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Cheesesteak under the arches

11 comments on Cheesesteak under the arches

Cheesesteak under the arches
: You think it’s a glamorous life, blogging from the big city, don’t you? Well, tonight I had to go to a book party (so far so good) and then wanted to grab dinner on the way home. Nothing appealed up Columbus or down Broadway and the wind was bad enough to break my ears off. So I decided to go to good ol’ Taco Bell on the way home: sad, boring, but reliable. But as I passed by a McDonald’s, I saw that they introduced a McDonald’s Cheesesteak to this market. I couldn’t resist.

So here I was sitting in the PATH station McDonald’s behind a guy who had amazingly perfected the ability to sleep while sitting up on a stool and surrounded by other sad souls without apparent lives.

But about that cheesesteak…

It’s pretty darned good. The beef is cooked so much it caramalizes; it’s greasy meat candy. The cheese is white American (which I prefer to Cheese Whiz). The bun’s soft and just this side of dry, right for a cheesesteak, for all the grease will remoisten it. And best of all, they added only fried onions — no peppers and mushrooms, which is heresy.

It’s OK.

11 responses to “Cheesesteak under the arches”

  1. EB Avatar
    EB

    Thanks SO much for that report, I just got my cholesterol numbers back today and I am not at all TEMPTED by greasy meat, dripping in hot cheese on a toasty bun, I’M NOT.
    ::::whimpers::::

  2. Andrea Harris Avatar
    Andrea Harris

    Mmmm… meat candy…

  3. Yehudit Avatar
    Yehudit

    You couldn’t find a place to eat all up and down Columbus and Broadway? There must be 500 restaurants in that neighborhood.
    For future reference: Josie’s at Amsterdam and 75th has very nice organic gourmet food in a low-key atmosphere. The calimari appetizer is the best.

  4. Joe T. Avatar
    Joe T.

    Growing up in our little pocket of Southwest Philadelphia, it was ALL ABOUT white American cheese on your cheesesteak. Took me a long time to realize we were the exception, not the rule.
    My wife got rather upset when, on one of our first dates, I took the liberty of ordering two steaks with white American instead of her beloved Whiz-With. She and the rest of the room looked at me as if I had been raised by wolves.
    Thankfully, she looked past the faux pas.

  5. Patterico Avatar
    Patterico

    Soon the McDonald’s cashier will recognize you and anticipate your greasy meat candy order.

  6. greeneyeshade Avatar
    greeneyeshade

    yehudit sort of beat me to it, but from somewhere on the upper west side to 33rd st. (at the northernmost) and 6th ave? that’s a long walk in the cold for some fast food.

  7. hugh macleod Avatar
    hugh macleod

    I love MacDonald’s. Don’t eat there as much as I used to, but then again, who does?
    Back in London during my youthful party-party days they had the “Mega Mac”… a Big Mac Grande, as it were, which was 4-all-beef-patties and 4 pieces of bread, not 3. That, a large Coke and 2 Advil made the prefect hangover cure.
    Oy, hangovers…

  8. KMK Avatar
    KMK

    Back in the early 80’s they came out with a McRib sandwich. I got food poisoning and vowed never to darken their arches again. Then I had kids. I curse the happy meal promoters.

  9. Jackie D Avatar
    Jackie D

    Jeff, you keep this up and I’ll be linking to you from my gastroblog once a week. Thanks for the report!

  10. Dave Schuler Avatar
    Dave Schuler

    Dear Mr. Jarvis:
    You wrote:
    “So here I was sitting in the PATH station McDonald’s behind a guy who had amazingly perfected the ability to sleep while sitting up on a stool and surrounded by other sad souls without apparent lives.”
    You mean they don’t even blog?!? Egad.

  11. J-Mo Avatar
    J-Mo

    Jeff, I am with you – white American cheese, fried onions and Ketchup (but never mayo) make for the perfect cheesesteak. I was not interested in trying McCheesesteak until your endorsement. Now, I’ll give it a go. Thanks.