Penn Station

Usually their food is solid for a QSR. That being said, quite a few things went wrong during my visit.
1) the toaster was down so my Philly cheese steak was barely warm (cheese and bread were cold)
2) they were out of Sweet-​tea «we ran out 30 minutes ago» was there response. Bare in mind that was at 7:52PM…they close at 10:00PM. How is that possible?!?
3) I tried their lemonade as a substitute and that was a mistake. It was basically water lightly flavored with lemon pledge. It wasn’t bitter or sweet, it just had no flavor.
I’ll come back in a few weeks to see if things are any different in the future

Normally I love Penn Station, but this trip totally changed my opinion. After watching an employee take my order and then proceed to make our sandwiches with his bare hands and no gloves, it was absolutely revolting. There’s a reason why this Penn Station is always completely empty.

I love Penn Station sandwiches, especially the philly. This location does leave something to be desired though. I’ve been coming here for years, and the service has never been all that friendly, but I’ve always got my order promptly, and correct. Which is really what matters, right? The parking situation does suck though. Getting out of there is way worse than getting in!

Besides some times being a pain to get into, there’s not a whole lot wrong with this place. I’ve been a big fan of Penn Station ever since I first discovered it back in high school. The sour dough bread and unhealthy amount of mayo they put on their Italian subs dripping with grease were everything I enjoyed while I was younger.
I don’t go there as much now that I’m older, but I still love the subs. Usually if I am here, it means I’ve indulged a bit too much the night before. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever ordered anything else besides the Italian sub there, because it’s just that tasty. Every once in awhile I’ll get the fries, and they’re decent, especially with the malt vinegar, but it’s the sub that shines. I also loved the homemade lemonade, but I haven’t had it in awhile.
This location in particular is never too crowded, and they get the subs out pretty quick. If you haven’t been to a Penn Station before, I highly recommend it; unless you’re trying to be healthy. In this case, you’d want to go somewhere the opposite of here.

Let me start by saying I enjoy penn stations sandwiches. I am just not a fan of this location. I walked into this location and was greeted by someone who acted like it was a chore for me to be there. Mind you I was the only customer at this time in the whole restaurant. He was extremely short with me. «Hi what do you want», «ugh», «go to the next register.» There was zero friendliness coming from him. On top of that when I got to the register that person was very unfriendly as well.
While I was waiting for my food, the workers were complaining about their jobs loud enough that I could hear them. One worker said to the other «yea man, you came in at the wrong time.» (meaning joined the company at the wrong time) As well complaining about the manager that worked earlier that day. Honestly I never expect much when it comes to being friendly but this was bad. It says something that this is my first negative review on Unilocal

I came in here today when I discovered that my first choice didn’t have dine-​in seating. I ordered an Italian with the works. It didn’t take long to make and it tasted pretty good, but as subs go, I’m pretty easy to please. Maybe one day I’ll have to give them more of a challenge.

my bar’s pretty low for a quick lunch sandwich, but my coworkers and i got some pretty bad sandwiches that took forever to make. it’s been a while since i came here so maybe they stepped up their game.

Cannot believe the health dept hasn’t closed this place down. I’ve only been here once, and it was so shocking I’ll never return. The floor looked like it hasn’t been cleaned in months. One employee behind the counter had on jeans SO DIRTY that they were BROWN on the thighs. He wiped his hands all over his jeans while he was making food. It was disgusting. Another employee talked on her cell phone the entire time while taking orders. Saw another employee answer the store phone with a gloved hand, then proceeded to make a sandwich without changing gloves. I actually walked out. Super gross.

Sub Par effort
I was absolutely starving before work so I ran in to Penn station to grab a sandwich. When I entered it did not look busy at all, but no one was at the order station to take my order. Once the person arrived I put the order in and waited. It seemed to take longer than I expected to be finished since I only ordered a 6″ sandwich. When I received it, it literally fit in my hand. I don’t have giant hands either, I can’t even palm a basketball. It reminded me of those snack wraps mc donalds and wendy’s sells, only 3 times the price. I had the chicken teriyaki and it was not anything like I expected. All I tasted was the cheese on it, and the bread was most of the sandwich. Don’t think I’ll be going here again.

This place is pretty packed during lunch. I got the philly cheese steak w/​everything and noticed a little pink in the meat. I ate it anyhow, but that may be a turnoff for some folks.
You HAVE to visit this place to see the face tattoo of the line. He has a star tattoo on his face. I thought the circus was in town!

Great subs, great service.

It’s been a few years since I’ve had Penn Station.
I usually get the small chicken salad sub. I bet it’s made and packaged elsewhere but it’s decent.
Fries are usually good and the lemonade can be addicting.

Great food, with decent service. The parking lot leaves a lot to be desired, as there are only 3 – 4 parking spots to use.

Let me star off by saying that this is a franchise and not a place pretending to give you an ‘authentic’ Philly. If that’s what your looking for then go for the Italian cause your not getting a Philly here. And if your from Philly why are you even coming here? That’s like expecting papa johns to have great Chicago pizza.
If your looking for a great change from the subways out there then this is a decent spot. Personally, I dig my subs toasted, and I’m from Columbus so I don’t pretend to know what the heck a Philly is supposed to taste like. I like mayo. And ranch. The fries are pretty good with some vinegar and the lemonade is nice. I get it to go and they are pretty quick. Stop in for lunch and if your disappointed, don’t worry, you’ll be hungry again soon.

Penn Station has some of the best fries, not to mention the lemonade for a franchise sub/​sandwich shop. The Philly has been knocked a bit, but I actually like mayo on mine. Try the Italian, better bet than the Philly. Parking can be an issue at this location, few spaces + parallel parking = annoying :)

Short Version: No. Just, no.
Long Version: I’m from Philadelphia, lived there 18 years, so I have a pretty idea of works and what doesn’t with cheese steaks. And mayo doesn’t. Ever. Onions, sure. Ketchup, even Tabasco, if you’re feelin’ crazy. But mayo? Mayo is gross warm, it turns clear and tastes like vaseline. And Cheese Steak has to be almost steaming hot to get the cheese down to the right viscosity* (Cheese Steak is both art and science, ’round by where I hail from).
The only redeeming thing about this place is their fresh Lemonade. That’s pretty good, but it would have to be laced with LSD to make their cheese steaks worth while. Go to Charley’s Steakery (which is called Charley’s Grilled Subs now) and ask for it no mayo (just incase) and with onions.
*Unrelated Aside: Actually, you could keep it at a lower temperature if you use Cheez Whiz instead of hard cheese, but no one outside of Philly ever believes me when I tell them that. But mayo gets gross above room temp, and would be weird no matter what.

Bleh. I usually get a Philly Cheesesteak or variation thereof whenever I go to a restaurant that might serve one.
Penn Station was dreadful for a number of reasons. One, their meat was way too peppery. All I could taste when I took bites was a strong black pepper flavor that overwhelmed the rest of the sandwich. Two, they don’t offer a sandwich + fries + drink combo. You have to buy fries separately which really pumps up the bill. Three, they don’t offer free refills of lemonade. That blows because their lemonade is actually really tasty.
There you go! Three great reasons not to eat at Penn Station!