Steak and Hoagie Factory Franchise Review

The Steak and Hoagie Factory is one of the Philadelphia cheese steak joints that are doing well franchising. Established in 1990, the Steak and Hoagie Factory currently has six locations, which include: Abington, Doylestown, Hilltown, Penndel, Somerton, and Warminster, PA. This Philly cheese steak franchise only has one owner, Dave Christy, who hand selects his locations to ensure consistency and quality. The place that I have recently visited and will be the subject of this review is located at: 1749 York Road, Abington, PA 19001.

Steak and Hoagie Factory in Abington has a semi large size seating arrangement with several different booths and tables. There is a good arcade section there for the kids too. This is a quick eat type of operation where usually the customer stays no longer than 20-30 minutes.

Steak and Hoagie Factory’s Philly cheese steak was very good. They used lightly toasted Italian rolls to hold their semi chopped steak. The onions were fried and mixed well with the cheese. There was a good proportion of cheese, steak, and onions… a fine balance the way it should be.

There was a substantial amount of steak in the sandwich to full you but yet not an overloading portion. The rolls are about a foot long and are $6.20 for the regular cheese steak. I purchased the pizza steak for $6.20. If you are really hungry, they serve a 2 foot long jumbo cheese steak for $11.50. This size puts the Steak and Hoagie Factory up against its competitors for the largest cheese steak in Philly, which include Larry’s Steaks and Leo’s Steaks. When I say large I mean length not width. Some of the widest competitors are gooey Gooie’s, Pagano’s, and 4th Street Deli.

Steak and Hoagie Factory has just been made a member of the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club. They offer a very good sandwich at a very reasonable price. If you were to purchase the jumbo cheese steak for $11.50 then you could feed at minimum 2 -3 people. For a quality sandwich at that price, Steak and Hoagie Factory is extremely competitive.

Congratulations Steak and Hoagie Factory!

Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies Review

Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies Philly Cheese Steak Review

Established in 1960, Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies are located at 7617 Ogontz Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19150. Pagano’s has received national attention as they have been voted the best steaks by several different sources over the years. The Courier News voted them the best steaks in 2002 and Focus Metropolitan Philadelphia’s Business Newsweekly voted Pagano’s the best hoagie contender in 1984.

Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies has a funny operation. There is no place to sit inside and it is strictly pick up or take out. Pagano’s is a hole in the wall food place as there is nothing fancy in physical appearance that would attract customers there. People go there just for the food. They also have 2 sections in the store (and 2 lines) one for hoagies and one for cheese steaks. Make sure you stand in the right line or you will get dirty looks and maybe yelled at. The workers are semi friendly but I can see that they have rules that you need to follow just like Pat’s and Geno’s Steaks. I don’t like following rules if I am the paying customer.

I have to give Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies a yellow light (proceed with caution) as I am not completely impressed to consider them the best. However, I still feel that they have some potential and that is why I don’t want to give them the full red light (don’t go).

Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies has an excellent value for their Philly cheese steak at $6.75 for a foot long loaded steak. When I mean loaded I mean LOADED. You can put rubber casing around their steak sandwiches and sell it to local gyms for their members. It weighs that much. Don’t worry about gaining weight as you will get a full workout by lifting it to your mouth every time.

Even though the value is there I still have several problems with it. First, the steak was chopped ultra fine…too fine. You cannot see any texture to the steak at all. This is what Rick Olivieri from Rick’s Steaks cautions about. If the steak is chopped too fine then you can’t tell what kind of beef they are serving and the quality of it. By the taste of the beef, I was not impressed. Just thinking about Olivieri’s words were echoing in my head as I was eating it. Yes, it is loaded with steak…but what grade of steak is it?

Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies use soft Italian rolls yet the roll was not ideal. It didn’t have that beautiful golden brown texture with a shiny glaze that the perfect Italian roll would have. This roll actually appears to have been there for a few days.

The cheese and fried onions were mixed in the sandwich but were not enough. There was so much steak in there that you were bombarded with chopped steak flavor and couldn’t taste the rest of the sandwich. The cheese and onions were in there somewhere but I needed a road map to find them.

Basically, Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies has way too much steak on their Philly cheese steak and the quality of it just doesn’t knock you off your seat. Sorry Pagano’s Steaks and Hoagies but I can’t recommend you as the Best Philly Cheese Steaks!

Larry’s Steaks Mushroom Cheese Steak

Larry’s Steaks was established in 1956 and is located at 2459 North 54th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19131. This Philly cheese steak joint is located right next to Saint Joseph’s University and City Line Avenue. Due to its proximity to the college, Larry’s has become famous because of all the college students that it attracts.

Larry’s Steaks is also the official caterers for the Philadelphia 76ers and St. Joseph’s University since 2003. But what really makes Larry’s famous is that they are the home of the belly fillers. What is that you say? The belly filler is a giant 2 foot hoagie that makes Leo’s Steaks look silly. Let’s go over their steak.

I ordered a Philly cheese steak with onions and mushrooms. Larry’s Steaks chops their steaks as opposed to serving it in strips. The sandwich that I ordered was a regular foot long for $6.25, which is a good value. They give a decent amount of steak in there as well. I did not order the belly filler as this sandwich is just insanely big for my tolerance today. It is really huge and it only costs $12.30, a big deal. You can split this with 2 or 3 people and you would have a cheap meal and be full. The onions and mushrooms were fried and mixed well with the cheese. The Italian rolls were soft but yet not the ideal golden color that a really fresh quality Italian roll would have. Nevertheless, the sandwich overall was very good and the value was excellent. I can see why the Saint Joe’s students really rave about it.

Larry’s Steaks also has a very large sit in restaurant with very cozy booths. This is a huge asset if you want to eat there. The only problem that I had was that I found the cashier to be a little rude. He did not look at me at all and talked to me like the Soup Nazi on Jerry Seinfeld. “Next.” I don’t like this sort of treatment.

Besides the cashier, everything else about Larry’s is the complete package. Larry’s Steaks welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steaks Club (do something about that cashier will ya)!

Leo’s Steaks Largest Cheese Steak Review

Leo’s Steaks is located at 1403 Chester Pike, Folcroft, PA 19032. Established somewhere in the early 1970s, Leo’s is an extremely popular place in Delaware County, PA. Not too far from Central Philadelphia, Leo’s popularity has echoed all over the city as they have won various best Philly cheese steak awards for many years.

Leo’s Steaks sells a large variety of sandwiches including hoagies, burgers, and steaks. They also sell 3 and 6 foot long hoagies. However, their real popularity comes from their large cheese steak, a monster 18 inch long sandwich for $12.90. There small is a great value too for $6.80 at about a foot long.

Leo’s sandwich is beautiful. I bought the 18 incher and had to share. I mean I could eat it but it would be too much. They stack their steak high in the sandwich too so you are not only eating a supremely large sandwich but you are also tackling the giant portions that the put on there. Honestly, an average person can eat a third of this monster and be full.

Leo’s Steaks chops their steaks as opposed to using steak strips. Their rolls are semi soft Italian rolls. For a sandwich this size though it would be difficult to have an ultra soft loaf of bread as it may not hold the contents well. The onions were nicely browned and mixed well with the steak and American cheese.

An interesting observation I made is that the farther you go away from the Big Three Philly cheese steak joints, the more you will notice that there are less rules. For example, Leo’s didn’t even ask me if I wanted a specific kind of cheese so I assume that they only use American cheese (believe it or not this is the majority way in Philly). However, at Pat’s or Geno’s Steaks if you don’t tell them what kind of cheese you want then you may be setting yourself up for an argument.

Leo’s Steaks does not have any indoor sitting. Actually the place was so crowded when I went that you barely had any place to stand. They do have a table outside to eat if it is a nice day.
I totally am convinced that Leo’s Steaks gives you value for your dollar. I don’t really have any suggestions for them because I feel that they have the proper formula down. I wouldn’t say it is the best steak I ever ate but it is one of the best. They definitely have the longest sandwich that I have eaten out of all the places (not the widest as that record goes to Gooey Looie’s in South Philly). I think that they should continue to market themselves as the longest Philly cheese steak as that is what will stand in their customers minds.

Leo’s Steaks welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steaks Club!

Gooey Looie’s Hoagies Steaks Review

Gooey Looie’s Hoagies and Steaks Review

Gooey Looie’s Hoagies and Steaks is a perfect example of a Philly cheese steak place that only the locals know about. Do you remember when I first started this blog that I said I was going to introduce the tourists to Philly cheese steak places that only the locals know of and is ten times better than anyone of ”The Big Three” (the name I gave to Geno’s, Pat’s, and Jim’s Steaks)… well today is your lucky day. I am revealing another hidden gem that is a true Best Philly Cheese Steak joint.

Gooey Looie’s Hoagies and Steaks was established approximately 25 years ago and is located at 231 McClellan Street, Philadelphia, PA 19148. It is located inside of the Pennsport Mall, a small little mall close to the Delaware River in South Philly. You can park your car in the lot and walk inside. This place is really tiny but there are about 3 small tables to sit and eat if they are not occupied.

Gooey Looie’s is open every day but Sunday and is very popular by the locals. They were rated Best in Philly by Philadelphia Magazine dating back from 1995, 1996, and 1997.

Gooey Louie’s Cheese Steaks are probably the widest cheese steak in Philly. I have known about this place for years and haven’t found any that has been wider. When I say wider I mean how thick the sandwich is. The sandwich is so thick that you need a fork to bring it down to a manageable size.

The bread they use is soft Italian rolls. The steak is chopped well and stacked high. The American cheese used is mixed well within the steak. They use a good amount of cheese to make the steak nice and gooey (I guess that is where they got their name from). There are a decent amount of onions used and they are cooked very thorough with the steak to create a darker color onion.

When a Gooey Looie’s sandwich is served to you it is wrapped so thick that it may be mistaken for something other than a cheese steak. Be careful not to wave that sandwich at the police or they may take you down by mistaking it for a machine gun.

If you come to Philly for the first time and you want a real cheese steak, go to Gooey Looie’s instead of the top 3. Do you know how much my cheese steak cost? The large cheese steak was $6.95 – over a dollar less than any of the Big Three cheese steak shops. For the value you CAN NOT beat this place. You can fit 3 Geno’s Steaks inside of this one sandwich (why are you laughing – I am serious). If you don’t believe me then you will have to see for yourself. You also won’t have to deal with tourist lines and the staff here is very friendly. After you go to Gooey Looie’s, please make sure to return and thank me in the comment section.

Gooey Looie’s Hoagies and Steaks – Welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club!