Pete's Steakhouse Tavern - Trenton, NJ

After reading a thread on Chowhound about the cheese steaks at Pete's, I felt compelled to give it a whirl after an early evening of plans changing. Walked in and grabbed the last seat at the elongated circle shaped bar, surrounded by 6 flat panel TVs. From my stool, a separate dining room was behind the wall in front of me, as well as table to both the left and right side of the bar. Service was prompt from the bartender, and I ordered some of PA's finest lager, a Yuengling. Asked for a menu, and immediately ordered a cheese steak with pepperoni and fried onions. In the meantime, I ran into local celebrity Gary Amico of Delorenzo's Tomato Pies on Hudson Street in Trenton. Always great to run into Gary, and chat with him a bit. He's always friendly, and just a great guy, with some amazing hands when it comes to making the best tomato pie in New Jersey! Couldn't have been much more than 7 minutes, and out came my cheese steak on a gorgeous piece of bread, with a side of fries, and a cup of cheese. The bread itself had a nice crust to it, but was nice and soft. Maybe they make these on site? I don't know, but they were tasty. The pepperoni was pepperoni, and added a nice element, without overpowering the steak and the cheese. As for the steak itself, this is not your traditional cheese steak. This was more of a thin steak patty, than your typical thinly sliced, chopped up cheese steak. It was almost more of a thin, but compressed ground steak of sorts, and kind of hard to explain. It also had some different spice elements to it, that definitely did not remind me of your typical cheese steak. Again, this is definitely different, and I don't know that the verdict is out on this steak. I would definitely try it again, and maybe I need to so I can get a better opinion of it. The fries left something to be desired. They were lukewarm at best, and the cheese also left much to be desired. There could have used a few more minutes in the fryer, and could have come right out and into the basket. I ate about 1/2 of them before I had enough. All in all, I have a neutral feeling about Pete's thus far, but would be willing to go back and give it another whirl. Let the Pete's saga continue in the future. Cheers! -F. Scott. Pete's Steakhouse Tavern 523 White Horse Ave Trenton, NJ 08610 Phone: (609) 585-8008