The cheesesteak and Philadelphia are forever linked and, surprisingly, the iconic sandwich has a direct link to another classic American dish, the humble hot dog. How a sandwich made of thinly sliced steak, grilled onions, and cheese on an Italian roll is tied to frankfurters comes down to one man — as does the reason Philly and cheesesteaks are so entwined. The man in question was Pat Olivieri and back in 1930, he and his brother, Harry, ran a hot dog stand in South Philadelphia near the Italian Market. By then hot dogs had already become an American staple .
One day, tiring of his own hot dogs for lunch, Pat Olivieri sent his brother to a local butcher for steak trimmings. Then, he cooked the meat up on the hot dog grill and put it into a hot dog bun (or possibly an Italian roll) with grilled onions, giving birth to the famous Philly cheesesteak. In the 1940s, his namesake restaurant, Pat’s King of Steaks, added provolone to the sandwich, and still later Cheez Whiz (or simply Whiz), which has become a standard addition to the cheesesteak . Or so the story goes. But like most food history, time and legend have smothered the exact details like a layer of onions and Cheez Whiz (or provolone, if you prefer) over thinly sliced steak.
From Hot Dogs To A Cheesesteak Dynasty
The exact details of that day during the Great Depression when Pat Olivieri took the leap from hot dogs to steak sandwiches are a little fuzzy. There are some versions of the story in which he invented the sandwich on the spot and others in which he’d already been making them at home before that auspicious day. Most versions include one customer being the linchpin of Olivieri and his brother going from hot dog vendors to cheesesteak kings. According to the story, it was a cab driver, possibly Dave Kohn, who paid a dime for the very first cheesesteak and told Olivieri to quit selling hot dogs and instead go with the new sandwich.
What we do know for certain is that Olivieri took his version of the cheesesteak and ran with it. He and his brother soon moved from the outdoor stand into a nearby pub, and eventually took over the whole building. Pat’s King of Steaks has been there ever since. Olivieri was also the cheesesteak’s biggest promoter helping to make it a Philadelphia mainstay. But it wasn’t until the 1940s when an employee of Olivieri named “Cocky Joe” Lorenza first added provolone cheese, that the Philly cheesesteak became the recognizable form of today and different from a regular steak and cheese sandwich . While Pat’s has become synonymous with cheesesteak — and perhaps in a nod to the origins of the sandwich — you can still get a hot dog at the restaurant. Frank Olivieri, the current owner and great nephew of Pat Olivieri, swears by them…