For forty years, people have been trekking here for the steak-avo-cheese sandwich

Oh man. This steak of Alfredo's is da bomb. Has avocado, pepper jack, and a raft of sautéed onions. I'm in lunch heaven... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/06/39673/ ...Got vinegar on the fries, and Lori pouring endless refills in my $2 cawfee, and even …

The Tour rolls into El Cajon for the last steak sandwich I'll eat for a good while

The final stop on the Tour was a hard one to make. Philly Steak Subs in El Cajon closes early--7PM on the weekdays — and getting out there in a timely fashion proved difficult for me as I’m accustomed to …

Nearing the end, the Tour heads north for a good sandwich, under the wire

Responding to the umpteen different assertions that I had to go there, I rolled in to Philly Frank’s in San Marcos at about thirty seconds to closing time with my sheepish request for a sandwich before they kicked me out. …

Just as things are getting difficult on the Tour, a surprise stage victory by an unlikely contender!

I didn’t want to leave the house and go down to Point Loma. It was cozy at home and I could have gotten into bed and stood a chance of finishing Dead Souls before the library sends a death squad …

"I'll have the cheesesteak...with the works...and a hooker on the side."

I won’t mince words, Ultimate Philley’s looked like a shithole. It’s on the “wrong” side of the 805, in the no man’s land between that and the 15, and it almost looks like a pawn shop or a sketchy cell …

A trip to the land of exact change and substantial sandwiches

The Tour wasn’t slated to stop at Giorgino’s until later, but complications in the world caused things to go all haywire and I found myself madly dashing to Golden Hill in search of cheesesteak on a foggy evening. I’d been …

The Tour returns to Pacific Beach to visit the "King" of cheesesteaks

Alex’s Brown Bag is the only stop on the Tour that has an age restriction. It’s in the back of Latitude 32 Pub on Cass Street and the bartender stops everyone to check ID’s before granting access to the inner …

The Tour heads to Pacific Beach for non-Philly steaks

I had a harder than expected time finding Pop’s Jersey Style Cheesesteaks in Pacific Beach. What is it with these sub shops that they are so sneaky? At least it existed. I eventually located pops at the back of a …

North County food court cheesesteak delivers poor performance on day three of the tour

Here’s what happened: I went all the way up to Mira Mesa to try and find a place called “Moose’s,” but it turns out it’s not there anymore. I’d ended up wandering around a Scranton Road food court, trying to …

The tour continues into North Park for "homestyle" sandwiches

Planted firmly across the street from Lefty’s North Park, Eddie’s Place seems to have taken a class on interior decoration from the pizza place. Rocky posters, Phillies MLB pendants, pictures of the Liberty Bell, and other Philly-centric tchotchkes festoon the …

Stage one: sampling the fare at San Diego's most established cheesesteak operation

Back in June, I ate at the Philly Grill in North Park and it didn’t blow my mind or anything. The steak was delicious, but there was too little of it and it had been assembled without much care. The …

"I was standing in a shower when it came to me," says Brian McGonagle, "I just knew this was what I wanted to do." McGonagle was 27. He had just come out of eight years in the Marines. Two tours …