Famous Philly's

Yesterday I got a phone call from Gary wanting to do lunch. He suggested we take it to Famous Philly's for some cheesesteak sandwiches. I was more than game for that since I have been seeing Adam Richman of Man vs. Food talking about his next cheesesteak sandwich challenge, which comes on tonight on the Travel Channel. You can check out more of Adam Richman and his show at www.travelchannel.com.

As we are driving to the restaurant, I tell Gary I am thinking about trying their cheesesteak challenge which is a 22" cheesesteak with three pounds of meat. There is no way I can do it on that day, but want to work my way up to it. With that said, I decide that I am going to do two seven inch sandwiches. The cheesesteaks at Famous Philly's come in 7", 9", 18" and the 22" Belly Buster. I figure 14" for my first time out will be a good test. I am also thinking I want to try a couple of versions, so I order one with Cheez Whiz and onions and the second with mushrooms and cheese. The regular cheesesteaks at Famous Philly's use white American cheese. So good!

Gary ordered the 9" cheesesteak special with the spicy peppers, french fries with malt vinegar and a hot dog for his son Vuk. Now this is where I became totally enamoured with our waitress. When I ordered my two sandwiches she actually had the wherewithal to ask if I wanted them both at the same time, or should she stagger them? Are you kidding me? That is huge for her to even come up with that without being told. At first I told her to bring them both at the same time as I felt when I finished the first one, I would need to go directly to the second. I told her if there was a lag time, I may not be able to finish the second one as I would feel full while waiting for it to arrive. She told me not to worry as she would watch my progress and tell them to cook the second one so that it comes out right when I finished the first one. At this point I am thinking if I wasn't married I might actually ask this chick out. She obviously knows how to get it done.

Gary and I sit there watching replays of the Dolphins/Colts game while waiting for our food and he is just getting more and more upset. Just when he is thinking the Dolphins need to waive Ted Ginn, the fries arrive. They are hot and crisp with a wonderful taste of malt vinegar. I have a couple, but I know I cannot fill up on French fries. I have two sandwiches on the way. The food arrives and I start to get after my first one. I asked for the cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and onions to come first. I usually don't eat Cheez Whiz, so I figure that is best to get down first. The meat is so moist and juicy that it is clear this first sandwich is going to go down easily. Gary's sandwich is stuffed so full of meat that he has to start with a fork. The 9" bun he has holds a lot of meat and it is steaming hot. There is no way he can pick it up at this early stage. I power through my first sandwich and as promised, the second shows up right on schedule. I am thinking this is not going to be difficult at all.

The one thing that I do is cut each of the sandwiches in half, thus giving me a three-and-a-half segment to eat. To me, that makes it so much easier to handle mentally. I find the second sandwich goes down just as easily, but the mushrooms and white American cheese are much more tasty than the Cheez Whiz. I now know what I will be having from now on. I make it through the two sandwiches and feel pretty good at that point. In my head, I am thinking, "Could I do another 8" of cheesesteak?" I couldn't do it yesterday, but I think that I can at another time and with some planning.

We are now both full and ready to get out of there. The food and service were great. We were very pleased with our meal. For this visit to Famous Philly's I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry