Cheesesteak House in Oak Cliff Is an Institution, Here's What to Order

On a bright Sunday afternoon, cars were whipping in and out of the small parking lot in front of Cheesesteak House along Davis Avenue. Inside, the line moved fast as the grill sizzled with meat, and cooks prepped and packaged long, slender cheesesteaks.

The Padilla family has been running this restaurant for more than 10 years, and it's turned into a pillar of the local sandwich community. The door is almost always swinging open, letting the sunlight in; there are plenty of pick-up orders. Others dine in, while some sit out front and eat in their cars, carefully leaning over spread-out wrappers. However you do it, make yourself comfortable. 
Owner and founder Joel Padilla tried several restaurants before landing on cheesesteaks, including a Mexican spot and a pizza place, both of which didn't work out. He and his wife threw in the kitchen towel and worked regular 9-to-5 jobs for a while before giving the restaurant business one more shot in an effort to be their own bosses. Joel, who is from Mexico and fell in love with cheesesteaks the first time he tried one in the U.S., opened Cheesesteak House in this small strip mall in 2014. More than a decade later, it's safe to say he found a flavor that suits him.

There are now five locations (Pleasant Grove, Garland, Rowlett, and Farmers Branch), most of which are franchise agreements. Joel's son, Erick, helps run the business and says branching out has allowed them to grow the brand while also keeping a close eye on consistency: All franchisees train at the original location, and the Padillas regularly visit the other restaurants for quality control.

Erick says, however, that even though some of those newer spaces are larger, the Oak Cliff restaurants turn out more cheesesteaks than any other. In addition to the never-ending stream of customers, they've also made it a point to support the sports teams at nearby Adamson High School; getting them while they're young is a brilliant touch of brand strategy. Why just make a customer for today when you can create a devotee for life?

What to Order

Each sandwich is based on a Philadelphia-baked Amorosa roll. Joel says he tried to use local bread, but something about the Amorosa brand held the sandwiches together better.

In terms of options here, a newcomer should start with a basic sirloin sandwich, maybe with onions or peppers added, and absolutely get that runny-ish basic block of melted cheese. In fact, get it on the sandwich and also get an extra side in a small plastic cup for dipping.

The menu has options besides cheesesteaks: burgers, chicken wings, loaded fries, and cold sandwiches. Protein options for the cheesesteak include the aforementioned sirloin, chicken, shrimp and fajita meat, with onions or other peppers.

The peppered cheesesteak with cheese is our favorite. There's also a poblano and a barbecue cheesesteak.
Many argue the housemade sauces and cheese make this spot sing, and I concur. In addition to the queso, the Padillas make all sauces in-house. Erick says the spicy mayo is the most popular, but we like Joel's Special Sauce a combination of ketchup with banana pepper juice, mustard and barbecue sauce. It's thinner than ketchup with a slight piquant kick. If you're getting your order to-go, get one of each sauce to try them all. Otherwise, each table has all the sauces set out on the table. They often get asked to sell sauces by the jar, but Erick says they simply don't have time to focus on the production required for that.

Cheesesteaks come in two sizes: a regular is about $9, but it's just silly not to order large for about $3 more.

Cheesesteak House, 2015 W. Davis St. Sunday - Thursday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Friday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.