CheesesteakGuru.com

We’ve talked about the 1 Cheesesteak per month rule before here.  There’s a good reason to have it.  I live 6 blocks from Pat’s And Geno’s.  I live 7 blocks from Jim’s Steaks.  I live just over a mile from John’s Roast Pork.  And it’s Just 2 miles to Tony Luke’s.  If I was Artie Lange I’d be dead by now. 

So with that plethora of great sandwich places, placing a 1 cheesesteak per month rule is a necessity.  Even if that makes it difficult for the Cheesesteak Guru!  How much content can I  put up here, if I’m only eating 12 steaks per year.

Well, last basketball season, I went to a Villanova basketball game with a few of my girlfriend’s friends.  (Yes, surrounded by Wildcats fans.)  Anyway, the plan after the game was to hit Pat’s steaks.  I gave everyone directions that would have prevented them from getting lost or getting killed.  Traffic was terrible, so it took the folks a little while to get to Pats. 

But the resident South Philadelphian, that I am, was able to bolt out of the Wachovia Center Parking lot, Make a right on to Pattison, quick Left onto 7th Street.  Shoot down 7th to Reed, make a left, then 2 blocks later, make a right on 9th.  Sometimes, I’ll switch it up to up to Passyunk to look for parking.  Or I’ll go down to Federal and loop around Capitolo Playground.

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Joey Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks, was hauled into the Friends Meeting House to be grilled by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, to discuss his sign, “This is America, When Ordering, Speak English!”  I’ve historically been a Free Speech.  I have no problem with Vento expressing his belief in a “Constitutionally protected political and personal views that English should be the official and adopted language of our nation.” If he wants this sign in the window in his home.  FINE.  But when you talk about commerce, that’s a different story. 

 Yes, you can discriminate against a person who refuses to wear shoes or a shirt.  But that’s more of a health code reason, to discriminate against the shoeless.  But this guy placed his sign, above another sign, “Management Reserves the Right to Refuse Service”, you are telling explicitly telling non-english speaking folks, don’t come here.  On the same block from Geno’s is a Vietnamese Hoagie shop, La Lupe (where they make my favorite Chorizo taco’s), and RIM (the owner is from France!).  Philadelphia is a melting pot.  The Italian Market area is much more diverse than ever before.  It’s a good thing America. 

Even if this guy has never REALLY refused anyone a steak, we all know what he’s saying.  *wink* *wink*

And we all know what Dom Giordano and his “half filled motorcoach” of racists retirees are nominees for HammRadio.com’s A$$-hole of the week.  Good Luck, Dom.

Remember all that flap about the Chinese star, Yi Jianlan, not wanting to go to Milwaukee because they don’t have a huge Chinese population?  Well, he could have just followed Yao Ming’s footsteps and come to Pat’s Steaks!!!

 Congratulations Yao, for picking the Steak place that doesn’t care that you don’t speak English.

A new feature here on CheeesesteakGuru, will be to find any news from the celebrity world and determine their Cheesesteak preference.  Where do they go?  How do they order?

 In a recent blog posting on Kevin Smith’s MySpace page, itemizes his week including every time he showers, shaves, has sex, eats, meets and greets, writes, talks, spits, vomits, and watches TV.  This is OLD School blogging at it’s finest.  Here is my on-line diary.  NOW deal with it. 

 On his way to Cornell University for a speaking engagement, Smith finds himself at Philadelphia International Airport.   There after determining it was 80 degrees outside, he split a cheesesteak from a place in the terminal.  If I flew or randomly hung out in the airport terminal like Tom Hanks, I could tell you where he bought his cheesesteak.  (He calls it a cheese-steak). For argument’s sake and the proximity to the Bose store, I’m going to say he went to Philly Steak and Gyro.

 On his return trip from Cornell, he… well let’s Kevin Tell it:

Twenty minutes in, I talk to Bryan Johnson, who tells me the SModcast equipment he’d Fed-Exed to the Stash East arrived, but since nobody was around to sign for it, it’s being held in the sectional center in Eatontown. Since it’s Sunday, we won’t be able to pick it up ’til tomorrow morning, so my plans to do a Kev/Walt/Bry SModcast pre-poker tourney are shot. Since there’s no rush to get to Red Bank, Jim and I turn the car around and head back into Philly, to grab some Geno’s.

We wait in line for a few minutes, ’til we get up to the ordering window and the guy working it says “What’re you doing out there? Come inside.” They put us at the indoor “celebrity” table, where Jim and I indulge in some awesome, Whiz-covered steaks and fries. It’s about the furthest thing from my diet, but fuck it: I earned this shit.

So there you have it, Kevin Smith is man after my own heart. If you got the time… stop for some cheesesteaks.  I might not choose Geno’s for obvious reasons.  But I never really thought Cheesesteaks should be a political topic. 

 Coming soon, the October Cheesesteak.  Where oh where will it be???

Who knew that running a Cheesesteak place in Philadelphia would be so difficult.

 Oliveri offspring settle their long running dispute. 

 This is a good thing for Philadelphia.

Now, we haven’t posted in a while.  And when you are the CheesesteakGuru, that’s just unacceptable.  But this story we’ve been following for a while now, but we haven’t posted.  And that’s just a shame.

 The Reading Terminal Market has not renewed Rick’s Steaks lease.  Rick’s has been in the market for over 25 years.  Rick Oliveri is the grandson of Pat Oliveri, the man who along with his brother Harry invented the Cheesesteak. 

And guess who is on Rick’s side?  The Amish!  As an avid customer of the Dutch Counter, I’m a big fan of the Amish!

Traditionally, visitors to the mecca of cheesesteaks at 9th and Passyunk have been treated to let’s just say not the friendliest customer service.  You have to understand, Pat’s Steaks and Geno’s Steaks sell thousands of steaks a day.  On a Saturday night, after a Phillies-Red Sox game, a big concert or two, with some nice weather, thousands of patrons will head on down to the Cheesesteak Warzone.  So you the speed in which you order becomes paramount.  Ordering is fairly simple.  But you have to get it down.  Cheese first, then tell whether you want onions or not.  You want a Cheeseteak with Provolone and Onions?  “It’s Provolone Wit”  Or simply “Provy Wit”.  Simplicity is key. 

So it comes as NO surprise that those who do not speak the language, could shake some chains, so to speak.  But for one of the owners of the cheesesteak places, Joe Vento of Geno’s Steaks, he’s decided to stand at the forefront of the nation’s immigration battle and the ONE language for all cause, in the oddest of places.  In South Philly.  America’s Birthplace’s favorite food, is the main battleground for Immigration!  Who would have thunk it!  New Mexico? Texas?  California?  No the real battles are fought for a someslabs of meat and cheese on a roll, that may or may not contain onions.  Again, that is up to you.  As long as you speak the language.

Last year Geno’s Steaks got in the middle of the hoopla by putting up a sign that says: “This is America.  Speak English When Ordering.”  That sign is still there.  And Vento has no problem with in.  In fact, he says there are some customers who are supporting his views.

We here at CheesesteakGuru have enjoyed Geno’s steaks.  Although, I have not purchased one from Geno’s since a New Years Eve a few years ago.  The fact that I vomited outside the Wyndham Franklin Plaza later that night, not withstanding.  I also had a wonderful Geno’s steak a couple years ago when Citizens Bank Park first opened.  It really was very good.  But you may or may not see a review of Geno’s for a while.  Not while that sign is up. 

 We have so many problems in the world.  And someone speaking Spanish is NOT one of them.  Be part of the solution, not the problem. 

So the flap won’t die down at Geno’s, where owner Joe Vento still shows a sign indicating he won’t serve you unless you order in English.  Well, young college kids with absolutely nothing to do on a Saturday came up with a great idea this passed Saturday.  What if we got a bunch of people together to order Cheesesteaks in a bunch of different languages?

Well, watch the video and read what happened! Why call the cops?  Was it harassment?  I don’t know… Were they trespassing?  Maybe?? Still all and all very funny.

When a legend dies, we all weep.  I know it seems weird to call a man who invented the cheesesteak a legend, but he is.  I don’t know if Harry Olivieri is more responsible than Pat (who is the namesake of the famous Philadelphia Landmark Pat’s Steaks.)  I suppose that’s for historians to decide.  Okay, I guess, I can decide.  It was Harry who was responsible for the meal that keeps my stomach looking like I’m nearing my second tri-mester.

It’s 3:40am, I’m starving… and I know that Pat’s Steaks (from now I’m I will call Harry’s) is the one thing that will halt my hunger.  But I made a rule with myself, to only get 1 cheesesteak per month.  So, I will have to wait, the month is almost over, so I plan on getting a steak soon.  I just have to wait for the right moment.  But celebrating the life of Harry Olivieri is probably the best way, I suppose?

 American ’Wit. 

• Harry Oliveri, Cheesesteak inventor passes
• Pat’s King of Steaks

So it has come to this.  Cheesesteaks have been hitting the news lately.  And we have been sitting on this domain name for a while.  The plan?  We decided to use this site to give our reviews of steak places we come across.  Share interesting stories from the world of the Cheesesteak.  Give you an idea of the cheesesteak lifestyle.   And perhaps be a guide to some of the richer experiences of being a Philadelphia.  So sometimes HammRadio.com is not the place for such discussions.  I guess, really?  Who knows you know? 

Okay, really it’s all an excuse to explain where I get the name Cheesesteak Guru.  As if I need another nickname.  And believe me I don’t!

Well, the following web-site BestCheeseSteaks.com maintained by John Russ, is where I was “dubbed” Cheesesteak Guru.  (Actually, it notes cheesteak guru.  But we won’t quibble with the spelling will we?)  And at least I didn’t give myself the nickname, like so many times I have tried.  My latest attempt, “Call me Silky.”  That didn’t go over well.  I still like the name though.  I had sent a top ten list of Cheesesteak places that were personal favorites of mine and I guess I went over and beyond the call of duty.  So, therein lies the name.  So in honor of John Russ and Philadelphians everywhere.  Welcome to CheesesteakGuru.com