Midtown Lunch

As we try to do 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 Lauren who knows the good lunch spots in Chicago.

Name: Lauren

Age: 26

Occupation: Marketing Associate

Where in Philly do you Work?: A. Pomerantz & Co. located in Center City

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese

Least Favorite Kind of Food:Indian

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: El Vez, The Corner Restaurant, and Zavino’s all located at 13th and Sansom. Favorite Dishes from El Vez include the
Mexican Chopped Salad, Beef Tacos and Black Bean Enchiladas. The Corner Restaurant makes an awesome Lobster Bisque (best I’ve ever had) and a great Cheeseburger. Zavino’s Joey pizza is delicious, as well as their daily pizza specials.

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As we try to do 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 Allison who is looking for the true holy grail of Midtown Lunch- the $5 and under lunch.

Name: Allison

Age: 24

Occupation: Community Manager

Where in Philly do you Work?: TicketLeap, in Rittenhouse Square.

Favorite Kind of Food: Asian of any variety. Also, anything I can grill.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Heavy fried “bar food.” Don’t like to be weighed down when I’m trying to get my drink on!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Small spicy falafel sandwich on white at Mama’s Vegetarian (20th and Chestnut), the three roll special at Vic’s (20th and Sansom), veggie chili and a fresh roll at Le Bus (18th and Walnut).
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As we try to do 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 Janeane who is looking for lunch suggestions appropriate for taking clients.

Name: Janeane

Age: 26

Occupation: Account Manager for a digital agency, frequent overeater, and co-creator of Philly-ism

Where in Philly do you Work?: Maiden Media Group in Old City.

Favorite Kind of Food: Pig Items, Offensive Cheeses, Mexican everything.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Unicorn meat. You’d assume it would be amazing, right? Nope.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Agh, where to begin! 1) DiBruno Brothers (16th and chestnut) because the food is mesmerizing and I dance and sing every time I’m in there, 2) Pitruco’s spicy garlic pizza is worth the garlicness (they’re stationed at love park… most days), 3) Smile Café (21st and chestnut) because its cheap, quick and you get a minimum of three things with each meal, 4) Han Dynasty (front and chestnut) because the man is a schezwan god, 5) Café Ole (3rd and arch) has got hummus, chicken salad and Shakshouka covered.

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As we try to do 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 Alex who has loved Malaysian food for as long as he has had teeth.

Name: Alex

Age: 23

Occupation: Student

Where in Philly do you Work?: West Philly

Favorite Kind of Food: Malaysian, since age 2 when I got mad at my grandparents for taking me to a Chinese restaurant after I’d requested Malaysian.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: As an ingredient, baby corn, probably. But in a dish, I can’t stand unnecessary pretension, whether we’re talking sous vide skirt steak or Ecuadorian reserve pour-over coffee. Not saying I don’t like good sourcing and preparation — buy what you should be buying and cook it how it should be cooked — but serve it to me without all of the fuss.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: The Radicchio pie at  Pitruco (truck, varies) is pretty unreal: tart, sweet, and doughy in all the right ways. I also love Don Memo (truck, 38 + Sansom) burritos, which are messy and enormous but so damn good; their carnitas especially is better than any fancypants porchetta I’ve had. The My Thai at Underdogs (132 S. 17th) is awesome, too, and for my money a much better value than anything I’ve had at Hot Diggity (630 South St.), and up in Chinatown I’m obsessed with the salty-sweet Fried Pearl Noodles at Penang (117 N. 10th).

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As we try to do 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 Molly who works for Hylo Boutiques.

Name: Molly

Age: 27

Occupation: Project Assistant

Where in Philly do you Work?: University City

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fast Food

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Don Memo’s truck – avocado tostadas (38th and Walnut), Capogiro – tuna & artichoke panini (3925 Walnut St.), Hummus – sabich sandwich (3931 Walnut St.), Pumpkin Market – breakfast burrito with smoked salmon (1610 South St.)

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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 Christina who is looking for new UCity places to add to her lunch list.

Name: Christina

Age: 30s

Occupation: Membership Manager

Where in Philly do you Work?: International House Philadelphia 3701 Chestnut Street www.ihousephilly.org

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything seafood, Asian, or combination of the two. I used to live in Chinatown–I was broke and fat.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I’m allergic to carrots and they’re randomly in everything. I love all non-itchy food though.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Han Wool – hotpot. Asian seafood tofu stew goodness.

Midatlantic – smokehouse dog with saurkraut. HOME MADE KRAUT I will miss this place

Sunny Point (18th and South)- seitan cheese steak. I wish I worked closer but it’s good I don’t because their vegetarian stuff is the best I’ve ever had, as an omnivore. It’s such an unassuming little
place.

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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).

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