I grocery shop in south Philly. I do this because I do it and it makes sense, I think. Somehow. Anyways...many a time I have driven by
John's Roast Pork and thought that I should really, for the love of all that is holy (as far as sandwiches are concerned), check it out. I finally managed to do so last week. I was a little intimidated by the line and lack of clear options about possible additions to sandwiches but...the place is known for making a mean cheesesteak and the dude in front of me asked for onions, so I thought I, too, would ask for onions on my cheesesteak. It was certainly a nice cross-section of customers: burly, day-glo orang- vested men who I can only assume did some sort of construction/road work, Asian guys in medical scrubs with the definite vernacular of med students and black ladies with tight jeans and low-cut shirts all waiting their turn to express the desire for a cheesesteak or hoagie or fries or (since it was lent) fried fish sandwich. I sat outside (it was a nice day...though not as freakin unbelievably nice as today, by the by) in their small covered s/eating area (the building itself is just a winding line, no indoor seating is to be had). Due to the exact timing of my exit from the building I ended up sitting at a table right in front of the exit and right next to an older woman whose husband first owned the establishment...or maybe the son of the man who first owned it (probably the latter). She clearly spends a good portion of her day sitting there, shooting the shit with customers and being very proud of the family business (there are countless framed photographs of the family's three generations on the walls, along with laudatory and public interest press clippings). While I was there she was spoke with two guys from Florida who had their own cheesesteak franchise (this was made clear by the fact that they were wearing shirts with their restaurant's logo on them). It was a very interesting conversation to overhear (the one guy talked a big game about growing up in Philly, in the North, but having never heard of John's Roast Pork...you can imagine how that went over).
This cheesesteak was good. I liked it. But, even with the onions, I felt like it was missing a little extra taste.Unlike Geno's or
Pat's, John's Roast Pork doesn't give the option of cheese wiz. Their standard cheese is provolone. And this lack of extra taste may really just have been a need for little more salt, which the cheese wiz probably could have given (though the fact that I'm saying that this ridiculously fatty thing needed more of another awfully-bad-for-your-heart ingredient makes me pause). The portion was certainly generous, and the atmosphere far less touristy. I would go back, but I feel like I'd want some additional condiment. Ketchup, maybe? I feel like what I have just written is blasphemy.
I grocery shop in south Philly. I do this because I do it and it makes sense, I think. Somehow. Anyways...many a time I have driven by John's Roast Pork and thought that I should really, for the love of all that is holy (as far as sandwiches are concerned), check it out. I finally managed to do so last week. I was a little intimidated by the line and lack of clear options about possible additions to sandwiches but...the place is known for making a mean cheesesteak and the dude in front of me asked for onions, so I thought I, too, would ask for onions on my cheesesteak. It was certainly a nice cross-section of customers: burly, day-glo orang- vested men who I can only assume did some sort of construction/road work, Asian guys in medical scrubs with the definite vernacular of med students and black ladies with tight jeans and low-cut shirts all waiting their turn to express the desire for a cheesesteak or hoagie or fries or (since it was lent) fried fish sandwich. I sat outside (it was a nice day...though not as freakin unbelievably nice as today, by the by) in their small covered s/eating area (the building itself is just a winding line, no indoor seating is to be had). Due to the exact timing of my exit from the building I ended up sitting at a table right in front of the exit and right next to an older woman whose husband first owned the establishment...or maybe the son of the man who first owned it (probably the latter). She clearly spends a good portion of her day sitting there, shooting the shit with customers and being very proud of the family business (there are countless framed photographs of the family's three generations on the walls, along with laudatory and public interest press clippings). While I was there she was spoke with two guys from Florida who had their own cheesesteak franchise (this was made clear by the fact that they were wearing shirts with their restaurant's logo on them). It was a very interesting conversation to overhear (the one guy talked a big game about growing up in Philly, in the North, but having never heard of John's Roast Pork...you can imagine how that went over).
This cheesesteak was good. I liked it. But, even with the onions, I felt like it was missing a little extra taste.Unlike Geno's or Pat's, John's Roast Pork doesn't give the option of cheese wiz. Their standard cheese is provolone. And this lack of extra taste may really just have been a need for little more salt, which the cheese wiz probably could have given (though the fact that I'm saying that this ridiculously fatty thing needed more of another awfully-bad-for-your-heart ingredient makes me pause). The portion was certainly generous, and the atmosphere far less touristy. I would go back, but I feel like I'd want some additional condiment. Ketchup, maybe? I feel like what I have just written is blasphemy.
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