🇺🇸 USA · Family: The Cheesesteak · Region: Philadelphia, PA · Heat: Griddled · Bread: sub-roll · Proteins: beef
Ingredients
Whiz wit is how Philadelphia orders a cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and fried onions. Say it at the window and you get beef off the griddle, onions cooked soft, and warm Whiz poured through the meat, all in a long roll. It is the best-known version of the sandwich and the one people here argue about most.
What makes it a whiz wit
The cheese is a sauce. Provolone and American go on as slices and melt down into the meat from the top. Whiz goes on already liquid, so it runs into the gaps in the pile and coats the beef the way gravy would. It stays loose and glossy as it cools instead of setting into a sheet. That texture is why the order has its own name.
The rest is the standard cheesesteak build. Thin-sliced beef, usually rib-eye, is seared fast on a hot flat-top so it stays tender. Some shops chop it fine with the edge of a spatula and some leave it in slices. The onions, the "wit" half of the order, are fried until soft and folded into the meat. Most shops warm the Whiz separately and ladle it on at the end. Because a sauce that thin does almost nothing to hold the filling together, the roll does that work: soft inside, with enough crust to carry a wet, greasy filling for the length of a walk.
The same shorthand covers the rest of the menu. Whiz witout leaves off the onions. American wit and provolone wit keep the onions and swap the sauce for a sliced cheese, which changes how the whole sandwich eats.
Where it came from
Pat and Harry Olivieri started selling steak sandwiches at 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue in 1930, and for years the sandwich had no cheese at all. Kraft put Cheez Whiz on the market in 1952, and Pat's says it started putting it on steaks later that decade. Geno's opened across the street in 1966. With two shops open around the clock on the same corner, "whiz wit" became the phrase visitors practice in line.
Pat's still sells it the old way, with the meat on the roll, onions if you ask, and Whiz ladled over the top. In February 2026 it switched to a seeded Aversa roll and added a newer style that mixes meat, onions and cheese together on the grill. You can still ask for it layered.
How to order one
Name the cheese first, then say whether you want onions: "whiz wit" for Whiz with onions, "whiz witout" for Whiz without. Geno's prints exactly that on its own ordering guide. At the busy windows, know your order and have your money out before you reach the front. Saying "with onions" works too.
At most shops Whiz costs the same as the other cheeses. Dalessandro's charges a dollar more for it. Steve's Prince of Steaks goes the other way: Whiz or American is included, and provolone is extra.
The argument over Whiz
Plenty of serious shops won't pour it. John's Roast Pork, which tops most local rankings, has never served Whiz, and its owner says so in one word. Del Rossi's in Northern Liberties builds every steak around Cooper Sharp. Over the last decade Cooper Sharp has become the cheese newer shops lead with, and several of the most praised places treat Whiz as one option among four.
The case for Whiz is texture and salt. A sauce reaches every piece of meat, and on a fast line it goes on in one pour. The case against is that it can bury the beef. When the Inquirer's critic ate Angelo's in 2025, he found more salt in the Whiz than on the meat and preferred the Cooper Sharp. Steve's takes the opposite side and says so on its website: the true Philadelphia cheesesteak, it says, is a whiz wit.
Where to get one
Every shop below serves a whiz wit, checked against its current menu or recent coverage. The board rates the whiz wit specifically, so a shop known for Cooper Sharp can sit lower here than it would on a general cheesesteak list. The map shows where each one is; tap a dot for the address.
We judged the beef first, then the roll, then how well the Whiz and onions are worked into the meat. A shop that is great at lunch and tired on a Saturday night gets rated on the Saturday. The shops are grouped below by how they make the sandwich.
The corner that started it
Pat's King of Steaks (C). The original, on East Passyunk since 1930 and open all but two days a year. The whiz wit here is the archetype: chopped rib-eye, fried onions, Whiz ladled on. The trouble is volume. Meat cooked this fast for a line this long rarely matches the neighborhood shops. Go once, late at night, and order it the way the sign says.
Geno's Steaks (D). Across the street since 1966, all neon and stainless steel, with Whiz listed first on the menu. Geno's slices its rib-eye and leaves it in sheets. On a slow afternoon that makes a decent sandwich. On the crowded nights the corner is built for, the meat comes out dry.
Chopped fine, Whiz through the pile
Dalessandro's Steaks (S). A Roxborough corner shop since 1960 and the best chopped whiz wit in the city. The meat is chopped fine and cooked together with the onions, so the Whiz has somewhere to go. American is the house cheese and Whiz is a dollar extra. It earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2025. The shop closes for a stretch every September, so check before you make the trip.
Jim's West (A). The original Jim's, opened in 1939 at 62nd and Noble in West Philadelphia and reopened in 2023 under Cortez Johnson. Finely chopped rib-eye on an Amoroso's roll, with Whiz (spelled "Wiz" on the menu) listed as the first cheese. The banana pudding has its own following.
Jim's South Street (B). The South Street landmark since 1976, rebuilt after a 2022 fire and reopened in 2024. Finely chopped rib-eye, Amoroso's rolls, a generous pour of Whiz, and a window open until 3 a.m. on weekends.
Spataro's (B). A Reading Terminal Market counter that chops its steak and offers American, Whiz or provolone, with or without onions. Uncle Gus' across the market makes the better sandwich. Spataro's line is shorter.
Skinny Joey's Cheesesteaks (B). Opened on South Broad in March 2025 by Joey Merlino. Reviewers describe the Whiz as mixed through the steak rather than sitting on top. A big, competent sandwich.
Sliced, not chopped
Steve's Prince of Steaks (S). The best whiz wit in Philadelphia. Steve's has been on Bustleton Avenue in the Northeast since 1980 and does not chop: the rib-eye goes on in whole thin slices and comes off tender. Whiz is included in the price, and the shop has always held that a whiz wit is the correct way to order. Cash only at the counter.
Joe's Steaks + Soda Shop (A). Joe Groh's Fishtown shop at Girard and Front, open since 2015 and the successor to a 1949 original on Torresdale Avenue. Sliced rib-eye with a proper sear, and Whiz is one of four cheeses. The staff may steer you toward Cooper Sharp. There are real milkshakes, and the gluten-free roll is the best in the city.
Barry's Steaks (A). Barry McGuinn cooked at Dalessandro's before opening his own place in Roxborough in 1989, and the family moved it to Ridge Avenue in 2024. Thin-sliced sirloin. The house leans toward sliced cheese, but Whiz is on the list.
Max's Steaks (B). Nicetown's two-foot cheesesteak, busy since 1994 and famous since it showed up in Creed in 2015. Long sirloin steaks with Whiz as the standard cheese. Longtime owner Chuck Weiner is selling to Rob LaScala, who has promised to keep it the same.
Sonny's Famous Steaks (B). Old City, a few blocks from the Liberty Bell, since 2000. Fresh-sliced Angus rib-eye on Amoroso's, cooked to order. There are three cheeses, Whiz, Cooper Sharp and provolone, and no American.
Seeded rolls and Cooper Sharp
Angelo's Pizzeria South Philly (A). Danny DiGiampietro bakes seeded rolls in the back of this Bella Vista pizzeria, and the roll made it the most talked-about cheesesteak of the decade. Cooper Sharp is the cheese it's known for and the one to order for its best sandwich. Whiz is available if you want to compare. Cash only, takeout only, and a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Uncle Gus' Steaks (A). The Reading Terminal Market stand from the families behind DiNic's, Pearl's and Angelo's, open since 2025, with rolls delivered each morning from Angelo's bakery. Cooper Sharp, provolone or Whiz, all at the same price.
Whiz, reworked
Woodrow's Sandwich Shop (A). On South Street, the menu item is called Woodrow's Whiz Wit: shaved rib-eye, a truffle whiz made in the shop every day, cherry pepper mayo and caramelized onions. It breaks most of the rules, and it's one of the best whiz wits in the city anyway.
Cleavers (B). A Rittenhouse build-your-own counter since 2016. The one to order is The Cleaver, a pound of rib-eye with Cooper American and Kraft Whiz together. A second location opened in Newtown Square in May 2026.
Neighborhood regulars
Chubby's Steaks (B). Across Henry Avenue from Dalessandro's since 1987, with a full bar. The menu names the brand, Kraft Cheez Whiz, and the kitchen pours it heavy, so ask for less. A good sandwich when the line across the street wraps the corner.
Tony & Nick's Steaks (B). The original Tony Luke's on Oregon Avenue, opened in 1992, split from the franchise in 2015 and renamed in 2022. Whiz, American or mild provolone. The roast pork is still the bigger draw. The shop was listed for sale in August 2026.
Ishkabibble's (B). On South Street since 1979. American, provolone or Whiz, all at the same price. Get the Gremlin, half lemonade and half grape juice, to go with it.
Campo's (B). On Market Street, from a family that has been in the sandwich business since 1947. Rib-eye with provolone or Whiz, a stand at Citizens Bank Park, and a spicy steak called The Heater.
Whiz wit questions
Where is the best whiz wit in Philadelphia?
Steve's Prince of Steaks in the Northeast, then Dalessandro's in Roxborough. Pat's made the first one and is worth eating once.
Pat's or Geno's?
Pat's. Chopped meat holds up better than sliced at that volume, and the 2026 roll change made it a better sandwich.
Is Whiz the real cheese?
It's the most famous choice, not the only traditional one. American and provolone are on nearly every menu in the city, and Cooper Sharp is the newer favorite. At Pat's, Geno's and Steve's, Whiz is the order.
Does Whiz cost extra?
Usually not. Dalessandro's adds a dollar. Steve's includes Whiz and charges extra for provolone.
More from this family
Other The Cheesesteak sandwiches in USA: