The Cheese Steak Shop

The first ever international franchise of The Cheese Steak Shop is luckily from our very own country, the Philippines.  It took franchise owner, Margaret “Mai” Uy, 22 years (!) to bring in the popular restaurant chain from Northern California, U.S.A. here.  That’s a pretty long time!  There must be something about The Cheese Steak Shop that made the Filipino franchise owner so patient in waiting for the opportunity to come.

The Cheese Steak Shop is a well-known restaurant chain in Northern California that makes the tasty original Philadelphia style cheese steak sandwich.  It was opened by Keith Layton (a Philadelphia native) in 1982 when he relocated to San Francisco, California.  Keith missed cheese steak sandwiches that he decided to open his own cheese steak restaurant.  The Cheese Steak Shop was an instant success.  People appreciated having a restaurant that served authentic cheese steak sandwiches. Due to its success, 9 more stores were opened by 1996.

In 2002, the Cheese Steak Shop started selling franchises which resulted to 18 more restaurants opened (including the one in the Philippines!).  With a total of 28 restaurants, The Cheese Steak Shop must have a yummy original Philadelphia style cheese steak sandwich that makes it so successful through the years.

I was totally excited when I was invited to The Cheese Steak Shop located at the Pasay Road in Makati City.  The first thing I noticed when I entered the restaurant was the tagline ‘Caution! May be Habit Forming!‘ plastered on the wall.  I thought this must be true as the owner, Margaret Uy, didn’t give up bringing in The Cheese Steak Shop to the Philippines.

The event is mainly a webinar that featured the author of The Great Philly Cheese Steak Book, Carolyn Wyman.  She presented what Philly Cheesesteak is all about.  I thought that considering Ms. Wyman took time to accept the invitation of Cheese Steak Shop to present, that pretty much confirmed the cheese steak sandwiches offered in The Cheese Steak Shop are good!

While we listen to the webinar, we were served with The Cheese Steak Shop’s specialties.  Oh my, there was so much food and I didn’t not know how to finish the food in front of us.  I was truly overwhelmed but I was very glad.  The food didn’t disappoint and I’ll surely recommend this restaurant to people who are on the lookout for authentic cheese steak sandwiches.

Sides

• Garlic Steak Fries (Php 135)

There are 2 sizes available – Regular (Php 99) and Large (Php 135).  I super appreciate fries that are cooked with real potatoes and this just didn’t disappoint at all.  I also loved the way it tasted.  The Garlic fries was very well presented too.  I like to use fork in eating the fries though.

• Onion Rings (Php 180)

Just like the fries, onion rings are also available in 2 sizes: Regular (Php 120) and large (Php 180).  You can opt to get sauces to complement the onion rings.  There are Heinz-branded dispensers in the restaurant – ranch dressing, yellow mustard and tomato ketchup.  You’ll love the dispensers!  We were actually all wishing we could bring them home!  Check it out when you visit The Cheese Steak Shop.

Drinks

• Soda (Regular Php 40, Large Php 55)

The best drink to pair with cheese steak sandwiches is beer.  However, I don’t drink alcohol so root beer was the next best choice 🙂

Premium Cheese Steaks

The Cheese Steak Shop makes original Philadelphia style cheese steak sandwiches, combining prime cut beef, grilled onions and cheese packed on 7″, 10″ and 15″ rolls and topped with hot and sweet peppers.  I was blown away with the generous serving of the ingredients.  Looking at the sandwiches made me wanna just grab the sandwiches and have a bite.

The restaurant only uses Amoroso’s bread rolls which are imported all the way from a bakery in Philadelphia.
Wow!  They are really dead serious in bringing us the complete authentic Philly cheesesteak experience.

We tried several variants of the cheese steak sandwiches.  Be warned as you’ll surely get hungry as you read on 😛

• Pepperoni (7″-Php 320, 10″-Php 520, 15″-Php 850)

Cheese steak with Pepperoni and pizza sauce.  If you love pizza, I bet you will love this variant.

• Hoagie  (7″-Php 515, 10″-Php 485, 15″-Php 750)

Cheese steak with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and mayonnaise.

• Western (7″-Php 320, 10″-Php 520, 15″-Php 850)

cheese steak with bacon, barbecue sauce and onion rings.  I would say this has got to be the tastiest among the variants.  I guess it must be the combination of bacon and onions.

• Bacon (7″-Php 320, 10″-Php 520, 15″-Php 850)

If bacon is your thing, then you should order the bacon variant.  We shall say that this has got to be your favorite comfort cheese steak sandwich.

• Spinach (7″-Php 320, 10″-Php 520, 15″-Php 850)

I thought Western was the best among the ones we tried.  However, Spinach cheese steak sandwich was served to us just a few minutes before the event ended.  I immediately became a convert.  In my opinion, the most delicious we tried out that night is the spinach which has spinach and mushrooms.  It was super tasty and yummy!  Puuuurfffect! 😀

The Cheese Steak Shop’s marketing strategy is to increase customer awareness through quality sandwiches, delicious ingredients and good customer service.  The restaurant believes that the best form of advertising is by “word of mouth” from satisfied customers.  I guess that should already include me as I liked the sandwiches that we tried out.  The price is a bit steep for me though so I don’t think I’ll be back as often as I could.

The Cheese Steak shop caters to the upper B and A market and provides lunch and dinner to customers for dine-in, take-out and delivery.

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The Cheese Steak Shop
G/F The E-Hotel Makati, 906 A. Arnaiz Ave., San Lorenzo Village, Makati City, Philippines
(02) 555-0235