Carmen’s Famous Italian Hoagies & Cheesesteaks

Some people will tell you that you have to go to a certain neighborhood to find a great Philly cheese steak, but the folks at Carmen’s will show you otherwise. Family owned and operated since 1983, every morning they heat up the grill to make Philly’s best-known sandwich for visitors from all over the world. In addition to the classic cheese steak with onions, mushrooms, and peppers, they also take a few creative liberties. There’s the Franklin, a cheese steak with American cheese and Philadelphia cream cheese. The Kamikaze cheese steak gets hot peppers, pepper jack cheese, and hot sauce. The Meat Lovers cheese steak also has bacon and pepperoni. Carmen’s even makes a vegetarian cheese steak with seitan. Beyond the cheese steak, they also make classic, Italian-style hoagies with prosciutto, a meatball sandwich with parmesan, and a veggie hoagie loaded with a base of spinach and broccoli rabe, customizable to your specifications. Place your order at the register and they’ll hand you a playing card. As long as you remember your suit, you can’t lose.

Eateries