Around Temple University, lunch is best spent at a food truck. Beyond that, the campus is stuck with sad Chinese food places and bad pizza. Rachel’s Nosherie and Koja Grille are the main exceptions to that.
Plaza Pizza is one of those not so great pizza joints. But, among the regular sandwiches, cheesesteaks, and salads, one of their menu items is actually a hidden treasure.
Posted at 12:19 pm, March 22nd, 2012 under sandwiches, Temple.
Say Cheese is now in its second semester of serving their grilled cheeses from their truck on the Temple campus (and LOVE park on most Fridays). On the particular day I visited, the Temple art students had shown their love by crochet-bombing the truck with a color crochet bib. And if college students give the grilled cheese the seal of approval, they must be doing something right.
Posted at 12:12 pm, March 15th, 2012 under food truck, sandwiches.
Iron Tower Deli Shop opened up 2 months, bringing some competition to QT’s banh mi monopoly in Chinatown. Besides the Viet sandwiches, the small menu focuses on French and Vietnamese food including crepes, rice pudding, fresh juices, peppercorn duck pate, and chocolate orange fudge.
Posted at 12:32 pm, February 9th, 2012 under Chinatown, sandwiches.
This week, Luncher John is at a Center City deli for big portions.
One block off Rittenhouse Square at the corner of 19th 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.
Posted at 8:11 am, February 8th, 2012 under deli, sandwiches.
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.
Posted at 11:14 am, February 6th, 2012 under Italian, meatballs, sandwiches, South Philly.
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).
Posted at 7:46 am, February 1st, 2012 under bbq, Comcast Center, sandwiches.
Bill’s is a laid back luncheonette sort of hidden on Sansom street. They serve breakfast and lunch during the week. Expect a slew of inexpensive sandwiches and some salads. There are a few tables to sit at, but they fill up during lunch time, so take out may have to happen. Bill also makes a different soup fresh every morning. I started with that.
Posted at 9:41 am, January 23rd, 2012 under diner, sandwiches, soup.
