Are you hungry?  Well, if you aren’t now, then you will be by the end of this post!  I visited the first location of Philly’s Best in Fountain Valley, which was opened in 1992 by native Philadelphian Bob Levey.  I ate so much and loved it all.  I’ll tell you about it soon, but first, let’s get the backstory behind Philly’s Best!

First of all, the entire team (pictured below) at the store feels like a family.  It is such a cozy neighborhood shop, which has since expanded to over 20 locations.

In fact, while I was there, one customer showed up who has eaten at Philly’s Best since the very beginning.  A lot of reminiscing goes on over a good sandwich, am I right?

Also, a first-time customer came in to try some steak sandwiches to go.  Bob insisted that he tried a hoagie, and packed up one to try along with his order.  This is the friendly atmosphere that I noticed during the entire lunch time that I was there.

Are you ready to get to the food?

Well, one last non-food photo first!  The entire place is decorated with Philly pride with memorabilia from sports teams to photos of the City of Brotherly Love and even a few historical photos here and there.  Bob said they will give the original restaurant a makeover soon, but there’s no doubt that it will retain the Philly pride!

NOW to the food!  🙂

Now this is strange for me to comment on sodas, right?  Well, since Bob wanted to bring the best of Philly here, he made sure to offer these fantastic sodas and birch beer.  You may have never seen the sodas in your local store, because it is a tiny family-owned company that makes small batch sodas.  Honestly, I can skip soda most of the time, but these were amazing!  Bob even mentioned how there are customers who buy extra sodas just to take home with every order.  Good idea…  Now, the birch beer was totally a different taste.  Not quite a root beer or even carbonated all that much, it was so unique and definitely a good beverage to enjoy with your sandwich of choice.  Speaking of…

I really loved this sandwich from top to bottom… or maybe I should say side to side!  First of all, they pride themselves on using genuine Amoroso Steak rolls imported from Philadelphia.  I can see why, because a good roll can definitely make a good sandwich great!  The cheese is a combination of white cheddar, provolone, and a little bit of whiz.  Simply put, it is addicting.  It’s not the typical yellow whiz you see covering the steak; it’s so much better!

As for the steak itself, they thinly slice it to order, which helps to keep the sandwich from feeling heavy.  It’s dangerous though because I could easily eat more than one!  There are a few versions of the steak sandwiches with sweet peppers, mushrooms, cheese, onions, pizza sauce, and more!  My sandwich was adorned with the sweet peppers, which were far from your ordinary marinated pepper.  Absolutely mouthwatering!

These authentic Philadelphia hoagies use fresh Boar’s Head meats sliced super thinly to order.  Just like the steak, it was super, super light!  I noticed that the tendency of turkey sandwiches are to pack a ton inside so it feels like you’re chewing through a dry brick of turkey.  This is absolutely the opposite!

I’m an onion ring snob and I admit it.  Batters are usually too thick, too soggy, or tasteless for me.  Seriously, this is one of my favorite onion rings of all time.  Yes, it’s a side order, but you have to get these along with your sandwich.  It’s on my “must try” list for sure!

If you’re not an onion ring fan…first of all what’s wrong with you?  Just kidding!  If you prefer a good old-fashioned potato chip, you might be able to see the turquoise bag of Wise chips between sandwiches that I enjoyed too!

Next time, I’m looking forward to trying some cheese steak fries.  Yes, that exists.  And yes, you pick me up an extra order as a thank you.  🙂

This a classic Italian hoagie that I tried with a hot pepper spread.  The trio of meats looks amazing as you bite into it (see below), and I love the provolone they use.  As for the fantastic pepper spread, they have bottles of the spread that you can take home to try on everything your heart desires.  🙂

Now this is an interesting sandwich!  When Philly’s Best first opened, they had the entire steak sandwich and hoagie menu as you see it now.  The chicken sandwiches were something that started in Philly after the restaurant opened but have been a big hit since they added it!

So, I thought it looked a little like chicken salad, but it is so different!  The chicken is sliced thinly just like the steak, and almost every sandwich they offer as steak comes in chicken as well.  I was a little skeptical at first, but it is really, really good.  Take a look below at the sandwich below, once I cut into it.  Yum!

Lastly, dessert!  Bob told me all about how Philly kids would always have a package of Tastykakes in their lunch boxes, and it’s just a tradition out there.  Think Hostess, but East Coast-style!  🙂  Since he is all about bringing Philly’s best out here, I had to try a couple of delicious treats!

So, really quick descriptions because you can pretty much see the sweetness!  The Kandy Kakes are cake, covered by peanut butter and chocolate.  Yes, yes, and yes please.  🙂  The Butterscotch Krimpets are like Twinkies but covered in a butterscotch glaze.  Now is probably a good time to mention that this could easily be one of my guilty pleasure foods…

As you can see by the spread at the top of the post, I tried a lot of food, and I really loved it all!  I can’t wait to come back soon and try something new!  The easy decision is going back, but I know the harder question will be…

Philly’s Best
18691 Brookhurst Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714) 968-2448
www.eatphillysbest.com