Philly visit

[ned]

My wife and I were in Philly last weekend for a wedding. That ninth street is awesome. I'd be down there daily. An old lady was selling tamales on the corner out of a grocery bag. Oh brother were they good.

I did a ton of research here and at hollyeats about cheesesteaks, and talked with some Philadelphians. You people really love sandwiches. And by the looks of it you've ample opportunity to eat many different great ones.

We ended up at Geno's not because it was necessarily the best choice but because we were nearby. The sandwich was good and I feel like I get the whole cheesesteak gestalt. The whaaaa? part of the adventure was that after waiting in line for 20 minutes I was confronted with a sign that read "I'm an American and I order in English" (also t-shirts for sale with the same cheery language) under which is another sign: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone." Then there were the t-shirts that every employee wore celebrating the execution of an albeit controversial character--Mumia Abu-Jamal. Yuck.

Geno's serves a lot more than cheesesteaks and their cheesesteaks were not nearly able to clear the bad taste left in my mouth.

Next time I'm going to Dalessandros.

Edited August 3, 2006 by ned (log)

[MarketStEl]

The owner of Geno's wears his sentiments on his sleeve, no doubt about that, but I have it on good authority (including a successful publicity stunt) that the order-in-English admonition is not enforced.

FWIW, Mumia Abu-Jamal has not yet been executed, and there are better cheesesteaks in town anyway.

[philadining]

While I think the owner of Geno's is welcome to express his opinions, the overall vibe has gotten obnoxious enough that I'm not eating there anymore. There are plenty of places in the city for a good cheesesteak, and I don't want to be seen as winking and nodding and laughing along with whatever exclusionary stance they're taking today. But that's just me. It doesn't look like the various controversies have reduced (or increased) his lines significantly.

Making people feel unwelcome seems like bad business to me, but hey, it's not my shop.

[Andrew Fenton]

Hi Ned- glad you liked the Italian Market. It's a hoot. I live pretty near by, and head over there once a week or so. The produce is often dicey (though cheap as dirt), but it's worth the trip for Sarcone's and the cheese shops alone. And the tamale lady is awesome.

On Geno's, what Sandy and Phil A. said. If Geno's had the best steaks in the city, I'd maybe suck it up and go there. But as things stand, if I can't order my bifteck au fromage avec, I'll skip it, merci beaucoup, and head to one of the other better steakerias.

And hey, next time you're in town, let me know; we'll go get a roast pork with greens and gossip about Lakeside...

Edited August 4, 2006 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Ned:

There's been a lot of ink about the Geno's controversy. I'm firmly in the same camp as Philadining. I'll happily put my money in someone else's register. Their steaks were never that good anyway. And their attitude stinks. Even a humble cheesesteak stand qualifies as being part of the hospitality industry, and they obviously just don't get it. I hope they implode under the ponderous weight of their own stupidity and bigotry.

Next time you come to Philly, you let us know. We'll show you where and what the locals eat. You'll definitely enjoy it better.

[ned]

Thanks Andy and all. I read so much about the cheesesteak and not a word of warning about Geno's. Now it's inked up here. I feel better. Anyone who searches the word cheesesteak will get a small earful about why Geno's might not be the best choice even if you do happen to be on ninth street and have to be at a wedding at the Quaker Meeting house in an hour and a half.

Looks like there are a lot of latin american options as well as Vietnamese. We tried to go to Amada one night but it was full up and we were ten or more people.

Next time when I'm not marrying off an old friend I'll be down there to EAT and I'll get in touch with y'all.

Ahh Lakeside. . .