Midtown Lunch

This week,  Luncher John is at a Center City deli for big portions.

One block off Rittenhouse Square at the corner of 19^th and Sansom is Rachael’s Nosheri, a Jewish delicatessen serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week. Many restaurants and delis in Center City have come and gone through the years, but Rachael’s has been open since 1994. The secrets of how it’s stood the test of time: an enormous menu, huge portions, and really good food.

Rachael’s is very much a family-run business, owned by the parents of its namesake, Rachael Cohen. Oftentimes, Rachael and her mother work the cash register and oversee the establishment, all the while bantering back and forth. The servers reflect the atmosphere and are generally helpful and accommodating of your requests.
The lunch menu for Rachael’s is extremely extensive. You can choose soups, fish platters, salads, sandwiches, cold platters, hoagies, and wraps in addition to sides and desserts. Then, if you still can’t find what you want, there are daily specials, like gumbo.

Read more »

As is customary at Philly Lunch, every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Philadelphia. This week it’s Rebecca, who shares a Magic Carpet obsession with her friend Rachel, who was profiled last week.

Name: Rebecca

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Where in Philly do you Work?: University City

Favorite Kind of Food: Almost all Mediterranean. Sushi/maki, especially rolls that contain tuna. Anything with cilantro, and anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I know that this kind of goes against my whole love of Mediterranean food thing…but olives.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: The staff at Magic Carpet Food Cart (36th and Spruce) tends to know my favorite order by memory: tofu meatballs and hummus over a salad. But their specials are all-around pretty fantastic, as is their tempeh. Egg white omelets with goat cheese at Metropolitan Bakery (40th and Walnut) are a pretty regular Friday feature, especially because their cherry jam is incredible. If I’m feeling particularly indulgent on a weekend I’ll go to White Dog (3420 Samson Street) for their smoked salmon eggs benedict. And for a post-lunch dessert, if I’m really lucky, I’ll go for the salted caramel budino at Barbuzzo (110 South 13th Street).

Read more »

Back at the Meatball Competition at the Swedish Museum, I was in charge of focusing my attentions on the talented amateur contestants. I had a lot meatballs to try, and I didn’t really have the stomach room to sample from the professional competitors vying for the people’s choice award. I did manage to sneak a try of a meatball from Dad’s Stuffing. While Pastificio was the ultimate winner, I heard Dad’s came in second, and their meatball stuck out in my mind and was good enough to make me check out their South Philly spot.

Dad’s Stuffing is located on Ritner street, if you have never been, I want to paint this picture for you. While walking to Dad’s, I passed a duo of older gentleman speaking Italian and setting up dominos on a little sidewalk table. Adorable.

The tiny storefront holds the quintessential Italian deli, where the brothers running the shop are the 4th generation to work there. All of the customers looked like regulars. It makes you contemplate moving into the neighborhood.

And it is far from just stuffing and meatballs here. Every inch of the deli is crammed with sauces and prepared foods. But I stuck to what I came for.

Read more »

• Unfortunately, my plans to go didn’t work out, but Kobayashi won this year’s Wing bowl by consuming a world record 337 wings. I think one time I ate 20 [Eater Philly]
• Philly Phoodie prefers the Koagie to the wings at Sammy Chon’s [Philly Phoodie]
• Phoodie.com also has some Sammy suggestions, including the fried potato shrimp [Phoodie]
• Mushroom tacos are the best vegetarian options at Loco Pez [Living on the Vedge]
• Little Baby’s Ice cream is getting a store front that somehow involves the Pizza Museum next door. This cartoon is supposed to explain that [Meal Ticket]

Passing by Caribbean Delight on South Street, I thought I would order the jerk chicken. I thought wrong.

Read more »

This week,  Luncher John tries out the combo dealage at Percy Street’s Comcast Center location.

Percy Street Barbecue opened up on South Street in 2009, serving Texas-style barbecue to the masses. Most other area barbecue establishments specialize in other styles, such as Carolina barbecue, but Texas barbecue isn’t as common in this area of the country. Fortunately, Percy Street fills that niche well, and recently, it debuted a sandwich shop at the Comcast Center. Now, Center City workers don’t have too far to travel to sample some great barbecue.

Percy Street’s new spot is right at the entrance of the Market and Shops at the Comcast Center. The space is small, with room to place your order at one counter before picking up your drinks and dessert and paying at the other end. A server then brings you the remainder of your order, and you can eat it in the market’s seating area. It’s an efficient operation, which is a good thing considering how busy Percy Street has been since its opening.

As a huge barbecue fan, I was definitely looking forward to how the food, served typically in platters, would translate to sandwiches. Here, there are six sandwich options, including chopped brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, sliced brisket, spicy barbecue chicken and boneless ribs. There are also five different sides of pinto beans, collard greens, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese and vegan chili. The sandwiches are either $8 or $9, with sides at $3, but the combo allows you to pick a sandwich, side and drink for $10 (tax included). In other words, you’d be a fool to skip out on the deal (which falls right on the Midtown Lunch limit).

Read more »

As is customary at Philly Lunch, every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Philadelphia. This week it’s Rachel, repping U City and looking for some vino with her lunch.

Name: Rachel

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Where in Philly do you Work?: UPenn

Favorite Kind of Food: Mediterranean. And chocolate. Especially dark.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything orange flavored, I had a traumatic experience with orange juice when I was younger.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: the Lancaster omelet at White Dog is always extremely satisfying, especially on the weekends. Koch’s deli is also a treat when I’m super hungry.. and Pattaya’s lunch special is an incredible deal!

Read more »