Marinara and Mozzarella

Three things on this menu are built on the same pairing: tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. A Philly, a sandwich and a starter, sitting in three different sections, all doing a version of the same idea.

It is the most Italian-American corner of a menu that is otherwise Philadelphia, New Orleans and the Gulf — and it is worth knowing what the two ingredients actually bring.

What marinara is

A simple cooked tomato sauce — tomatoes, garlic, herbs, oil — and the important word is simple. Unlike a long-simmered ragù it is cooked briefly, so it keeps the acidity and brightness of the tomato rather than cooking it down into something dark and sweet.

That brightness is the point. Tomato sauces of this kind are built to cut through fat, which is exactly what they are asked to do here: against melted cheese, against fried breading, against beef.

What mozzarella brings

Stretch, mildness and moisture. Mozzarella is a fresh cheese rather than an aged one, which means it has very little of its own flavour — and that is a feature, not a shortcoming. It melts into long strands rather than breaking, and it carries whatever it is next to instead of arguing with it.

Which is why it pairs with marinara and why it is the wrong cheese for a plain cheesesteak. Put mozzarella on well-marbled ribeye with nothing else in the sandwich and you get stretch without contrast. Put it with an acidic tomato sauce and the two complete each other.

The three places it appears

The fourth row is the useful one. Marinara is available as a cup, which means you can put it with things it does not normally come with — onion rings and fried mushrooms both take it well.

Pizza Steak or meatball sub?

The two overlap enough that people choose between them, and they are less similar than they look.

• Pizza Steak — chopped ribeye with sauce and cheese through it. Uniform, and the beef still leads
• Meatball sub — whole meatballs in sauce. Chunkier, heavier, and the sauce leads
• The roll differs too — the Pizza Steak is on an Amoroso roll, the meatball sub on po’boy bread
• Both go soft — wet filling and bread is a short-window combination either way

If you want a cheesesteak that happens to have tomato in it, order the Pizza Steak. If you want the sauce to be the point, order the meatball sub. The full Philly list is in the nine builds compared.

Why marinara is not the same as pizza sauce

People use the terms interchangeably and the difference is real. Pizza sauce is usually uncooked before it goes in the oven — it does its cooking on the pizza. Marinara is cooked first, briefly, which concentrates it slightly and takes the raw edge off the garlic.

That is why marinara works as a dipping sauce and raw pizza sauce does not. It has already been through the step that makes it taste finished, which matters when it is going next to something rather than on top of it.

The Pizza Steak sits in between: it is called a pizza steak because of the combination rather than the method, and the sauce goes into a hot sandwich rather than into an oven.

Why mozzarella sticks are the odd one out

They invert the arrangement. In the two sandwiches the cheese is inside and the sauce is with it; in a mozzarella stick the cheese is the whole thing and the sauce sits outside in a cup.

That changes what each ingredient is doing. Inside a sandwich the mozzarella is a binder and the marinara is the flavour. In a stick the mozzarella is the event — hot, stretchy, mild — and the marinara is the only thing providing contrast. It is why a mozzarella stick without the sauce is disappointing in a way that is hard to articulate until you have tried it.

Five to a portion, on the appetizer menu.

Which cheese would work better

A fair question given seven are available on the Philly menu. On the Pizza Steak, mozzarella is the right call precisely because it is neutral — the marinara is providing the flavour and the cheese is providing the texture.

Provolone would work and would make it sharper, which some people prefer. Cheese Whiz would not: it behaves like a sauce, and a sandwich with two sauces in it loses definition. That is the general principle with a wet build — pick the cheese for how it melts rather than for how it tastes.

What to order alongside

Something dry and something sharp. All three of these items are soft, rich and wet in some combination, so a second wet thing is wasted.

• Onion rings rather than fries, for the crunch
• A plain salad, if the main is the Pizza Steak or the meatball sub
• Avoid loaded fries — cheese on cheese on sauce
• Avoid a second marinara item; one per order is plenty

The short version

Marinara is a bright, briefly cooked tomato sauce whose job is cutting through fat. Mozzarella is a mild fresh cheese that stretches and carries rather than leads. Together they make the Pizza Steak, the meatball sub and the mozzarella sticks — and marinara on its own is a cup you can add to anything fried.

Three places, one pairing

The Pizza Steak, the meatball sub, and five mozzarella sticks with marinara.

Philly Cheesesteaks

Including the Pizza Steak.

Po’boys

Including the meatball sub.

Explore the Menu Order Online

Frequently asked questions