PROGRESS with Pagano

About PROGRESS with Pagano

Progress with Pagano is a Philadelphia-based podcast hosted by Alex Pagano, a local mortgage broker connecting with fellow foodies, tastemakers, and local personalities across the Philly area — from Center City to the suburbs, South Jersey, and down the shore. Alex sits down with a guest — from real estate pros to content creators to local business owners — and puts their regional food and nightlife knowledge to the test. Guests share their personal top 5 lists (best cheesesteaks, dive bars, pizza spots, and more), go head-to-head in rapid-fire trivia pulled straight from Reddit threads and local blogs, and settle debates like "steakhouse or Italian" and "Philly or Miami." It's part interview, part game show, and fully dedicated to celebrating everything that makes the Greater Philadelphia food and nightlife scene one of a kind.

Publisher

Alex Pagano

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

27 Jan 2023

Latest episode

20 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

37 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Aug 2026

   Eric Lord Ranks Philly: Cheesesteaks, Dive Bars, and the City's Best Nightlife

   Nightlife and bar content creator Eric Lord (@ericlordie) joins Progress with Pagano to settle the debate on what actually makes a perfect cheesesteak — old school vs. new school, and whether there's any room left for innovation. From there, the two dig into Philly's real dive bar hierarchy (Oscar's, Dirty Frank's, and the ongoing "dive vs. dive-themed" debate), the city's top nightclubs and rooftop spots, and where to catch a game at the best sports bars in town. Eric puts his Philly knowled...

2. 

   23 Jul 2026

   Francesca Ruscio Tells All: Overrated Country Clubs, Strict Rules & Golf Pet Peeves

   In this episode, we sit down with full-time content creator Francesca Ruscio, better known to the golf world as @PhillyGolfGirl! Francesca holds nothing back, from transitioning into full-time content creation to breaking down the entire Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey golf scene. We dive into the ultimate rankings, blind-guess peak weekend green fees for local public tracks, rate the region’s most exclusive country clubs as "Overrated, Underrated, or Just Right," and put togethe...

3. 

   24 Mar 2026

   The Ultimate South Jersey Food Tour with Eat with Em (Top 50+ Spots!)

   Welcome to the definitive guide to eating in South Jersey. In this episode, we sit down with Eat with Em to break down the best of the best in the 856. Whether you are a local looking for a new Friday night spot or a visitor trying to find the perfect beach hoagie, Em is sharing her years of expertise as a top local food creator. What we cover in this episode: The Origin Story: How Eat with Em started and her career behind the scenes.The Rankings: Top 5 Iced Coffees, Breakfast Sandwiches, and...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

274,604

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

9

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

0