Sonny’s Famous Steaks

Sonny’s Famous Steaks is located at 228 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Specifically it is located right in Old City just a few steps away from Campo’s Deli. The proximity to Campo’s sort of creates a rivalry similar to Dalessandro’s and Chubby’s and Geno’s and Pat’s Steaks.

Sonny’s Famous Steaks is a newcomer to the Philadelphia cheese steak game being only around since November of 2000. Actually Sonny’s first opened up right next door to Campo’s at 216 Market Street. A few years later (2003) they had to move though because their building had structural problems. This stalled this business for a few months. It worked out best for them because their new location is a little bigger.

Sonny’s has won several awards including Philadelphia Magazine’s “Best of Philly 2001.” They are about to get an even better award…

Sonny’s Famous Steaks has a nice sized steak shop with many tables and a big television to watch while you eat. The staff was very friendly and their menu is extremely simple: French fries, hamburgers, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, or cheese steaks.

The rolls were top of the line as I saw the delivery man dropped them off straight in the back room. They were holding several bags from Amoroso bakery, the same bread used by Jim’s Steaks. I did notice that the roll on my sandwich was a little flaky though, which may indicate that it may have been over a day old (questions the freshness). While we are on the topic of rolls, Sonny’s cheese steak is just way too small. It is less than 8 inches, a small Italian roll. They really need to think about making their sandwiches bigger.

Sonny’s Steaks chops their meat but not by much at all. It is a stringy chop where the slices of the rib eye meat used is sliced several times. The steak is not a fine chop where every part of the meat is completely subdivided.

At Sonny’s, I changed things up a little and ordered a traditional Philly cheese steak with cheese whiz instead of American cheese (the sign at the counter said this was Sonny’s recommendation as it is the sandwich that he eats). The cheese was smoothed around amongst the steak evenly with minimal signs of oozing (oozing is a sign that the cheese has melted too much).

The onions were slightly darkened and chopped into tiny blocks.

I like Sonny’s but I have some suggestions for him. The sandwich taste is very good but the length of the sandwich for $7 has got to go. Sonny if you are reading this you need to give a foot long in this economy for $7. Campo’s down the street has roughly the same size for the same price except their sandwich is a little thicker (even though they use steak strips).

Another suggestion for Sonny would be to brighten the place up. Put some money into your place. It looks like a dingy hole in the wall. Campo’s Deli has a nice clean bright looking place. Yours looks like a prison cell barbecue. Philly cheese steaks and bright colors work very well together. If you think I am off then take a ride to Geno’s and stare at the bright orange signs that attract people like magnets.

Other than the size of the ugly interior, I still believe that Sonny’s Philly cheese steak still holds strong. Sonny’s Famous Steaks welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club!