Percy Street Barbecue’s Combo Deal Offers Texas-Sized Value for Texas-Style Barbecue

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).


First up was the pulled pork. After one bite, you immediately notice the soft texture of the bread and the tenderness of the pulled pork. The sauce adds a nice flavor, and the collard greens and provolone also complement the sandwich well. Needless to say, the sandwich hits the spot.


The side of macaroni and cheese was every bit as good as the South Street location’s version. As the dish is heated up before service, the top is browned well, and it definitely has an ample amount of cheese flavor.


I also gave the sliced brisket with collard greens combo a try. The sandwich features beautiful slices of brisket, along with sharp cheddar, horseradish mayo and picked green tomatoes. Not surprisingly, the brisket, which is a staple of Texas-style barbecue, is solid. The cheese also stands out, though it would have been even better had it been melted more than it was. The collards greens are served hot in broth. They were good, but I preferred them as part of the sandwich topping of the pulled pork rather than on their own as a side dish.

So I would say that Texas barbecue works well when served as a sandwich. When you throw in the side dish and drink for a total of $10, it’s a deal not to be passed up.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • A large sandwich, a side and a drink, all for $10
  • The pulled pork sandwich was soft and tender

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • The cheese on the sliced brisket sandwich could have been melted better
  • Other barbecue styles are more familiar than Texas-style

Percy Street Barbecue, The Market at Comcast Center, 17th Street and JFK Boulevard, 215-964-9014

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