MeVersus

A cheesesteak sandwich seems like a pretty simple thing, but there’s a lot you can get wrong about it: bland meat, relying on sauces, too much bread – the list of infractions runs long and greasy.

The problem is that cheesesteaks are the type of thing you shouldn’t eat unless it’s superbly created. When you order one there’s the implicit agreement between the mind and body that you’re about to consume something that will, in some fashion, devastate every organ you have. Anything less than near-perfection is a bad trade.

I’ve encountered this “cheesesteak remorse” on many occasions – that feeling that a sub-standard cheesesteak has claimed that little piece of health that should have gone toward a kick-ass cheesteak. It takes the right mix of spices, onions, meat texture, and cheese to make a convincing argument against living a few more years. That’s why I roll my eyes when I see Subway trying to make them.

So, it is with great consideration that I recommend Fred’s Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks in Richardson and Plano as the tops in town. They’ve got it down to an art: chopped-up peppered-steak jiblets toasted crisp and mixed with caramelized onions, layered within a well-proportioned hoagie on a bed of melty-cheese. It makes that golden cru-squersh sound with every bite. No regrets here.

Fred’s looks slightly more appealing than a mess hall, but, like the main dish, it’s not meant to be pretty. You get a sense of the place by seeing their website devote a page to “Our Women Patrons.”

Hats off to all the cheesesteak eatin’ ladies out there.