Compared to the typewriter, the computer was a good change. Telephone to cellphone? Very good. Fossil energy to green energy? Again good. Ownership at Woodys Philadelphia Cheesesteaks in Midtown? Not Good.

Under the same ownership for the past +25 years, Woodys changed nothing. Not the menu, menu board, counter, tables, ordering que, and most importantly, preparation procedures. For as loing as we can remember, Dave and his counterpart at the grill would take your order, give you a ticket with a number, and then your cheesesteak would begin cooking. Ditto for the sandwiches, and shakes - all made to order and you just had to wait.

As you can see from the above compared picture, the amount of beef per sandwich is changing. When we visited, no longer is each sandwich made to order - but instead beef seems to be prepared ahead of time, and not sliced paper thin. Dave, the old owner, would freeze each piece of beef, and then proceed to shave to the beef - a lot of work, but results were crave worthy.

Now it appears that to save time, and presumably to sell more sandwiches, much of the product is pre-prepared - to the seemingly delight of the man behind the counter. "Have you ever gotten your sandwich that fast?" he asked. "No" we mumbled in a minor form of shock. We were used to having to wait to order, wait longer to be served, and be grateful the place was open when we arrived. Now customer service is awesome, the hours extended, and days open are now 7 a week. All good changes, if the cheesesteak had remained undisturbed.

Why would you change the golden goose? Woodys had a reputation for being open only for lunch (and barely at that), 5 days a week. Service could be described as curt. But oh that cheesesteak. Worth all of the above mentioned hassle for a well crafted sandwich. Now the hassle has been lessened, but the sandwiches integrity has been destroyed.

The old sandwich would be prepared to order using fresh sliced beef, and plenty to fill the bun. Ketchup, mustard, and the special sauce would be added and then wrapped up and handed over. Hot and delicious.  Not so much now. Beef is clearly less, condiments were haphazardly applied, and the onions were even undercooked.

On a further note, the drink cups have changed size to a smaller one, and even the butcher paper has changed. The kitchen has been updated, and now employees can be seen actually abiding by city health codes (i.e. Hair nets, proper food handling, etc..). Further more, other minor improvements have made the experience much more pleasant.

But why change the signature sandwich even one bit? After several decades as a fixture of Midtown - we believe the golden goose has left the coop, and the future ahead surely uncertain.

Dear new owner: Bring Dave back to install the old cheesesteak method and recipe - for sometimes change is not good !!!