Jake's Steaks

It isn't frequently that I crave red meat, or that I specifically crave a cheesesteak, but, well, it happened this week, and my quick research told me to order from Jake's Steaks.

Jake's Steaks has two locations in San Francisco, and I've almost been there several times in the past, but, I don't think I ever actually made it happen (usually opting for Phat Philly because they have great cheddar beer fries too and excellent churros too, or once trying out Busters).  This "visit", I still didn't actually drag myself to either of the locations, but rather, just ordered delivery.

I was really impressed with the packaging - every item came taped shut so that it would not open and spill.  Kudos to Jakes for this.  It is clear they care about their delivery experience.  

Sides

For sides, Jake's Steaks offer a variety of fries options - curly or waffle, garlic or cheese or chili cheese, pizza fries (marinara and wiz), and even Philly steak fries (e.g. cheesesteak fillings on top of fries), plus wings or chicken tenders, and then more fried things: onion rings, mozzarella sticks, zucchini sticks, and jalapeno poppers, all of which come with some kind of dipping sauce.

Garlic Waffle Fries. Small. $5.99.

I opted for the garlic fries, even though I was tempted by onion rings as I adore onion rings, but I knew Jake's Steak's uses the crumb coating style, which isn't my preference.

The portion was quite large, even though I got a small.  The box they were in had two sides removed, and then was taped together at the top rather than properly sealed, as it was bursting at the seams.  I give them credit for that.  So many fries.

The garlic smelt AMAZING, even through the bag, it was all I could smell, and it was so inviting.  My house smelt amazing for the next hour.  I give them credit for just how much garlic there was, between every layer, and tons in the bottom too.  But it smelt considerably better than it tasted.  While there was tons of it, and nice herbs too, it was really quite harsh, just lots of raw garlic. They were pretty standard/basic waffle fries, not particularly good nor bad, likely Sysco.  Not too greasy, not too crispy.  Only lukewarm but I was able to toss in the toaster oven for a few to warm up more (I had it hot and ready!).   

So, standard fries that were correctly prepared, smothered and really well coated garlic/herbs, but ... just a bit too harsh tasting for me.  Very low ***.  

Wiz on the Side. $1.79.

I also got some Wiz on the side, to dunk my fries, or potentially dunk my cheesesteak into for extra cheesiness.  It was, well, Wiz.  As expected.  Perfectly tasty.  ***.

Cheesesteaks

The cheesesteak menu at Jake's Steak is lengthy, as you'd expect.  Even once you select a base cheesesteak, all cheesesteaks come with a slew more options.  Sooo customizable.  Sooo many decisions.

So once you select your cheesesteak, THEN the decisions you need to make are size (8" or 12"), protein (steak, chicken, Beyond Meat), type of cheese (Whiz, white American, provolone, cheddar, pepper jack), style of your onions and peppers (grilled or raw onions, sweet, hot cherry, or jalapeno peppers, and if you want them in the sandwich or on the side), bread style (toasted, double toasted, not toasted, as a salad, no bread, or in a lettuce wrap), if you want any "top off's" (flavored aioli of all kinds), if you want salt/pepper/ketchup/mustard, if you want to make it a hoagie (mayo/lettuce/tomato), if you want any extra cheese, any extra protein (huge list of options, including meat balls, fried eggs, fried eggplant ...), extra veggies (13 options!), sauces (23 options).  Wow.  If you want to make no decisions, the default values are 8", steak, Whiz, grilled onions, and nothing else added.  All come on Amoroso rolls, imported from Philly, of course.  They don't try to use a local artisanal version or anything.

But you don't get to that point until you first select the type of cheesesteak, of which their are 17 options, ranging from your classic original Philly cheesesteak, to a ruben version with 1000 island and kraut, to one with a hot dog on it IN ADDITION to the full cheesesteak, to one wrapped in an egg omelet for breakfast, and so on.  So many choices.

Jake's also has lengthy line up of burgers, hot dogs, and other sandwiches, both hot (chicken parm, eggplant parm, meatball parm, spicy fried chicken, grilled chicken, etc) or cold (club, BLTA, Italian hoagie), and salads, but, I only went for the cheesesteak. 

Spinach & Mushroom Cheesesteak. $14.99.
(8", Steak, Not Toasted, White Cheddar, Grilled Onions).

The cheesesteak looked entirely unphotogenic when I opened it up, but I didn't care.  It was well wrapped tight inside, and then wrapped in a foil wrapper to keep it warm, and it really mostly did.  It was reasonably warm when it got to me.

I went for the spinach & mushroom cheesesteak, a slightly more interesting sounding version of a mushroom cheesesteak, which is what I normally get at cheesecake shops (and I don't mean a vegetarian mushroom option, I mean, a cheesesteak, a proper one, with steak, but with mushrooms added.  And no, not mushrooms instead of onions, in addition to, because onions are a default, just like the use of steak and not chicken or substitutes!  Hmm, turns out, I guess I have feelings on this topic!).  I wouldn't have thought to add spinach myself, but, it made sense when I saw it on the menu, and I thought worth a try.

From there, my decisions were mostly easy: smallest size (8"), steak, grilled onions - those were no brainers.  I briefly thought about getting it toasted, as that is generally a good thing for a sandwich, but part of the greatness of a Philly cheesesteak to me is that soft bread that gets all messy and soaks up the cheese and meat juice, and toasting seemed like not a good idea.  I'm interested though that they offer double toasting even, so clearly, so people must really like them toasted.  The cheese selection was the only one that I did need to think through a bit.  Whiz is great.  I like Whiz.  And it most definitely is the traditional thing to have with your cheesesteak.  But the white American kept jumping out at me on the menu.  White American it was.

The bread was soft, fluffy, and yes, quickly got soggy from all the soaked in meat juice and cheese, just as I kinda wanted.  Clearly fresh bread, no staleness detected.  Amoroso is a name you know for a reason, after all.  It is what you want for your cheesesteak bread.  ***+.

It was really, really stuffed full of fillings.  Like the box for the fries, it was bursting at the seams.  I really applaud Jake's Steak's for not skimping on portions.  The steak was thinly sliced and chopped, integrated so well with the plentiful mushrooms and small pieces of grilled onions that every bite seemed to have some of everything in it, creating a perfect bite every time.  The steak was tender and not a chewy bit was found.  The cheese just permeated everything and was sooo melty, even for delivery.  The spinach was wilted and mixed in, which I'll admit I basically didn't notice when I was eating it, but I'm sure my body will appreciate that I had some leafy greens?  **** fillings.

Put it together, and, yep, this is a very good cheesesteak.  Good ingredients, really well assembled, I have no notes on anything I'd want done differently.  I did like all my choices and would get it again, although I could imagine actually trying the cheddar (!) to really be wild, or just get the Whiz.  **** overall.

Dessert

On the dessert side, Jake's Steaks doesn't try to appeal to the masses, offering up only a few packaged Tastykake options, which I assume only those actually from Philly or wanting the nostalgia of them get excited for (plus me, becuase, hey, I like trying new things!).

Peanut Butter Kandy Kake. $3.49.

I still gleefully added a peanut butter kandy kake to my order.  It did arrive slightly melted, as it was in teh bag alongside the hot items.

Stay tuned for a separate Tastykake review soon!