Foodie Monster: Philippe - French Dipped Sandwiches

Aaahhh...the French Dipped Sandwich. How could you not love a sandwich filled with hot roast beef and cheese and dipped in salty, beef flavored au jus? I've always been a fan of the French Dip but had never known that it's origin was based in LA until moving to the LA area. Here in LA there are 2 establishments that hotly debate over who is the originator of the French Dip; the first of which is Philippe's.

According to Philippe's website, Philippe's was established in 1908 by a French immigrant by the name of Philippe Mathieu. Legend has it that one day in 1918 Philippe was preparing a sandwich for a policeman and mistakenly dropped the french roll for the sandwich into the roasting pan drippings. Apparently the policeman liked the sandwich so much that he came back the next day and brought along friends to try the sandwich "dipped in the meat pan". And hence, the French Dip was born; allegedly so named because of Philippe's French heritage, because it is served on a "French" roll, or because the Police Officer's name happened to be (unbelievably) Officer French. Regardless of the history of the sandwich, I had to give this alleged originator a taste to see what all the hubub was about and to compare the real deal to what I had come to know as the French Dip.

My wife and I met our usual foodie buddies over at Philippe's in LA on a fine SoCal afternoon. The menu is pretty simple with French Dipped sandwiches being offered with a choice of 5 different meats (Beef, Pork, Lamb, Ham or Oven Roasted Turkey). You can add your choice of cheese (Swiss, American, Monterey Jack or Bleu Cheese) and choose between having it single or double-dipped in au jus. I ordered the Beef French Dipped sandwich with Swiss for myself and a Lamb for my wife; both double dipped. We also got a macaroni salad side order, a Chocolate Creme Pie for dessert, and some Lemonade to wash it all down.

My Beef French Dip was good...really good...perfectly soaked with tasty Au Jus. My only complaint is that I wish it came with a side of Au Jus for you to dip in for added flavor as I felt at times that it definitely needed it despite being double-dipped. My wife's Lamb was pretty good too, but the beef was better. The problem I found with the Lamb was that some of the meat was a bit on the dry side. Both my wife and I agreed that next time around we'll just be getting the Beef. As for the sides and desserts, they were decent too but let's be honest...that's not what people go to Philippe's for. People flock from all over the LA area for their French Dipped Sandwiches and in my opinion, It's well worth the drive regardless of where you're driving from. I guess next i'll have to try out the other alleged originator of the "French Dip" for a comparison. PE Cole's Buffet here I come! Stay Tuned!

Philippe
The Original French Dipped Sandwiches
1001 North Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-628-3781
http://www.philippes.com