H/A wanted to go to Chickie’s & Pete’s to try the lobster cheesesteak. If you ask me to go here, I will. Not because I want to be in a giant warehouse full of drunken strangers with loud ass tv’s and terrible music. But I like the food here. It’s as simple as that. We were at the south philly one again. Man, is this place crowded on a weekend night. It’s maddening how crowded this place is. And even more crazy because of how humongous it is, and it’s still beyond packed! We had to wait about half an hour for a table. And even after we sat, we waited much longer to actually get waited on. Our waitress sucked. And she had a sucky ass sourpuss look on her face the whole time. Miserable much?
At least their food makes up for the waitress suckery. The infamous crab fries. Their fries are crunchy and not soggy or greasy at all. And their cheese sauce (who the hell knows what’s actually in this) is lovely and mild. It’s a nice contrast to the savory crab dusting.
R and her chowder. She always orders this, and she always barely eats any of it. But that’s fine, because H/A and I got to eat all the mussels and clams she ignored. It’s good soup folks, it’s good soup.
R and I got the king crab legs. That’s what you do when you come here.

There’s no dainty way to try to eat these. Don’t even try to not get dirty. Just go in full force with your hands and get to cracking. You’ll get the delicious red mess all over yourself. It will fly hither to and fro. But who cares, because you’re rewarded with zesty big pieces of succulent crab flesh. It’s worth the work.

And you’ll remember it for days because your hands will stink of crab. Their menu calls them “gloriously messy” and they are indeed.

So H/A came for the lobster cheesesteak, and that’s what he had. This is a cheesesteak, with lobster meat and the cheese sauce on top. Before it came out, we were debating amongst ourselves on how to dress this thing. What condiments do you use on a cheesesteak with lobster on it? Ketchup? Butter? Then R suggested cocktail sauce. Ooh, I liked the sound of that. But they didn’t bring any out, and we didn’t ask for any. So what is a lobster cheesesteak like? Well, it tastes just like a cheesesteak. And it’s a good cheesesteak. Even though you can clearly see the lobster, you can’t taste it at all. The taste of the lobster is clearly overshadowed by the meat. So while it’s a delicious cheesesteak, what’s the point of having lobster on it when you can’t taste the lobster? So you’re just paying for something that you can’t even notice. I say just get a regular cheesesteak here instead.

There’s the infamous Pat’s and Geno’s cheesesteak war, but there’s an even fiercer rivalry in Roxborough between Chubby’s and Dalessandro’s. They’re right across the street as well. First stop was Chubby’s. They have dining at the counter as well as booths. And they serve booze! Along with beer. Here’s my half of the cheesesteak, and my Hank’s black cherry.

Then we walked across the street to Dalessandro’s. They have beer, but no full bar. Their dining area is also hurting. It’s quite a small space. There’s some counter space, and no real booths. They just have a handful of long skinny fold out tables up. No comfort, just function. There’s no waitresses either. You put in your order and then hand you the food. You sit wherever there’s a spot.Ok, so I didn’t actually try the Dalessandro’s, because I was full from my half at Chubby’s. Sorry folks, I didn’t fast or purge before I came. But I will say just from looking at these, they look better to me. The meat is chopped up a lot more, and so are the onions,and you get more onions! Amongst the diners, it was split about 50/50 over who preferred Chubby’s and who preferred Dalessandro’s. Next time, I will actually try one at Dalessandro’s! Then I’ll give you an informed opinion, although I’m already convinced I’ll like the Dalessandro’s one better!
They also had a bigger and wider selection of peppers at Dalessandro’s. And it wasn’t hidden either! Don’t bother with Pat’s and Geno’s. Skip that nonsense and head up here for the real cheesesteak war!