Joe's Steaks + Soda Shop — Restaurant in Philadelphia

While visiting Philadelphia my sons were on the hunt to find the best cheesesteak in town. We had several different cheesesteaks but the king of them all was Joe’s. Located in Fishtown, which is a good neighborhood for a meal or a drink. You can grab a meal at Joe’s and then visit one of the two bars across the street.

The restaurant is an old style diner with a counter and some tables. Our waitress allowed us to pick our table and was so polite and accommodating.

We ordered a cheesesteak with American and whiz with onions and another without onions. I am a vegetarian so I ordered the veggie sandwich. We also ordered fries and two shakes. All of the food was outstanding and is very reasonably priced.

The cheesesteak had a great blend of cheese, which was suggested by our waitress. There was an ample amount of well seasoned meat on each sandwich as well. The roll was soft but firm enough to carry the sandwich without falling apart.

The kids loved the shakes which were thick and loaded with ice cream. One of my kids had a plain chocolate shake while the other had the shake special. Joe’s has different shake specials throughout the month. This special was a hot cocoa shake loaded with m and m’s and whipped cream.

I had the veggie sandwich and it was equally delicious. It was fried peppers, onions and mushrooms with lettuce and tomato. The thing that made it so tasty was the same roll and cheese blend on the cheesesteaks. The veggies were fried to perfection and was a nice surprise from a place that one may mistake for a greasy spoon.

The other thing that put Joe’s over the top was the pickles. You are provided with regular pickles, pickled peppers and pepperoncini. The pepperonchini really put both the veggie and the cheesesteak over the top.

Between the service and the food Joe’s was our favorite cheesesteak of our trip and a place we certainly look forward to...

Exactly what I was looking for. I’ve been to Philadelphia 3 times now and nearly gave up on this whole “Philly Cheesesteak” thing. I mentioned this to a buddy originally from Philadelphia and he told me about Joe’s.

I dined-in to get the full experience. The ambiance is solid - like an old school type of vibe. From what I had gathered from my buddy and some locals at the hotel.. I got “the wizz.” Provolone is said to be the best but then I hear those that tried it telling me that it was nothing special.

The waitress was very nice and laid back, really awesome - she asked if I would like onions; check - offered hot or mild peppers.. I took the hot. When the cheesesteak came out, it smelled amazing and tasted even better. Note: the 10” is huge.

Also, I ordered a graham blast shake (I think? It’s a seasonal or monthly option) only because it had all my favorite things milkshake-wise and goodness gracious - also made to perfection. The only drawback on everything was price but with inflation the last year, I’m guessing the price I paid here will be considered the standard if it isn’t already.

This was the experience I was hoping for and the only reason why I’m writing an essay is in hopes that google’s algorithm picks this up and gives it some more visibility because it thinks I was detailed and gave it 5 stars. The one regrets that I had was that I didn’t get my waitress’s name - I wish I could’ve given her credit by name as she was great - and that I had too much of goodness - I was stuffed. Now I have to wait months if not a year before I can come...

I don't live in this city or state so I have nothing to compare my experience to. I'm visiting and obviously have to have Philly Cheesesteak because otherwise what am I doing with my life. The hard part is that I'm vegan. Luckily I was brought over here where they have 2 vegan options and even a shake! I was absolutely stoked. The bummer was that after checking their hours, we decided to walk over there for our dine in experience. The window had a sign the dining area was open. We went to the door and it was locked. The sign on their second door stated that they're only taking orders inside if you eat inside, otherwise order at the window. Okay, no problem. We walked to the window & let them known we were wanting to dine in. At that point the person at the window says they're closing in 10 minutes and so we have to order take out. They're website & google time said they'd be closing in over 40 minutes, so that was frustrating since we'd have to have walked 30 mins back and forth and also transport the food which obviously wouldn't be as fresh and melty (see photo of my cheese being stuck to the paper and not very melted). It was a bit of a bummer, especially when no explanation is given. However, the food was still pretty good and extremely filling. I ordered half the sandwich and was completely stuffed. I'd come back but only to dine in as I think that's the best way to experience this kind...