Philadelpia Food

So where to start........
City Tavern
138 S 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 413-1443
www.citytavern.com
City Tavern has been in operation nearly continuously since the late 1700's. They serve you water in pewter goblets and serve food that they try to keep consistent with the period. I had black forest ham with asparagus. It is right near the historic park and the prices were actually pretty reasonable considering. I think if you have to pick one place to go this is definitely one you should strongly consider.

Maggianos
1201 Filbert St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 567-2020
This was good Italian food. I had baked ziti that was excellent. I also had a good dessert here, an apple thing that was really yummy. It is right off Market Street and right across the street from Reading Terminal and a couple of the big hotels.

Reading Terminal Market
This place is a food bonanza. There are tons of vendors selling all sorts of stuff, not just food. I had a couple ice cream cones at Bassetts and there are a couple Amish stands that sell food and have the stuffed pretzels. They are by no means gourmet but they are so so good. I had ham and cheese. Also in the market are:

Ricks King of Steaks
1 N 12th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 925-4320
www.rickssteaks.com
This is owned by either the owners of Pats or Geno's. I had a great chicken cheese steak with pepper jack here.

Flying Monkey Bakery
51 N 12th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 928-0340
www.flyingmonkeyphilly.com
They have all sorts of pastries, mostly cookies and cupcakes. I tried a peanut butter and jelly that was delish.

Le Bus
1100 Filbert St, Philadelphia
(215) 592-0422
www.lebusbakery.com
Big on breads but sell pastries as well. I had a cheese danish here that was excellent. Apparently started selling out of a bus hence the name. There are a couple locations around the city and some of the suburbs.

Eulogy
136 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 413-1918
www.eulogybar.com
A Belgian Tavern in Old City. I had a really good chicken sandwich here. It is two levels in an old house or shop. I definitely would recommend it. It is near a couple other places that looked really good.

La Scala
1201 Filbert St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 567-2020
www.lascalasphilly.com
Italian food near Independence Hall. The salads looked good. I had gnocci that was good. It was a little heavy for lunch especially in the hot weather, not sure what I was thinking?

Jones
700 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 223-5663
www.jones-restaurant.com
This was a spectacular find. It is kind of deceiving from the outside but inside has a sort of diner/Denny's revamped feel. Something I read about it called it Brady Bunch livingroom style. I had chicken and waffles that were excellent. I live in Oakland so you would think I would have tried that already but alas no. All I can say is be adventurous and go with the savory gravy and not maple syrup. If you are going to do chicken and waffles do it right. I also had a good alt sandwich here. Alt is just your blt without the bacon. The dessert here was out of this world. I had the coconut cheesecake. In my defense on this one i shared it. They also get points for having a couple fun non-alcoholic drinks. I had a purple people eater which was grape juice, sprite and lemonade. Rarely do you find fun drinks for those of us who don't drink actual cocktails.

More Than Just Ice Cream
1119 Locust St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 574-0586
Just might be some of the best ice cream I have tasted. Trust me and get the cinnamon bun ice cream. I also say go with the waffle cone, just have a lot of napkins ready if it's summer. It was just the best! Also of note they serve pet meals part of the year.

Geno's Steaks
1219 S 9th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 389-0659
www.genosteaks.com
As touristy as it is I figured I had to try either Pats or Geno's. Sadly I ran out of time to do my full duty and try both. We intended to go to South Street thinking they were just off South Street however they are way way off South Street. We asked about three different people to point us in the right direction. In short it ended up being about a 40 minute wild goose chase for cheesesteak. Needless to say Geno's didn't require crossing another street and had tons of police patches and wherever the cops eat you can trust it's good (usually). Anyway, I didn't get adventurous enough to go with the whiz but I did do provolone and it was absolutely delicious and worth the walk. They also get extra points because they served birch beer (a sister of root beer). We also passed up Jims which is supposed to be as good or better. I guess I have to leave something for next time......

Rangoon
112 N 9th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 829-8939
www.phillychinatown.com
This is a Burmese restaurant in Chinatown. It is kind of in a weird location but the food was good and the waiter/hostess were really nice. They did kind of forget one thing I ordered and I finally asked about it and they brought it right out. Worth trying if you want to be adventurous.

Irish Pub
2007 Walnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 568-5603
www.irishpubphilly.com


Alfa
1709 Walnut St, Philadelphia -
(215) 751-0996
www.alfa-bar.com

After wandering aimlessly in search of a restaurant to eat at we found this place. It is a little noisy but very fun. They played all 80's music so that was fun. I had a really good salad with spinach and strawberries and almonds. I also had a really really good chocolate creme brulee.

NYC Part Deux

So this is for all of you who thought I survived on dessert alone for two weeks in New York.

Yankee Stadium:
Nathans hotdogs and cracker jacks. Now Yankee Stadium has to be one of the only stadiums in mlb that hasn't given in to yuppie food. Pretty much all you can get there are hotdogs, sausage, chicken fingers and drinks and of course popcorn and the all important cracker jacks. It really gave new meaning when they played "take me out to the ballgame" during the stretch. I hope the new stadium doesn't give in.

Mocca
78-82 Reade Street
www.moccalounge.com
Had spectacular eggs benedict here. I have been sampling eggs benedict when I eat somewhere that they serve it and this was good stuff. The interior is very simple and modern and I wasn't sure what to expect on the menu but I went with a group and everything looked really good. A little sidenote. We showed up there at like 11am and they weren't serving lunch yet.

Puglia
189 Hester Street
This is one of the tons of Italian places in Little Italy but tried it because it was not actually on Mulberry Street (on a side street). I had manicotti and it was pretty good. It was drenched in sauce but overall not bad. I do think that there is probably better italian to be found however. Price was about comparable with most places on Mulberry but the food was not quite what it should be for the price.

La Esquina
106 Kenmare Street
www.esquinanyc.com
I had awesome lunch here. I had the Plato Julia. It was just basic black beans rice pico de gallo and avo. It was yummy! and you can request chicken to add or keep it veggie. I also had horchata that was excellent! It is in Tribeca and not far from Little Italy just off Lafayette so you can swing by for gelato or a cannoli after you eat.

Johns Pizzeria
260 W 44th St
New York, NY 10036-3900
Phone: (212) 391-7560
This place was great as well. It looks like a remodeled church right in Times Square by all the theaters. It was really busy but the pizza was great. It may be touristy but good pizza is good pizza.

Ben Ash Deli
857 7th Ave, New York 10019
At 55th St
I had a monster 10oz burger here. No I did not eat the whole thing but the half I managed to eat was delish. It was your usual diner food right near Carnegie Hall and Times Square. I also had a really delicious slice of cheesecake here that I have to say nearly rivaled Juniors.