- Now, is that an Irish-Italian explosion
in your mouth or no? (laughs)
- Mmm...
So let me break it down for you.
The past 10 years I've been traveling the world,
tour managing artists, and showing them the best spots.
I know that anywhere you go you need that solid connect.
We've taken submissions from people claiming to have
the keys to their city, now we're traveling the country
to take them up on their word.
I'm Justin Lizama and this is "Gatekeepers."
So we've just arrived here in Philadelphia.
It's known for cheesesteaks, the "Rocky" steps,
the Liberty Bell, the signing of
the Declaration of Independence.
But today, we're going to do none of that.
We're going to meet a radio personality
named Natalie Egenolf.
Hopefully she can show me what's up on a local's level.
- My name's Natalie Egenolf,
born and raised in Philadelphia.
This is my city, this is where I was born,
this is where I was raised.
I'm the person that everybody comes to
when they need advice on something in Philly
or how to deal with Philadelphians.
Sometimes their passion, I think, gets lost in translation.
We're just a bunch of lovers here, I swear.
After a day or two, Justin will fit in just fine,
and by the end he'll be sold, I'm sure of that.
- Hey, what's up?
- Hi!
- Justin, good to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
Welcome to the Wells Fargo Center.
- Excited to be here.
- So this is the heart of
the Philadelphia's sport community.
The Sixers play here, the Flyers play here.
Phillies play next door, Eagles play across
the street at the Link.
This is where the entire city comes to
cheer on their teams.
- Amazing.
I think the last time I was here was
for a Katy Perry concert.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- Why?
- I've visited Philly a lot.
It's a little more on the aggressive side.
- I wouldn't call it aggression, I'd call it passion.
- When was the last time the Flyers were good?
All I'm thinking is
cheesesteak, cheesesteak, cheesesteak.
- No, no, no, no, no.
Thank you.
- Aw, man.
- I'll take you around the city
and show you where my favorite spots are.
- I'm looking forward to it.
- I got their knuckles.
- I know there's so much debate any time
you hear Philadelphia and any time that
you hear cheesesteaks, but I'm going to take you
to my favorite cheesesteak spot.
Steve's Prince of Steaks.
Now, do you know how to order a cheesesteak?
- Today let's pretend like I've
never had cheesesteak before.
- OK.
- See if you can impress me.
- So, the reason I love Steve's is that it's just
a classic cheesesteak and they do it the best.
I'm a Whiz with girl.
So I get Whiz with onions.
- Okay.
- Whiz is kind of indigenous to Philadelphia.
- Right.
- It's that thick, yellow, delicious cheese.
- How're you doing?
- Hi, guys. Good, how are you?
- Good.
- Steve!
- Steve himself. How are you?
- That's Steve, the man himself.
- Guys, so you came to the right place
for the true Philadelphia cheesesteak experience.
- That's what I told him!
- What can we do for you today?
- All right, I'm going to do Whiz with, then a cherry soda.
- OK, no problem.
- Which is the best.
- OK, I'll do the American.
I think I saw some like hot and spicy
French fries somewhere.
- We have that.
- I think that's a great start.
- Yeah.
- I'm looking forward to the
simplicities of this cheesesteak.
- Yes!
Then we can get all of our toppings.
They're so good.
- I could go in on those hot peppers.
- Yeah.
- Hope you guys like hot peppers
because I love hot peppers.
- So excited, yay!
All right, you ready to dive in?
- Looks like a pretty good spread.
Cheers!
- Cheers!
- That's a tasty cheesesteak.
- Now, the reason I like Steve's so much,
I prefer the slabs of meat rather than the chopped.
I think it holds the cheese better actually.
Do you want to try it with the Whiz?
- Thanks.
The Whiz might even be better.
The cheese can double as mustache wax.
Steve, so, did he have a cult following with people
or was it more of a local thing?
- It was the local thing and then it
kind of became a cult following.
So we're all loyal subjects of Steve's Prince of Steaks.
- Right.
- Yes.
- So then who's the king?
- Pat is the King of Steaks.
- OK.
- Pay Olivieri is the man who
invented the cheesesteak in 1937, so he is the king.
And when I opened about 40 years ago I thought,
well, if he's the king, I'll be the prince.
And after 40 years, everywhere
I go everybody knows I'm the Prince of Steaks.
- That's a nice angle right there.
- Yep.
- Amazing, thank you so much.
- And I'll see you soon, Steve. - Oh, for sure!
- Yes! - Absolutely, in the neighborhood!
- Yep! - Thank you!
- He's just super passionate about his steaks.
Philly can be mistaken as an aggressive city,
but it's also more so a passionate spot.
- Yeah, and loyal.
- Loyal.
- So everybody who has their cheesesteak,
they have their cheesesteak spot.
- Right.
- You've had your cheesesteak,
now let's go do some other fun stuff.
- Looking forward to seeing what
Philly has to offer beyond these.
- Are you sweating?
- Yeah, I got a hot one.
- (laughs)
- That one was really, really good.
- I know you said you didn't want to eat a cheesesteak
and you didn't want to do anything cliche,
but you can't come to Philly without seeing
the first first of our dear country.
Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell,
the Constitution Center,
the nation's first pizza museum.
- The nation's first pizza museum?
- We're known for a lot of firsts here in Philly.
- Hey, this is Justin.
He's from New York.
- Nice to meet you, man. Eric.
- Eric, good to meet you.
- So I know New Yorkers are a little finicky
about their pizza, but I told him if there's one place
that he has to come in Philly, it's here.
- Yeah.
- And what's up with pizza and Philly?
I mean, it's more of a cheesesteak town, no?
- I guess you could say that.
I feel like we're kind of a different kind of
branch of pizza here.
We're not just a mom and pop store.
We really try to push the limits on like
what can go on a pizza and what can be considered a pizza.
If you're thinking something a little more off the wall,
I'd recommend the Kira Tierston.
It's Brussels sprouts and bacon, then we put
brown sugar over it once it comes out.
- Wow.
- I love Brussels sprouts.
- All right, we'll do it all.
- I think you're in for a real treat here.
- All right, guys, here you go!
- This is the Patrick Maxwell, it's going to be
brisket, mozzarella, provolone, cherry peppers,
and caramelized onions.
- Wow!
- I hope you enjoy it, it's our
ode to the Philadelphia cheesesteak.
- Looks pretty good.
- This looks great.
- Wow.
- This is the Queenie, it's portabella and shiitake
mushrooms, goat cheese, fontina,
mozzarella, garlic, and rosemary.
- The Queenie.
- Here's the Forbes, it's the most popular pizza here.
It's our pepperoni, smoked pepperoni from Vermont,
fontina, mozzarella, and fresh basil.
- The name Fishtown comes from the fact
that all of the fish used to be imported
on Delaware Ave. it was always a working class neighborhood.
- Traditional hipsters, artists come into an area,
see the opportunity and then
it just kind of grows from there.
- That's exactly what happened here.
People started realizing how awesome the neighborhoods were.
So now we have people from all over the country
who are moving to Philly just to live in Fishtown.
- And how does the rest of Philly feel about Fishtown?
- There are people who hate it, but it's such
a good thing for the city that it's been,
as somebody who was born and raised in this area,
in the Fishtown-Kensington area, it's been so cool to see.
- This is going to be the Kira Tierston:
Brussels sprouts, bacon, red onions, mozzarella.
- My favorite slice would be the Kira Tierston,
the bacon, Brussels sprouts, just because
A) I love bacon and Brussels sprouts,
B) I've never had it on a pizza,
something very unique and special about this spot for sure.
Philly can do pizza, but not at that New York level.
- So this is the newest thing to do in Philly,
it's ax throwing.
- Seems like it suits Philly pretty well.
- (laughs)
- Hi guys!
- Hi!
- We just need you to sign waivers,
we'll check your IDs and get you all checked in,
get you throwing.
- Is this a Philly thing?
- So, Philly was the first in the US.
- OK.
- We actually have several locations across
the US right now.
Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Durham;
and then we have Boston and Cincinnati coming soon.
- How does one come to want to throw axes?
- I mean, everyone wants to throw axes, I think,
really deep down, they just don't know it yet.
- (laughs)
- True.
- A little rocking motion, right?
You just lean in forward and backwards.
You're neutral, weight on both feet,
all your weight forward, as you come back you come
directly over your head, as far back as you can,
as you come forward you're going to let go
right in front of your eyes, it's going to fly
right into that bullseye, you follow down through
back behind you.
- Oh!
- This is the most important part,
I can't recommend it enough, all right?
- Hey!
- There it is, you're getting it.
- All right, so, we're going to play a match now, right?
You've got to win out of the three total rounds, all right?
So this is the way the points work,
blue to red is one point,
red to black is three points,
black and in is five points, all right?
The two up here are called the clutch,
the clutch is worth seven.
- Wow!
- You can only go for the clutch
on the fifth throw of each round.
You've got to call it if you want it, all right?
It's like your eight ball in pool.
- Right.
- And that's the game.
- All right, team, let's go.
I believe in both of you,
let's see some good throws out there,
let's get some points on the board.
Let's do it!
- There is it, that's a point.
- That's three.
- Ax throwing in a downtown environment
in Philadelphia is pretty mental.
- I don't believe that this is his first time.
I feel like he's done this before,
and he's just hiding it.
I'm definitely the underdog here.
- Just like Philly.
- Yep!
- The chalk was a little obnoxious and unnecessary.
I don't know if he really needed all that chalk.
- Woo!
- OK, you're good at ax throwing, Justin.
- Clutch!
- Clutch.
- Ohhhh.
Natalie, one point to tie.
- One point to tie.
- Three to be our winner.
- That's it, Justin's our champion!
- Number one, I'd like to thank my family for supporting me
and letting me be out here.
I'd like to thank my dog for being a dog.
- Congratulations. - Good shot, Philly.
I'd like to thank my hands for being amazing.
- What did you think of Natalie's throwing?
- Natalie was exceptional.
Unexpected, just like Philadelphia.
- Justin's been skeptical of a lot of my choices.
Now I'm going to take him somewhere that is
probably going to blow his mind.
This is our next stop, now we're in my neck of the woods.
Lots of local people, born and raised in Philly
come and hang out here, but what's so unique about it?
The chef, Francesco, he's from Italy and he makes
the best pasta that you've ever had in your life.
- So an Irish bar that serves Italian food?
- Yes, exactly!
- OK.
- Don't, just don't question it.
- A little confusing, but let's check it out.
- We'll go with it.
- All right.
- I want him to have the authentic Philly experience,
again that nobody knows happens here.
- The chef's recommendations.
This one is fried burrata, so it's a burrata breaded
and then lightly fried.
And that's his invention.
And this is new gurney shrimp.
- Awesome.
- Where is the chef from?
- Polia.
- All right, fantastic.
- Awesome, wow.
- This looks beautiful.
- Right, this is as authentic as it gets.
- Still, in an Irish bar.
- Yep.
- I'm freaking out.
- Are you OK?
You will be.
- I'll be OK.
- You will be.
- Whoa!
- There you go.
- This looks pretty luxurious.
Again, Philly is pretty aggressive.
I'm going to say fried burrata
is pretty next-level aggressive.
Wow.
- Aggressive but delicious?
- Aggressive but very delicious.
- So as a local how do you find a place like this?
Do you know about it from your family,
did you find it out your own?
- So, this place just because it's been
in Fishtown forever, it's been locally owned.
And then once Francesco took over the kitchen,
it went from just being one of the corner bars
to being one of the better places
to eat in the neighborhood.
And then you kind of just get sucked in
because why would you go anywhere else when you have
food this good right in your neighborhood?
- Right. - Yeah.
- Vibes. - Yeah.
- If I lived in Philly, I'd probably be here
about once a week.
- I told you, I've got you covered.
So this is the Murph's pasta.
This is the, again, another one of Francesco's inventions.
It's infused with Irish beer and bacon.
- Still freaking me out.
- In a pasta dish.
I know, one step at a time here.
And then here's the manicotti, there we go.
- Can't say I'm a huge fan of manicotti,
but I'm going to try this and see if it changes my mind.
- It's a seafood smorgasbord in a pasta.
- I can get behind this.
- You have to try this.
- Wow.
- Now, is that an Irish-Italian explosion
in your mouth or no? (laughs)
- I don't know, but it's pretty good.
- You think of Italian food in Philly you think
of south Philly, but right here in Fishtown in an Irish pub.
- This Murph's Bar is a very comfortable place to be.
- It is.
- But at the same time, super unique, very interesting.
- So now I have a rack of lamb and tagliolini
with black truffles, fresh black truffles.
- That's my personal favorite.
- So, Lisa, how did you end up here?
- Well, I'm the chef's wife.
- Oh, wow.
- Yeah, so I brought him with me back home.
- So does he cook like this at home?
- He used to, but now he cooks here all the time.
- Aw, man.
- So, yeah, he's a busy man.
- So the Philadelphia passion even reflects in the food.
- I'd love to spend a day back there with him
and see how he does this all by himself.
- Mm-hmm.
- Through all of the years of coming to visit here
and seeing how Philly has developed over that time period
then coming across the bar like this that you've shown me
that has amazing Italian cuisine and you can still get
a shot of Jameson is pretty sweet.
Philly has definitely jumped up
a bunch of notches up my chart.
- It's a special place and soon
the rest of the world will know.
- Finding a place like this, like Murph's Bar,
that's very unassuming, going in,
Irish pub, but having a top-shelf, straight from Italy
dinner is still freaking me out.
The profiteroles are one of my favorite all-time desserts,
so I wanted to see what an Irish pub Italian restaurant
could do with a French dessert.
- And I died.
- Still trying to wrap my head around it,
trying to understand the whole thing.
Whoa.
- I'm pretty stuffed.
I haven't eaten that much pasta or lamb
or dessert in a really long time,
but there's always room for alcohol.
- So this is our last spot,
this is Bob and Barbara's.
They're the home of the Citywide.
This is the OG special place.
- This is Justin.
- Hey Justin.
- Justin's from New York, so I had to bring him
to Bob and Barbara's because I had to show him the special.
- The special, which is also called the Citywide special,
is a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and a shot of Jim Beam
and it was started by Rick D.
Rick used to book the music here,
one night he just said to me, "Hey, do you sell Jim Beam?"
I said, "No," he said, "Well get a bottle of Jim Beam
and get a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon
and sell like the little shot of Jim Beam
with the can of Pabst and charge $3
and just say that's the special."
And the first night we sold out of them,
the second night we sold out of them again.
And then we just started buying more and more.
And now we sell herds of specials.
- Amazing.
- Yes.
- Amazing.
- OK, enjoy!
- All right, thank you!
So thank you, Justin, for coming into my city.
I hope I changed your mind about what people
think about Philadelphia.
- I believe in Philadelphia.
- Do you?
- I believe in it.
- Mission accomplished!
- I believe in Philadelphia.
Can I be, like, an adopted Philadelphian?
- Yes, you're officially a Jawn.
- A Jawn? A hoagie mouth Jawn?
- A hoagie mouth Jawn.
- I don't think I've actually run the steps before.
I think I've been here enough
but I don't think I've actually run them.
Visiting Philly this time, I realized that
the approach of how to visit the city is
as important as what it has to offer.
Giving it a chance and being open minded.
You know, once you wrap your head around it
and have that mindset to coming here, it gives you
the ability to enjoy it to the fullest.
And the food's amazing, the people are cool,
they really love what they do, they love their town.
Oh man, I was saying I wasn't going to do that,
but it's Philly and if you come here
you kind of have to do that.
See!