Stockyard Sandwich Co.

1541 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
(215) 977-9273
Website

Stockyard has been on my list for a while, ever since my friend over at Better Home Chef told me about it. I finally got a chance to partake, and I was not disappointed. Don't mind the Long River photo bomb back there.

The first two sandwiches were the whole pig banh mi, and the white fish po' boy.

The po' boy had cornmeal crusted whitefish, cabbage, carrot, onion, and remoulade on a baguette. This was a delicious riff on the original NOLA po' boys with a nod to the venerable Philly fish cake.

The cornmeal crusted fish was fried perfectly, and the batter made for a nice textural contrast.

As much as I liked the po' boy, the suckling pig banh mi was even better. The pork was rich and sweet, with carrot, cabbage, cucumber, cilantro, onion, jalapeno and XO mayo served on another delicious baguette. 

Look at the juice, and the sprigs of cilantro to freshen it up. Cabbage brought the crunch.

At this point, I was feeling over stuffed, but I persevered. There was still a braised beef to try. A farm-to-table cheesesteak of sorts. Tender beef, house-made Whiz, onion, mushroom, and yet again, all packed nicely into the same crusty baguette. The beef was tender, flavor packed, and well rendered. 

The cheese made for a perfect suspension to keep all of the ingredients firmly in place.

This place reminded me of a farm style Paesano's. It is in an area that is underserved for a truly great sandwich, and I think it fits the bill quite nicely.

Pic-A-Lilli Inn

866 US-206
Shamong, NJ 08088
(609) 268-2066
Website

South Jersey has some of the best food around. They make great cheesesteaks and hoagies, and their wings are only rivaled by the Philly 'burbs. The Pic-A-Lilli Inn is sister restaurant to the Pic-A-Lilli Pub in Atlantic City. Cheap beer and great wings can be had at both. The Inn is located smack dab in the middle of the Pine Barrens. So you can go ride bikes/motorcycles or kayaks, and then grab some cold ones and some wings after.

The cheesesteak at the Pic-A-Lilli is no slouch either. Served on a Liscio's roll, the meat is finely chopped, well seasoned, and came with a hearty ratio of American. The onions were fried well, sweet and caramelized without becoming mush.

Curly fries with a side of wiz rounded out this low calorie, low carb lunch. It was basically diet food.

The wings are actually counted in half wing. So an order of ten works out to be about fifteen to twenty wings. An order of six is shown below. The sauce can get hot quick, so if you skip "spicy" and go to "hot" be warned, they have the burn.

The meat is tender, and the skin well rendered. These are not the crispiest wings you will eat, but they just work. A combination of the deep flavor of the sauce, and the little morsels of deliciousness is enough to satisfy anyone from a biker (you will see lots here) to a chubby food writer (likely to find me here as well).

AC's Bar & Grill

467 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 577-6742
Website

When visiting other cities, I often like to check out the places who try and present their take on an authentic cheesesteak. If that coincides with a great divey bar, then all the better. I was into AC's, in particular, because I'd heard that the owner is from PA.

It's is located downtown in Charleston, right between all the hot clubs and expensive shopping spots. But it had all the trappings of a dark, fantastic, late-night bar. Great dim lighting, booths, perfectly greasy bar food, and fantastic drink prices. I'd spoken with the owner, Jim Curley, for the better part of my meal & drink experience and I must say, he adds to the appeal here. Born in the Pittsburgh area, he's been living in The South for all of his life; worked at AC's for about 21 years and has owned it for about the last 15 and although he's technically not 'working' there now, he definitely spends a lot of his time there, delivering food and drinks to customers.

They are famous for their chili cheeseburger and their cheesesteak. Although I had literally just come from a dinner party, I threw caution to the wind and had to try both.

The chili cheeseburger did not slouch on the quantity of chili. Beans, green peppers, and onions strewn about the loose beef, this chili would make a Texan cry. On top of a burger, it made me smile. At $5.50, it made my wallet smile as well.

A nice medium cook on the patty, and much more manageable to eat than the initial picture conveyed. This was spot on bar food. Well seasoned, enough fat to cut the whiskey you just shot, and some carbs to soak up those ten beers.

The cheesesteak was the surprise of the night. Amoroso roll aside, it was a great replica. The meat was heavily salt and peppered, and had some mighty caramelized onions.

Look at the amount of melted American cheese intermingled with meat grease. Perfect.

I hate a dry steak, and this was quite the opposite. The roll did marginally well, and though I am a Liscio's lover, I was okay with this low brow replacement. I think that Jim's attention to quality control in the kitchen is key. He knows what a great cheesesteak can be and he doesn't let his own standards suffer, much to my appreciation.

There was no lack of meat or flavor on this cheesesteak. Never did I think that a place in the Lowcountry could compete with some of the Philadelphia area middle of the steak joints. Now I know.

Gusto

240 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 546-7200
Website

Gusto is tucked away on 22nd, and to be honest, I totally forgot about it. I ate there years ago (+/- 8) when I lived in Rittenhouse, and it was good, but not that memorable. It's still about the same. But for the prices and quality of ingredients, Gusto earns a hefty 4 cheesesteak rating. The pictures will show you why.

The buffalo chicken cheesesteak hoagie was pretty decent. It had freshly shredded romaine and sliced tomato over gooey chicken smothered in a tangy, spicy buffalo sauce served on a nice crusty roll.

The bread here would be better suited to hosting a po' boy, but even with that, it made for a good vessel.

They certainly didn't skimp on the blue cheese either. It was nothing life changing, but not bad in a pinch (that area is a tough spot for a decent lunch at times).

I have also recently had the Italian hoagie, and though it was a bit fancy for my liking, it was surprisingly delicious. I attribute this to the quality of ingredients they use in all of their food. Again, you could certainly do worse, given the neighborhood.

Did I mention the pricing??? The above mentioned chicken cheesesteak ran a whopping $8 and the Italian hoagie came in at under $7. I mean, DiBruno's would serve the same for about twice the price.

They use Carangi's rolls and this seeded version won my heart. The freshly sliced and generously applied Italian meats and thick chunks of sharp prov didn't hurt either. I mean, it is a fancier version of my favorite Italian and given the competitive pricing in a ritzy part of town, I think I'll be revisiting Gusto sooner than later.

Well played.

Ted's Place

103 Spring Mill Avenue
Conshohocken, PA 19428
(610) 828-3966

Right by one of the more popular night life areas in Conshohocken sits a nondescript little restaurant that had all of the promise of a solid Mom-and-Pop style pizza and steak shop. And that promise came to fruition with my first bite of grinder.

The interior harkens back to steak and pizza shops of decades past, and the food provides the type of timeless comfort that will have me coming back for more.

I couldn't shy away from the hot Italian grinder, as my last one ended somewhat disappointingly.

While this was no gourmet sandwich, it was nicely toasted, came with a very satisfactory amount of veggies, and had a salty kick to boot.

The meat was thinly stacked, but still plentiful enough to really bring home the saline taste in each bite. The veggies added a welcome bite of refreshment as opposed to the sodium infused meat and cheese they laid upon. This is a solid, cheap grinder, the kind that should be eaten on the way home from Little League games, and as a weeknight treat.

I also had to try the famous cheesesteak, which I ordered with extra American. Though I usually like my cheese interspersed with my meat, the sheer quantity allowed for tucking it down into the light and crunchy roll, providing for cheese in nearly every bite.

The meat was well seasoned and finely chopped, with sweet, tender onions plentifully interspersed throughout. Not to mention, there was no lack of steak on this sandwich.

At about $7 each, this is quite a bargain, and if you are looking for a good base to fill up on before hitting the many bars in the area, you can't go wrong here. I hear the pizza is also quite delicious, but that is for another trip.