The Philadelphia Steak & Hoagie Company

I saw a little online deal for The Philadelphia Steak & Hoagie Company. $5 for $10 worth of food. I decided to get the coupon and give this place a try with my buddy Chris.

The writing on the outside cracked me up. I like their passion.

This place is tiny, but very cute inside. There is no bathroom inside, so keep that in mind if you decide to go and chug soda.

I do have to say its another one of those places where the pictures of the cheesesteaks on the menu board don't look right, so it made us think these steaks may not be so great.

Chris ordered his regular cheesesteak, no onions, I ordered mine with onions and green bell pepper. Both were made with American cheese. I ordered the "Philly Fries" which basically just means that they have seasoned salt on them, Chris got plain fries.

The food took awhile to come out, but once we got it, it was piping hot.

The cheesesteak didn't look that great, but I have to say it did taste better than I expected. Now that being said, the meat was a little burnt for me, and I thought it was a bit bland. I also wasn't a fan of the bread. Chris didn't like the bread either, and he thought there was way too much of it. Although he did seem to like the cheesesteak more than me. He actually liked the meat. Here is a shot of all the bread Chris didn't eat:

You can see that the meat to bread ratio wasn't good, and the bread was hard and dry on top and darker than I prefer. Not the best roll for a cheesesteak. My homegirl Maria reviewed the photos of the rolls and told me she is pretty sure they are the Mexican rolls you buy from barrels in the store. Again, not the best choice for a cheesesteak.

Here you can see how some of the meat was burnt:

The fries were good, and of course Chris liked my fries with the seasoning. I thought they could have used more seasoning actually. Originally we both wanted cheese fries, but they don't do that at this place, which is a bummer. These fries were begging for cheese.

The staff here was very friendly, and they kept telling us "Pay later, pay later." Chris liked that, he felt like they were trusting us. So we paid at the end of our meal. I have to say their prices are a tad more expensive than I think they should be. The man who runs the place is adorable, and asked us if we were happy with our food, and he also gave us a "Lunch Bunch Club" card which would give your 10th sandwich free. Very kind of him, but I doubt that we will be back. Just not the best place to go if you're really craving a cheesesteak. And I don't really want to try a hoagie there. Perhaps a torta?

The Philadelphia Steak & Hoagie Company

6427 Lankershim Blvd.

North Hollywood, CA 91606

818-760-1776

www.phillysteakandhoagie.com

Philadelphia Sandwiches

CHEESESTEAKS. TWO. DAYS. IN. A. ROW!! Well, yesterday didn't really count I suppose. It wasn't authentic. My cool coworker Ty and I had a hankerin' for a good steak, so we headed off to his usual cheesesteak spot, Philadelphia Sandwiches in North Hollywood.

Ok, ok. So I know that I'm cheating on Leigha bigtime...but we are on different schedules these days, and a girl has needs. Cheesy, delicious needs.

We walked in and immediately I liked the look of the place, it reminds me of a place you would see back home on the East Coast.

Ty told the guy at the counter that I'm from PA, and he immediately said "We don't have cheezewiz, it didn't really do well here." I said, "Yeah that's cool, I really just think its for when you're drunk or hungover." Then he said that they used to carry Tastykakes, but that they didn't sell enough of them or some bullcrap like that, so they didn't have them anymore. He actually blamed it on the people of California. At first I thought, "stupid savages in California, eatin' their dry-ass little debbies or whathaveyou," but then I thought they must not have pushed them hard enough. Because once you eat a Tastykake, you just get it. They're the best snack cake on the market. Period. And if you don't agree, your tastebuds must be off. I challenge anyone to try a butterscotch krimpet and tell me they don't like it. As my friend Katinka says, "The butterscotch krimpet is like God's twinkie."

I ordered the Famous Philly Cheese Steak. The guy at the counter (I feel bad I don't know his name because he was so cool) ran down the way he was going to make it, I think to make sure I would approve. He said American cheese (yellow, he called it) onions, no bell peppers? Yeah no bell peppers. I wanted it the way he normally would make it. In 4 mins, we had our steaks and fries, and they were pipin' hot.

The bread was great...toasty on the outside, lightly toasty and soft on the inside. The meat was nicely seasoned, just the right amount of salty. I would however have liked a little pepper. The meat was chopped to the perfect size, and was nice and juicy. The cheese was melted and mixed throughout just the way I like it...this is something I really, really appreciate. The sandwich was very light on the onions, and I actually would have liked a little more.

This is actually a pretty big sandwich place. The walls are covered with old Hollywood type pictures.

Ty is a fellow foodie, and we spend most of our time discussing food, and yummy places to go eat. The fact that this was his pick for a cheesesteak place impressed me, and I'm excited to try some of his other recommendations.

I definitely have to bring my good friend Leigha to this spot, and when I do, I will get the Chicken Cheesesteak. I bet its good!

Philadelphia Sandwiches

11112 Magnolia Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 91601

818-985-4929