Fredo's Phillys

After hearing so much about Fredo’s Phillys on Chowhound, I decided to make the trek over there. I had been in the area previously, but they had just closed. I was very surprised to know that they closed at 8 PM. Very strange for a restaurant to be closing this early, especially on the weekend.

Well, the wait and another journey were well worth it. Fredo’s is a small restaurant with only a few tables inside and one table outside. Pictures, postcards and pennants of Philadelphia adorn the walls, but the most obvious is the pictures of the many satisfied customers of Fredo’s Phillys. Dan, the owner, is super friendly and is very proud of the sandwiches they serve and for very good reason.

The menu is rather limited, but I love places that know what they do well and stick with it, as opposed to restaurants with a seemingless endless menu that does things well but nothing outstanding.

The mushroom cheesesteak ($7.39) comes on a 12” Amoroso roll. It is filled to the brim with thinly sliced beef, grilled mushrooms, grilled onions and your choice of cheese. It wouldn’t be authentic if you didn’t get the Cheez Whiz. The roll is soft, yet has a slight chew to it, the perfect bread combination for this sandwich. The meat is tender, juicy and flavorful without a hint of fat or gristle. The mushrooms are caramelized on the outside, while retaining its meatiness, and onions are perfectly grilled, which renders out all of the sugar. The Cheez Whiz acts as a culinary glue to hold all of the components together while giving the sandwich a nuance of cheese flavor. It certainly doesn’t overpower the sandwich in the least.

If you are looking for an authentic Philly cheesesteak, Fredo’s is you place. This place hits the mark like a Ryan Howard towering homerun right over the center field fence at Citizens Bank Park.

Fredo's Phillys
720 N. Lake Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 798-9905