Philly Taco

The Philly Taco has been called “a turducken for drunks and stoners.” It’s also been called a great idea. Philadelphians, left to their own late-night devices, cobble together this frankenfeast by stopping at two separate establishments.

Assembling the melange of midnight munchies begins unassumingly enough—with pizza. A giant slice of Lorenzo’s cheese pizza, more specifically, stands in as a taco shell. Then, diners rush their slice one city block away to Jim’s Steaks. Here, they order their taco filling: a cheesesteak. At this juncture, participants have two options. They can either lay the cheesesteak in the middle of the slice, length-wise, or they place the end of the pizza against the center of the cheesesteak and roll it all up. It’s important to act quickly, so as to ensure still-hot pizza cheese hits the meat-filled bread roll.

Jeff Barg and Adam Gordon began the tradition, which they named “the Lorenzo’s-Jim’s Challenge,” more than a decade ago. Jeff has since become a vegetarian.