Eddie's Philadelphia, North Park, San Diego, CA

 

Just to let you know this reviews takes place over two different visits to Eddie's, apparently I really really like it.  There is no way I could eat all the food presented in this review in one sitting... well maybe.

So my sister drops by for a visit, and the first thing that runs through my mind is that I need to find a tasty but acceptable meal, she is a bit of a picky eater, for her to enjoy.  I take a look around my kitchen but all I have is some cheese and a few saltine crackers.  Well that would fit the bill in terms of acceptable, but it wouldn't be very tasty.  After some consideration I remembered a place that I used to run by when I lived over in Golden Hills.  Well the place is actually in North Park, but I passed as I was training for a marathon so yeah it is a bit far away.  Anyway I'd gone there once or twice and remember it being amazingly tasty without adding too much spice/heat to the dish.  I look to my lovely wife and with a smile we whisked my sister off to one of the best little Philly inspired eateries in San Diego, Eddie's Philadelphia.

Eddie's is nice, comforting, and clean.  The inside is decorated with a wealth of items commemorating the great city of Philadelphia, from the Philly's (the baseball team) memorabilia to articles depicting some of the city of Brotherly Love's celebrities.  It is all bling, but nice bling, and you can tell just by looking at it that the owners went to a lot of trouble to make it known just how important Philadelphia is to them.  You can feel the love, for lack of better words, they have for Philadelphia.  Glancing at all the bling we walk up to the register and my sister and wife order the Avocado Burger, my sister with Sweet Potato Fries and my wife with the regular fries.  I order a Patty Melt with fries, and we all get drinks.  We pay up and grab a couple of cups sitting next to the soda machine, which is conveniently located right next to the cash register.  Then we amble on back to our table.  My wife and I tell my sister about the first time we came here.

Eddie's Specails

You see Eddie's has changed a bit since it first opened.  There was a time that you didn't automatically get fries with your burger.  My wife and I used just order a large fry and have this gigantic basket of fries placed before us.  More than enough to share.  Nowadays though fries just come with the burger, or sweet potato fries, or onion rings, etc.

A few minutes later the same woman who took our order brings out the food, and I take a bite, and it is just as good as I remember it to be.  The ground beef is seasoned perfectly, and for awhile we sit there and try and figure out why it taste so good.  Is it the meat?  There is no way this stuff isn't at least 20% fat, if not more, and its juicy, perfectly juicy, almost dripping down my hand, but not so much that it causes a mess.  My sister digs through her burger, and I take a bite of it with nothing on it.  I think I taste cumin, and we find a big piece of garlic in the meat, but that is as far as we get.  Whatever is in the burger, whatever is mixed with the ground beef, it is great, definitely in the top ten, maybe top five of my favorite burgers.

The fries are as good as ever.  Big thick, crinkle cut fries, second only to steak fries in my book, with not too much salt, and cooked just long enough so they are crispy but not burnt.  My sister's Sweet Potato Fries on the other hand are not that great.  After I steal a few I decide to stick to my own food.  Yet another tasty meal from Eddie's, which is why I went back a few days later.

I'll admit the first time I went to Eddie's I ordered their steak sandwiches.  Made with prime rib I thought, how could you go wrong.  Well I don't know how they did it but back then it was just off enough for me to prefer the burger.  Still I like giving places a second chance, and Eddie's definitely deserved it, so I went back there with my wife to try it again.  I ordered the Cheese Steak and Onion Hoagie, of which I have a great weakness for, and my wife got the regular cheese steak.  We also got an order of chilli fries, because I'm always looking for a good chilli fries wherever I go.

After a short amount of time the server brought out this gigantic sandwich for me, and my wife.  I could be wrong but the cheese steak seemed bigger this time than last time, or maybe it was because I ordered a hoagie.  Either way I was hooked on my first bite.  My wife took a bite of hers, and enjoyed it as well, but couldn't quite finish it.  That was probably my fault as we both dug into the chilli fries.  The chilli was all beef and had just the right amount of cheese and onion mixed in to it.  I wolfed down more than half the fries in addition to my hoagie, and was stuffed, but in a good way.  Eddie's had re-established my faith in their cheese steak.  Now I can't wait to go back, maybe I'll try the onion rings.

Update:  Not sure if they have new owners, but came back for the hoagie and it was different, and not in a good way.  Also the service was a bit sub-par.  I'll drive by and give it another chance before I declare it changed not for the better.

Eddie's Philadelphia Steaks Hoagies and Burners
3501 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92024
(619) 296-6325
http://www.eddiesphilly.com/