Citizens Bank Park
1 Citizen Bank Way
Philadelphia, PA 19148
I'm always amazed when we visit other ballparks and arenas away from home. Not only are the fan bases way more passionate and into the game, but the food is so much better than anything we have at Anaheim Stadium or Honda Center. I could never fathom writing about either of these venue's food scenes. Honda Centre only has one outside vendor, California Pizza Kitchen, while the rest of their food is made in-house, is average at best, and is priced exorbitantly high. C'mon, $9 for a hot dog. Go to Costco before the games for their higher quality hot dog for $1.50, and you also get a drink.
Anaheim Stadium's outside food vendors will not make you want to get out of your seat to grab some grub, even though the team is so bad they are hard to watch. This past season included Oggi's Pizza, Yogurtland, Juice It Up, Wetzel's Pretzels, and Chronic Tacos. A weak lineup when you consider most of these you can just get at your local mall food court, assuming you still visit the mall instead of shopping online.
We were on vacation in Philadelphia and went to a Phillies day game on a Thursday. The first thing I noticed when we got to Citizens Bank Park was how many people wore Phillies gear here. Back home, nearly half of the attendees would be wearing the opposing team's colors. These Phillies fans were also passionate about the game. Most were off their phones, watching the game, and cheering at appropriate times. The next time you're at an Angel game, just notice how many people are on their phones the whole time, and only look up when the rest of the crowd cheers.
Citizens Park has plenty of food options that got me excited. They have a Shake Shack behind home plate. They also have food stalls that are backed by former Phillie's players and managers, like Ryan Howard's southern-style chicken sandwiches, and Charlie Manuel, manager of the 2008 world championship team, runs Uncle Charlie's Steaks, a spot serving cheesesteaks to hungry baseball enthusiasts. Other notable vendors are Federal Donuts, Jersey Shore favorite Manco and Manco Pizza, and the iconic Campo's Philly Cheesesteaks, which has been in business since 1947. I had circled another cheesesteak place on my list at the ballpark to try: the legendary Tony Luke's.
Tony Luke's started in South Philadelphia in 1992 as a family-run business. Times were tough the first few years, but customers came in droves as the years rolled by, and the awards started piling up for their cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches. There are now 17 Tony Luke's locations in the Mid-Atlantic region, most at sports arenas, entertainment venues, casinos, and airport locations.
We got up during the fourth inning of the game and walked to the food concourse in centerfield known as Ashburn Alley, which is also home to other purveyors of food and drinks. The line was one of the longest we saw, so we felt good about this spot. We waited in line for about 25 minutes or so. The menu is a paired-down version of other menus I've seen for their other locations. They offer only two sandwiches, the cheesesteak, and the roast pork. The only other item on their menu is curly fries. We grabbed our sandwiches and returned to our seats to experience the first cheesesteak of our visit to Philly.
So, when only two sandwiches are on the menu, I must get them both. Let's start with the Roast Pork with Cheese ($9.50). Roast pork sandwiches are a big part of Philadelphia culture. You'll find these all over the city and surrounding areas. They all have the same ingredients: roast pork, sharp provolone, and broccoli rabe or spinach in an Italian roll. I liked this sandwich more than I thought I would. Not to ruin anything, but it was not as filled with meat as others I would have on this trip, but at less than $10 at a ballgame, this was a great value. The sharp provolone worked nicely with the garlicky broccoli rabe and the savory pork. Some of the pork was on the dry side, but that was remedied by adding extra broccoli rabe. The bread made by Liscio's Bakery was fresh and had a good chew to it.
The Cheesesteak ($9.50) was not as stuffed as the others you'll see in upcoming reviews, but this was a pleasurable sandwich. Tony Luke's only uses ribeye for their meat; you can taste the difference. It was not oily like others tend to be, and the American cheese was of good quality. I added a Pepper Cup ($1.50) to the sandwich. The peppers added a bit of moisture, which I liked. The roll again was good, keeping everything together until our last bite.
If you are from Philadelphia, most of you feel that these are sandwiches for tourists, like the ones from Pat's and Geno's downtown. Yelp reviews for these sandwiches are not kind, only giving this place 2.5 to 3 stars, which could be better. You'd be more forgiving if you had to suffer through the food we have to eat at Anaheim Stadium or Honda Center. Not very good. These sandwiches are better than anything I've eaten at either of those sporting venues at about half the price. I would have liked to have tried Campos Cheesesteaks, but the game flew by, and I needed more time. Maybe if the game was a doubleheader.
Out of five zookeepers (because the first zoo in all of the US was opened in 1874 in Philadelphia, and before that, zookeepers were not even needed), five being best to zero being worst, Tony Luke's gets 3 zookeepers.
For more information about Tony Luke's, head to their website by clicking here: https://tonylukes.com/
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