Mercatino Italiano – THE cheesesteak in Quakertown
I came to Mercatino Italiano (formerly known as Giacomo’s Italian Market) with just one item in mind and ended up getting a few (as well as a list of items I want to get next time in). On this day though, the focus was on their Cheesesteak (and perhaps a little love for a delicious dessert). I had heard from some viewers of my channels that this place had one comparable to the higher tier steaks in Philadelphia and I simply had to find out! I had the extreme pleasure of being joined by Matt, owner and operator of Hang Over’s Cafe Food Truck for this meal and a great conversation as well. If you haven’t checked them out yet, you really should. He serves a great product while sourcing a lot of local items and the truck travels around to a lot of events around the Valley and surrounding areas.
Steaks, Sweets, and The Italian Market
So…this was not a lie. I will preface it by saying the price tag on them is a bit steep ($17) but this was just as good as most of the big time players in the Philly area, and it’s better than a ton of old school Philly spots that people rave about constantly. There is a separation of cheesesteak lovers in the world with some really enjoying the old school style steaks that are chopped up dramatically, uses wiz as the standard, large onions, unseeded roll and the others loving a seeded roll with cooper sharp often times and a less rough chop on the ribeye. The Ribeye at Mercatino Italiano was not shredded to nothingness and it was also not huge slabs, just a nice rough chop. The onions were a bit larger in size than I prefer, but they melted in your mouth so this really wasn’t even a factor. The roll was brought in from NYC and stood up very well to the large amount of meat and cheese on this beauty. Lastly, they do in fact carry cooper sharp cheese which is what I prefer on a cheesesteak. They also have a “long hot aioli” that I got a side of to try with the cheesesteak and it was excellent. Nice little pop of heat but the flavor was truly delicious and the consistency was creamy and thick. Definitely a condiment I would like to try on many types of sandwiches.
The cheesesteak would have been enough for any normal human to be fully satisfied and in a steady food coma, but I am no normal human! After looking at the dessert display case multiple times while waiting for the cheesesteak to be made and after throwing away my trash, I simply had to try something I saw there because it’s so rare to see and it looked incredible.
They had a Pistachio Lobster Tail the size of half my arm screaming my name from inside the case. After a single bite I was so excited that I decided to make this purchase. The exterior was crunchy and flaky, exactly as it should be. The interior had a delicious cream filling that was lightly accented by the pistachio flavor. Some crushed pistachios and a cherry on top sealed the deal. This was delicious and I would eat one any day of the week.
Was the trip worth the hype?
Overall, a great experience from a spot I should have made a priority to visit way sooner. The cheesesteak definitely stood up to some heavy hitters from the Philadelphia area and I would really love to go back and try some more of their hot food offerings. The dessert case (as you can see in the video below) was truly reminiscent of a good NYC deli to me and made me feel back at home again. Next time I stop in I will be grabbing quite a few different things to try, but that pistachio lobster tail was a real winner.
Not much else to say about this one here. I’ve undone the button on my jeans and sat back in sheer fat boy delight. Mercatino Italiano in Quakertown, PA – Didn’t Suck!