After having lived in Philadelphia for about 2 and a half years, I figured I'd post some random musings on the cheesesteak joints around the city.
Pat's - 9th and Passyunk - The original and the best, basically. Don't be put off by the long line, it never takes longer than a few minutes to get served. If you can fight through the waves of tourists, you will be rewarded with a great steak. It's chopped up, which is always better than unchopped steak (looking at you Geno's) and the wiz cheese kinda hardens as you eat, but it's actually a good thing. It's always fun to hang out at Pat's before and after Phillies/Flyers/Eagles games and shoot the shit with other fans. Fries are good too.
Geno's - 9th and Passyunk - A slightly not-as-good version of Pat's. If for some reason you can't walk the extra 100 feet to Pat's, it looks like it's Geno's for you. While I am a fan of their only ordering in English policy, I'm not a fan of the unchopped steak. It is also tough to shake the feeling that you're eating in a mental asylum due to all the unnecessary bright, flashing lights. Hell though, it still is essentially the same thing as Pat's though, so I can't knock it too hard. If Geno's is your preference then do what you gotta do.
Jim's - 4th? and South Street - Jim's ain't bad. In my experiences there however, my steak was always soaking with enough grease to drown a wildebeast. Makes the bun all soggy...not fun. Also the onions aren't cooked enough. It feels like you're eating a raw onion on your steak. You can buy drugs there though, as they were just busted by the cops for that. They also have 3 other locations. I don't know where though.
Tony Luke's - Oregon Ave. by I-95 - Tony Luke's is awesome. You can get it at the outside stand or sit down inside the sportsbar. I recommend chilling in the sports bar. You'll always see some cool characters like the overly drunk guy on his lunchbreak, motorcycle gang members, or the man himself. The steak is great too, they use rib-eye. The bun is toasted too and the wiz cheese tastes better than other wiz cheeses. Don't know why, it just does. At this point in time I'd probably have to say Tony Luke's is my favorite.
Larry's - 54th and City Ave. - Off the campus of Saint Joe's, Larry's has been a drunken staple for college kids for years. It is also frequented by Kobe Bryant when he's in town. It's a good steak, but their first choice of cheese isn't wiz...what's up with that? Try the buffalo chicken cheesesteak. It's even good sober. Problem with Larry's though, is that even on a Tuesday afternoon with no one in front of you in line it will still take you at least 15 minutes to get your food.
Dalessandro's - Manayunk - I've never actually been here. But based on their commercials it looks pretty promising.
Steve's - South Street - I've also never been here, but Steve sounds like a good guy. Go try his cheesesteaks.
Campo's - 214 Market St. - Never been here too. It's probably good though.
