@amom2girls Trust me, I have had lots of cheesesteaks in Philly with many family and friends, all through my life. Never at Pat’s or Geno’s as true afficionados would never choose either of those. Eat all the Wiz you want. Just know that it isn’t the true way to eat a cheesesteak, regardless of where you eat it. 
Well, lots of people , both Philly locals and tourists,choose to go to Geno’s and Pat’s. Geno was on the Today show last week and he brought the wiz/whiz! 
From the Philly Enquirer 2008 article I previously linked to:
“Even Geno’s owner Joey Vento, 68, downplays Whiz. “To be honest with you, I’ve never eaten Cheez Whiz, and I’m the owner,” he said. “… We always recommend the provolone. … That’s the real cheese.””
This thread is making me hungry. I’ll just add a few foods I didn’t see mentioned. I like chicken fried steak, fried oyster po’ boys, dirty rice, jalapeño poppers and sweet potato pecan pie. In Hawaii we like spam musubi along with shaved ice. And I’ve only been to NYC once as an adult, but I liked The Halel Guys food carts. It was crazy how long the line was.
Yes, and the Geno’ s owner in that article also went on to say that “the yellow runny goo though, is the top choice of his customers, the locals as well as tourists.”
Pittsburgh has Primanti Bros. - french fries on top of sandwiches.
I said that I personally agree with provolone, however, that doesn’t mean that OTHER people in Philly don’t eat it with wiz. It doesn’t make it any less legitimate. And I don’t eat at Pat or Genos for cheese steaks, however, we do go there for fries. They are 3 blocks away… We go to John’s and personally, I get the pork and provolone with rabe. I’m just joking around and I hope you are, too, but honestly I’ve lived here, in Philly for over 30 years.
I don’t get the fries in sandwiches thing. Some gyro places around here put fries in their gyros, too. And then there is the Cali burrito with fries in it. No thanks.
I never understood the fries in sandwiches thing, either… until DH took me on a tour of neighborhood pubs in England. Chip butties are somehow terrible and awesome all at once. What we’d call “fries” on white bread slathered with butter. Even now my stomach churns and roils at the thought of all that grease. But they were good when we were eating them.
The fries on sandwiches aren’t really my thing either but I still have one once in a blue moon when I visit family in Pittsburgh, for old time’s sake.
What’s popular isn’t necessarily what’s authentic.
And the real secret in Phila is the hoagie rolls.
I never heard of the pork and rabe sandwich. I’m clearrly behind on that.
I like coleslaw on some sandwiches, that may be a NJ thing.
@lookingforward Try the pork, rabe, provolone sandwich at either John’s or DeNic’s.
Coleslaw is good in pulled pork sandwiches but also on a Rachel which is basically a Rueben with cole slaw instead of sauerkraut.
@lookingforward cole slaw on sandwiches isn’t just a NJ thing. The Primanti Bros. sandwiches in Pittsburgh have both French fries and cole slaw on them.
And as @doschicos says, cole slaw is typical on pulled pork sandwiches.
This thread has migrated far from the “local foods that outsiders dislike” theme, but all the discussion of Pat’s and Geno’s and their cheesesteaks prompts me to report: I would never voluntarily go, or take anyone I liked, to get cheesesteaks at Pat’s or Geno’s. They have the fame, and a lot of promotion, but their product is really second rate, no matter which cheese you ask for. However, I have taken out of town visitors to Geno’s so they can sample some idiosyncratic local atty-tood. It’s not just the “You’re in America Now, Speak English” sign (at a place where standard ordering is done in a patois that is some distance from actual English). I have seen many out-of-town eyes widen as they realize they are standing in front of a giant tribute wall to Danny Faulkner (the police officer Mumia Abu Jamal was convicted of killing).
French fries in gyros: My favorite local gyro/shawarma place tells me that’s a Lebanese localism. You can order any of their sandwiches “Beirut style” and that means fries wrapped in.
I think Pat’s and Geno’s claim to fame is what this article refers to as “the manufactured rivalry” more than the quality of their food:
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/philadelphia/the-pats-vs-genos-rivalry-is-fake
Are you saying you should order the cheesesteak on a hoagie roll rather than an amoroso roll?
Amoroso rolls are too soft. Sarcones or Carangi’s make good seeded Italian rolls. I agree about Pat and Geno’s. There are plenty of good cheese steak places depending on where you are in the City. John’s Roast Pork has wonderful roast pork and cheese steaks. That is our usual place, but they close early. Pat and Genos get the late night/after bar crowd because they are open late.
Pat and Genos are on Passyunk Avenue which is a wonderful food avenue in Philly. One of the few diagonal streets in the city.
Amoroso makes hoagie rolls. There may be other bakers, but there’s something about the rolls in Phila.
Agree the rivalry/hype doesn’t make Pat’s or Geno’s the gold standard. I’m not nuts about the New Haven pizza, either. And I freely declare NYC bagels aren’t my fav, not at all. Boston’s are better. (But I will say, NYC sure knows pizza, any hole in the wall. And NJ.)
I am pretty open-minded about where out-of-towners go for Chicago pizza. Pizzeria Uno/Due, Lou Malnati’s, Gino’s East, all good for deep dish. For stuffed, Giordano’s or Edwardo’s.
Similarly, I think a number of places make a good Chicago hot dog and a great Italian beef. I’d probably go for Al’s or Mr. Beef over corporate behemoth Portillo’s, but as long as the Italian beef is dipped, you won’t go wrong.
@Hanna What’s the difference between stuffed and deep dish?
Thank you @lookingforward
Some of the sandwich shops here offer an Amoroso or a hoagie roll. I guess the hoagie roll is just a local roll and the Amoroso is the official Amoroso Bakery roll.