A long long time ago there were these things in the United States called "malls". I'm being funny of course, malls still exist in the US, but most of them are just a shell of what they formerly were.
It's been forever since I visited the one in my home town, but last I knew at least half the stores were empty as well as two or three of the anchor stores. With staples like Sears, JcPenny, and the like going out of business or scaling back, you are lucky to find much of anything in your local mall these days.
Being the lover of food that I am, one of the things that always fascinated me about malls was the food court. Imagine a dozen amazing to mediocre restaurants all bundled together in one place. Want a burger from McDonald's and a Taco from Taco Bell? You can do that! As long as you don't mind waiting in line.
Orange Chicken from Panda Express and an Orange Julius to wash it down with! You know what I'm talking about right?
One of the staples of nearly every 90's food court that I can remember was a Philly Cheesesteak restaurant. They went by many different names, Steak Escape, Charley's, The Great Steak and Potato Company, but the menu was pretty much always the same.
Greasy handcut french fries and some of the most fantastic subs cooked on a flattop that you can imagine. I remember back in the day my go-to was a teriyaki chicken sandwich so good it could make you cry.
Penn Station is a relatively large national chain that brought all those memories screaming back to me when 
According to the website, Penn Station was established back in 1983 and the decor in this location makes me feel like it might have been one of the very first locations! As you can see the whole place has a very dated look to it, but I almost feel like that adds to the charm.
What it lacks in decor, it absolutely makes up for in the way of food.
My sister used to live in Indianapolis and I remember her and my parents talking about visiting a Penn Station when they were down visiting. I had never been before, so I was curious to try it out. One thing I do remember is they always raved about the french fries.
I was a bit out of sorts when we first stepped in. There was a family behind us and I let them go ahead of us because they looked like they knew what they wanted and I am sure I looked like a deer in headlights.
Since we still had a bit of time on the road ahead of us and we didn't want anything super heavy (I know that seems silly looking at the pictures) sitting in our stomachs,
The sandwich was amazing. We both felt like we should have gotten one of our own because by the time we were finishing the last bites of our half, we were wishing there was more. The ingredients were fresh and the chicken and ham were cooked on the griddle to perfection.
After the first couple of bites, I immediately started looking at the menu to see what I should have got for myself versus sharing with my wife!
I recently jumped on the Blackstone craze and bought myself a 22" griddle to use while camping this summer. You better believe I am going to be spending a good portion of my time trying to recreate this chicken cordon bleu sandwich at the campsite!
In my opinion, the fries were exceptional. They not only reminded me of the mall trips of my youth, they also took me back further to my days of visiting the county fair and getting fries from a little stand called Gibby's.
I understand why she didn't like them as much as me. If you need your fries to be totally crispy, these probably aren't the fries you are looking for. While the smaller bits are definitely crispy, the larger fries can come across as a bit soggy.
However, it isn't soggy like I ordered takeout food and by the time I got it home the fries were cold and soggy. It's more soggy they just aren't quite as crisp as the other ones. They were still plenty warm and delicious.
I also expect a lot of people might take issue with the skins still be on the potatoes. I used to be that way too, but now I love it and it just add something special to the fries that you can't get anywhere else.
By the end of our meal, we both found ourselves looking at the menu wondering what other delicious treats they had to offer. "What do you think their cookies are like if the sandwiches are this good?".
Realizing we were in a precarious situation, we quickly finished our meal and got back on the road before we found ourselves spending more money, time, and calories at Penn Station.
If you ever find yourself looking for something to eat and one of the options that pops up on your Google or Apple maps is Penn Station, I highly recommend you stop in to visit. If you aren't fully satisfied, feel free to come back and down vote me!
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or
