Wit or Witout? In search of the best Philly Cheesesteak

Before I moved here the only cheesesteaks I'd eaten were bar food fare. Tasteless white buns with chewy beef and melted cheese. Good for soaking up beer but not my first sandwich of choice. Outside Philadelphia you can get Philly Cheesesteaks in all sorts of shapes and forms  -- Hot Pockets in the frozen food section and nuked at home, at McDonald's, at some chain at the mall, even as a pizza. All of them are icky.

When I became an official resident of "The City of Motherly Love" I made it my personal vision quest to find the very best cheesesteak in Philadelphia. It quickly became obvious that if you asked ten people where to get the best cheesesteak in the city you'd get ten adamant but different answers. Who knew I would have to wade through more ick before I found the winner?

Most people will point you to either Pat's or Geno's, the two most famous spots in the city. Others will have a lesser known spot around the corner from where they grew up.  Everyone has their own version of the "real" ingredients. Each restaurant has their own quirky way to order. At Geno's you'll be turned away if you request "Un filete del queso por favor." The sign there clearly states "This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING 'SPEAK ENGLISH' Don't forget to also indicate if you want your steak "wit." That means you want a sandwich with beef and Cheez Whiz. Ew. I might not be the healthiest eater but I'm pretty sure Cheez Whiz doesn't qualify for any of the food groups. Order a "Wit"  and you've got yourself a tourist trap lunch special of chewy, tough, well done beef drenched in Whiz.  What you don't have is the city's best cheesesteak.

I'd almost resigned myself to the fact that a tasty Philly cheesesteak was just a fantasy until my husband (ever the techie) went on cyberspace search. He started reading reviews and low and behold one of the top rated places was Mama's Pizzeria right down the road from us in Bala Cynwd.

Now I know some of you are probably laughing at me right now. How could I not be enamored with Pat's or Geno's? Well I guess people tend to defend their local fare. When you go to The Kentucky Derby you have to have a mint julep at Churchill Downs. They're a tradition. They're also wretched. I lived in Louisville for years before I actually drank one I liked. (unlike cheesesteaks the more juleps you consume in a row the better they taste). My point is that sometimes people promote and consume food and drink in the name of local tradition and no one wants to be the first to say "The Emperor is wearing no clothes!"

The best thing about a cheesesteak from Mama's is that it bears little resemblance to any of the other ones I tried. It features prime rib and a secret combination of three different cheeses and literally melts in your mouth. That is assuming of course that you can fit it in your mouth. They are HUGE -- about the size of two soda cans. A business associate of my husband's who grew up here but lives in Florida was shocked to hear that we'd discovered Mama's as locals consider it a well kept secret. He wanted to know if we'd been able to eat an entire cheesesteak in one sitting. Failing to do so he said, was a sign that we just hadn't lived here long enough.

Well I'm still only able to eat half  but my husband can polish off a whole one. Guess that make us official Philadelphians.

This is an original Philly Moms post. Lollie lives on The Main Line and also blogs on 50Something Moms. Be sure to look for her upcoming post "Does this cheesesteak make my butt look big?" In the meantime she's still willing to try to top Mama's Pizzeria. Have any suggestions?

This is an original post to Philly Moms Blog......