I guess you would have to say I am a foodie. Maybe not in the purest sense…I just like food. One of my favorites is the Philly Cheesesteaks. I guess in Philly they drop the cheese part and it is just steaks. Whatever. My daughter Nanci lives in Philly and has for some time. Her significant other…Gary…is a native. He was born in Philly and is the poster child for all things Philly related. On our first trip to Philly Kathy and I were treated to many things in Philadelphia. The museum with the Rocky statue among other things. The Liberty Bell and so much more. We attended a Philly’s game and also got pictures with the Philly Fanatic. Part of this visit meant going to Geno’s or Pats’s and getting Cheesesteaks. Gary told us about the competition between Geno’s and Pat’s. Before we went over to South Philly Gary spent time at their dining room table explaining how to order a cheesesteak. I was pretty sure I could do it. He made it sound like they treated you like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld. I guess Gary was afraid that if I didn’t order right that the guy taking the order might say “no steak for you”. I didn’t share Gary’s fear.
So we all got in the car and drove to the street where Geno’s was on one side and Pat’s was on the other. I now felt that I had just entered the center of the Philly Cheesesteak Universe. We get out of the car and as we are approaching Pat’s Gary says to me…”You can go find a table with Kathy and Nanci and I will get the Cheesesteaks”. Seriously. He didn’t want anything to go sideways with the ordering so he decided to go ahead and place the orders for all of us. Honestly, looking back, it probably wasn’t all that bad. We got exactly what we wanted. Without incident and we all enjoyed our Steaks. I guess maybe the next time I should have a script so I don’t screw it up. I love Philly, I love the Cheesesteaks and I love Gary. The experience should be on all of your bucket lists. If you need to know how to order Cheesesteaks in Philly just let me know. I will probably have to contact Gary and get the correct sequence from him. Then I will let you know. The ordering process is sacred and should not be tampered with or changed in any way. Happy Cheesesteak ordering to you all.
