Danny’s Steaks is a newly opened one-of-a-kind restaurant in Syracuse focused on bringing a Philadelphia-style cheesesteak to New York. With a number of different items on the menu, each with a unique twist, there surely is something for everyone.
The restaurant was crowded, but this is to be expected for a newly opened restaurant. For my order, I was told there would be a 30-minute wait. However, this isn’t the issue. There were enough stores around Danny’s Steaks to keep me entertained while my order was being made. But 30 minutes turned into 45. And 45 turned to an hour. It ended up being an hour and fifteen minutes until my order was complete.
In total, I got three sandwiches: the Whiz Wit (the classic: shaved ribeye, grilled onions, and their housemade cheese sauce), the Chicken Whiz Wit (the same ingredients as the Whiz Wit except the ribeye was replaced with grilled chicken), the Pizza Steak (a twist on the classic cheesesteak featuring shaved ribeye, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and pepperoni), and Danny’s Whiz Fries (curly fries topped with their housemade cheese sauce).
Starting on a high, the Pizza Steak was amazing. The tender ribeye perfectly complemented the sweet yet tangy flavor of the tomato sauce—a combination I was initially wary of. The bread stayed firm throughout the meal which led to an easier time eating the sandwich. The only critique I have of this sandwich is that the mozzarella cheese gets completely lost under the flavors of the sauce, ribeye, and pepperoni.
Moving onto the classic Philly cheesesteak, the Whiz Wit. It was extremely mediocre; it is exactly what you’d expect it to be when you order it. Most of the flavor from this sandwich was derived from the onions, while the cheese sauce was lackluster. While it certainly wasn’t bad, the Whiz Wit was also nothing special.
Last up for the sandwiches is the Chicken Whiz Wit. However, the last is the least in this case. This sandwich was disappointing. The chicken lacked a lot of flavor, and so did the cheese sauce. Nearly the only flavor in this sandwich was the onions which is sad due to the potential this sandwich had.
Finally, the cheese fries. I’m not sure what happened in the hour wait for my food, but the fries were not good. They were limp, some were undercooked, and most were lukewarm at best. In addition to this, I’d argue what I received were not cheese fries, rather fries with a side of cheese. If they were just left in the fryer for a few more minutes to get crispy with the cheese sauce draped over them, no question, these would be a 10/10. However, the state in which I received them was just sad. Like the Chicken Whiz Wit, they had so much potential to be good, but they weren’t cooked enough and presumably were left out for too long before being added to my order.
Overall, Danny’s Steaks gets three out of five stars. As they establish themselves and perfect their menu items, I see this becoming a Syracuse staple. But for now, skip on the fries and make sure to order by the phone around an hour before you want to eat. You can find their entire menu and more on their Facebook page.
