Steaks On South

WHAT HAPPENED TO S.O.S.?! This was thee best cheesesteak place in Philly that I have ever tried, and IT’S CLOSED NOW?! Nowhere on their website does it say that they closed. I printed coupons from the site yesterday morning, before I brought two of my friends to the empty establishment. I am extremely disappointed. RIP Steaks on South.

Came here on a relatively busy Saturday afternoon. Guy outside giving coupons for free fries. Sure, free food with a cheesesteak, thank your very much.
We’ll not sure if the fries helped though. Fries were soggy and tasted bad. Cheesesteak was pretty good though. Ordered a provolone cheese cheesesteak. The bread was soft, fluffy, and tasty. Wished they put more meat in the sandwich though. I felt the sandwich was half bread.
Need to try more places in the area. I think the steak at SOS is better than Genos/​Pats in my opinion. I get a strange stomach feeling when I eat at those two places.
So just go for the sandwich. Those free fries are not worth it. Believe me.

Did the ownership change? That’s ok if it doesn’t mean quality suffers, but quality has suffered. I can’t confirm this but the guy running the counter is also making the food!!! Without gloves after accepting money??? Gross. I’m sorry, I’m not sorry.
On top of that, the buffalo chicken cheesesteak was a chicken sandwich with what tasted like Sriracha and bleu cheese.

This might be my favorite Philly cheese steak in Philadelphia. Kind of traditional «non-​Philadelphia» style, but maybe I am just too used to that. Not the same as Pat’s or Gino’s and selection of different cheeses besides cheese whiz.

Being from TX, I have to rely on my buddy up here for cheesesteak advice when I visit. So far so good! Beef, whiz, onion, and that roll. That’s all you need. Oh– a birch beer and bag of Herr’s cheese curls too.

«Steak-​umms On South» should be more like it!
If you see this place, keep walking to much better places up the street!
Aside from the cheesesteaks being close to the worst I’ve ever had, it took over 25 minutes to get them… and there was hardly anybody eating there!
The roll was toasted (I suspect to hide the fact that it was not fresh), then the meat (what little of it there was) had the consistency of a Steak-​Umm, it was greasy, bland and over seasoned.
After it was too difficult to even choke down a few bites of this thing, we were given a refund for the steaks, and a nasty look and snide comment from the chick who cooked them.
I’m not sure what was going on with this crew but they were bad and ill-​mannered.
To top it off, I was throwing up what I had eaten an hour later.

Having never had an authentic philly cheese steak before, I have nothing to compare my first to. Let’s just say I’m glad it was here. This joint is probably not as packed/​crowded as the touristy cheese steak shops which is likely a good thing if you’re anything like me.
I don’t understand the bad reviews. I guess it depends on when you come in, but the guy running the cashier wasn’t surly, and the meat in my cheese steak «with wiz» was flavorful and NOT dry. The bread was just the right amount of both soft and crispy. Also diggin the old school 80’s and 90’s music playing while we were there. So should you go with Steaks on South vs the other places in the vicinity? This girl says yes.

I’m surprised to see such mixed reviews for S.O.S — I love this place! I grew up right outside of Philly so have had my share of cheesesteaks. Pats & Genos do nothing for my taste buds, which is the main reason I LOVE the meat in these steaks. It’s juicy and full of flavor; the rolls are good as well! I usually get it with provolone because I’m not huge on Wiz or American. The place is pretty small but there is an upstairs seating area as well that overlooks South Street.

I should’ve went with my instinct. There’s a few great cheesesteak places along South Street, but unfortunately SOS was not one of them. I’ve never been here before, but I wanted to try them out thanks to the now surprising good rating it has on Unilocal.The best part about it is it looks like a traditional cheesesteak joint. That’s about as far as the positives go for this place. I got my usual– cheesesteak with fried onions and whiz. The steak was an unusual lighter color which was a first red flag for me. It was also a little chopped, but not too fine. It had a good amount of onions but not too many. The cheese was also an appropriate amount spread on the roll. The only saving grace for the steak was its roll. I noticed a Liscio’s box so at least they got that right. The taste of the steak was overwhelming. T was way over seasoned that left a bad taste lingering in my mouth. As for the fries, they were the battered variety that I don’t care for. I had about 6 of them before I threw them away. My experience here definitely had me calling SOS by the time I was done. My advice: skip this place and go to one of the more reputable places within a block of it.

I came in early on Saturday for a cheesesteak because I wanted to see how t measured up to some of the other big guns on south street. I was very disappointed I hear from the griddle man that thy didn’t have any onions to put on the cheesesteaks. How could that be? He said they were coming, but I wasn’t going to wait around.
I got a steak with wiz, and it was actually pretty tasty. Steak to meat ratio was pretty good, as was the roll. I added ketchup and pickled jalapeños as well as I usually do, and they added the perfect touches to it. It was a pretty filling steak, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I really just couldn’t overlook the lack of onions. It really boggled my mind. It’s definitely a solid cheesesteak option.

Blandest, weakest cheesesteak ever. They bragged about it being a foot long and big and that you get a free order of fries with meal but in reality it’s like you took a steak in from your freezer and cooked it up. (Which btw is what they did). I ordered the «award winning» cheesesteak, yes that was its name on the menu. I added mushrooms and tomatoes. They charged me a dollar for each. A dollar for tomatoes!!! Really? Oh and then they forgot the tomatoes and the fries. Terrible.
I am sticking to Johns Roast Pork for good. And John if you’re reading this, I’m sorry for straying.

Much thank you to the staff for not kicking us out as we walked in the door right at closing time (2am)
While back in town visiting my family (in the burbs) and losing my mind when becoming victim of the late night CheeseSteak Cravings. Mind you, late night meaning 9 or 10pm and everything around me was closed. UGH!!! So my last night in town my cousin came to the rescue and we hopped on the freeway at 1:30am to South Street. Again: I must thank the employees for not turning us away at closing time. They were even fine with us eating in. On that note, it was not my #1 cheesesteak but was still on point. Good meat, the roll was good. I brought 4 back to Arizona to share & everyone was happy.

During my first trip to Philly (Fall 2011), I tried cheesesteaks at Geno’s, Pat’s and Jim’s. Kind of decided that I must not like cheesesteaks because they were all just okay.
I wasn’t interested in eating another on my second trip but we had a first-​time visitor in the group so the Philly cheesesteak thing is kind of a must… We went to Jim’s around the corner but didn’t feel like waiting in line. Luckily Steaks on South is only a few blocks away and much better. We tried a cheesesteak with onions and wiz, and it was good enough to change my opinion of cheesesteaks! If you have to have a cheesesteak, try one here!
Service at the register was surly but don’t let that put you off.

Definitely better than Jim’s and that Asian store across the street from Jim’s!

I’ve worked on south street for over a year and am always looking for new places to eat, especially pizza. Don’t get me wrong I love Lorenzo’s, but it’s more of a drunk greasy love than a sober quality pie love. SOS’s pizza is pretty damn solid… Very tasty, nicely sized (not as big as Lorenzo’s but not a standard 16 inch pie) and much higher quality than lorenzos and lickety splits. Also, I don’t like to think that just being Italian means you make a good pie, but the pizza guy here is adorable, complete with a thick Italian accent and height that does not exceed 5’5″. I can’t comment on any of their sandwiches, but they have my faithful business when pizzas concerned.
The only reason they arent getting five stars is because their counter girls really are miserable. Not once have they thanked me for throwing bills into their tip cup and they just seem generally depressed. They do have to deal with the crazies that roam south street but they leave me wanting to counsel them or something. Smile sometimes, ladies!

Better than those tourist trap places (aka: Genos and Pats). Best cheesesteak and chicken cheesesteak down South Street, especially the chicken steak sandwich. They don’t use cheap or overly fatty meat here, so if you want a good cheesteak then come to S.O.S.

There are two things you should know about me before you read my review:
1. I live on South Street.
2. I go to Ishkabibbles way too often (Hey! It’s not my fault it’s consistently delicious!)
Today I decided I would go somewhere different because, quite frankly, I’m embarrassed to frequent Ishka as often as I do. I decided to try Steaks on South for a change. I’ve had their pizza before and it’s one of the best slices you can get on South Street (with toppings.)
Today I ordered a provolone cheese steak with mayo and raw onions for pick-​up which also includes a free order of fries (an every day special.)
My order was wrong. The cheese steak had ketchup as well as cooked onions. Who orders a cheese steak with raw AND cooked onions? COME ON.
I don’t like ketchup on my steaks — blech. Just an annoying inconvenience.
Let’s talk about the steak. The steak was ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. Both unappetizing to look at and even worse to feel in your mouth. They obviously use a very low-​grade of beef because I had so much beef strung together by disgusting fat, I took most of the steak off (the half I DID manage to choke down.) Compared to many of the other steak places around here (even the places that don’t «specialize» in cheese steaks), «subpar» is an understatement.
The fries were disgusting. Not only were they way overcooked — most of them were too crunchy to be considered french fries — but they also were an unappealing orange-​ish brown. I don’t know if it was due to the totally overcooked-​ness or a batch of oil that severely needs to be changed, but they were terrible. No wonder they are given out for free every single day.
The bread… Oh the bread. A true Philadelphian will tell you that the bread of a Philly cheese steak has to be delicious. Soft. Fresh. Mine was crispy and dry. It was obviously from yesterday.
In summation, I will stick to Ishkabibbles for my steaks and I’ll save SOS for a slice of pizza when I’m so hammered I can’t fathom venturing off my block.
Gross.

I came back here with a Living Social deal… or was it Groupon?
I was taken back by the prices in 2010, but in 2012 I guess I’m getting used to $ 8 steaks. So I got 2 to go as per the special. One with provolone and one with American. Here’s the thing… I’ve never had this happen with a steak…
The steak was stuck to the steak… meaning the whole damn steak slipped off the roll and it was just stuck to itself as a blob. This was the provolone steak mind you. What was the deal with that cheese? I’ve never seen such a thing. Think of it as that piece of bacon that’s too thick and you can’t get it in one bite and next thing you know it just came out of the sandwich and you get a mess on your face and maybe your shirt. Just like that!
Otherwise, the place looks beaten down and disheveled. They look like they’ve been through a lot at SOS. Not to mention they have pizza now. Also, they gave me grief over not wanting pepper on my food. The cashier told me the «cooks» might not pay the order slip any mind. They just throw it on there. She offered to tell them because I guess they were consistent about doing that and it worked out. So I appreciate that much.
Overall, what I got was definitely not what they were serving when they first opened. There’s a new spot on South that I hear has good steaks, but it’s not a steak spot. I’ll have to see.

Came here because the line at Jim’s was too long. I got the cheesesteak with mushroom. It tasted… too healthy for a cheesesteak LOL I wanted more grease! And fries are aiight too, nothing amazing.
But this place is really spacious! Went with a party of 15 ish and we were comfortably sat upstairs in a big table.
Dunno I would go back though, unless there’s a long line at Jim’s and I’m short on time.

SOS was interesting, what attracted us initially was that their menu had a lot of options to create our own cheese steak. We were mostly looking to have a sandwich without cheese whiz.
Once here we walked right in and ordered no line out the door like the place down the block. Ordered a cheese steak with mushrooms, banana peppers, and provolone cheese.
Once we got our order we noticed that the mushrooms were of the canned variety, really? I come all the way to Philly and get canned mushrooms. The bun was not toasted though in their defense not sure if that was an option I just forgot to ask for. The meat was tasty the cheese was good, and the banana peppers were great. The fries were also good, and very hot as in temperature.
They say this place is better than Pat’s and Geno’s, and I think so, however I think there is better cheese steak to be had in the greater Philadelphia area.