Philly Phlava Cheese Steaks-hoagies & More

I wanna start by saying, I’m a Philly native, born and raised for 21 years there. I’ve tried cheesesteaks from probably 50-75 different restaurants/takeout in the philly/south jersey area. This place is incredible. I went in on a dime after catching the word “philly” out of the corner of my eye driving down the road. At first glance, before even looking at the menu, the environment of this place is awesome. Philly memorabilia everywhere, Philly brands everywhere, Philly attitude everywhere. I walked in and immediately could tell who the owner was, and asked what part of philly he was from. He comedically shot back with “I’m not from philly, I’m from Wisconsin, I’m apart of the witness protection program.” His Philly sarcasm and wit was apparent and I could tell this guy knew what he was doing. I ordered a cheesesteak, with a decent bit of toppings, and it only cost 12$! I’ve spent almost double that on cheesesteaks before because most places charge extra for toppings. For 12$ I got one of the best cheesesteaks I’ve ever had in my life. I can probably count on less than one hand the places I’ve had better cheesesteaks in my whole life, that’s how good this place was. My friend and I talked with the owner while he was making our food. He’s a character: always having something sharp to shoot back at ya for whatever you can think of to say to him. He’s a Philly guy for sure. My cheesesteak was almost perfect, I’d rate it a 9.8 out of 10. The meat was juicy, not greasy or soggy. The roll was incredible: I’m not sure if they’re flown in or are local, but they’re a great touch. The peppers and onions were perfectly cooked. My only issue with the whole order was the lack of ketchup, and that the lettuce was a big leaf of lettuce. These are minors things tho, and truthfully make no difference in the overall taste and quality of this cheesesteak. I topped off the cheesesteak with a classic hanks black cherry. I think I’ve had one or maybe two other cheesesteaks in Tampa since I’ve been here, and I can honestly say, I will not look elsewhere any longer because this place rocks.

My fiancé and I are from PA (outside Philly) and haven’t been able to find a nice cheesesteak place down here in Tampa…. Until Philly Phlava!! The atmosphere is nice and the staff is super friendly! We got a cheesesteak and chicken parm sub. Both were delicious!! The cheesesteak tasted very authentic and just like the ones from home! The chicken parm sub was incredible with delicious homemade sauce. The bottled root beer was also a tasty touch. The service was fast and the restaurant was clean. We will definitely be back shortly :)

The food was good. The only problem was I noticed there was a 34 cent service fee added to my order. I said what is the service fee for He said it offsets our credit cards I said well I'm paying cash so then he credited me back 31 cents keeping three cents as a service fee for whatever reason so please be aware there are extra charges added to your order. Every little penny counts and it's really hard when you're going to go out to eat and there's extra charges added to your orders It's really not cool