The Cheesesteak Quest: Lee's Hoagie House

Today Danielle and I continued our quest for our favorite steaks at Lee's Hoagie House in University City. The place is only a few blocks from our apartment, so it was a no-brainer for our first stop on the quest since we decided to make it official.


The House smells great when you walk in, like fried food and warm deliciousness (a bakery with mozzarella sticks). It's a pretty simple shop: like a lot of these places, you shout your order to a cook (who will NOT smile) over a counter that Danielle can barely see over, and then go pay a cashier (who probably WILL smile). Lee's had a little sitting area up some stairs, but we got our order to-go: the shop is pretty small in general, not much to look at. 


So Danielle ordered a chicken steak with provolone (costs extra), fried onions, tomatoes, and lettuce on a kaiser. The kaiser comes standard, a hoagie roll apparently costs extra, but we LOVE the kaisers. Haven't been able to figure that phenomenon out yet. Anyway, I ordered a regular steak with the onions and peppers- the "regular" steak means it comes with white american cheese. We also split a strawberry milkshake, which we felt was prudent because Lee's claims the "Best Milkshakes on Campus," meaning Penn's campus. 


Onto the results: Danielle thought that the bread was tops compared to all the places we have been to, although we agreed that the bread that comes with cheesesteaks is always pretty good. Additionally the onion, lettuce, tomato topping combination was a good choice. The sandwich lacked in cheesiness and could have had a little more meat (only a LITTLE more, but that is Danielle's opinion). My steak was wholly lacking in the Adequate Amount of Meat Department, but otherwise was very good. One other preference which was not met: we both like the onions and peppers prepared on the cooktop with the meat rather than ladled on, which is what Lee's does. Still good, could be better. Also, we are unsure what percentage of places actually prepare their sandwiches which way, maybe ladling is the norm. But so what? We are looking for OUR favorite steaks in the city. Lastly, the shake was good.


Okay, so I think Lee's Hoagie House sits somewhere mid-pack for us so far, although in my opinion it gets points for being within walking distance. Here is our Leader Board so far:


1.  Dolce Carini 1929 Chestnut St. 
2.  Lee's Hoagie House 4034 Walnut St.
3.  Some food truck by Temple University's Beasley School of Law
4. Tony Luke's 39 E Oregon Ave.