Category: Cheesesteaks

Recently, while finishing up on some errands on a Sunday, I was craving a Cheesesteak. I decided to had to the Wise Ox since I was in the area. I thought it would give me some other options in case I changed my mind….yes, I still remember the recommendation for the bologna EW and Dave! I should have known better; it was close to noon on a Sunday and of course, there was no parking to be found; sigh. So, I needed a plan B. I had recalled reading that a pizza shop on the corner of ECB and Louisiana named Gnarly Girl that served up cheesesteaks. So, I decided to see if I could actually find some parking. Which I did rather easily on Mississippi…there's some huge building going up on ECB, but there was a ton of parking right past it.

I walked over to the colorful shop, it was five til noon, and there were a couple of groups; all with kids in tow waiting outside. I thought about doing an about face, but in the end, I decided to stick it out. Apparently, there were two large parties, one with reservations for 20 waiting! So actually getting in a placing an order was a breeze because all the pizzas had been preordered.

The interior is quite colorful….Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rule one wall, this guy is on the fridge.

I walked up to the register and the friendly guy, who was soon overwhelmed with kids running around took my order.

There's an interesting sign at the register.

And then I walked over to the corner and watched the action!

My order took about 15 minutes. The woman, who I think runs the place handed me my sandwich and I wished her "good luck"……which cracked her up! She replied, "yes, thanks, we're going to need it!" As another party of at least 8 walked in with kids in tow!

The cheesesteak ($15) was quite hefty and long. And this is what it looked like when I opened it up.

A lot of meat. Which had been chopped too finely; it was headed toward "hamburger land". It had been seriously mixed with the White American Cheese. Didn't care for the mushy-mealy texture, though the flavor was ok…..mostly beefy, couldn't really make out the cheese or the onions.

The bread, faced with a daunting task of surviving all the mushy-damp protein had held out quite well.

   I prefer my cheesesteak to have thinly sliced beef, not chopped too finely like this was. One could not complain about the portion size nor price. Looks like a great neighborhood place to take the family for some slices and maybe enjoy the art, but perhaps not for a cheesesteak. Looks like I'll be headed to Evans or Wise Ox soon…..boy do I miss Monkey Paw and Pop's. And if you'd like a good laugh, you can check out this this old cheesesteak collection from almost 15 years ago! Man does time fly!

Gnarly Girl Pizza
2302 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Sunday, Thurs 12pm – 9pm
Mon – Wed       3pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat            12pm – 10pm

Just another "Sunday Sandwiches" post.

Philadelphia Sandwich Company:

In my last cheesesteak post on the Wise Ox and Evan's Deli & Brew FOY "ST" mentioned that the Philadelphia Sandwich Company had changed ownership. So, a couple of weeks back, I decided to head on over.

The place looked a bit more "spiffed up" then I recalled. The women working here have always been nice and friendly to me. So, I did pose a question regarding ownership. Apparently, Joe Creszenzo the long time owner of PSC sold the place early last year to the folks that run Abbey's BBQ next door. Wow, so I guess I hadn't been back here in nearly 4 years!

Anyway, I went with the usual, the Joe's Special with Provolone (regular size, now $12.50). Back at the office I opened it up and my goodness, it looked totally different from what I'd had here before. There was a lot more meat in this.

First off, there wasn't enough cheese on this, thus it was lacking that nice milkiness I enjoy. The meat was a lot darker and carmelized but really chewy and salty. The roll was really bready and soaked, falling apart, I think they've changed bread and no longer use Amoroso rolls. Not enough onions in relationship to the meat. As with a good banh mi, proportion of ingredients do matter.

Now granted PSC has never been a favorite of mine, but I don't think this is an improvement at all.

The Philadelphia Sandwich Company
6904 Miramar Rd. Suite 207
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 10am – 8pm
Closed on Sundays

Tadian Cafe:

I was wondering how Tadian Cafe was doing. It had been about 10 months since my last visit. Being that Tadian does not do an upcharge for online ordering, I took a look at the menu and was pleasantly surprised to see that a favorite of mine was back on the menu. So, I went right ahead and placed an order. Another good thing about Tadian is that they open at 9am, so it's a good option for picking up an early lunch.

So, I drove on over and as always, my sandwich was waiting on the counter when I arrived.

So, what did I get?

   Well, my favorite sandwich here is the Chinese Sausage Sandwich ($9.99), I get it with a fried egg ($1.50), easy on the mayo, extra toasted. While it's on the "bready" side, getting the roll extra toasted enhances the crustiness and diminishes the potential for sogginess as Tadian, even when I ask for easy on the mayo will have too much of it. I enjoy the meaty lup cheong, which has a nice salty-porky-sweetness. The egg adds more savory tones and the avocado tempers things down. To me, the onions add a good pungency and is necessary, as is the mild sweet acidity of the tomato. Everything has a part to play here.

I do wish they had an option for cucumber, but I did enjoy this sandwich. I need to drop by more often.

Tadian Cafe
5955 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite K
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 9am – 3pm

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Every so often I crave a cheesesteak. Actually, it's more like "cheesesteaks" as I'll usually have a couple from different places to quell the craving. It had been a while, a couple of years actually, since I've had a decent cheesesteak and opportunity knocked twice in the last couple of weeks. So, of course I answered…..

Evan's Deli & Brew:

The Missus was wanting some cookies from the Cravory, so I headed on over to Point Loma. I had heard that the shop that replaced Gaglione Bros in the strip mall also made cheesesteaks. So, after getting some cookies for the Missus I walked on over.

And as in the sign on the shop; cheesesteaks are front and center on the menu.

And they even have Tastykakes.

The couple running the place were very friendly and it as a short wait for my Mushroom Steak; I got an 8" for $10.49 which is a bargain for a sandwich these days.

   The yeasty, standard Amoroso roll stood up well. The meat was decently shaved, fairly tender, moist, and beefy, the mushrooms earthy, and the white American cheese added a complimentary, not overwhelming milky gooeyness to the sandwich.

This was a nice, standard cheesesteak. Something that's not easy to find in San Diego.

Nice owners, decently priced, I'm sure to visit again.

Evan’s Deli & Brew
3944 W Point Loma Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Sunday 10am – 7pm
Mon – Sat 10am – 8pm

The Wise Ox:

I'd heard that the Wise Ox, a butcher shop owned by the Trust Restaurant Group made a good cheesesteak. I had thoughts of checking out the place earlier, but the parking situation in the strip mall is terrible. But, since we were staying at the Lafayette, I was in walking distance to the North Park location.

I walked over and arrived just as the place was opening. I was greeted before I entered the shop by the nice gentleman getting the smoker going. The shop offers a nice variety of soy sauces and such, along with sausages and other meat products.

I went and ordered the Cheesesteak ($12.99). The friendly guy behind the counter took my number and told me he'd text me when my sandwich was ready. I started going for a stroll; but my sandwich was ready in like 5 minutes!

The meat, I was told it was New York Strip, was thinly shaved and very beefy-tender. It wasn't as moist as the stuff from Evan's, but I could tell based on the texture and beefiness that it was of higher quality.

The Amoroso roll really stood up well in this sandwich; though as you can see, there was less beef than other versions of cheesesteak I've had before. Thus making it more "bready".

I enjoyed the onions in the sandwich.

I didn't care for the pickled peppers which, in my mind detracted from the overall flavor of the sandwich, especially, at least to me, muted the cheese and beefiness. I'd probably ask not to have that next time. Still, if you go for the quality of beef, this might be the cheesesteak for you.

The Wise Ox Butcher & Deli
2855 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Sun – Mon 10am – 5pm
Tues – Sat 10am – 6pm

It was nice to get some decent cheesesteaks since so many places where I'd enjoyed the sandwich before like Monkey Paw, Pop's, and others have closed.

Sometimes little "happy accidents" occur. For instance, I had some meetings over the normal lunch time and decided to head to Creative Deli. Thinking about all my meetings I kind of spaced out and before I knew it, I had passed Carroll Road. Sheesh….. I decided to turn around on Trade Street. I took a right turn and headed down Trade Street for a bit. For some reason, I decide to turn around in a parking lot where I saw this signage.

Sandwich Island? Sandwich Island! Wow….well this hit home….I'm from the Sandwich Islands. So, of course I had to stop here since the open sign was lit.

The shop is quite a bit larger than it appears from the outside. A dining area, then a rather long counter area with some additional seating.

The menu was pretty darn large, with everything from Reubens to Club Sandwiches, to Quesadillas and Wraps, to Breakfast options.

Looking at the names of various items on the menu cracked me up….anyone for a "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a" (breaded fish sandwich)……can you even say it? That's always been fun way to test if you're really "local" back home….along with "Kalanianaʻole" and if you can correctly pronounce "Likelike".

Anyway, as I placed my order, I asked the woman if they were from Hawaii and was told that the former owner was; bummas…..

I ordered the Island Club ($8.95) and it felt quite hefty….and when I opened it up…..

 Holy smokes….look at all that white bread. This was fine; wish the bread was toasted, but perhaps that was asking for a bit much. Also, wish it had more bacon, but again how could I complain since this was…..in these times, a good value. So, processed ham and turkey, just like "small kid" time…..when we always called this a "Clubhouse". And I couldn't finish this……and had leftovers with dinner.

During my visit, I noticed daily "specials".

Just eight bucks, so I decided to try some of these out.

First was the Haoli, which was spelled Hoali on the lunch special menu, versus Haoli on the menu….I'm assuming this means Hau'oli (happy) versus "Haole"…..which means….well, you know. I got this with the Cabbage Almond Salad.

 So, the Italian Roll was actually slightly toasted and fairly crusty and even though it was a bit "too much bread" it wasn't bad. The "salad" was basic almond coleslaw, with very little "dressing on it. Basically coleslaw mix with a bit of dressing.

The sandwich had ham, cheese, and turkey, all standard issue; though the tomatoes were quite ripe and added a nice fruity-acidity to the sandwich.

A bit too much mayo for my taste, but again, you could do a lot worse for eight bucks….like perhaps some interesting "mystery meat"?

So, as things cooled off a bit, I visited on a recent Friday and decided to get the "Special A" for the day….the "Philly" Cheesesteak with fries ($8). And, in all honesty, you couldn't fault the potion size.

 These days, here in San Diego, what can you get for eight bucks? Really…. The roll was again decently toasted, the beef surprisingly tender……not enough mushrooms and peppers and the cheese used was really bland and while quite gooey didn't add anything else to the sandwich.

The generous portion of fries didn't hold up well on the 15 minute drive back to the office and was really salty….though some may like that.

 I don't want to give you the wrong impression; this is one of those places that is a good value and keeps folks fed. I will say that I prefer Sunrise Deli, Creative Deli, and Kim's Deli to Sandwich Island. Though it again is one of those Mom-and-Pop Delis that keep folks fed for a reasonable price. And I saw some rice bowls and bentos on the menu….so maybe I'll give those a try.

After all, I'm from the "Sandwich Islands"…….

Sandwich Island
7350 Trade St.
San Diego, CA 92121

I actually took a day off; like a real, what's supposed to be a working day off…….mainly because I needed to take my car in for service. It had just gone over the 10k mark (yes, I bought it last year…..that'll be part of an interesting post; in hopefully the near future).

In the past, I'd make an appointment to take my car in on Saturday and then take the trolley to the Gaslamp or another place where parking was somewhat of an issue to explore and pass the time. In the time of Covid-19 though; I really  wasn't going to do that. So, I made an appointment during the week; when I thought things would go faster and things would be less busy. So, I found myself ensconced on a table a bit far from the rest of the folks waiting; there was some good spacing set-up by the dealer….and masks were required; though there was that part of the population wearing their mask below their nose……sheesh…..

Anyway, I was at a pretty safe distance from everyone.

And my car was done in under two hours.

As I drove the car off the lot; I wondered where I could pick up some lunch on the way home…..I hadn't been in the Mission Gorge area in a while…..in fact, other than trips to the dry cleaners in Tierrasanta, which allowed for a stop at Island Syle Cafe…..I hadn't been East of the I-15 since….well, maybe not at in 2020!

I had been craving a Cheesesteak, since the last rather mediocre one I'd had a month or so back. And I hadn't been back to the MG location of Gaglione Bros in over six years! So, I decided to had on over. Walknig in, things were fairly controlled, though not quite clear on a few things….like where to wait for your sandwich or even where to pick your sandwich up when it was ready.

At first I waited outside; but there were two guys eating at the table there. So, after a few minutes, I went inside where another customer was waiting for his sandwich. At least there was only the two of us; so spacing was not a problem. Eventually, my sandwich made it to the counter…..and sat there for a while; until someone decided to call out my name…….

Anyway, I ordered the Mushroom Cheesesteak……feeling a bit hungry; I made it a large ($11.99), with White American cheese. It was quite a handful…or mouthful….

It was still pretty darn hot when I got home; the meat was fairly tender; there was a good amount of not-overly-sharp, milky, gooey cheese, the mushrroms added a nice savory-earthiness to the mess. The Amoroso was starting to go on the beast, but this was much better than what I last had at the Point Loma location two years ago. My only complaint was how salty this was…… Still, quite a large lunch….great pre-siesta stuff for a day off.

Gaglione Brothers
10450 Friars Rd
San Diego, CA 92120

I mentioned a bit earlier that I hadn't been in the Mission Gorge area since last year……which kind of surprised me. Then I got to thinking about what my "footprint" was since mid-March. Especially since I had texted "CC" when she mentioned a couple of places in the South Bay; saying that I don't think I've been south of the 94 since this whole mess started.

Wondering what my Covid-19 "range" was and quickly did a Google Map. The area below is where I've been to.

It's very telling in some ways……I haven't been South of the 94…..and of course I'm missing all of our favorites down there, Aqui es Texcoco in their new location, Mi Pana, and all the other favorites. Other than my quick run to Kindred, I haven't been south of University ot North Park Way. Not being East of the 15 means I've been missing all the good stuff in City Heights. And other than quick stops at R&B and TP Banh Bao 3, I haven't strayed north of Mira Mesa Boulevard. I've only been West of the I-5 on trips to Trader Joe's in PB. The Missus's footprint is even smaller, no further south than Washington Street, no futher North than La Jolla Village Drive….and She actually walked there (that's also for another upcoming post). And of course I'm wondering how the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings at Royal Mandarin are doing; or really want to check out De Cabeza, which occupies the former location of Aqui es Texcoco. But I'm trying to keep my travels concise; trying to consolidate stops…trying to do what I consider to be the "right thing".

So, how far have you "roamed" since mid-March?

In my post on Al Calozzi's Cheesesteaks I mentioned having "two" recommendations for Cheesesteaks in PB. I decided to wait until the weather got a bit warmer to try the second shop, by the name of Steak N Fries. What got my attention was the "Amoroso Bread" signed stenciled on the window.

Entering this tiny little shop, it's basically one tiny two top, a counter with five stools, and two small two tops outside, I was warmly greeted by a gentleman who I assume is the owner, "Angel". He came out from behind the counter, shook my hand, and went over the menu. In short, you got cheesesteaks, and what they call Steak N Fries…..fries topped with the beef used for the sandwiches and a rather lonely grilled cheese. On the good side; along with your choice of cheese, you can request peppers, onions, mushrooms, and the like at no extra charge.

I went with the Cheesesteak with provolone, onions, mushrooms, and peppers ($11)…for a dollar more you can even get fries….

The roll was definitely an Amoroso; it had that nice softness and yeastiness, but unfortunately was cold, which dampened the experience. Especially since the meat to bread ratio left a bit to be desired. I did really enjoy the flavor of the beef. Here's it's sliced in thin strips; reminds me of Geno's in Philly…..I gotta get back there one day, though like I've said several times in my Cheesesteak posts; I've had better at other locales in the city. The beef is tender, with a nice pepperiness, the onions and mushrooms were griddled nicely; though the peppers could have used a few more minutes on the flat top. I'd have liked a bit more milky provolone as well.

Still; if they'd heat that roll, I'd take this over the drier, unseasoned meat at Calozzi's.

As always, I returned for another visit. But with the limited menu, what to get? Well, I decided on the namesake "Steak n Fries" ($7) with onions, peppers, and mushrooms. And took a seat and looked out onto Garnet and "PB Oriental"?

The box with the fork in it looked fairly compact; but this ended up being a lot, at least for me.

The rib eye was tender, though there weren't too much onions, mushrooms, and peppers. I enjoyed the nicely fried, potato-ey fries, which were super hot. I'm thinking you gotta eat this hot. The top layer was nice, not too much "Whiz" and the fries still had some crispness to it. But "crunch time" diminished as you worked you way to the bottom….man they sure use a lot of "Whiz". I just couldn't finish this as it got too salty near the end and I was stuffed.

Still, had I been in my mid-twenties, after a night of imbibing some liquid refreshment or "ahem" other stuffs. This might have done it for me.

In fact, when Angel came over as I was finishing, I asked him how many of these he sells after 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays (they are open until 2). He laughed and said, "oh, enough……enough".

Steak N Fries
1039 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
Hours
Sun – Thurs 11am – Midnight
Fri – Sat   11am – 2am