Midtown Lunch

Chickie’s Italian Deli has been serving sandwiches since 1993 in the Italian Market. I could go into the history but instead I think you should put on some headphones and watch the Chickie’s “webmercial” and prepare yourself to be entertained like you never have been.

Did you watch it? I was kidding, but the video does sum up how family and neighborhood- centric this place is. A trip over there was long overdue.

Read more »

I was lucky enough to attend the NY Vendy Awards this Saturday on Governors Island. Check out the Midtown Lunch recap here.  I was really impressed with how many vendors were slinging their amazing wares. Saturday’s winners including a papusa and tamale truck (Vendy Cup), the best souvlaki I’ve ever had (People’s Choice Winner), korean tacos (Rookie Winner), not to mention the Jersey, Dessert, and Marker’s Mark categories. It wouldn’t be fair to compare Philly’s Vendy awards, since ours was brand new. So to all Philly food trucks, I hope to see you next year at our 2nd annual Vendy awards, lets show NY how outstanding our truck scene can be.

I mentioned last week that a new truck was joining LOVE Park. Due to some mechanical difficulties, last Thursday was actually their first day. They will continue to serve on their regular schedule now, Mondays and Thursdays. The Mini Trini truck is bringing Trinidadian food to Center City lunchers.  The owner also has a shop in Chestnut Hill, so she knows how to serve great food.  The truck is still waiting on its final touches to the facade, hence no truck picture posted since you should never take a picture of a lady without her makeup on.  I was, however, able to try and photograph the classic Trini dish- the double. Which is in no way anything close to the KFC double down.

Read more »

• Check out this Serious Eats slideshow of Philly’s top hoagies, including Primos and P&S [Serious Eats]
• Shaved noodles might be the way to go at Yummy Lan Zhou [Foodzings]
• Renaissance Sausage is looking to get back on the streets [Meal Ticket]
• Mac & Cheese likes Latin Farmer too… [Mac & Cheese]
• but Foobooz reports they are taking a break for a while [Foobooz]

This is a story of a business’s mistake that resulted in my favor.  A friend brought me to P&S Italian Deli, an outpost of the P & S Ravioli local chain that sells frozen pasta. This particular location is known for also serving some top notch sandwiches. I kind of didn’t accept this fact, mostly because I wasn’t in the mood for a sandwich and when my friend ordered a sandwich, I did not.  I was in a bad hoagie place. I had just been to Atlantic City’s White House hoagie shop, and it disappointed. Had I checked the internets and known this place had gotten a seal of a approval from Philly Phoodie, and very  recently, a mention on the Serious Eats slide show of best hoagies, I would have ordered my own sandwich. So when the take out sandwich was opened and we discovered that cheese was not left out as requested by my lactose intolerant friend, it was like the fates had spoken and I was meant to have the sandwich passed down to me.

Read more »

Whether from a truck, a cart, a hole in the wall, or a sit down restaurant with hipster waiter service, I like tacos. What I don’t like is paying a lot for them. Las Cazuelas, a Mexican restaurant in Olde Kensington, has found a perfect middle ground of authentic food, an unpretentious, homey-cute atmosphere, and low prices. And as it turns out, I ended up eating  a lot more than just their tacos.

Read more »