Gusto

240 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 546-7200
Website

Gusto is tucked away on 22nd, and to be honest, I totally forgot about it. I ate there years ago (+/- 8) when I lived in Rittenhouse, and it was good, but not that memorable. It's still about the same. But for the prices and quality of ingredients, Gusto earns a hefty 4 cheesesteak rating. The pictures will show you why.

The buffalo chicken cheesesteak hoagie was pretty decent. It had freshly shredded romaine and sliced tomato over gooey chicken smothered in a tangy, spicy buffalo sauce served on a nice crusty roll.

The bread here would be better suited to hosting a po' boy, but even with that, it made for a good vessel.

They certainly didn't skimp on the blue cheese either. It was nothing life changing, but not bad in a pinch (that area is a tough spot for a decent lunch at times).

I have also recently had the Italian hoagie, and though it was a bit fancy for my liking, it was surprisingly delicious. I attribute this to the quality of ingredients they use in all of their food. Again, you could certainly do worse, given the neighborhood.

Did I mention the pricing??? The above mentioned chicken cheesesteak ran a whopping $8 and the Italian hoagie came in at under $7. I mean, DiBruno's would serve the same for about twice the price.

They use Carangi's rolls and this seeded version won my heart. The freshly sliced and generously applied Italian meats and thick chunks of sharp prov didn't hurt either. I mean, it is a fancier version of my favorite Italian and given the competitive pricing in a ritzy part of town, I think I'll be revisiting Gusto sooner than later.

Well played.