Good Food

Philadelphia Specialty Spreads to Seattle

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Late-Night Snack in the U-District

The cheese steak hails from Philadelphia—junk food capitol of the world. Where else can you get four soft pretzels for a buck from some guy standing in the middle of a filthy intersection, and then have him slather rancid yellow mustard all over them? We are talking about the home of cheese fries and Scrapple here! Sigh. And the fact of the matter is that it is very hard to find the most revered of Philly delicacies, the Cheese Steak, made worth eating outside of that city. Fortunately for those of us living in Seattle, there is one true temple of cheese steaks here: Dan’s Philly Cheese Steak Shop, on the Ave.

Dan’s, located in the All American Sports Bar, 4333 University Way NE, actually makes an authentic cheese steak. What exactly is an "authentic" cheese steak, you ask? Well, quite simply, it is grilled, thin-sliced steak on a steak roll with cheese, grilled onions and hot or sweet peppers, as you wish. But I must qualify this description. When I say cheese, I mean either provolone, white American, or Cheese Whiz. No other cheese is acceptable. When I say steak roll, I mean an Amoroso roll, baked only in Philadelphia. And when I say hot or sweet peppers, I mean hot or sweet cherry peppers.

The Amoroso roll is the most difficult ingredient to provide locally, as it must be imported from Philly. Many have tried to replicate the famed Amoroso rolls, but none have succeeded. Their recipe is a closely guarded secret, but many believe that it has something to do with the water supply in Philadelphia...kinda like Olympia Beer. A few shops, like Philly’s Best at East 23rd Avenue & East Union Street and Meconi’s down in Lacey, have done a respectable job recreating the cheese steak sans Amoroso roll, but most so-called Philly-style cheese steaks around here disappoint expatriate Philadelphians.

Then there is Dan’s. When Dan’s opened some four years ago just south of the post office on the Ave, word began to spread. Dan and his father, Bruce, had moved out here from the Junk Food Mecca, and they became desperate for a decent cheese steak. So they called Amoroso to find out if they could get their rolls shipped out to Seattle. Amoroso said yes. Strangely enough, it took them more effort to find a reliable source for cherry peppers than it did to get the rolls out here. But they have the peppers now, too. As for the cheese, it’s white American or provolone. Not even Cheese Whiz until recently, as now they have a deep fryer, and you can only make cheese fries with the not-found-in-nature yellow canned cheese.

Dan’s has every kind of cheese steak you would expect to find on a menu in Philadelphia, and yet it has a few extras customized for Seattle tastes. In addition to all of the traditional varieties made with steak, all of these sandwiches can be made with grilled chicken, a trend that has even developed in Philly itself, for those of us cutting back on the mammal intake. While not quite the real thing, they are still very good. And Dan’s has accommodated Seattle’s vegetarian crowd with two different "Veggie Steaks." According to my Philly expatriate, veggie brother, they are very good. Dan’s also offers a selection of hoagie sandwiches built on Amoroso hoagie rolls, and Philly’s own Tastykakes for dessert (what are those things made of, anyway?).

Dan’s just moved a block north, and now shares space with the All American Sports Bar. A promising partnership, it allows the All American to focus on good drinks, and Dan’s to focus on good food. And cheese steaks are renowned for their flexibility as excellent for lunch or dinner, as a bar food, and as a hangover remedy. Heck, I used to eat ‘em for breakfast in college.

If you have ever wanted to try a real cheese steak, and all your uppity East Coast friends told you that you have to fly to Philly to do it, or if you are a Philly expatriate longing for the taste of home, you owe it to yourself to go to Dan’s and get yourself a steak.

Open for food 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. weekdays, 9:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. weekends. The bar is open late. Take out available. Phone 545-7771.

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