Not to Hijack... but incase anyone is interested...
I live just outside of Philly and have eaten at Pat's several times, and Geno's a million times. If you ever travel to Philly I definitely recommend you stop there. Its the only thing worth visiting in the shithole that is Philly(try not get murdered while you are there.)
As for the steaks... I feel they are identical. I know for a fact that they use the same rolls(Amoroso). One day I actually waited in line for both, and compared the two. The meat looks identical(and tasted identical imo). The only difference I really noticed was that Pat's seemed to have put a little more cheese on it. So like I said, they looked and tasted identical to me. I actually heard a story that the owner of Geno's worked at Pat's and opened Geno's after learning how they made the steak. If the story is true, it further points you in the direction that they taste the same.
But when I go to get a Cheesestake, I ALWAYS go to Geno's, and here are the reasons why...
1.) If cleanliness is an issue, you should go to Geno's. I am not saying Pat's is dirty, but its really obvious that Geno's cares more about cleanliness.
2.) Lighting. Pat's use to use yellow lightbulbs but changed to white ones not too long ago. I hate yellow light. On top of that, Geno's is just much more well lit, and of course their famous Neon sign.
3.) At 4am you literally could be standing in a 45 minute line to get a cheesestake. Its crazy. With Geno's the walls/ceilings/tables are covered with pictures of celebrities that have visited the place. So at least you have something to look at while you wait.
4.) Cheese fries. Geno makes some awesome fries. Far far better than Pat's.
Rich people on the west coast have literally sent private jets to Philly just to pick some of these up and fly them back. So like I said, its worth stopping at if you are in the area.
There is a constant debate in Philly who makes the best cheesestake. There are even other places that are considered better than Pat's/Geno's. But in Philly most people pick one of the these two. Most people religiously eat at one or the other. But like I said, about 5 of my friends and I tried both and we felt there was no difference. I just go to Geno's for the reasons I listed above. For all the Geno's or Pat's fanboys out there, most of them probably havent even tried both. They were just raised to love one or the other.