Pjs Steaks

PJ's Steaks

2/173 Boundary St, West End

Value: Good

Quality: Good

Atmosphere: Adequate

Uniqueness: Recommended

I don’t tend to go to West End much at the moment, so I noticed PJ's only the other day. I was initially surprised to see a cheesesteak place in Brisbane, but on reflection I was surprised I hadn’t seen one sooner. Brisbane has seen a boom of American diner-style venues in the last couple of years, with Blue Smoke then Carolina Kitchen and now PJ's. Brisbane has got Yankee fever, and while this is definitely not a bad thing (I love American comfort food as much as the next man if not more so), its certainly an interesting phenomenon. Despite the New York Giants banner hanging in the window, PJ's steak house offers one of the more (in)famous of American regional comfort food specialties, the legendary Philadelphia cheesesteak. This, and variations on the same base, are all they offer.

PJ's appears to be run by three or four Americans, and they’re pretty sociable and easygoing, at least as far as I can tell. When it comes to atmosphere, PJ's is nothing special; it's basically a grill inside a hole in the wall. This adds some charm considering what they sell, but it’s mostly utilitarian in the same sense of all casual food joints. The staff make PJ's a pleasant place to be with a positive attitude and a promptness not often seen in casual fast food chains. The fact that they sell beer may help with that, including some American beers that aren’t merely piss-coloured water. Brooklyn Lager is particularly good.

A cheesesteak is almost exactly what it sounds like. It's shredded steak covered in melted cheese (unfortunately not Cheez Whiz) in a long roll. Add some condiments generally, mustard and ketchup( I prefer the term tomato sauce or t-sauce but context allows some  Americanisms) and voilà  you’ve got yourself a monster (in a good way) of a lunch. It's very tasty, but how can melted cheese and steak not be tasty? It must be said that, while delicious, the food here tends to be quite greasy as comfort food tends to be. Regardless of any criticism, PJ's serves a great sandwich that epitomises all that is good about American food, and I recommend you get one soon.

Pj’s Steaks is open 11am-10pm

The Original Cheesesteaks we ordered cost $9.90 and they go up to about $15 Beers start about $6 and go up to $9

They don’t have a website currently however they do have a facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/PJs-Steaks