Midway Steak House

There’s a scene in an old Woody Allen movie, Love and Death. Woody, playing a Russian peasant, is pointing a gun at Napoleon:

Woody: You’re a tyrant and a dictator and you start wars.
Napoleon: Why is he reciting my credits?

That’s how we feel about the Midway Steak House on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights: they use knockoff Cheez Whiz, the meat’s chewy, and there’s not much of it. And those are Midway’s credits.

We’re sure there will be those who vehemently disagree with us, but the proof is in the eating. And the combination of oily meat, salty cheese, and well-cooked onions, all soaking into the long roll, transcends the ignoble ingredients, and makes this cheesesteak a truly delicious sandwich that we think stands up to Philly’s best. Except this one comes with a view of the Atlantic Ocean! The Italian sausage sandwich, lean and meaty and well-crusted from its time on the flattop, is almost, but not quite, as good. Either way, you’ll smell like oily fried onions for the rest of the day.

Midway Steak House is located about, yes, midway on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. And yes, we’re talking that Seaside Heights, summer home to Snooki, The Situation, and the rest of the cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore. We don’t watch the show, but we do enjoy the Seaside Heights oceanfront when we’re in the mood for that seedy, honky-tonk kind of boardwalk, with gimcrack arcades, miniature golf, and amusement piers. And carousel enthusiasts take note: Seaside Heights is home to a 1910 classic all-wood carousel with a Wurlitzer band organ that’s been spinning here since 1932!