Campo's Philly Cheesesteaks — Restaurant in Philadelphia

This review is not intended to be harsh, but it is objective. A little context: when an establishment has high reviews and touts its 75 year reputation, expectations run understandably high, and when a person spends $50 on lunch at a casual restaurant, a good meal is a very reasonable expectation. The restaurant did not live up to its reputation and our expectations were not met. We were underwhelmed and generally disappointed. Meat was chewy. It was obviously not a chopped and formed piece of meat, and that is a plus. It is not a justification for the meat to be tough. Coleslaw tasted like cabbage and mayonnaise and lacked a distinguishing flavor or nuance. The cabbage was crisp and seemed like it was freshly shredded. My dining companion is gluten free, and the bun was OK, but just OK. At a $4.00, one would certainly be entitled to a good piece of bread. She had the Pizza Steak with pepperoni (at a $1.50 additional charge, and the pepperoni was practically undetectable). The pizza sauce was the dominant flavor. I had the Heater, which is a spicy sandwich, and I knew and expected that. Even so, I should have been able to taste the meat. As it was, the buffalo sauce completely overwhelmed the flavor of the beef. We really wanted to have a good experience. I wanted to give Campos the benefit of the doubt. I wanted redemption. I ordered a pretzel with cheese whiz thinking it would elevate the experience. It did not. I was handed a piece of wax paper and told to get my pretzel from the plastic bin at the register while the cashier went and got the whiz. Both were cold. Like right out of the refrigerator cold. In a kitchen full of hot surfaces, in a town renowned for their pretzels, that was inexcusable. With all the 5 star reviews, we were really looking forward to a great lunch. We did not get it and we paid handsomely for this disappointment. Campos was clean, the cashier was at times engaging, and the cabbage was fresh and crisp. These factors are the reason we assigned two stars instead of one. Perhaps they were having an off day. I worked in food service for 12 years. I get it. Some days are like that. But for the money we spent, it's hard not to feel like we'd...

My friend and I took a bus tour during which the guy on the PA system recommended this place for an authentic Philly Cheesesteak, which was on my Texan friend's bucket list. So, we went. She waited outside while I waited in line to order and watched the cashier be as friendly as a Philly person is capable of being to EVERYONE who ordered in front of me. When it was my turn to order, I was super nice, as I always am, but she couldn't have been more nasty to me if I had paid her to be nasty to me. After I ordered, I asked what my number was, which she had announced to EVERYONE in front of me without promoting, and she spat at me, "It's on your receipt." I walked outside, told my friend, and asked her to please get our food because I couldn't deal with that woman again. We waited for our number to be called, which didn't happen. The numbers before and after ours were called but not ours. My friend, who is a sweet, 65-year-old woman of color, finally asked where our food was, and she spat at her, too. We were just baffled by how we were treated, as were people standing by us, and we talked about the possible reasons why all the way to the Liberty Bell, which was when I caught a glimpse of myself in a window... It was my Kamala T-shirt. I had forgotten I had it on, but it was sooooo obvious after I saw my refection why she was so rude to me. I'm a business owner, and it isn't good business to let politics affect your treatment of customers. I have many clients whose opinions differ from mine, but I would NEVER treat them like I was treated by this establishment. On top of that, the super overpriced cheesesteaks and potato salad were horribly bland. We gave most of our order to an unhoused person nearby. I don't recommend this establishment if you lean blue, like flavor in your food, are a person of color (see other reviews), or believe that people have the right to their opinions even when they differ from yours. There is another cheesesteak restaurant less than a block away the bus PA guy stated was equally as good. We simply...

I called Campos for a catering order for an executive leadership meeting. My team is a team of C-suite executives that were visiting Philadelphia (many for the first time) and were looking to experience an authentic philly cheesesteak on our trip. I was hosting a virtual reality event in New Jersey - 30 mins outside of Philly. My plan was to pick up the food and drive it to Jersey.

After speaking to multiple people that were from Philadelphia, I landed on 3 authentic "best cheesesteak" restaurants. I read the menus, reviews, etc. and settled upon Campos.

If I NEVER go to Philly again. I will die knowing that I had an excellent and authentic philly cheesesteak.

Not only was the food freaking spectacular. It was packaged with care, sent with love and made a team of very particular "foodie" executives from Silicon Valley happier and more satiated than a kid in a candy store.

The woman that took my order informed me that for a fee, I could have the cheesesteaks, salads (with homemade dressing), desserts (also homemade) and utensils delivered, so that I would not have to pick them up - drive 30 minutes - then wait almost an hour for my group to show up -- (I had to go early to set up the event space at the VR facility).

The food arrived hot, perfectly packaged and 15 minutes before my team arrived to partake in the DELICIOUSNESS.

I would recommend food from Campos any day and am so happy that I had the honor of the experience.

Did not rate atmosphere because I did not eat there.

Also, Campos was able to accommodate a vegetarian with an "Impossible" Cheesesteak. So no one had to miss the experience. 🤤😍...