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Happy Trails, Phi-lly Cheese Steaks & Things!

Damn. Damn. Damn.

We say a fond goodbye to Phi-lly Cheese Steaks & Things. The restaurant was located at 1050 Riverside Drive at the former site of Fender’s Restaurant and Rax.

We reviewed the restaurant here on SouthsideCentral and it was a terrific place to eat. The main problem was that the restaurant was in a bad location on Riverside Drive. There was almost no chance for people to impulsively stop into there for a meal because the restaurant was hard to see and they didn’t have great name recognition.

The owners did a lot to try to attract customers. They simplified the menu, dropped some prices and even went to $5 cheesesteak sandwiches for a three-month period. It just wasn’t enough.

I’m gonna miss this place.

 

 

 

17 comments to Happy Trails, Phi-lly Cheese Steaks & Things!

  • I enjoy your blog but why start your article with profanity? That’s a big turn off.

  • B good

    here is this better??????Dam Dam Dam-its a shame

  • Hope Lawson

    Damn is hardly profanity. If that’s your biggest problem you had better get on your knees damn fast and thank whomever you pray to that your life is so stress free.

  • Lee Smallwood

    I asked in the Libby Hill article what Riverside eatery was next to go and came to this conclusion. It was on its third location, I seem to recall hearing some rumblings about tax collection concerns, and it was in a bad location that has seen other restaurants die. This one is no shock.

    I think this is probably a good time for Danville to admit it has a Riverside between 86 and Union Street Bridge problem and to figure out a better future plan for the area. The hotels seem to be doing fine at least for now, but it has to be more than car dealerships and probably won’t be restaurants ever again. What is a fit?

  • Tom

    Will The Highlander be the next ?

    • They’ve got a beautful restaurant and nice patio setup, but that’s all that is nice there. I had a class reunion there last year and spent the night in one of the hotel rooms. It was directly out of the 1970’s and hadn’t been renovated at all like the front part. Once you went past the first area rooms, you got to the weekly and monthly rentals and YEESH! Nobody sees that part from the road.

      • Lee Smallwood

        The only part that is Highlander is the restaurant, pub, and lodge (the rooms connected to the renovated building). The weekly and monthly rentals still retain the Stratford name and are managed separately. As I understand it, they are indeed under the same ownership, but the management is quite distinct and doesn’t even seem to see eye to eye on some issues from what I’ve seen in open court.

        The food at Highlander was pretty sketchy the first time I tried it, but it has substantially improved. They need to get people back in the door at lunch and early dinner to sample things. I had a burger there every bit as good as at Jake’s or Golden Leaf. It was cheaper, too.

    • Lee Smallwood

      I’d slot Ham’s in as next. They don’t seem to do the same business Highlander does as a bar based on working way too late some nights and driving past both.

      • We were in Ham’s last week and it just looks run down inside. That seem to have lots of bands playing there but I can’t figure out how they fit them in.

        I don’t know who owns the Danville one but the nice Ham’s on the lake off of Cone Blvd. in Greensboro abruptly shut down about 4 months ago.

  • Jerry

    I went to Philly Cheese Steak based on your review. You were correct, very good and very affordable.

    Restaurants are weird things. I would swear to you that Philly Cheese was better than Highlander or Ham’s and had much better prices. And yet they never had the crowd of Ham’s or Highlander……go figure. Agree about Ham’s. I was there at Christmas and it felt like the place hadn’t had a serious scrubbing/makeover for a decade. Not dirty, but just run down.

  • Tim

    Speaking of Restaurants , last night We want to Moon River about 6 o’clock. People were waiting everywhere and they only had 2 Tables for 2 so We took one of them. People of 3 & 4 were leaving because they told them it would be 40 to 50 minutes wait.
    I have Traveled all over the World for 35 years and been in alot of Restaurants and I have to say this was Worst Service I have ever had.
    After We were seated it took 20 minutes for the Server to come to the table , then 15 to come back with our Drinks It took 40 minutes for our Dinner to come and I asked him where our Appetizers were and He just shook his head and Said I don’t know.
    We didn’t see him any more, I went looking for him for the Bill and He was behind the Bar. They had 4 Servers , 1 didn’t speak English for a seating capacity of 70

  • Tim

    continue on about my Dining Experence at Moon River. Read an article where it said they had a Business Manager/Consulant, apparently He doesn’t know any thing about the Restaurant Business if He did maybe He would use some of the $50,000 they got to hire some People.
    If not I think when the $50,000 is gone they will be gone too.
    Thanks for indulging me, I feel better now 🙂
    Have a Safe & Happy 4th……………

  • Jim

    Jerry, Highlanders and Ham’s get a decent bar crowd. Did Philly Cheese Steaks sell alcohol? If so, I wasn’t aware of it and if not, that accounts for the difference in crowd sizes (IMHO).

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