Pizza Fries!!!!

Unbeknownst to many Angelenos, the East coast has been holding out on us. Philly, Jersey and New York all enjoy the wonder of Pizza Fries. Why didn't we think of it? It seems so obvious now. I have hunted for Pizza Fries here in LA to no avail. Philly's Best just poured Cheese Wiz on the fries, which made me very sad.

South Street on Victory in Burbank (the Westwood location is now closed, though they are sold at Dodger Stadium) doesn't have Pizza Fries on the menu, but they do have a "top your own fries" option and are willing to go off the list and give you whatever you want. Finally, Pizza Fries are mine!

Local entertainment moguls Mitchell Goldman and Robert "Smitty" Smith used to commiserate over the lack of decent cheesesteaks in LA. They finally decided to stop complaining and open up South Street, which is admittedly authentic. Besides Philly steaks, pizza, and hoagies, they also sell "Water Ice", a kind of Italian ice slushee, and Tastycakes.

The Amoroso rolls are flash-frozen in Philly and finished in South Street's oven. They come out soft and a little chewy, just like in Philadelphia. They use rib-eye and chop the meat, two more of my criteria.

The only place they veer off the standard is that they use a blend of white American and Provolone. A strict Wiz vs. Provolone is the usual policy (Wiz is offered for an additional buck). But you can't really taste the difference in the Provolone mix with the meat, onions and peppers fist-pumping in your mouth.

The Search for Philly's Best Cheesesteak: South Street

It is apparently against the law to go to Philadelphia and not visit South Street. I went to meet a huge group from the conference, but some special cookies mysteriously caused the group to giggle uncontrollably and run off in a hundred different directions following the blinking lights and possibly running from sights like this building.



Left with my one close friend, Ellin, we decided to hit up Jim's, which had a good reputation. I liked the art deco style with tin ceilings and everything.







To follow a purely scientific method, I had decided to get all of my cheesesteaks with everything, choosing provolone cheese. Cheese Whiz is just too much for me. I don't get how anyone over 9 years old can go for that sweet, gloppy goo.





Unfortunately, Jim's "everything" included shockingly bad canned mushrooms. I was not impressed by the tough steak either. After watching me eat it stoically, Ellin finally said, "Just throw it away." We wandered along the hooting, drunken South fraternity row of South Street for only a few blocks before becoming discouraged and heading back to the hotel for a nice swim, the best part of the evening.

Later, back home I checked out Jim's website. Is this happy family posing in front of meathooks hung with slaughtered cattle?