Philadelphia, PA - George's Sandwich Shop; Being in the city and recently watched Bizarre Foods Philadelphia episode, I had to track this place down. It's in the heart of the Italian Market, so you get to experience both the market and their sandwiches. You can either go inside where there are maybe four tables at e counter to eat or order through their walk-up window. I recommend the window since you get to see all options for ingredients. FYI, the pork, beef, and tripe options, you can mix your sandwiches. If you want to try the different cuts, you can order a sandwich with two or three meats. However, you can't mix the sandwich with the Philly cheese.

When I came to Philadelphia I had one agenda item, to make sure I try a real Philly Cheesesteak. Why not try it at the place Andrew Zimmern recommends. I asked to have it prepared the traditional way, which comes with sautéed onions with the steak. I like how the cheese lines the bottom of the bun, giving a minimal protection from the juices. You don't want a full barrier since you want it to soak in a little, giving the bun that extra delicious flavor. This is truly the real deal. The steak is prepared well and cut thin to allow the flavor to come through. It was worth the trouble getting here

I now ventured to the exotic cuts to try what brought Bizarre Foods out. To get a sampler, I chose the pork, beef, and tripe all on one sandwich. The first flaw is not having the cheese line the bread for a barrier for the juice. The juices although add flavor to the bun, it also transforms it into a soggy mess if you don't eat it in 5-10 minutes. Its not an option to "take it home" to eat it later.

All three meats were cooked well. Its easy to over cook the beef and pork consequently drying it out. Not in this case. Both were still juicy and not crispy. If the tripe had been under cooked, it would have been too rubbery, but it wasn't. It too had the correct texture. All three meats couldn't compare to the steak. They all lacked in flavoring. The only one that looked marinated was the tripe in a tomato base, but none of the flavors came through.

I didn't particularly care for the cooks attitude who also took my order. I mentioned that I was from out of town and this was my first real Philly steak. He wasn't any help or made me feel welcome.