Anthony Bourdain Found The Best Cheesesteak In America, And It Isn't In Philadelphia

Philadelphia: the City of Brotherly Love. The metropolis that's home to the Liberty Bell, the Declaration of Independence, and Rocky Balboa is also famous for cheesesteak. This delectable combination of grilled beef, onions, and gooey cheese served up in a toasted hoagie roll is so wired into the DNA of the town that the dish is usually referred to as "Philly cheesesteak." It's such a deep part of Philadelphia's civic identity that most people just assume the sandwich was birthed and perfected within the city limits, and who could blame them?

However, it's easy to forget that Philadelphia is situated on the very eastern edge of Pennsylvania, and that right across the Delaware River that flows past town is New Jersey — a state famous for the boardwalk beaches on its shore. The Jersey side — specifically the city of Camden — is home to the kind of cafes, bars, and eateries that you also find in Philadelphia. This includes scores of joints serving up the legendary cheesesteak that Philly has tagged as its own. 

And guess what? The late Anthony Bourdain flirted with sacrilege when he declared that — when it comes to cheesesteak — Jersey just may offer the better product. That's right, no stranger to controversy, he dared to risk enraging a whole city whose pride rests in their famous beef sandwiches. Was Bourdain trolling, or did he really believe that the best cheesesteaks were actually cooked outside of Philadelphia?

Just over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River sits Donkey's Place. This famed establishment was opened by heavyweight boxer Leon Lucas in 1943, and was named for his notoriously hard punch. It's both a bar and a restaurant and is especially known for its cheesesteak that — during a visit for his show "Parts Unknown" –  made Bourdain declare, "the best cheesesteak in the area might well come from New Jersey." Astounded by how good it was, Bourdain mused that Donkey Place's sandwich should be "a national landmark" after taking just one bite.

What does New Jersey — specifically Donkey's Place — do differently than their cheesesteak brethren across the river? It starts with the bun. Instead of the baguette-like hoagie roll found in Philly, Donkey's Place serves up its cheesesteak on a super soft poppyseed kaiser roll. Think round instead of long. And rather than provolone, Donkey's uses white American cheese, for maximum meltage. All of this adds up to a sandwich that knocked Bourdain's socks off enough for him to risk the ire of the notoriously hot-blooded residents of America's sixth-largest metropolis.

Though there is some debate on its origins, the cheesesteak is said to date back to 1930, when two Italian-American hotdog vendors — brothers Pat and Harry Olivieri — decided to change things up by putting beef and onions in a bun rather than the usual franks. The sandwich caught on, and though cheese wouldn't be added until a decade down the line, a Philadelphia culinary institution was born, and today there are cheesesteak places all over the city.

This eventually spread across the river and beyond, and whether you favor traditional Philadelphia-style, or New Jersey's interpretation of cheesesteak is a matter of personal taste. That said, it may be best to play favorites depending on where you are eating the legendary sandwich: Philly is best when you're in Philly, Jersey is best when you're in Jersey. Sometimes a bit of diplomacy goes a long way.

Bourdain understood this. He knew that he'd be ruffling some feathers when he suggested New Jersey produced the superior sandwich, so he qualified his statement. When it came to Philadelphia being the "center of the cheesesteak universe," he offered these words of consolation: "They're better than that," he said. "They're bigger than that." While Philadelphia is known for its cheesesteaks, there is much more to discover there, which makes it a top-priority destination for foodies.