Jack Duggan’s at the Philadelphia airport: Great cheesesteaks in an unexpected place

By Examiner.com

The Philadelphia airport is about to become one of my favorites – rivaling Dallas/Fort Worth. And the reason is cheesesteaks.

And the airport has a policy of insuring that the prices you pay in the airport are not any higher than you’d pay outside the airport.

There are some foods that are so iconic of the city in which they were created that the food and the city have become one. New York bagels (still nothing like them anywhere else in the country), Chicago pizza (oh, for one of those deep dish delights right now), and the Philly Cheesesteak.

Recently, I ate my way through the City of Brotherly Love, sampling cheesesteaks everywhere I went. Just about every restaurant, street vendor, pub, and shack has a sign in front letting you know they serve Philly’s favorite food.

But there was one place that I didn’t expect to find excellent cheesesteak, the airport.

I have seen the error of my ways.

If you need a final fix before you leave Philadelphia, or want to get on head start on cheesesteak, or are simply between flights — there’s Jack Duggan’s in Terminal A by gate 3. At this point I was at the end of my trip and had learned how to order. I knew I had to ask for the fried onions, and I select a cheese, or get whatever is the restaurant’s default choice. I wanted a cheese that would provide a subtle, but detectable flavor, and I don’t eat American cheese, and have no interest in trying the even more highly processed Wheez. I choose cheddar.

The sandwich came on a nice crisp roll with crunchy and tasty french fries. The sandwich was perfect with enough flavor from the meat, the cheese, and the onions with just enough juice for added flavor. It made a very satisfying cheesesteak. And for me, a perfect ending to my odyssey.

N. Schwartzberg
Examiner.com