George’s Famous Roast Beef and Steaks is located in the famous Italian Market in Philadelphia (claimed to be the oldest outdoor market in the country). This is not to be confused with George’s Sandwich shop down the next block. George’s Roast Beef is a little hole in the wall luncheonette type of shop with about 4 tables to sit. The chairs are hard as a rock and the table does its job and that’s it. The looks of the places appears that there hasn’t been any renovations done since its opening 65 years ago.
Despite these limitations, the sandwiches here are fantastic. For $6.75 I received a foot long sandwich. What a value! They use soft dark brown Italian rolls that are as fresh as a new day. The onions are semi chopped and fried dark. The cheese used was American cheese and is placed under the steak. There were several ears of cheese that was not fully melted with the rest of the cheese as they hung over the side of the rolls. The sandwich was so good that I overlooked this.
The steak was fresh thin slices thrown on the grill. The steak was semi chopped meaning that there wasn’t large strips in the sandwich but the steak wasn’t fine chopped either. There was a balance between the methods of chopping the steak.
The sandwich had just the right amount of content inside the roll. There wasn’t an over amount nor was the sandwich skimpy. It was just right.
George’s Famous Roast Beef and Steaks also have roast beef on the menu and I may need to come back another time to try that.
The hospitality of the staff was very good. The chef appeared to be the owner and he was very polite and modest to me.
For the quality of the Philly cheese steaks here and the price I was surprised that people weren’t breaking George’s door down. There was an average of 1-2 customers in and out the whole time I was there. It was ironic because I drove by Geno’s and Pat’s a few moments before for comparison purposes and the lines were the usual: wrapped around the corner. Do these tourists know that they can walk just 2 blocks down Ninth Street and eat much better for cheaper? George’s sandwich is triple Geno’s or Pat’s and $1.25 cheaper. This is a no brainer. I am not trying to take business away from the Top 3 but I am trying to educate the tourists so that they know that other great places do exist.
George’s Famous Roast Beef and Steaks – welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club!
