Midtown Lunch

Today Morgan is reporting on the :gasp: vegan pizza at Blackbird.

Blackbird pizza occupies the space that used to be Gianna’s grill. But, unlike Gianna’s, everything on the Blackbird menu is 100% vegan. Gianna’s used to be that perfect middle ground: a place where vegans, vegetarians, and their meat-eating friends could come together and fill up on pizza and sandwiches. However, that era has ended so I grabbed a couple of friends and headed out to see what Blackbird has to offer.

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Photo courtesy of Drawing for Food

• Thrillist spreads the word about this guy who does deliveries of home made soups [Thrillist]
• And more local homemade info: you can get fresh tofu at Viet Tofu [Mac&Cheese]
• Hummus alert: Falafel Bar has opened at 1513 Chestnut and Zaffron Hummus Bar is coming to Liberty Place at the end of the month [Foobooz]
• The New York Times admits that Philly has some great restaurants, including Supper and Barbuzzo [NY Times]
• The soondubu looks hot and spicy at Koreana [Drawing for Food]

Freshii opened this month, with the official grand opening last week. I took advantage of the grand opening specials and tried a fresh healthy salad and two of their rice bowls.

At Freshii, you can chose from premade Chef’s selections, which makes it super easy, or you can create your own. If you are a food ordering O.C.D. perfectionist like me (This is a serious condition. I constantly have anxiety about ordering the best things on the menu wherever I go. Luckily, it usually ends up working out for me and the people eating with me) you might end up spending way more time than you planned picking the perfect combination.

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This week I sent our bagel hungry Profiled Luncher Lauren to check out the veggie packed lunches at Picnic, mentioned briefly by Luncher Wayles

After almost four years at Penn, I had somehow managed to miss Picnic, a casual restaurant at the edge of University City.  Finally, two friends and I braved the cold and walked the daunting eight blocks (a serious endeavor for a weekday!) for a late lunch.  Picnic offers a selection of daily specials that include soups, sandwiches, salads, and dishes from their refrigerated case.  For those who don’t have time to sit, they also offer “ready-to-go” items that can be quickly wrapped.  We decided to order one soup, one sandwich, and one salad to best cover the menu.

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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 Brad, who is seeking spicy food to put in his mouth when he isn’t fixing the mouths of others.

Name: Brad

Age: 28

Occupation: Orthodontist

Where in Philly do you Work?: Harleysville at the present time. My lunch advice comes from the 6.25 years I spent at Penn and Temple.

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Flan

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: It is absolutely impossible to go wrong with the Village Whiskey (118 S 20th St) burger. After extensive sampling of nearly every burger in this city, I have deemed this one to be my favorite.

If you live in Philadelphia and haven’t been to Han Dynasty (108 Chestnut St) yet, you have made a terrible mistake. Here’s what you are going to do: Take a party of 3 for lunch to Han Dynasty. Order the spicy cucumber and Dan Dan noodle appetizers. Order the three cup chicken as a main course. You will all share these three items. Pay the bill. Enjoy your newly fulfilled life.

Paesano’s II (901 Christian St) has, all-around, the greatest sandwiches in Philly. The Paesano and Gustaio sandwiches are to die for…well, maybe not to DIE for. That is a little extreme. They are definitely worth going far out of your way for, though.
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