Rocky vs. Creed . The braggart 5 . The Prep vs. everyone else ( for the record , FTP ) . Philly is a city of contention , both substantial and simulated . But there ’s only one feud that seems to get round - the - clock care : who make the good cheesesteak , Pat ’s or Geno ’s ?
While we all have our own opinions on who makesPhilly ’s best steak , there has to be a reason why every out - of - townsman seems to know about the beef at ninth St and Passyunk . So we sat down with Frank Olivieri , Jr. , current owner of Pat ’s and grandson of co - laminitis Harry Olivieri , to see what the real tale is . Turns out , the boeuf is n’t all that beefy …
Pat ’s was the first steak shop in Philly , and is credit as the first place in the US to sell a steak sandwich . The story of how it got to selling the iconic sandwiches in the first place is unusual , grant to Frank Jr. , whose great - uncle ( " my grandfather ’s sr. brother " ) opened his eponymous line in 1930 . Back then , it was a hot dog outdoor stage on the triangular corner of ninth St , Wharton St , and Passyunk Ave , and Pat was eating his own bill of fare every day – that is , until he amaze ghastly of it .
Flickr/Yuri Long
" He station my grandfather [ his brother , Harry ] to the butcher to get some steak , " sound out Frank , " and Pat cooked it up on his open - atmosphere hot wiener grill and was going to have it with an Italian loaf of bread and some grill onions . "
One of Pat ’s veritable client , a local cab driver who come by for a hot dog every day , get him in the act , and asked to try one of these new concoctions himself . ( This was 1933 . ) " My grandfather said , ' I do n’t have any more , but you’re able to have half , ' " says Olivieri . " So he gave it to him and that ’s how it started . "
As for Geno ’s , Frank , Jr. was two years old when Joey Vento opened shop class in 1966 , so his firsthand memory is true stuporous . But after 10 years of peaceful , side - by - side cohabitation , we rule the first inkling of a feud , thanks entirely to a slight movie calledRocky .
The Original Pat’s King of Steaks
The Oliveri ’s and Vento ’s tended to play up their manufacture competition , with Joey Vento normally taking the wind . “ He would put signs up – ' The Best , ' ' angiotensin-converting enzyme amaze King , ' ' No need to order bivalent meat , walk across the street , ' trying to make it seem like his business was clean , well , flashier , " says Oliveri , who gives Vento credit where credit is due . These catchword and campaign were n’t born from spitefulness ; it ’s just business .
" [ He had this mindset ] that when he was at work at 9th and Passyunk that it was the battlefield , " say Oliveri . " He was a cutthroat competitor and he worked his Eastern Samoa off and build an amazing business enterprise over there . ”
Both men , however , have no problemhamming it up for the camerasand trash - mouth the other ’s shop class in audience . It became embed into the shops ' personas that a fierce rivalry had ricochet , though off the clock , this long - perpetuated narrative could not be further from the truth .
The Original Pat’s King of Steaks
While work was " the battlefield , " both Frank , Joey , and their wives ( Rita and Eileen ) all grew up together , and they were adept friends and cocktail pal outside of their various corner . But the family patronage are serious unity , and just because they were friends did n’t mean they swapped steak .
Both Frank and Joey arrogate to have had each others cheesesteaks only once , during a tape of the Dr. Phil show in 1999 in a section call " Cheesesteak Wars . " The on - atmosphere pop psychologist claim that " the Mideast crisis is nothing compare to this , " which , in 2016 , is decidedly insensitive . After some convincing , the steak moguls agreed to render to each other ’s sandwiches ; both need one raciness andsimultaneously spit it out(unscripted , according to Frank , Jr. ) . Frank , Jr. also had a bite of a Geno ’s steak for the first metre at Philly ’s First Cheesesteak Festival … no word on whether he spit it out then , too .
There are other example where you could encounter the Pat ’s and Geno ’s camp cooperating . For example , price have always been the same on both side of the street . Cheesesteak connivance ? Probably , and that ’s hunky-dory . The Oliveri ’s and Vento ’s seem to have a valet ’s agreement on how much a steak costs , so do n’t expect to relieve ( or overpay ) on either .
Rhett & Link/Youtube
in conclusion , get these computed tomography leaving the same flat construction in the dayspring . That ’s proper : Frank , Jr. and Geno ( andTony Luke ) live in the same edifice in Philly . Care to love where ? It ’s the only apartment construction brain whiz on water faucet .
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Geno’s Steaks