freetown fred wrote:Oh gee wlape,--the burbs huhnow there was one place up by the Erlen Theater on Cheltenham Ave--that copied Pat's original recipe that was pretty decent--of course I've got quite a few yrs on ya,& when I used to do an ocassional week-end at Grandmom Altomaris' in S Philly we always did Pats for cheesesteaks or hoagies--back when,nobody even knew what cheezewiz was.A person coulda got shot for useing it---Grandmom died about 35 yrs ago so I haven't been to Pats or S Philly since--most of my uncles moved north to Montg. County(Elkins Park)the uppity folk--my folks kept going & ended up around Doylestown(Upper Black Eddy) right on the Delaware.My Dad was from around the Chesapeake Bay area,Native(Delaware Tribe)--also,with the Cheesesteak you got onions,peppers & an outlandish sauce to top it off--it wasen't,would you like sauce? it was a given & it damn sure wasen't GRAVY---seeeee ya, ya young suburban yuppie.
---later my friend
Next time you get to South St,check out if the "Store of the Stars' is still alive (clothing) all the Do-Wop guys used to make it a point to shop there---along w/ The Geeter w/ the Heater(Jerry Blavitt)--this was in the late 60's and very early 70's
Last time I was down there Jerry Blavitt was still on the air. Never saw a "Store of the Stars" but there were some pretty iconic stores there which have closed in recent years. South Street has also expanded quite a bit. In the early eighties it didn't go much beyond 5th street but has expanded up to 10th and beyond. Bridget Foy's is a great place to hang out and watch the crowd, they've got great patio seating. Also, last time I was down there the entire New Market plaza was shut down. Even the Dicken's Inn is gone.
Pat's and Geno's are still on Passyunk but I haven't been there for years. Mainly because you can get better cheesesteaks just about anywhere else. My favorite was a place called Pudgies in the burbs near Norristown. Hmmm...I think even Bookbinder's in the old city might even be closed.
I never made it to New Market but the kids(Lower Saucon) told me it was amazing what they'd done--when I worked at PGH in the early 70's you didn't even want to be white & be on South Street after dark--no offense meant,just a little reality--I lived at 20th & Pine for 2 yrs--talk about being an observer of people--by then I'd had enough city & headed Nord 
