Thursday, June 08, 2006
Cheeza Whiz, speaka da Englesh
It's all over the news that Geno's Steaks in Phiadelphia now posts a sign that says, "This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING 'SPEAK ENGLISH.'" I understand where the owner, Joseph Vento, is coming from on this, but he's still wrong. Why not a "No hablamos Español" sign? Let 
Joe put the problem, such as it is, on himself, rather than patronizingly coaching Spanish speaking customers to order cheesesteaks in English. The Italian immigrants who once owned that legendary South Philly neighborhood struggled to learn a new language, but how many of them didn't allow Italian customers to speak Italian? Even when you do speak English, Philly cheesesteak places know right away you're from out-of-town if you don't order the cheese (queso) & onions (cebollas) their way. In South Philly they believe dogmatically that Cheez Whiz makes it the most "authentic." That's what you'll get unless you specify. As for polite service, cheesesteak joints are no different than a lot of pizzerias, where there might be an unshaven, frowning guy behind the counter wearing a filthy apron who greets you with a brusque "Whaddayawant?" & acts like he hasn't got 15 seconds to waste while you scan the "menu." But what do I know from original Philly cheeseteaks? When I was into ingesting that quality & quantity of grease I went to Greasy Tony's in New Brunswick, & always played "Who Wrote the Book of Love?" by the Monotones on the juke.
Joe put the problem, such as it is, on himself, rather than patronizingly coaching Spanish speaking customers to order cheesesteaks in English. The Italian immigrants who once owned that legendary South Philly neighborhood struggled to learn a new language, but how many of them didn't allow Italian customers to speak Italian? Even when you do speak English, Philly cheesesteak places know right away you're from out-of-town if you don't order the cheese (queso) & onions (cebollas) their way. In South Philly they believe dogmatically that Cheez Whiz makes it the most "authentic." That's what you'll get unless you specify. As for polite service, cheesesteak joints are no different than a lot of pizzerias, where there might be an unshaven, frowning guy behind the counter wearing a filthy apron who greets you with a brusque "Whaddayawant?" & acts like he hasn't got 15 seconds to waste while you scan the "menu." But what do I know from original Philly cheeseteaks? When I was into ingesting that quality & quantity of grease I went to Greasy Tony's in New Brunswick, & always played "Who Wrote the Book of Love?" by the Monotones on the juke.Labels: culture
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
I'm not sure he was limiting himself to specifying no orders in Spanish. Maybe he wrote it in English because he couldn't do it in Hmong.
I'm with Rob S. on this one- I'm going to Pat's from now on.
Not that that's a sacrifice or anything, I always went to Pat's.
Not that that's a sacrifice or anything, I always went to Pat's.
If Joe wants to discourage foreign tourists on rock & roll pilgrimages, that's his choice. I don't consider South Philly to have nearly the cultural-historic importance that former residents claim for it.
Another aficionado of Greasy Tony's! I never knew that bit about the student protestors. A friend of mine always said that everybody behind the counter at Greasy Tony's looked like he was named Joe. One night in the wee hours, while we were standing in line, he decided to try the experiment. Sure enough, when he called out, "Hey Joe!" everybody looked up.
# posted by 
: 9:26 PM
: 9:26 PM
Personally I think it's hysterical when anyone from Philly or NY go on about etiquette. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
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