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$25 for Two: Taste of Philly

Judy DeHaas, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 28, 2006 at midnight

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Taste of Philly

2432 S. Colorado Blvd.; also locations in Highlands Ranch, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 303-757-3944

• What: A small, colorful, strip-mall sandwich shop

• How cheap is it? Cheesesteaks run around $4.99 for a small (8-inch) and $6.99 for a large (12-inch). Hoagies (cold subs) and grinders (hot subs) average $4.55 for a small (8-inch) and $6.99 for a large (12-inch). You can get fancy and order specialty sandwiches, such as a Reuben or Chicken Cordon Bleu, for around $7. Add $1.50 and make it a meal with a fountain soda and chips. They also offer potato salad, pasta salad and cole slaw for $1.49 for a small and $2.39 for a large.

• Our deal: We tried the large Hoagie Philly Cheesesteak sandwich ($6.49) and a turkey wrap ($4.99) with an Original Boyten Birch Beer ($1.50) and water.

• So how's it taste? Cheese, steak and fresh rolls . . . What's not to like?

The Pennsylvania native in our duo thought the cheesesteak hoagie was great: The meat was juicy without being soggy, the cheese was perfectly melted, the onions delightfully grilled, with tomato, lettuce (roughage PA-style), and the Philly-baked Amoroso roll was crispy and fresh.

The smoked turkey wrap was pretty much just that - but it was fresh and filled with cream cheese, guacamole, lettuce and tomato in a spinach herb tortilla. They were stingy on the guacamole, but that's our only complaint. We saw the display case with the TastyKakes ($1.50), and although they are a Pennsylvania staple, we could not quite force ourselves to order one. The sandwiches filled us to the brim.

Counter service was snappy: It took five minutes to get our sandwiches delivered to our little green table, and it kept the tip low.

• How's the place? "No frills" would definitely describe this eatery. The proprietors tried to gussy it up with a huge poster from the film Rocky and Philadelphia paraphernalia on the walls. But the bottom line is that customers who want cheesesteaks and hoagies are probably not in the market for electronic trance music and an aromatherapy candle on every table.

Matter of fact, The Family Guy was blasting away on the large TV tucked up in one corner, which mixed nicely with the steady drone of rap music and metal spatulas hitting the grill coming from the kitchen.

• Who else eats there: The night we dined in, other customers took their orders to go. And I am sure there was one woman who ordered a hoagie who most likely did not make it out of the parking lot before the sandwich was devoured. She just had that look on her face.

• Deals we wish we had tried: Taste of Philly has just started offering daily specials; we want to come back and try Tuesday's just for grins: a Cheesesteak Salad ($6.99). It comes with cheesesteak on a bed of romaine lettuce with grilled onions, mushrooms, peppers, melted American cheese, tomatoes, black olives and your choice of dressing . . . mmm.

• Final damage: It cost $18 for two to eat dinner, including tax and the $2 tip.

• More dining: Look for John Lehndorff's dining reviews and columns at all times at .

Judy DeHaas is a staff photographer for the Rocky Mountain News. Want to nominate a restaurant for $25 for Two? E-mail: