Midtown Lunch

Since opening, Center City Greek restaurant Opa is constantly tweaking its formula to cater to the desires of Philly residents. From adding a game filled beer garden out back ( I think they may have even been the first bar to introduce the now ubiquitous bar table Jenga) to adjusting the menu, it is nice to see customer needs considered.

Recently, a new chef has come on board and redesigned the lunch menu. Instead of a scaled down dinner menu, the lunch menu is completely different. The sandwiches, salads, and small plates feature fresh ingredients that will keep you full without weighing you down. The Mediterranean diet isn’t wrong.

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A pre New Year round up of my favorites bites is a fun excuse to look back on each year of dining. It is also incentive to get down and hold the plank position until the ball drops.  Here are my 2014 eating highlights:

During my first overseas trip of the  year, I ate my way through Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai!

Soon after, I started giving Chinatown Food Tours! (if you still owe someone a belated Holiday gift, its not a bad idea!)

I wrote a few fun articles for Zagat, including one on shopping at “ethnic” markets.

On an outing to Graffiti Pier in Port Richmond, I put together a Polish picnic that you can replicate.

For my birthday, we celebrated with beer and a Puerto Rican Pork feast.

I coordinated a food truck festival for 15,000 people in Mt. Airy.

On a solo vacation in Mexico City, I ate a ton of street meat.

I was really proud of my Federal Donuts costume this Halloween.

Way more, after the jump…

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While looking for lunch somewhere near the Barne’s Museum, I remembered wanting to try Zorba’s, a sort of casual Greek restaurant that is unfortunately uncommon in Philadelphia (the other ones that comes to mind are Sandy’s and  South Street Souvlaki, which I liked and owe  revisits to).

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Strolling around Old City, looking for something hearty, I saw a sign advertising “Mom’s Homemade Lasagna” in front of Old City Pizza. I had never been to this place before and it was pretty crowded inside.

Besides pizza, sandwiches, and appetizers, the menu has a few specialty items, including some Greek Food. I was tempted by the spanikopita, but I looked at it behind the counter and the lasagna seemed more of a full meal.

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This week I contributed my 2 cents to Zagat with a list of 6 global lunches that are not visible from the street. Check it out! Full reviews for each spot are on Midtown Lunch, so check back here for the full report.

A month ago I stumbled into the Holy Grail of lunches, St. George’s Orthodox Greek Church Friday meals. The lamb shank won me over, but I have since been back for several other Fridays to try out the other menu items. This is a pretty big deal, since I usually handle lunches like I handle my men: try it out and move on to the next one. We even have had both a scheduled and unscheduled Midtown Lunch meet up there. In other words, I am really addicted. So if for some reason, you were not tempted by my first post, let me try again.

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Normally I don’t like to talk about something you can’t get the same day I write about it. But. There is something that happens on Fridays, something so insanely amazing, that I am telling you today in the hopes that you get over there tomorrow and probably every Friday after that.

While passing by St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church, I saw the sign “Once a week, Go Greek. Lunch Today” Yes, yes yes yes yes. The church offers home cooked Greek food every Friday for lunch. They are not open all year. This year they opened the first Friday in October and will be around until the end of Spring.

I walked through the parking lot to the right of the white columned church to this back door, where a menu on the glass let me know I was in the right place. Check out that menu and the platter I got…

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