Primanti Brothers Part 2

We slide into the seats behind the counter and we can see right away that this is the place to be. There are three older women running the grill and everything behind the counter. Two of them have on Primanti Brothers t-shirts that say in bold letters, "Bite Me."

The lady on the left is brandishing a bread knife slicing up bread for the sandwiches. A 50ish man and a 20something girl are waiting tables. Both of them come up to the grill and inform the cooks that certain customers want this and that and they're not happy about their order. The lady with the knife starts waving the knife around. She says, "Tell them to come and talk to me, I'm not afraid of them." She rants on for 30 seconds or so and the conclusion is, "This is what you get, like it or get out." The servers go deliver the message. Nobody leaves. More people just keep coming in the front door.

The sign says that all sandwiches come with french fries and cole slaw. I don't like cole slaw. I'm wondering if they would make a substitution. We're sitting at a stainless steel counter which should imply cleanliness but the counter needs to be wiped off. It's pretty obvious that as busy as the "bite me" ladies are it probably won't happen.

The lady with the knife turns around and smiles at us holding her knife. She asks us what we want. We all say a steak and cheese sandwich. No one asks for substitutions. The "bite me" lady with the knife smiles and says, "That was easy." I can see that she might spare our lives if we're careful.

Here's how the sandwich is made. The meat and melted cheese comes off the grill and is placed on the bottom piece of bread. A fistful of frenchfries is mashed on top of the meat and cheese. One of the "bite me" ladies places a sliced tomato in the palm of her hand. She then grabs a fistful of coleslaw with that same hand and mashes coleslaw and tomato on top of the french fries. The top piece of bread is put in place and the whole thing is wrapped loosely and placed before you. The sandwich is about 8 inches tall.

I don't like cole slaw but it tastes good right on the sandwich with the frenchfries and everything else. In Pittsburg, cole slaw is made without mayo. If we were to go back we would get the double egg and pastrami sandwich because that's what the regulars say is the Pittsburg favorite.

Stop by anytime. I mean anytime. Primanti Brothers in the strip district is open 24 hours but it's cash only. I can't imagine what the "bite me" ladies would do if you tried to pay with plastic.