- Ladies and gentlemen, it is a beautiful day in South Philly, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
and we are heading to one of South Philly's most beloved
iconic institutions: John's Roast Pork. For 87 years this place has
been serving up incredibly juicy delicious roast pork
sandwiches as well as the Philadelphia Cheese Steak
which is probably the most family sandwich to
come out of this area. We're standing on what
was traditionally a former industrial strip close to the docks. Home to a lot of truckers, a lot of working class people
that just come in for a quick lunch but now it's an
incredibly diverse area. A lot of people coming in
enjoying these delicious roast pork sandwiches. So, let's see what people
have been talking about for the past almost 90 years. - My grandfather when he
emigrated here in 1918 with literally the clothes
on his back and a recipe for roast pork and a recipe
for meatballs, you know, he came here and he figured
he'd do what he knew best so he became one of the first
caterers in Philadelphia. In the old days they would
have a small wedding and have the reception at the house and
he would bring his equipment. And he was running a wooden
shack here on the ground we're standing on. We've grown over the years but
we still want to try to keep that family mom and pop feel
to it, which I think we do. - [Lucas] It wasn't always
as popular as it was. - No, we literally had the
same 50-60 customers every day. They'd come and get their
coffee in the morning, a small breakfast
sandwich, a pork sandwich. You know, I didn't even
have to take their orders. They'd walk in the door and
I knew what they wanted. Ever since the article in
2001 came out with these four high school kids that they
made it their senior project to find the quote-unquote
ultimate cheese steak and we didn't know they were running it
with the food critic with the Inquirer who was very
prestigious guy Craig LaBan. I was shocked because again,
we didn't know that this was for print and they were
weighing the sandwiches. They were measuring them. - [Lucas] Pulling them apart. - Yeah, yeah. - [Lucas] Was that like a
turning point as far as-- - It was absolutely the turning point. Because we had a line out
the door for a month or two. - [Lucas] Wow. - So many times now we get
people they come right from the airport, we're the first stop. We have the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and
they come here first. It's mind boggling. It was August 11th, the article came out so it was
in the middle of summer time. The first Friday, guy came
in, guy passes out in line. Right? In the building and I'm like
making cheese steaks and they're wheeling him out. He regained consciousness but he's like, I want my cheese steak. So, I said, dude, you're dying like. (Lucas laughs) So, what happened, that was before we were open on Saturdays. The following Monday he
was my first customer at 7:00 o'clock in the morning. - He went to the emergency
room and he came right back. - I've had almost every
sandwich in this place and everything's just phenomenal. - [Lucas] Oh you have? - I've been coming here for
about 5-6 years at least to this spot. Whenever I'm in town I make
sure to come to John's. - We're in South Philly,
there's a lot of options. - Yes.
- But you find you come here? - Right, you just can't get
that top level cheese steak and roast pork usually at the same place. You're usually going, one
place has a good cheese steak, one place has a good roast pork. This place has good everything. Top notch quality. They have some of the
best bread in the city. Their pork has great flavor. It's quick, they know what they're doing. Even if there's a line out the door, they move you right through here. They just do everything
the right way here. You can tell everything's made
properly and made with care. - I understand you're a
big Patriots fan is that? - Oh, absolutely. Woo hoo, no. - No, Eagle's fan I would assume. - Absolutely, I used to
be a season ticket holder for nine years. - All right, what is it about
this place that you think is particularly good? - There's something about the seasoning, it's not like hit you in
the face kind of seasoning. It's subtle but it's just so
in depth and the pork is just so, you know, they cook
them, then they let them sit. And then they slice them the next day and put it back in the juice. And so, it doesn't get dried out. It doesn't break down. It's just cooked perfectly
and holds it and then it's right on the good seeded
roll which is key. And extra sharp provolone. It's just those three
marrying together is the best. - Trifecta. - Let me just get one quick
sandwich and one cheese steak. - And your first name is? - My name is Lucas. - Lucas, and you can slide
down to the next station for your pork. - [Lucas] Thank you very much. - Thank you very much, very much. (upbeat music) - Why don't we roll out this cheese steak. Look at this beauty. This is good cheese steak. They make it all to order. They don't have a mountain of
meat and a mountain of onions that they are chipping
off of throughout the day. The food's gonna be hot and fresh. You've got this nice
crusty outside that yields to a chewy center. The sesame seeds I really love. You've got these onions
that give it that sharpness. It's like a little sting. You've got this nice cut of
pretty thinly sliced steak. I mean look, are we getting
prime rib in a cheese steak? No, not necessarily the point. You want it for that beefy,
salty, little charred bits. You want that kind of goodness, you know, prepared on that flat top grill. And then of course the cheese. The cheese is like the
conductor of the symphony. It's American cheese so it's
processed like Cheez Whiz but it's not quite as plastic-y. It's just like a nice goopy, saltiness. This is very good. That's a great steak. Let's put this aside. Let's go to the roast pork. The typical topping you'll
see a roast pork sandwich is the broccoli rabe or rapini. That's like a bitter vegetable. It's like in the bok choy family. So the spinach is not gonna
have quite as much of a presence in the sandwich and
we're gonna see how it goes. This is the roast pork. This is it. Like I'm not here to do a value judgment but this is the thing to get. I would take this over a
steak any day of the week. I'll tell you why. There's just a lot more going on. Number one, I love a messy sandwich. I love a soggy sandwich. And because this has been
sitting in so much juice, and because it's just dripping, dripping, it gets through that bread
and makes it nice and soggy. You get that contrast. A regular sandwich bread
it slowly becomes thinner and drippier as you get to the bottom. And then the bottom is just
soaked with that porky juice. The roast pork as John was saying, his grandfather's recipe
from Southern Italy. Lots of herbs, lots of spices
and then shoved in the oven, baked for a few hours,
sliced, put in it's own jus. And then it sits there and it
just kind of marinates there. And you've got this nice sharp provolone. It's so good on a sandwich. It's a deep, rich, sharp,
cheese flavor that has so much more character than just
a mild American cheese. It's just such a strong
funky pungent powerful cheese that I really really like in this. And then the spinach. Spinach is great. It's a different animal. I like rapini a lot because
it's nice to have sort of a powerful, bitter vegetable. Especially when you have
something really salty and fatty. I'm gonna say spinach:
more of a team player. Doesn't want to stand out. A little bit of a wallflower. Spinach is just gonna lay back. Just do it's thing. So it's a nice compliment. This sandwich as a whole, super good. The cheese steak is the icon in Philly. Especially in South Philly. I don't see that ever changing. But the roast pork is a better sandwich. I'm just gonna put it out there. It's a superior sandwich
in just taste and construct and how all the flavors bounce together. And obviously here at
John's they're proud of both sandwiches which I totally understand. But it is called at the end of the day, John's Roast Pork and I think
that's for a good reason. Ladies and gentlemen I hope
you really enjoyed this episode of Dining on a
Dime from John's Roast Pork in South Philly,
Philadelphia Pennsylvania. If you'd like to watch
more, please click here.
