Carmen's Famous Italian Hoagies

Very long lineup during peak hours at the market, causing a pretty long wait to place your order and get your food, and definitely pricey compared to some of the other Philly Cheesesteak options in the area. However, the food was good, and was the first cheesesteak I had in Philadelphia!Reading Terminal Market itself is definitely worth checking out if you are visiting Philadelphia, though I would recommend trying to visit Carmen's at a less busy time, as I imagine you would have a better quality experience. If you are not a local, be aware that this is not a stand alone restaurant, but a stand within a large market, so you may have a hard time finding seating!

The service: Bit of a line but they moved through the orders quickly.The vibes: Inside RTM so expect a crowd, noise, & hunt for seating back towards the front.The food: Not gonna lie, we had high hopes this was going to be a star, but it fell short. My bf & his parents are Philly natives so they know a good sandwich. My bf & I ordered the cheesesteak with onions & mozzarella cheese. to share. The meat lacked seasoning & seemed overcooked. There also wasn't enough cheese, but maybe we should've gotten the wiz instead? The onions didn't make much of a difference. Overall it wasn't terrible, just not as delicious as it was hyped up to be. We wanted a juicy, melt in your mouth, messy sandwich sadly.We may revisit & give them a pass because of the crowd.

The hot peppers!! This cheesesteak was ahhhhmazing. Great bread. You have 4 cheese choices. And if you like hot peppers- don't hesitate. I ate every last bite.

I've tried a few different cheesesteak spots in Philly. There are always 2-3 favorite places I come back to but I'm always down to try something new. Carmen's is my latest find. Located in the Reading Terminal Market, the line was extremely long but a few colleagues wanted to check them out. We all ordered cheesesteaks. This family owned business has been around since the 1980s. T sandwich was tasty but it was light on the meet, cheese and veggies. I prefer a hefty cheesesteak. It was a bit loud between the crowd and the other vendor stations, very lively, made the time go by. I'm glad I tried it but have had better

We ordered The Franklin speciality cheesesteak. They spread cream cheese on the bread. The sandwich had so much flavor and was delicious!!! This was the best cheesesteak we had when we were in Philly!

I ordered the Italian half cheesesteak with fries and it was pretty good! The fries were piping hot. A little strange to serve them in a drink cup, though. The cheesesteak was also piping hot and had great flavor and texture. I got sharp provolone with lettuce, onions, and mushrooms and loved it. The bread was nice and soft, but had crunch with the sesame seeds on top. Everything tasted great. The guy who took my order was friendly and riffed a bit, and I like the playing card system of keeping track of orders. There was someone else working there who handed me my food - she wasn't very friendly at all. It's a little pricey for a half cheesesteak as well. But it was very yummy!

Well worth the long wait! I ordered the white American cheese beef cheesesteak with banana peppers. So good! Def recommended

First Philly cheesesteak, and I thought it was only okay. Granted I didn't get cheese whiz and opted for mozzarella instead, I'm not sure if it would've made too much of a difference. The bread was not the best. I think it could've been better toasted. It didn't seem super fresh and was on the chewier side. I wasn't blown away with the meat either. I didn't think the seasoning was amazing or anything. The meat was tender but wasn't melt in your mouth and didn't have a nice char from the grill either. There wasn't much impact from the grilled onions either, and I normally think onions elevate a sandwich 10 fold. Their pick-up system is cool. They give you a card as your pick-up number, and they're pretty quick with making your food.

Carmen's left me with mixed feelings. - Effective and fast service, and there wasn't much of a line when we went. I liked the system with the playing cards too, was a nice touch. - As for the food, I was actually really impressed with the Italian hoagie and especially the roll - one of the better sandwiches I've had in a while. On the other hand the cheesesteak was extremely mediocre, with very average roll and meat, and ingredients not well distributed. - The prices are really high. On my Italian hoagie I got pretty much every topping, which at most places would come included in the price, but here I was upcharged $0.75 for each add on. Pretty annoying.Overall a bit of a tourist trap that delivers a mediocre cheesesteak and great hoagie, both at high prices. Would recommend it but just know what you're getting!

Slow service, almost like time is standing still. Standing by the door waiting for the order adds some "nice" ambiance to this place. (Glad to see I'm not the only tourist here!)I had a cheesesteak here a couple years ago, liked it and had no issue with the portion size. Not sure what happened since then, maybe inflation and shrinkflation are at play. Regardless, there was barely any meat on the roll. What else can I say other than "that sucks" and choose not to order there again. Too many other choices to try than to stop here again.