White House Sub Shop Cheese Steak Review

The White House Sub Shop is located at 2301 Arctic Avenue, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401 (Corner of Mississippi and Arctic Avenues). Established in October of 1946, this submarine shop is one of a kind.

The White House Sub Shop was opened over 60 years ago by Anthony Basile and his aunt and uncle, Basilia and Fritz Sacco. Today it is still run by the same Basile and Sacco families.

The White House Sub Shop is a sit down sandwich shop with a row of booths on the right side when you walk in. You can also sit at the counter if you like but the booths are more spacious. Along the walls of this place are decorations of the shops worldly popularity. There are countless pictures of famous people who have eaten here including The Beatles and Frank Sinatra. I also saw a picture of Elvis but without any signature I couldn’t confirm if he was here.

A reason that this place could be so popular is because of its proximity to the casinos in Atlantic City, the length of time it’s been around, and the lack of competition. The combination has led many famous visitors of Atlantic City here to get a quick bite to eat. Since Atlantic City is so close to Philly (many argue that it is Philly with a boardwalk) it would be expected that they would have a famous Philly cheese steak place here. This is where White House Sub Shop comes in.

What makes this place amazing besides the celebrities that it has attracted is the size of the sandwiches. A half a sandwich is about a foot long but the whole sandwich is about 2 foot long (this is how they sell their sandwiches: half and whole).

I ordered a whole famous Philly cheese steak submarine for $15. This was a very good deal considering that you can feed about 3 people with it.

The rolls that were used were slightly toasted light Italian rolls (not your traditional Philly cheese steak roll). The steak is 91.1% fat free U.S. D. A. Choice Lean Top Round Steak Cut. The steak was semi chopped (not fine chopped). There was a reasonable portion of steak put in the sandwich but it was not filled to the rim like many Philly places.

The onions were fried and long thin slices. The cheese used is provolone cheese (they have American if you ask for it otherwise provy is by default). They may have gone a notch too much with the cheese. Not a significant amount like Mama’s Pizzeria but just a little more than enough.

Another difference in White House subs is that they use lettuce and tomato slices in the Philly cheese steak. This is very unorthodox for the traditional cheese steak. I am not concerned with different if different is good but I think that lettuce takes away your concentration from the rest of the sandwich. If I wanted a side salad I would have asked for it.

The White House Sub Shop in AC is overall very good. I have made an exception for them to consider them a candidate for the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club because of their proximity, history, popularity, and the fact that Atlantic City is dominated by Philadelphians. With that said, aside from the lettuce and tomatoes, I like their sandwich especially for the value. The hospitality was warm enough for a steak joint but really what helped them get into the club is because Frank Sinatra approved of them.

The White House Sub Shop welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club!

Pudge’s Steaks and Hoagies

Pudge’s Steaks and Hoagies are located at 1510 Dekalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422 (Whitpain Shopping Center). Pudge’s Steaks originally began about 1965 in the LaSalle University area. Ten years after its opening, they moved to the Blue Bell area and have been there ever since. The name "Pudge" came from the original owner, Frank Carbone, who was nicknamed as a child after the dog in the Betty Boop comic strip. After Pudge's death in 2000, the shop was taken over by his daughter.

Pudge’s Steaks and Hoagies has an extremely friendly staff that are polite from the minute you walk in the door. Their new location (they recently moved from across the street at 1530 Dekalb Pike) has plenty of tables and booths. Their place is very clean in appearance and looks like a place that you don’t want to rush your meal just so that you can leave. What I mean is that it is very cozy in there compared to the majority of Philly cheese steak joints.

Pudge’s Steaks and Hoagies also are very popular in the media. For example, they were awarded Best of Philly by Philadelphia Magazine in 2005.

Pudge’s Steaks and Hoagies has a beautiful Philly cheese steak. Their steak is semi chopped and filled high in the sandwich. The onions were sliced small and mixed well with the cheese and steak. But the highlight of this sandwich is the rolls. Pudge’s rolls come from a bakery called Conshohocken Italian Bakery and are the ideal Philly cheese steak rolls. They are soft Italian rolls with just the proper amount of texture as reflected by its smooth light golden brown appearance. I am certain that these rolls were fresh too as the boxes of rolls were stacked in customer view and appears to have been delivered the same day. Also, considering the line of people that were waiting to order, this increased the likelihood that they have a high daily turnover of their rolls inventory.

I really like Pudge’s Philly cheese steak. Even though they are almost an hour away from Philly cheese steak central in South Philadelphia, Pudge’s has done it right. The price of their Philly cheese steak was reasonable too at $6.95 for about a foot long. And their rolls…I would advise them not to switch bakeries…their bakery has mastered the formula for making Philly cheese steak rolls. Their rolls were definitely the highlight of the sandwich. I am not saying that the rest of the sandwich wasn’t good because it was. I am saying that the rolls really made Pudge’s sandwich stand out and have helped me consider them one of the Best Philly Cheese Steaks.

Pudge’s Steaks and Hoagies – welcome to the Best Philly Cheese Steak Club!

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!