Philippe The Original
| Address: | 1001 Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, USA |
| Phone: | +1 213-628-3781 |
| Site: | philippes.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 6AM–10PM 6AM–10PM 6AM–10PM 6AM–10PM 6AM–10PM 6AM–10PM 6AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
DA
David C. Tran
In the years that I have been working in South LA and sometimes driving by on my way home, Ive never stopped to give this place a try. To be honest...I never even noticed this place before. And I have to admit...Ive been missing out. A friend decided that this was the place he wanted to go to to celebrate the new job he got. I personally though it was kind of strange place to want to go to, but hey, thats what he was feeling. The first thing I notice coming here was the abundance of FREE parking. For those not familiar with LA, parking can often times be an issue, so for me this was a definite plus. The place operates more like a deli counter, you wait in line, order your items, pay and find a place to sit and munch away at your spread. The wait itself wasnt too bad, maybe 10 minutes from the back of the dinning area to the front counter. Now, being I was in a French Dip joint, I ordered a dip sandwich. My wife and I got the Beef and Turkey respectively. She got hers with Swiss, while I got mine plain. In addition to our sandwiches, we got the cherry pie, potato salad, custard, and a pickle. The dips were both good, but both the wifey and I preferred the beef over the turkey. The beef dip had much better taste and was much more moist, as the turkey one wasnt anything special, and the meat was slightly dry, especially considering that they reuse the wonderful juices from the meat. On a side note, you need to use the In-House made Spicy Mustard. Its doesnt have the hot spicy flavor like chilies, but more like the burn of wasabi or horseradish. This was something that I just absolutely loved, I covered my halves of my dips in it. The side orders didnt really have much to comment about, but the Cherry Pie was so good. The pie crust had the perfect consistency being perfectly flaky and yet still deliciously buttery. Im looking forward to giving the other pies/desserts a try as well as the other dips....next up pork and lamb! So for now remember to live well, but eat better!
JA
Jason Lum
Philippe you get 3.5 stars. There was quite a bit of hype about Philippe so I finally got sucked in. Despite the Travel Channel and Philippe great history, I didnt get the WOW I was hoping for. Respect for inventing the French Dip, but the original isnt always the best. Like the Apple One computer, it sucked and all the windows based PCs dominate still until present day. Im ashamed to say.. Yardhouse has a better French Dip. You got beat by a chain Philippe. Dont get my wrong Philippe is good shieet it just didnt meet up to the hype. I came only to try the Beef and Pork sandwiches. After tasting my dry "double dip" style, I wanted more. Its only about 6 or 7 bucks per sandwich, but lets be realistic if you are Man Vs Food like me.. You will order at least 3 or 4 sandwiches. Raising the average price to about $18 to $24 for a grown man. Not to mention CASH ONLY! Damn you... built in 1908 today is 2010 please take plastic. I think the best way to experience Philippe is to try it all. You have to order pie, Cole slaw, chili, apple pie, and other endless sides. Also, order a variety of drinks because there are no refills. I saw some Philippe veterans ordering beer, ice tea, and lemonade. I feel like such a rookie, but my quest was for the sandwich so maybe next time I will try the bomb looking side dishes. I recommend Philippe to anyone that was curious. Its a great local snack. I love traditional old fashion restaurants. Sometimes you need a break from Chain restaurants. A customer on TV said, "I drove a hour for this.." You lie! I drove an hour, but it doesnt make it better. BTW the spicy mustard is bomb, but dont try it if you dont like horseradish. Try to go on a Sunday. It wasnt crowded when I went and it was easy to find parking. Close FREE parking is a miracle in LA, but a standard everywhere else.
ES
Esther Kim
Philippe The Original has been around since 1908 and is famous for their "French Dipped Sandwich." Apparently the way the sandwich came to be was by accident, but it is no accident that this is their most popular item. It relocated to its current location in Chinatown back in 1951. I had taken the metro to this location so I cannot comment on the parking situation, but like most places in Chinatown metered street parking is probably your best bet. There are always lines here, but they move fast. Pick a line, order and pay at the counter, and then wait for your food. It was pretty crowded when I went so one of my friends went and found a table while we ordered for the group. The signature "French Dipped Sandwich" comes with a crusty French roll dipped in their own authentic "jus" created from their freshly roasted meat. For meat you can choose between roast beef, roast pork, leg of lamb, turkey, or ham. Cheese is extra and you can choose between Swiss, Cheddar, American, Monterey Jack, and Blue Cheese. The final choice you can make is whether it is "single-dip", "double-dip", or "wet". I cannot recall if I chose single-dip or double-dip, but I got their roast beef sandwich with Monterey Jack cheese. I was worried that the sandwiches here would be too overhyped for me, but I enjoyed it. It did not change my life, but it was pretty good at the time (then again, I had just run a 5K, so I was pretty hungry). I got a side of their Potato Salad and I really liked that. If you like potato salad, I would recommend getting it here. This place is a landmark in LA and I am glad I finally got to try them... over 100 years after they first opened!
SH
Shanon Yu
Old school diner best known for their french dipped sammies. As I walked into the restaurant I immediately felt like Ive been transported back into the 1950s. The whole place had an old school 50s vibe from the waitress uniforms to the old wooden telephone booths. Since Ive heard so much about this place I decided to drop by after a work meeting in Chinatown to see for myself what all the rave was about. Unfortunately, after all the hype I have to admit that Philippes did not meet my expectations. First off, I was quite upset that they did not accept credit card. They do have an ATM machine in the restaurant but the $2 transaction fee killed the mood. After getting my beef french dip sandwich, I noticed that they dont give you au jus on the side. I wasnt sure if this is extra but I love dipping my sammies in au jus and was quite disappointed. For the price of $7+tax, the sandwich just wasnt as filling as I had expected and if it wasnt for the spicy mustard sauce the sandwich would have tasted dry and bland. Perhaps if they knocked off a buck or two, I would then reconsider adding an additional star to their rating. Since I was still hungry I ordered a tapioca pudding ($2.67) for dessert and I still wasnt thoroughly impressed. Nothing really stood out to me. Since I heard from my coworker that the tuna melt is quite delicious here I guess Ill be trying that the next time around if I find myself dropping by again.
JE
Jeanene Best-Blakeslee
Wow, i dont know where to start... My girls and I were so excited to try this place after seeing it on Man vs. Food but unfortunately our experience was not even close to what we expected. First of all the sign says nothing about breakfast not being served after 10:30 am on the menu. We were about 4th in line and arrived at 10:35....two separate customers in front of us ordered breakfast and when it was our turn the lady at the counter said breakfast was over at 10:30. I explained that we got in line past 10:30 and other customers ordered breakfast and got it, so she said I will do it this time only. I didnt feel it was right for her to be acting like she was doing me a favor, when she was letting other customers order breakfast past the time they were serving it. Then, she comes back out and said we dont have enough bacon for both of your breakfasts so well give you sausage. After we received our order we noticed other people were getting bacon. Wasnt very impressed with the beef dip sandwich that I ordered, it wasnt bad but in my opinion didnt meet the rave reviews that others give. To top it off my daughter had egg shells in her fried eggs. Im glad others enjoy it but we will never go back....so disappointed
