Zandy's Steak Shop

Cash only! We visited from out of state & found Zandy’s via a reddit feed of best cheese steaks in PA; did not disappoint! The cheese steak made it into my top 3 best. Fried pierogies were great. Great local vibe, they’ve been around since 1940 after all! Staff were friendly & welcoming, would definitely recommend coming here for a local & historical experience.

I visited this place twice, and the taste was exactly as I remembered — juicy, soft, and tender. The bread is very soft, and the juicy meat and pickles go perfectly together. The two grandpas are always friendly, sweet, and humorous. After your meal, I recommend visiting the Allentown Art Museum nearby. It’s a small but fascinating museum with plenty to see, and admission is free.

It may not be the most lively restaurant visually, its kind employees and sandwiches make up for it. The Allentown cheese steak sandwich is one the best sandwich I’d ever had.

We were in town from NYC visiting a dying relative and really needed some extraordinary sustenance. This place absolutely exceeded our expectations. We loved the cheese steaks, onion rings, and chili. The staff was super welcoming to us and the inside is legendary. This is an essential stop for out-of-towners.

I have been driving past this place for a while and kept saying I gave to try it. It was worth the wait. It's a mom & pop place with a simple menu of Pennsylvania favorites. The steak sandwich was loaded with meat, topped with pickles, sauce and peppers, and well seasoned. Onion rings were crunchy and fries were crispy. Table and counter seating available. Friendly staff and classic decor, definitely a place to visit again. Business is cash only. The ATM on site charges a hefty fee for withdrawal.

Northeast philly transplant here and this is one of the best cheesesteaks I've had in the entire region and only few good true cheesesteak spots in the Lehigh Valley region. OG spot using a local roll and they got cherry peppers cash only. A must try

Best steak sandwich I've eaten in a really long time, maybe ever! The meat was tender and juicy and the roll was soft and yummy. Zandy's is a wonderful throwback from my high school days and well worth the visit! Enjoy!

Super tasty steak sandwhich. Crispy fresh fries. I would come here again! Next time I'd get the sauce on the side, since otherwise it does not travel well! I'd like to try some other menu items as well!

An excellent steak sandwich. Cooking done by the owner. I tried the steak sandwich classic with cheese and without cheese, and hot peppers. They do put a house made sauce on it (optional) - I liked it and customers I saw liked it - but if your a cheese steak purest you may want to taste it first. Roll was super fresh. Made to order. Restaurant is no frills. Clearly popular with the locals, young And old. Place has has not changed much since it opened in 1940. To go and sit in. I sat at the counter. Prices: Burgers start at $2:95, Steak sandwich's $7:10, Chicken steak sandwich $710. Haddock fish sandwich $4:70 Tuna hoagie $4.70 Made a fresh pot coffee for me

OG steak shop in Allentown hosting a simple menu full of dishes packed with flavor. Prices are very reasonable & service is great.

Greasy, uninteresting cheese steak. Why they are famous,I can't t figure. I must have missed something. Location, good for City. Interior like a 1940's diner.

Just...yum! My family and I were in town from Texas and were told we could get a delicious cheesesteak here. So, we ordered cheesesteaks. But let me just say what stole the show...the pierogis! They were so delicious that we ended up ordering a second order. I would come back here in a heartbeat!

As long as this steak shop isn't out of product, food is prepared in a fast and efficient manner. However, unseasoned steak sandwiches are nothing special, with meat gristle and blah sauce, as well as the buns are small and not as appetizing as they should be. Outdated and unclean restaurant interior looks bleak as if it's from circa 1940 or 1950, not in a good nostalgia like way. Owner's attitude and disposition is unfriendly, appearing to be mad at the world and that he couldn't care less if you patronize his business. Sad to say but this is a hard pass.

Enjoyed first Zandy's cheesesteak sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms, hot peppers, sauce on side, side of onion rings, diet Coke. Didn't see provolone cheese in sandwich. Onion in onion rings sometimes separates from breading, but otherwise all was good. Friend got same with fries, no mushrooms. She said fries not as good as usual. Third generation family owned business in same building for 82 years!

The fellas were awesome and the steak was excellent. Food came out immediately. One of the best steaks in the Valley.

Cheesesteaks are tremendous. Sauce on side? No problem. Perogies and fries were hot and delicious. Clean establishment and friendly service. Local jewel.

Absolutely love Zandy's, (literally) visit every time Im in the Allentown area. Cash only, ATM on-site. Sandwich runs you $8-$9. Their steaks with the works are the best! Theyve been around since 1940.

Tried zandys for the first time and was amazed.. The cheesesteak was great and so was the pierogies. The man behind the counter was very nice and talkative. Will definitely be going back. Just heads up they only take cash but have an ATM on site

Zandy's Allentown PA. Family owned since 1940. Do yourself a favor and go to Sandy's. The pictures on the walls are worth the trip. Mike Schmidt, Chuck Bednarik & Dom DeLuise to name a few. Oh, by the way, you also get a very good Cheesesteak for under $7. I would repeat that line but I used that line in yesterday's post. It's a small cheese steak but it is $7. It's on the Pennsylvania Dutch soft roll. This was the second stop on my day with @mikeyyyeatz in the Lehigh Valley. He got everything on his cheesesteak including the hot peppers. I got everything minus the hot peppers. This is a place you put on your Cheesesteak bucket list and one day when you're up bouncing around the Lehigh Valley you stop in and step back in time.

Back at our favorite Saturday lunch spot. Always great steak sandwiches, hotdogs, cheeseburgers and fries. Friendly people who never disappoint. Guaranteed we'll be back!

Back again after a few years! My last review was 2016. Actually ordered a steak sandwich, but I got one with cheese. Piled high with meat. Ask for some pickles, and ate them off the top & that made me happy, also. Almost two much meat for the bun, but they provided a plastic fork so I was all set to eat what fell out onto my plate. Hopefully, I won't wait a few years to visit again!

Zandy's is and always has been the best local 5-star cheesesteak and pierogi place! When in Allentown you don't want to miss this historic landmark - Zandy's is the cheesesteak hall of fame in Allentown! Their pierogi are also Amazing!!

I really, really love it here. I drive by it every morning but only stopped in for the first time a couple weeks ago. It rocked. Really great portion sizes stuffed into a kick-ass sandwich. Love that they give you the option of loading them with real hot peppers. You can ask for provolone as a substitute for American, which is a huge plus for me. Interior is very very basic but there's almost a charm to an old-school place like this. Sadly, they only take cash. Prices are incredibly reasonable ESPECIALLY for what you're getting. Looking forward to coming back in the future.

This is a local favorite for sure. A relative took me here for lunch and told me the restaurant has been around for 2 generations and now the son is running it. I ordered the cheese steak with everything on it and she ordered the chicken steak sandwich with a side of fries to share. The fries were crispy, how I like it. The steak sandwich was tender and the toppings were flavorful. I wolfed it down in a matter of minutes! I also love the pictures on the wall of how the are active in their community. You gotta come here where the locals eat. I heard that when people come back to the area, they make a stop here for nostalgia. Tip: it's messy to eat, so extra napkins.

Like many others during this pandemic, our family orders takeout from many of our favorite restaurants. This weekend we changed things up a bit by ordering from a restaurant we had never tried before. Zandy's did not disappoint. The cheesesteaks were delicious. Tender, savory beef accompanied by tangy cheese and flavorful onions for most of the household while I enjoyed the added zing of "everything" including pickles, peppers and hot sauce. And the reasonable price made us wish we had ordered twice as much. Enjoy!

Love the old school atmosphere and the steak is very tender and finely chopped. Ingredients were fresh. It falls short in that it is not a very large sandwich and the bread almost tastes like a supermarket hoagie roll.

Food is good. Price is affordable. Cheese steak sandwich was great but I liked eating the peppers as a side more than as a topping. I recommend it!

Delicious cheese steaks! Don't expect a Philly style cheese steak, an everything comes with onions, tomato sauce, hot peppers, and pickles. Doesn't matter it is tasty.

I've been going to Zandy's for cheesesteaks for as long as I can remember! This is a family owned hole in the wall with pink decor and tables but people do not come here for the ambience! Back in the day, Mr. Zandarski (aka Zandy's) allowed my kid to interview him about being an entrepreneur for a school project. If you haven't been here, give it a try but bring your dough because they accept cash only. This is my go to place for cheesesteaks, although I was a bit disappointed today. The meat was still delicious and the amount was twice as much as necessary, as usual, but the roll was sub-par. I talked to the server about it and she said the rolls are still the same brand, but they noticed a difference in the quality of late. The cheesesteak sauce is so delicious I always get extra on the side to slather on whatever else I get - fries, mozzarella sticks, etc. A great cheesesteak (except for the roll this time!). But I'll be back because, hey, it's Zandy's!

Visiting PA for work and my first time in the North East, I thought I should try and find a cheese-steak. Pulled up Yelp and started searching. What I found was that although I am about an hour from Philadelphia there is nowhere around Allentown that you can get a "Philly Cheese-steak." They do however have several places that will serve you their own versions, the key difference as I have found out is they put a red sauce on it and they do not use cheese whiz. I made the trip out here on a Wednesday night about 15 minutes from the airport. There was plenty of parking out front and the place wasn't too busy when I got there. The lady behind the counter was exceptionally nice throughout my visit. I ordered the Cheese-steak with everything on it and hot peppers. I also had a side of fries. The sandwich arrived a short while later, not really what I was expecting but I was ready to try it. After eating about half of the sandwich I figured out what it reminded me of. Sloppy Joe's, not exactly like it but a similar taste. It was not bad but not really what I was looking for in a Cheese-steak. The fries were fresh but nothing extraordinary. If you're looking for a "Philly style Cheese-steak" you're going to have to drive to a different city. CASH ONLY!!!!!

I just read a review of Zandy's from someone that said it was noisy. Zandy's is in a building...built in the, guessing 20 or 30's. Beautiful building and super well maintained. Reminds me of a theater, wide open ceiling, so the places' acoustic sound moves. Not romantic but cute. Great food! One of a kind place.

So I made it to famous Zandy's wow was not disappointed service was A-1 and food was great and then the bill came even better 60 bucks and we ate like it we was going to the chair So if your in Allentown make it a pit stop you will be happy!!

Sandy's makes a good steak sandwich and great pierogies. My chief complaint with the place is that its cash only. Charge me another 20 cents if you need to but don't make it inconvenient for me to eat here.

Zandy's is an Allentown institution. From the sign and awning outside to the decor inside Zandy's never changes and neither does the food. It's because of these attributes that Zandy's is one of the city's long time cheese steak havens. The cheese steaks are overloaded with meat with just the right amount of sauce and onions. The roll is delicious and so are the fries. This is 1950's Allentown at it's best. People that are regulars go because nothing changes meaning everything's just right. Enjoy!

So I tried out this place because it looked interesting as I drove by. This is a cheesesteak shop that offers some other sandwiches as well. My review is of their cheesesteak. I ordered a cheesesteak with peppers and onions, no sauce (places around here like to put this red sauce on their cheesesteaks). The steak was not bad, but the way it was constructed just made it frustrating to eat. First off, the sandwich is only on a 6 inch torpedo roll, but it contains the same amount of meat that you would expect in a 10-12 inch roll. Now that may not sound bad, but trying to eat this thing was just a mess. The peppers and onions were placed on top of the sandwich, so after the first bite, they all slid off onto my plater. The torpedo roll broke about halfway through eating the sandwich, and I was left to eat my cheesesteak with a fork :( Also, since the roll was stuffed so full of meat, it was only possible to put ketchup on the top of the sandwich which all ended up falling out. This is probably the only cheesesteak that I have ever had that I found difficult to eat, and that made me frustrated and detracted from the whole eating experience. The staff was very friendly, and the fries were hot and fresh. If you are looking for the best cheesesteak in the area, head up to the Home Depot on MacArthur- there is a tiny shop called Rascals built into the front of the Home Depot, and their cheesesteaks are great.

This place is a gem. Delicious food, the sandwiches are so good you can't put them down till you finish them. This place hasn't been remodeled and is perfect that way. From the decor on the walls to the tables and tiles everything is retro and feels great. I highly recommend giving Zandy's your business for a great lunch or dinner meal and experience!

Great steak shop that sometimes gets left out of the conversation. People always talk about Crossroads or Brass Rail for steaks in the Lehigh Valley, but this place is right up there with those guys too. Steaks are huge. You cannot pick them up and eat them. Use a knife and fork or you'll be wearing it. Fries and onion rings are good, hot and crispy. Made to order right there and they bring it all out to your table. You really should eat in at this place because juicy steaks get soggy when taken for a ride. And the building is old and fun to look at while waiting. All kinds of pictures on the walls of old Allentown and nostalgic stuff from the surrounding area. Go here!!! Big plus....directly across the street from Double Decker, a killer used record shop...But that's another review....

Zandy's is great. It's a bit of an enigma from the outside, and the inside is large and wide open. There is a small counter where you can sit and eat at, but the rest of the place is nothing but tables and chairs. You can order your food at the counter or sit at a table and have the person come from behind the counter to wait on you. The place is well lit with occasional pictures on the wall of how the neighborhood used to look decades ago. They offer steak sandwiches (w/ real steak sandwich sz & not marinara sz), chicken steak sandwiches, burgers, dogs, chili, fried chicken, fried fish sandwiches, fries, o-rings, pierogies, a few hoagies (I like their tuna), and even fried shrimp. You will never leave this place hungry, but you feel like you'll need to run a few laps to work off all of the greasy calories that are now stuffed into your belly. If you are vegan or a health nut, then you would be better off staying away from Zandy's. THEY ARE CASH ONLY!

With my new job nearby, I decided to check out this place. From the outside it looks like a landmark - it's huge and has a great old neon sign. I was drawn like a moth to a flame. The place is pretty basic with steak sandwiches and few fried items on the menu. Pizza parlor type of decor, and plenty of seating for large groups. They do steady business and its easy to see why - the steak sandwhiches are yummy! I wouldn't say outstanding, but definitely something worthwhile if you're in the neighborhood or need a quick bite to eat.

Me and my wife went into this place to try it out the staff seemed OK but the noise was terrible they were loud noises coming from the ceiling the whole time we were there sounded like the roof was coming down don't know what was going on to be honest was like that the whole time we were there the steaks aren't bad but they are pretty small for the price that you pay $7.70 Plus tax and there's hardly any meat in there the rolls were very soggy and chewy tastes like a Store bought roll the area is not so great either there's lots of unsavory characters around the area definitely watch your vehicle and I would go during the day I would not come back because of the noise and neighborhood and not getting a good value for your money

Local mom and pop shop. Very friendly atmosphere. Inside looks like a throw back to ol days! Fries were delicious. Cheesesteak was ok. Gotta love buy one get one free on wednesdays. Cash only!!

Zandy's is a classic cheesesteak restaurant in Allentown. I've been here several times and it's always been great.

The food was great!!! Cheese steak with everything pierogies amazing. Very casual dining definitely will come back again

I grew up in Allentown and remember this place when Hackman's was across the street. We are Brass Rail steak people, but were told time and time again to give Zandy's a try. So here's the scoop from a Phila.cheese steak connoisseur. The meat overflows the very soft roll. Don't try to pick these up to eat. The sauce is OK, and the pickles are sweet and the hot peppers mild. We always take some home (now across state lines) and asked for 6 to be packed to go. They mixed the ingredients and put meat, cheese and onions in styrofoam cups with pickles and hot peppers on top of only two. I am allergic to onions, so that killed mine. If you want to take steaks home, get them at the Brass Rail. All the ingredients are really separated. I would say Zandy's steaks are better than Yoco's. There is a large eat in area, and fair parking available. Service was friendly and price was reasonable. Pierogi's were excellent, right in line with Yoco's. But...we will be back at the Brass Rail when visiting Allentown.

You could get a better steak in town, but you cannot beat the location and the atmosphere. I am not a regular, but the place has its fans. Good service and clean.

What can I say that others haven't... the cheesesteaks were awesome, the steak was flavorful and moist. I was expecting the place to be packed, but I guess we missed the rush because we were the only ones there so the service was fast and friendly, the owners were very friendly and talkative. Only draw back was that it's cash only, but they do have an ATM in the store.

Great cheese steak and fries. old school place with class!!! Definitely worth going cash only tho.

Family owned business for 80years. the owners are in the office all day which is why the food is awesome! I would recommend trying a cheesesteak!

Quaint little steak shop. Had a cheese steak and fries. Food was tasty but barely noticeable amount of cheese on my steak. Steak was on the smallish side. I've seen other reviews saying how packed their sandwiches were, mine in comparison wasn't so packed full, neither was my companion's. Sauce was on the sweet side for me but otherwise good. Service was friendly. Place was clean. Wasn't crazy about the reusable hand towel dispenser in the ladies room. Felt it was a little pricey for what you were getting compared to other steak shops. They do not take credit/debit cards but do have an ATM on premises.

We were excited to try this place after reading a lot of stellar reviews touting the cheesesteak, but were sorely disappointed. The cheesesteak was lacking in both the meat and cheese departments, and was topped with what I can only describe as manwich, and was neither visually appealing nor tasty. It's possible this topper is a local thing, but not at all what we were expecting. I got an Italian hoagie which was fair- nothing to write home about. The only redeeming qualities for us were the superb service and crinkle cut fries.

It's an Allentown staple and bursting with good balanced flavor. Never cared for red sauce on my cheese steak but Zandy's got it right. I'd call it a gravy since it's hearty and probably made with meat like a ragu...if you're Italian you'll know I don't mean the canned stuff either. I highly recommend it and they're fast if you're on the run

You can't get better than a Zandy's Cheesesteak Sub with a side of pierogies. Take it from me. YOU CAN'T GET A SANDWICH LIKE THIS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. When we come home to visit our first stop is Zandy's. Love that pink restaurant.

Still the best cheesesteaks in the world. Other places are good but Zandy's is the best. I just wish they'd have had some t-shirts in our sizes when we were there. I'd love to represent Zandy's in Texas :)

Smells like a deep fryer and is across the street from Double Decker. What's not to love?

My favorite cheesesteak spot in the Valley. The staff is awesome and the food is very good. There is no doubt about the local feel of this place. The sandwiches are on the smaller side but packed with great tasting meat, sauce and pickles. The bathrooms could use some updating but other than that this place delivers.

Glorious. I miss Zandy's. The fries are amazing. Great homey feel.

What happened to Zandy's cheese steaks? I purchased two to go last Friday. By the time I got home 2 hours later, both cheese steaks were so soggy that you couldn't pick them up. They had to be eaten with a fork and knife.