Restaurant Review: Tim's Philly Steaks, Norwalk, CT

Tim's Philly Steaks at 336 Westport Ave. in Norwalk

I'm a cheesesteak junkie.  I've blogged about it before, writing about my quest for the holy grail of cheesesteaks and how hope springs eternal, despite the number of times I've suffered through substandard fare.

12" Philly Steak with grilled onions and cheese whiz.
Note the free pickled peppers in the background.

A week ago, my local newspaper, The Hour, ran a complimentary article featuring Tim's Philly Steaks, which recently opened not quite a mile from my home.  On Friday, I dragged Kimberly to Tim's to see how they measured up to my  hopes.

Tim's is located at 336 Westport Avenue in Norwalk, in front of  the very dicey-looking Norwalk-Westport Motel and next to Masas Arapera and  Electrical Wholesalers.  When we arrived at the restaurant, there were only two other customers there, so Kimberly and I got our orders in quickly, with Kimberly ordering a 6" Philly Steak with provolone, onions and peppers and me opting for a more traditional 12" with onions and cheese whiz.   Then, we took a seat at the fast-food-style table next to the window to wait as our sandwiches were prepared.  As we waited for our cheesesteaks to be ready, the place began to fill up and Kimberly -- much to her amusement -- noticed that everyone else in the restaurant was male.  I guess Philly steaks do qualify as "guy food."

When the guy behind the counter called our order number, I got up to retrieve our sandwiches and then went back to the counter to get a couple pickled peppers (free!!)  from the jar.  By the time I got back to the table (Maybe 45 seconds.  A minute, tops.) Kimberly had already eaten 80% of her sandwich.  I unwrapped mine, peeling back the aluminum foil that had been glued down with cheese, and bit into the sandwich which, true to advertising, tasted like it may have come from the corner of Passyunk Ave. and 9th Street in Philadelphia.  Of course, that's not much of a surprise as Tim imports his bread and meat (shaved ribeye, rather than the pressed mystery meat that many places use to make cheesesteaks) from a supplier in Philly.

While I enjoyed my Philly steak, Kimberly reported that her sandwich was somewhat disappointing, with the cheese having been placed on the cold roll and the meat being placed on top of it, rather than having the cheese integrated into the meat on the griddle.  Also, the peppers were not the bell peppers she had expected, but were pickled sweet peppers which were added, cold, to the sandwich.  Since I had ordered the traditional version of the sandwich, I didn't have any such problems; the onions were appropriately grilled and the cheese whiz was integrated well with the beef.

After lunch, as we were getting into the car to drive home, a red Jeep, jacked up and sporting oversized tires, pulled in next to us.  The driver was a solid-looking woman with a red bandanna on her head and wearing work clothes and boots.  Like Rosie the Riveter, she looked like the kind of woman who was comfortable doing work traditionally done by men.  She also wasn't afraid to stop by Tim's Philly Steaks and have "guy food" for lunch.  Good for her!