TLDR - I ate here for cheesesteaks (the top of their hot sandwich list), thought it was above average and worthy but maybe not any better than the other dozen or so cheesesteaks I’ve enjoyed in the bay area. Did not try the other sandwiches.
I grew up near philly. We didn’t eat cheesesteaks, but we did eat a lot of subs (the Jersey Mike chain is very close to the subs I had growing up - “mike’s way” - or even a subway with oil vinegar salt pepper) - but I digress. We had a cheesesteak now and then, but I also didn’t live in philly.
When I first moved to the bay area, I was in walnut creek and there is/was a cheesesteak shop, I would it it semiregularly for lunch and dinner. I’ve found I really like those. When I went to philly on a vacation a few years ago, I did a fairly systematic survey of the Philly Cheesesteak so feel up on on the forms. Make mine provolone, onions, hot and sweet.
The “normal” place to get a steak in philly is at a pizza shop although there are certainly steak-specific places (like the two famous ones). Most pizza shops have a flattop just for making steaks. Steaks work better for takeout, and aren’t just cheesebombs. You’ll often find trade workers lined up for steaks - rather like the burrito here.
Cheesesteak shop - still holds up as being very legit. Has the right taste, the right fat content, the hot and sweet are hot and sweet, and most importantly, the bun has the right chew. The roll should be compressible and the juice should soak into the roll, but the roll shouldn’t get in the way of the meat. This creates a bit of a conundrum, rather like ramen, you’ve got to eat it kinda fast because the starch part breaks down.
Refuge - a solid steak, but not philly. Meat is not quite greasy enough, bun has a little too much structure. They also have some heresy about using ground steak instead of steak that’s chopped on the grill (a good steak place the grill guy is hitting a beat on the flattop, kinda like a sf trolly bell with a swinging beat). It’s a good steak don’t get me wrong it’s just not philly.
Amatos (San Jose) - Legit. Bun has a little more / too much structure. I think the peppers seemed a little low on taste - so maybe the seasoning wasn’t quite there - atmosphere of the shop was absolutely philly. A large was large, too.
Jersey Joe’s (san carlos) - pretty legit. All the things in good balance, good peppers. Roll could use more chew. Under-loved, likely because of the location, but strip malls are where all the philly steaks are in philly.
Newkirk’s (SF) - I remember they had a good roll, it wasn’t too large. In philly the steaks are rather longer and thinner (like legit bahn mi), newkirk had that right. I think the fat / juice taste wasn’t quite there, because probably the meat was higher quality. I’m also not sure they had all the classic steak ingredients (notably my favorite hot and sweet). Would sample again.
It was a very good sandwich. The Kaiser roll it was in was very good and tasted freshly made. The egg was runny. They have two salsas to go with - a green one that I think is made of tomatillos and is mild, and an orange one that I believe is made of habaneros and was quite hot. I’ll be back to try the Italian sandwich.
