The 12 most creative cheesesteaks in Philly, when you need a break from steak, onions, and cheese.
LessGrays Ferry’s Korea Taqueria is where we go for taco, quesadilla, and burrito-induced happiness with a kimchi twist. So it should be no surprise that we also head here for an out-of-this-world cheesesteak. The Korean Bulgogi Cheesesteak coats super tender, slow-cooked Korean Bulgogi beef with a house made cheese sauce, and wraps it all up in a toasty sesame seed roll. It’s a sweet and savory blend so good you won’t regret skipping the Korean beef birria (but next time, you should try that, too).
Run by the team behind Pizza Jawn—a pizza shop we can’t get enough of—they’ve added another dish to the roster worth obsessing over: the South Philly Chopped Cheese. It comes with chopped sausage, fried onions, cherry peppers, banana peppers, crisp iceberg lettuce, and cooper sharp oozing from the peppery mix. After one glorious, filling sandwich, you’ll want to hit snooze on any plans for the rest of your day—and every other sandwich you’ll have for the rest of your life.
The Jerk Chicken Cheesesteak at Sheba’s Soul Plate is what happens when a Jamaican platter uses one of its three wishes from the genie to become a cheesesteak. It has smoky jerk marinated chicken, grilled peppers and onions, and melted provolone layered throughout. What we love most about it, though, outside of the charred bits, is it’s about as thick as a Kelce’s bicep. It’s one of those all-time great sandwiches you’ll savor as much as your last trip to the shore for the summer.
Chiquita's Pizzeria & Mexican Grill is a small South Philly restaurant with a mighty menu of Mexican pizzas, tacos, and cheesesteaks. The cheesesteak options are limitless—including carnitas, birria, and jalapeno—but the Mexican Cheesesteak is our favorite. It has thick slabs of beef, fried onion, cilantro, chihuahua cheese, and creamy jalapeño salsa with a bit of a spicy sizzle. It’s essentially everything you love about a burrito in cheesesteak form.
FoodChasers Kitchen is an Elkins Park restaurant that translates our love for seafood into creamy, decadent cheesesteaks. The Sea Chaser keeps it “simple” with grilled salmon, shrimp, crab, garlic cheese, your choice of cheese sauce (we suggest the cheddar), and a spread of peppery seafood mayo. The Hamptons has all of the above, plus bits of juicy steak, making it the surf and turf of our fantasies. They both bring a blend of quality seafood and a smoky, salty bite.
We know—it would take something extraordinary to convince you to cheat on your go-to cheesesteak order. But we’re here to tell you that they’re performing bread-filling miracles with the oxtail and salmon cheesesteaks at this North Philly shop. They’re the kind of sandwiches you’ll clear your schedule for (which you’ll have to, since there’s always a line), and that’s because they’re bliss-inducing. We’d make them mayor if we could.
You know when you get so giddy that you type in all caps? That’s how we feel when we bite into a Chipotle Chicken Cheesesteak at South Philly’s Avenue Steaks & Pizza. It has meaty chopped chicken, a tangy house-made chipotle aioli (our new favorite condiment), American cheese, lettuce, and tomato, all on a seeded roll—which adds some great nuttiness. The bread is almost Charmin-soft, and after a few bites, it will be the thing you excitedly text about in all caps instead of date night recaps.
Although this Lamb Kheema Cheesesteak is packed, it’s always presented beautifully. You’ll get a juicy, masala-rubbed lamb and ribeye mix, American cheese, and cilantro lime aioli. It would taste amazing even if it was served to you on top of an old Braves jersey (yikes), but thankfully, it’s wrapped in a thick, crackly seeded roll. It’s like the sandwich sweet spot between a traditional curry dish and our old faithful cheesesteak, and the aromatic mashup is glorious.
Need a place in Reading Terminal Market for pizza, pasta, and a cheesesteak? Look no further than By George, a counter-service spot that you can easily find by following the scent of marinara. You can't go wrong with anything they put on a long, buttery roll—including our favorite, the Italian Cheesesteak. They also have a solid rotation of thin-crust pizzas, like the Four Cheese Hot Honey that oozes with as much mozzarella as it does a peppery, syrupy glaze, and a super doughy tomato pie.
Since eating a General Tso’s Chicken Cheesesteak from this Northeast Philly shop, it’s all we can think about (and maybe the Phillies). While we love the Pork Roll Cheesesteak from their breakfast menu, it's the General Tso’s that we remember. The grilled chicken is glazed with a syrupy, sweet General Tso’s Sauce, sesame seeds, scallions, and topped with a pungent wasabi bleu cheese. It’s sweet, salty, and oniony all at once, and you’ll have half of it on your face as you try to scarf it down.