Visited Oct. 11, 2010
Written by Tyler
There aren’t many places you can find Philly cheese steaks in the Rochester area, but Philly Steakout in Greece does its best to serve up a slice of the City of Brotherly Love.
Located on Long Pond Road near its intersection with Ridgeway Avenue, Philly Steakout is a no-frills place that specializes in quality subs.
My dad has brought home Philly’s satisfying hoagies several times over the last few years, and it was about time I went for myself – and brought along some of the guys, as we celebrated Joe’s birthday.
Philly has an unassuming facade despite its busy location just past The Mall at Greece Ridge and Unity Hospital. The relatively small building is fairly clean inside, with a decent amount of seating.
“I was pleasantly surprised when we walked into the place, as the interior was much more welcoming than the outside of the building,” Greg said. “It was much more spacious inside than its exterior dimensions would belie, and there was plenty of seating. I liked how the walls were adorned with authentic Philadelphia cheese steak memorabilia.”
I opted for a Chicken Cordon Bleu sub, which is the one my dad always gets me. It includes a generous portion of chopped grilled chicken, ham and Swiss cheese (which I opted not to get); but Philly’s sweet dijonaise has always been what makes this sub one of our all-time favorites.
The chicken and ham are pleasing, the bread is just alright, but the dijonaise brings it all together.
There are only two sizes of subs here: regular and large. I ordered a regular for $5.32, and it was a pleasing portion. There were only a couple of workers behind the counter, and only one line, but it wasn’t busy at all and our food was ready in a matter of minutes.
Joe, Greg and Tim all gravitated toward large Buffalo Chicken subs, which included grilled chicken, fried onions, bleu cheese, American cheese and Philly’s wing sauce. The subs truly were large, and the guys all seemed to like their subs. Joe, who was reluctant to go at first (wanting to try DiBella’s), said he was glad we went to Philly Steakout.
“Even though I didn’t get a Philly cheese steak, the Buffalo chicken sandwich was very tasty,” Joe said. “It wasn’t as hot as I would have wanted it to be, but tasted good nonetheless.”
Even though food connoisseur Greg downed his sub and said he was pleased, he said there was still room for improvement.
“Ordering was very easy and our food was prepared unexpectedly fast,” he said. “(The sub) had my mouth watering just thinking about it. It looked delicious, but was a little bland in color. While the sandwich was still served hot, and was nevertheless quite tasty, there was almost no Buffalo flavor to be found in it. The sauce was more of a teriyaki/sweat-and-sour combo, which was very disappointing.
“When I ordered a Buffalo chicken sandwich, I expected a hot mess of savory chicken slathered in peppery hot Buffalo wing sauce that would leave my mouth agape with fiery acidity. This was not the case. If they had labeled the sandwich something different, my opinion of my visit would likewise be better, but because of this misunderstanding, my experience at Philly Steakout was thus a Buffalo-sized disappointment.”
The rest of us didn’t quite agree with Greg, as we were rather pleased with our subs. The thing I like best about Philly Steakout – aside from the dijonaise – is the chicken selections available, particularly of the grilled variety. As you may know by now, I’m a big chicken fan. This is a chicken and sub lover’s haven.
Other sub choices include Chicken Cheese Steak, Chicken Classic, Buffalo Steak, Teriyaki Chicken, Chicken Parmesan, Hickory Chickory, Veggie Philly and Chicken Finger.
Most subs range from around $5 to just under $9. There are also a few wraps, salads, kids’ items and typical fryer items – including some good sweet potato fries – but the focus is on subs.
The Philly steak isn’t generic, frozen shaved steak purchased from a grocery store either; there were real steaks visible behind the counter.
Ironically, no one got an original Philly cheese steak. Just another reason to go back, I guess. We hope to do so very soon.
Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere: Surprisingly comfortable inside, while still feeling like a traditional sub joint. The service was very quick and to the point.
Food: Not a ton of variety, but far from a basic sub menu. A lot of chicken options to choose from. The subs are consistently good.
Value: The prices are reasonable, but with relatively few choices there is relatively no variety in price (in other words, there’s no dollar menu). But the portions are large and the subs are well worth their prices.
Overall: Consistently pleasing, in both taste and portion size. A gem if you notice it in its busy location. It’s right near a DiBella’s, but the two shops specialize in different types of subs. Go here if you want to try something a little different or get a taste of Philadelphia.
Grade: B+
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