$100.00 Cheesesteak???

A Look At Philly's Most Expensive Sandwich
Reporting
Nicole Brewer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Sliced, sizzled and slathered with cheese ... the famous Philly cheesesteak serves as an iconic representation of our city and now, an expensive luxury.

That's because Chef James Locascio of Rittenhouse Square's Barclay Prime created Philadelphia's "haute" cheesesteak, an upscale version of the sandwich that includes butter poached lobster and shaved truffles.

Locascio said, "It's every ingredient you want to try in a life time in one."

Still, that kind of lavishness doesn't come cheap. For one cheesesteak, expect to pay $100. That's nearly 15 times more than the original.

Locascio said, "We made sure we had the best beef we could find, the best lobster and the right cheese."


To get top of the line ingredients, Locascio says it costs $17 per pound for cheese, $21 per pound for Kobe beef and $900 per pound for summer truffles.

So who buys the costly sandwich?

On average, five or six customers order it per night and many share it as an appetizer.

Locascio said, "It all adds up, a quarter of a million dollars a year in cheesesteaks is pretty good."

With other steak shops selling their sandwich for about seven dollars a pop, you might say that's really good.

Far be it for me to rant, but, let's get real. I want lobster? I'm not ordering a cheesesteak to get it. I want Kobe beef? I'm not hiding the taste behind an Amoroso's roll.

Truffles? Too damn expensive to even justify the cost. I'd rather pass than eat anything that cost's $900.00 a pound!

And, there's really only three types of cheese acceptable on a Philly Cheesesteak...Good 'ol American (in Kensington, we called it "square" cheese), Provolone, or "'Whiz". The end.

If I want a cheesesteak, I prefer to get mine at 1) Geno's, 2) Pizza Time in Conshy, or 3) the old Mimmo's Pizza at Broad and Windrim, in Philly. I'll pay the $6-$7 dollars for the sandwich and get my belly full in the process. I'm simply not going to Barclay Prime for a cheesesteak.

I also find it hard to believe that they get "On average, five or six customers...per night" ordering this bastardized version of the Philly classic.

I give the entire idea of it a "thumbs down" for being pretentious and ostentatious. Too fancy for any real Philly guy or gal.