Cheesesteak Review #3 ~ Jake's Steaks, San Francisco

I have been to Jake's Steaks in San Francisco twice before this visit (the first was excellent, the second was terrible), but this review will focus on only this third sandwich. I didn't place my own order because I just had a rather intense eye exam and could not see a thing. Ordered for me was a 15 inch chicken with American cheese, sweet peppers and hot peppers. (Each pepper ordered was an additional 50 cents.)

Jake's chicken is cut in chunks and they melt the cheese on the meat so that you get an even proportion throughout your sandwich. They use my favorite, Amoroso's rolls. Although I love hot peppers, they overpower the flavor of everything else, so I ate those first so that I could actually taste the other ingredients. Jake's loads heaping helpings of meat onto the rolls. I wish I had put this thing on a scale. It was ENORMOUS and felt like it weighed a ton! I only chowed down half of it and saved the other half for another meal.

The onions were nicely cooked. The hot peppers were too overpowering and the sweet peppers had little taste. (Jake's uses banana peppers rather than bell peppers.) The chicken wasn't dry, but lacked that "something" I experienced with the sandwich in my first review.

This sandwich was definitely better than Jersey Joe's, but not as good as The Cheese Steak Shop. I give this cheesesteak a three and 1/2 star rating. Careful if you go to Jake's though, as the quality of the food doesn't seem to be consistent.

Almost forgot to mention, my party also ordered a side of the waffle fries. Ummmmm. I'm not really a French fry fan, but these were really good! Must be the shape ...

Cheesesteak Review #2 ~ Jersey Joe's, San Carlos

Cheesesteak number two was purchased at Jersey Joe's in San Carlos. I learned of this shop over ten years ago when I read a review of the hoagies in a local newspaper. Back then it had locations in Redwood City and San Mateo, which have since been closed and the new location in San Carlos opened. Remembering the mouth-watering hoagies, I had very high hopes for their cheesesteak.

After that glorious cheesesteak from The Cheese Steak Shop, it was almost inevitable to find this one inferior by comparison. I ordered the same thing - a chicken cheesesteak with onions and sweet peppers. The chicken was chopped, but some pieces of meat were tiny and some were left big. No big deal, but I do prefer more uniform size morsels of meat.

Here the cheese was more evenly distributed in the sandwich (a big plus in my opinion), but the meat wasn't very tasty and, although I could see the peppers in the sandwich, they had absolutely no flavor whatsoever. Big disappointment there.

Jersey Joe's does give you a very large sandwich for your money. I ordered mine to go and when I got it home I placed it on my postage scale. It weighed in at a whopping one pound! (And that pound was mostly meat.) I know that's a big plus for most people, but I would rather have less meat and a better sandwich.

I'm not sure what rolls are used at Jersey Joe's since it isn't mentioned on the website or inside the restaurant, but they aren't as good as Amoroso's. These were very chewy - a little too chewy if you ask me. I like a little crispness to the crust of my bread.

Not all was bad. The onions were cooked to perfection and the sandwich was still much better than other less "authentic" ones. (And it is probably one of the most attractive looking cheesesteak sandwiches I have seen!) I give this cheesesteak three stars out of five. Next time I'm going with the hoagie! Hopefully they are still as good as I remember them from years ago.

One thing that I forgot to mention about The Cheese Steak Shop is that they do not charge extra money for hot or sweet peppers. Most other places I have been to, including Jersey Joe's, charge more to add peppers. Jersey Joe's probably shouldn't charge extra since you can't even taste 'em ...

Cheesesteak Review #1 ~ The Cheese Steak Shop, San Francisco

Okay, with selling being slower than slow, I have decided to have a little fun this summer. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I was born on the wrong coast. I have an obsession with everything Philly. Being inspired by the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms and their "Summer of the Steak", I decided to do my own little cheese steak taste-testing here on the West Coast.

First trip, The Cheese Steak Shop located at 1716 Divisadero Street in San Francisco. THIS PLACE ROCKED! I stopped eating beef in 2003, so I ordered the 7-inch chicken with onions and sweet peppers. I also tried an order of the curly fries.

They chopped the chicken and the onions very fine and they placed a couple of the sweet peppers on the top. These were THE sweetest tasting peppers I've ever had and they added a wonderful flavor to the sandwich. I think that I'll probably have dreams about this sandwich - yes, it was that good!

The chicken was cooked to perfection, not at all dry, and was very tasty. The onions were also perfectly cooked and did not dominate the sandwich. My only gripe is that the cheese (I had the American) was placed on the roll before the meat and was not mixed with the meat on the grill. I felt a little cheated on the first bite because it was all chicken. I prefer when the cheese is more evenly distributed throughout the sandwich. This, however, is only a minor complaint and certainly wouldn't prevent me from going back for more!

I should also mention that The Cheese Steak Shop uses Amoroso's rolls, which are a bit crunchy on the outside, and chewy inside. Yummy!

The seasoned curly fries were also excellent and not at all greasy. They were perfectly crispy and made a nice compliment to the chicken cheese steak. I dipped mine in just a bit of ketchup and mustard. Delicious!

Overall, I give The Cheese Steak Shop four and 1/2 stars out of five. Not a bad rating at all! Next time I'm going to order the 10-inch!