A Fresh Perspective on Travel Every Day
Depending on whom you ask, the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia is usually at that hidden pizza shop without a phone number, in a Home Depot parking lot, or simply available in the visitors’ clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park baseball stadium.
Tourists associate the City of Brotherly Love with its most famous sandwich – the cheesesteak, created by South Philly hot dog vendor Pat Olivieri for his taxi driver clientele in 1930. However, regional food choices in Philadelphia extend well beyond Pat’s or Geno’s, provolone or cheese whiz, with or without fried onions. Landmark delis, markets, and noodle shops, still in business nearly a century after opening, pay tribute to the city’s colorful immigrant past; a few doors down, modern chefs and bakers riff on classic dishes, from Jewish gravlax to Korean fried chicken, representing the city’s diverse range of cultural and ethnic groups. Have your cheesesteak – and eat one, too, from the rival stand across the way – but save some room for Philly’s other foodie delights.