Liberty Cheesesteaks* (#265, 6/17/13) – 61
I’ve been meaning to check out this new cheesesteak shop on Freret Street and finally made it to Liberty Cheesesteaks for lunch – Philly Grown, Nola Home. I believe it is some recent Tulane grads from the Philadelphia area who have opened up – smartly realizing that there isn’t a good cheesesteak sub (hoagie) in this town. It’s located in the little building that used to house Dat Dog (Dat Dog is now in the big building across the street).
As far as the sandwich? I went for a Steak Hoagie (about $10), which is a cheesesteak served “dressed” New Orleans style. Except I replaced the oil with JJ’s Sauce, some sort of sriracha mayo. Well, I will say, it’s the best cheesesteak I’ve had in New Orleans. I think the best I had before was at Cafe Nino. Unfortunately, I’ve been spoiled forever by Bill Cahill’s Super Subs in New Hampshire, without question, the best sub around. This one was a bit too salty and the shaved steak wasn’t as lean as I would prefer – a common occurrence for me with philly cheesesteaks, sometimes, I believe it’s by design, just not ideally for my tastes. It was a good sized sandwich with plenty of meat – tough to finish it and I was starving. They also offer a variety of french fires on the side, but I didn’t sample those. So my food ranking for Liberty…I’ll go with 28 (out of 50), better than average.
The atmosphere here is a challenge. It’s a very small place with about three tables inside, and no air conditioning. And it’s summer in New Orleans. They also have a handful of tables outside on the sidewalk, which may work if dressed properly. I opted to take mine to go since I was in work clothes. A big boost to the atmosphere score was back-to-back Doors songs when I walked in – L.A. Woman and Love Her Madly. Good music followed as well. So out of 30 for atmosphere, I’m giving them a 20.
The service was good; guy at the register took my order and they had it bagged up and ready to go in about 10 minutes. So I’ll give them a 13 for service (out of 20).
Final score: 61.
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