When you get one wit', what are you getting?

The eternal debate about which South Philly icon makes the better cheesesteak rages on. But now we can add a fight over which is cleaner.

Data from the city's food inspection reports show some minor and not-so-minor violations at both Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks over the last five years.

In this Philly-style smackdown, the Geno's team executed a more disciplined game plan, being cited for just two food-borne-illness violations since 2009, compared with five for Pat's. But Pat's team made adjustments, and both restaurants fixed all the problems.

Among the findings: An inspector saw mold in the nozzle of the Pepsi dispenser at Pat's on Sept. 6, 2011, which the eatery fixed on the spot.

"It is pretty disgusting," said David Crownover, the National Restaurant Association's ServSafe program manager. "Mold is a visual representation of contamination, eventually. But they have to be pretty high volume . . . and have to be around for a long time."

A notable violation at Geno's had to do with the legendary Whiz: On June 28, 2013, Geno's kept the Whiz below a safe temperature, at 120 degrees instead of the required 135.

"That standard is to try to keep it as [hot] as possible, so you're not going to hurt people . . . when they eat it," said Mark Weir, an environmental science engineer with experience in microbial risk assessment at Temple University's School of Public Health. "But you're going to limit bacterial growth as much as possible."

"Food temps are serious," Crownover said, and "120 degrees for cheese is prime bacteria-growing conditions. People can get sick from that."

Geno's corrected the temperature problem on-site to 135 degrees before the inspector left.

"That happens when the water temperature changes," said Albert Weiss, a lawyer for Geno's. "They say the water's not hot enough, and you change the setting, and it's cleared. Temperatures change. Temperatures vary. Dials move. It can happen in any restaurant."

Experts say inspections are a snapshot and tend to be more serious when bad reports stack up over several years.

The average eat-in restaurant in the city had 7.8 violations last year, of which 2.3 were considered food-borne-illness risk factors, the more serious of the two main categories.

By that score, both Pat's and Geno's ranked above average.

City inspectors, called sanitarians, cited both for lack of signage for hand washing reminders in the food prep area.

While this may seem trivial, educators of food service workers say effective hand washing regulations are most important, yet least followed.

"Data shows . . . proper hand washing . . . is probably the biggest struggle most restaurants have," Crownover said.

Frank Olivieri, owner of Pat's, agrees that hand washing is important. But he said the signs get knocked down from cleaning so much.

"Sometimes they fall off the wall," Olivieri said. "We have stacks of them. But [at one inspection] there wasn't one over the hand-washing system. The guys clean the walls every day. They knock them off."

Inspectors cited both establishments for noncompliance with ventilation codes. Those regulations aim to keep the food service area sanitary, not just comfortable.

Weiss said the inspector erred in citing Geno's for ventilation problems on Feb. 22, 2013.

"Geno pulled the brochure for that oven, which showed it was low-emissions," Weiss said. "The amount of exhaust was under the code limit."

The same inspector returned the next day and did not note the issue as a violation, Weiss said.

"Inadequate ventilation is a long-term issue," Crownover said. "There is grease in the steam, and it slowly coats surfaces in hard-to-reach areas, giving bacteria opportunity to grow."

Olivieri said the inspector misunderstood Pat's new HVAC system.

"It's a vent that hangs across the front of the grill," Olivieri said. "It brings fresh air from outside to pressurize the building. The [most recent] inspector recognized it."

Twenty-four-hour operation poses challenges for both places.

"They need to identify when and how to do cleaning," Crownover said. "Staged cleaning may work best, doing the entire place in zones."

Weir agrees that partial cleaning is a good idea, but said restaurants should go further.

"The cleaning agents can be very hazardous as well," Weir said. "So you don't want cross-contamination with the cleaning agents. Realistically, there's got to be a period of time you can shut down."

Olivieri said both restaurants do what they have to do and use what little down time they have.

"We're Pat's and Geno's. We're the busiest places in the city," Olivieri said. "We clean as we go."

In keeping with the rivalry, Olivieri claimed that Pat's is busier than Geno's.

"They have nothing better to do over there, so all they do is clean," Olivieri joked. "They're spraying Windex all over the place."

Weiss said there is no magic trick to cleaning.

"Our guys just keep cleaning on every shift," Weiss said.

Locals around the steak shops on a recent visit said cleanliness meant something to them.

"That's why I only go to Geno's out of those two," said Jim Quartarone of South Philadelphia. "I see them cleaning all the time."

A poor report "would definitely keep me from eating somewhere," said Jessica Koob, a millennial from the neighborhood. "I actually check that stuff with an app on my phone."

Keyandre Belay from Maryland had just eaten his first Philly cheesesteak. He and a companion shared half a sandwich each from both Pat's and Geno's. Neither could choose a favorite.

"I can't tell the difference," Belay said.

But the health inspection reports could swing him one way or the other.

"Yeah, it would make a difference," Belay said. "I wouldn't want to eat anywhere that's not passing inspections."

For a database of restaurant inspections in Philadelphia, with links to those in suburban counties, visit philly.com/cleanplates.