luke's are operated by Tony Luke, or franchised out.  But it really doesn't matter.  There will never be a Tony Luke's equal to the South Philly Tony Lukes.

Air Canada's webzine (!) sent out today features Philly cheese steaks --- with pictures.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/onair/november...rink-2.html?pic

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