Tony A's aka Tony Roni's

200 West Ridge Pike
Conshohocken, PA 19428
(610) 825-4700
Website

I have heard time and time again that one of the best cheesesteaks around is located in Conshohocken. Last week, I even saw it in a CNN article. To be fair, the author does not live in Philadelphia, and he recommends three of the "best cheesesteaks around," none of which are actually in Philadelphia. So naturally I was highly skeptical. For example, didn't everyone stop with the Dalessandro's fever quite some time ago?

So anyway, I was visiting Conshy and I decided that I HAD to try a Tony A's. That's all well and good, except when I got to the location provided, I was dismayed to see a local chain, Tony Roni's had taken over. As it turns out, Tony A's is now Tony Roni's, but when I called and asked if it was Tony A's or Tony Roni's, the girl who answered said, "well it's the same thing." I was thoroughly confused, but decided to order some cheesesteaks anyway.

As you can see from the pictures, this place did NOT look like the hidden cheesesteak gem I had envisioned. It looked more like a Bravo pizza.

 

I decided to go with one chicken cheesesteak and one regular cheesesteak. I was actually sharing these, because I had just come from breakfast, where I made quick work out of a plate full of creamed chipped beef, and I didn't want to press my luck.

My first reaction was that the roll was different than anything I was used to. The second was remembering that I forgot to ask for extra cheese. The third was excitement when I saw that lack of cheese would not be a problem.

This was a healthy portion, and they really tucked quite a bit of meat into this roll. I must admit, this is a pretty near-perfect cheesesteak. Well-seasoned meat, ample amounts of cheese, and a fantastic roll for the job – it soaked up what little excess grease was around, all while holding up (with a good chew) nicely.

Next up was the chicken cheesesteak. Normally I am not a huge fan of chicken cheesesteaks, but this one was awfully tasty. Again, the abundance of cheese and well-seasoned meat paired nicely with the soft but chewy roll. Another winner.

You can read all about their story here, but I'll make it known that this store is the Original Tony A's/Tony Roni's – call it what you will...

Both sandwiches were above and beyond my expectations for Tony Roni's. I would be interested to see if all of the outposts of this store put out the same quality product. This is the first chain-cheesesteak I can wholly endorse, but I still think that the CNN author needs to visit some of the real Philly cheesesteak gems.