Midtown Lunch

• Tomorrow is the annual harvest festival at Reading Terminal
• The guys at Miga are opening up a much larger Korean rice bowl spot on 12th and Walnut [Meal Ticket]
• Federal Donuts (selling donuts and fried chicken) opened on Monday, here is a video checking out the space [The Feast]
• Tashan, the fancy Indian restaurant that recently opened, is now serving lunch with a $15 2 course plus sorbet deal [Foobooz]
• Yumtown Food Truck travels around serving a great pulled pork sandwich [Philly Phoodie]

Zio’s makes great pizza. But my favorite thing about this 13th Street staple comes not as a slice, but in ball form.  For under $5, a Zio’s rice ball is a perfect hot, cheesy, meaty lunch.

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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 Melissa, who isn’t  afraid of ordering off the kids menu.

Name: Melissa

Age: 24

Occupation: Receptionist at a real estate company, and blogger at Yum Marks the Spot

Where in Philly do you Work?: Rittenhouse Square

Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi, pasta, oysters, cereal, Vietnamese, breakfast sandwiches, and all dairy products. (I’m looking at you, cheese and ice cream!)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Raw chickpeas, bleh. And Dr. Pepper.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: I’m completely obsessed with the falafel at Mama’s Vegetarian (18 S 20th St). I’ll fight anyone that doesn’t think it’s the best falafel in the city. I also love Vic’s (2035 Sansom St). Their three roll special is unbeatable in taste and freshness for reasonably priced sushi. Thai Singha House to Go is also great (106 S 20th St). You can get two different dishes from their freshly-filled steam tables for $6. Can’t forget my old standby, LeBus (129 S 18th St). ALL of their sandwiches are awesome, as well as their vegetarian chili and cucumber dill soup. And if I’m feeling fancy, I’ll stop at Yogorino (233 S 20th St), and get a lil treat before I head back to work.
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Update 10/12/11: Ralph’s has just made some changes to the dinner and lunch menu so some of the things I ate are no longer “Midtown Lunch” budget friendly. They have, however, added sandwiches like chicken parm and homemade roast pork that are under $10.

With new food trucks and restaurants opening constantly, its easy to forget about the staples that have been around forever. At Ralph’s Italian Restaurant, started by Italian immigrants, keeping Philadelphia fed with good Italian cooking has been the goal for 100 years. Now, a long history alone is not going to win me over, i.e. Snocky’s. But the lunchtime crowd gave me a feeling there was more than just a beautiful story of the American Dream at play.

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• New Harmony is no longer the only joint with popping smoothies now that Tea Talk has come to town [Philly Foodie]
• 22nd and Philly did some impressive work eating at the Chinatown Night Market and live blogging their impressions [22nd and Philly]
• Brown Sugar Bakery serves smoothies to cure your every ailment, like Menopause or ADD [Foobooz]
• I NEED to go to a  Texas state fair at some point in my life [Serious Eats]