cheesesteaks

as a vegetarian philadelphian (vegedelphian?), i can't say i am the first person to go to for advice on where to get a good cheesesteak. but, i can say that, in the pat's/geno's debate, i have always favored pat's - not because of its food (i've only had their fries, which are good btw), but because of their politics. set caddy-corner to one another, pat's and geno's also appear to have opposing political ideologies, which is kind of odd for food vendors. pat's is the democrat and geno's the republican in the world of cheesesteak purveyance. john kerry visited pat's. dick cheney visited geno's (good for his heart?). pat's hangs pictures of various hollywood and sports stars who have dine there, while geno's fills its walls with pictures of cops and a written diatribe against mumia abu-jamal. and now, geno's has entered a new venue of right-wingery: a "order in english only" requirement.

"Situated in a South Philadelphia immigrant neighborhood, Geno's _ which together with its chief rival, Pat's King of Steaks, forms the epicenter of an area described as 'ground zero for cheesesteaks'_ has posted small signs telling customers, 'This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING 'SPEAK ENGLISH.'"

as noted in the article, it's not as if the awesomely english speaking staff at either vendor use the most polite, proper english. but i guess saying that makes me a terrorist or something. ah, well, i suppose being a lefty vegedelphian already does.