La Locanda Del Ghiottone

In a rare mood Friday night, I suggested and Italian dinner. When I saw how excited Emily got, I couldn't turn it down. Somehow, La Locando wound up on my short list of places to try out, and so we were off.

La Locanda Del Ghiottone is a cozy little BYO in Olde City. It's a plus that there's a good wine store only a few blocks away at 2nd and Market. The atmosphere is the most noticeable aspect of dining. It's small, loud, and and inviting. The tables are crammed together in a fashion that if you don't talk to the people next to you at least politely at some point, it's more awkward than ignoring them. The servers all work together and are excellent and almost nonstop. The servers also like to joke around, give you a hard time, and yell at the top of their lungs. If you're not in the mood, it could be annoying, but it's really all in good fun. When taking too long to order, the waiter asked me if I was "waiting for the executioner to come."

We started out with mussels as the appetizer. They claim to use a "14 year old secret sauce." It's no secret that it could use some improvement. White wine is the best base for mussels, and although we were severed delicious mussels, the red tomato sauce just doesn't cut it. These were, however, well cooked and sizable. It was a good amount for $9.

A regiment of specials compliment the regular menu, and they seem to be a great place to start looking for dinner. I remember hearing that he gnocchi here was excellent, so I chose that with Gorgonzola tomato sauce. The gnocchi is made from ricotta, and it truly is probably the best gnocchi I've ever had. It's rich and creamy, and the sauce was excellent; it complimented the pasta without overpowering it. The portion was perfectly sized. Emily was excited about the spaghetti carbonara. She order it sans bacon, and her dish was also great. Well prepared and tasty with a good mix of the ingredients. By the end of the meal, we were too full to take on dessert. I did see it from the table next to us, and it looked great.

Bottom Line: This place is a lot of fun. The food here is great, too, so it's not like you're just coming for the atmosphere. You definitely have to be in a particular mood to enjoy dinner. It's a great little BYO, and it has excellent prices for where it's located in the city and what you get.

Essential:

130 N 3rd St (3rd and Race)

215-829-1465

Avg Ent: 14-20

Cash Only: Yes

Reservations: Required

BYOB: Yes, no cork fee

Byrne's Tavern

I heard the wings here are fantastic, so I came searching. Alas, they don't live up to my standards. I'm sure there are people who will love the style of wings here. They are quite tender. They pressure cook the wings to get the soft, almost chewy consistency. The meat almost falls off the bone. I just don't love that style for chicken wings. The wing sauce isn't anything special, either.

I went with my good friend Dan to check out a hockey game and eat and drink. The bartender here was awesome, friendly and on top of his game. We were never left with a moment without a beer in front of us. The atmosphere here is what you'd expect. The clientele is mostly old, white, Irish Catholic blue collar. Everyone seems to be jovial, just trying to have a good time.

The beers here are also what you'd expect. National brews from the US and Ireland. The best thing here is Yeungling, so that gives you an idea of what you're getting into.

Bottom Line: The wings might be your style, but you shouldn't come here for the beer or food. It's a great place to meet real people, and catch a game. Nothing more than that.

Essentials:

3301 Richmond St (Richmond and Westmoreland)

215-634-8707

Hours: 11am-2pm

Wings: 7.25 per dozen (25% off Mondays)

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Never

General Lafayette Brew Pub revisited

Last Friday I made the drive out to General Lafayette to have dinner with my good friends John and Melissa.

Not too much has changed since my last visit. The brewery is still churning out some of the best small batch beer in the area. The atmosphere and service leave a lot to be desired.

I am writing with a new tip. Call ahead. We were hoping to take advantage of the beautiful weather and sit out on the patio. The whole first floor was closed for a rehearsal dinner. To add to our disappointment, John favorite beer, the mead, was out. We were shuffled a stuffy, loud room upstairs.

To start out, we had the homemade "pretzels" and mustard. The sauces were good, but these were little more than glorified breadsticks, and not very good ones at that. Despite my previous experience, I went ahead and ordered the burger. It was much better this time, but not incredible. It was well cooked, and made with good ingredients. The seasoning was questionable, but overall I had a decent dinner.

Bottom Line: Call ahead to make sure to check the available beers. Sitting outside is really nice in good weather. Eat before you visit, and expect shoddy service. The beer is still awesome, and I still recommend this spot.

Essentials:

646 E Germantown PikeLafayette Hill, PA 19444

(610) 941-0600

Avg Ent: 9-17

Cash only: No

Reservations: Yes, but not needed

Pizzeria Stella

Pizzeria Stella has been calling to me since it opened. I love a good pie, and my friend Quinn lives around the block. I was (an still am) thrown off by Starr's comments that good pizza isn't available in Philly. Tacconelli's has always been a special treat for me, and it's widely considered some of the best pizza in the country, not just Philadelphia. Is Starr just pimping up his new place? Or does he really believe that if it's not under his watch, it's not that good? I may never know.

For an appetizer, Quinn and I split arancini. It's a creamy, buttery, mushroom risotto rolled into a ball, lightly breaded and deep fried. The outside has the texture of hushpuppy. The contrast of the fried outside and the delicious pasta inside truly makes a great dish. I don't remember having arancini before, so I don't have anything else to compare it to, but this was a great way to start our meal.

Stella is likely the fanciest pizza you will find in Philadelphia, and truth be told, it is some of the best. My mouth is watering a bit just thinking about it. They are small, at 12 inches in diameter. Much has been made of the pistachio pizza, and I was quite happy with our decision to split it. It is a white pizza topped with chopped pistachios, red onion, fontina, and olive oil. The combination and ratio of these toppings was great, and having nuts on a pizza tasted completely natural.

Our second pie was the Piccante: capicola (prosciutto-like spied and cured ham), provolone, crushed red pepper, and tomato sauce. The sauce is great; sweet and tangy, but still only a compliment to the other toppings. This pie was good, but the capicola was much too salty, and seemed to dominate the whole pie. Quinn disagreed with me though. The Piccante was her favorite, while I preferred the pistachio.

Sadly, the beer list here is weak. The beers are either not very good, overpriced, and in some cases, both. I'm interested in how Starr's beer garden shapes up. The rest of the menu is rounded out with twelve pies in total, and there should be one that would please any palate. Menu can be seen here. The service and atmosphere are right in line with Starr's other locations. The open kitchen where the pies are made and the prominent oven are gimmicky. But they're cool gimmicks nonetheless.

Bottom Line: Pizzas are small and expensive, but delicious. The outdoor seating here makes this a great summer or spring dinner. You'll drop around $50 for two without drinks, but it is worth it. The pies are really great, and the medley of toppings is a real treat.

Essentials:

420 S 2nd St (2nd and Lombard)

215-320-8000

Hours: M-T 11:30-10, F 11:30-11, Sat 11-11, Sun 11-10

Pies: 10-17

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Not accepted. They take a cell phone number when you show up and let you walk around until your table is ready

Morning Glory Diner

I wrote off Morning Glory for a while. I think it's because the menu mainstay is the housemade frittata, and over the last year or so I've made some awesome ones at home. So why would I go out to eat at a place that doesn't do anything that I can't do myself? That thinking was a mistake. I brunched with Bryanna last Saturday.

Fair warning: Weekend Morning Glory can cause epic waiting. We were seated in about twenty minutes, which isn't bad at all. The weather is approaching where they can open up the back patio, which is great asset.

My visit reminded me that I love so much about this spot. Coffee is served in stainless steel mugs. They have delicious homemade ketchup. The biscuits served with the meal are thick and buttery, and can be topped with jam. And the rest of the food is fantastic. I ordered a frittata with cremini, portobello, and shiitake mushrooms. I loved every bite, and it was a filling meal. Bryanna had the breakfast sandwich, claiming it was her favorite in the city. It's served on some seriously awesome foccacia.

The service here was pleasant, and the prices are right in line with any diner/brunchery. The menu has a lot of choices, and there are daily specials to supplement the choices.

Bottom Line: Morning Glory is excellent. It's near the top of my list for favorite brunch spots.

Essentials:

735 S 10th St (10th and Fitzwater)

215-413-3999

Hours: M-F 7-4; S&S 8-3

Avg Ent: 7-11

Cash Only: Yes

Reservation: No, sign the sheet when you arrive

New Wave Cafe

It's really confusing to me that there are two New Waves Cafes in Philadelphia. It's pretty funny since one is a restaurant in Queen Village and the other, a Polish dive in Port Richmond. I visited recently with a group of friends for lunch. I love that we are painfully out of place. Most people are middle aged and speaking Polish. And even though we're not the normal clientele, the waitress/bartender was very nice. It's almost like mom is serving you, assuming mom is very Polish.

They have several polish beers on tap and in the bottle. I had a pint of Okocim at $3, and it tasted about as good. My first visit here a year ago, I had soup, and it was delicious. But since I had borsch for dinner the previous night, I decided to order potato pancakes instead. These were good and crsipy, but nothing spectacular. There are much better options on the menu. We ordered several different kinds of perogies. Everyone ordered fried, and they came out with perfect consistency. The cheese and potato were good, but a bit bland. I enjoyed the mushroom ones more, and really loved the suspiciously labeled "meat" perogies. With a little sour cream on top, all of the perigies were a great choice. We also had an order of kielbasa. Topped with (presumably) homemade mustard, this was fantastic. I'm fairly certain I could eat anything off the menu here and be happy.

Bottom Line: I love eating here. You're thrown off by the brightly painted, beach themed sign out front. It's usually pretty empty, and soccer with Polish commentary is liking playing in the background. You can eat for under $10. And all of the food is made in house or locally. And delicious. It's kind of a trip to step right into the heart of Polish Port Richmond, and it's a lot of fun.

Essentials:

2620 E Alleghany Ave (Between Richmond and Aramingo)

215-634-3224

Avg Ent: 5-9

Cash Only: No

Reservations: No

Good Dog

More than one year had passed since I visited the Good Dog before my recent lunch. Good Dog is surrounded by bunches of other good bars, and becomes crowded during the evening and weekends. I know that people rave about the burger, but it's usually not enough to entice me to visit.

The real problem is that I forgot how delicious that burger it. In most cases, it deserves all of the hype. In case you're unfamiliar, Good Dog stuffs their delicious burger with cheese. And there are few feelings more satisfying than biting into a burger and having blue cheese ooze out of the middle. To make the experience even better, Good Dog serves a generous portion of delicious sweet potato fries. My only complaint is that my burger was slightly undercooked, but not enough for me to want to send it back. And while a bun might not be important to some people, I love that the burger is served on a fluffy, buttery roll. The burger and fries was more than enough to fill me up for lunch.

Good Dog understands how to maintain a good beer list. During my lunch I had Furthermore brewery's Makeweight, a Belgain IPA. Having never heard of this brewery, I was really impressed with this delicious beer. There is always a nice mix of local and other domestic beers. Curiously, they always seem to have Southampton Double White on tap.

Service here and atmosphere are average. I recommend visit during the week for lunch, and even then expect a decent Center City rush during your meal. I honestly can't comment on any of the menu besides the burger, because I've never had anything else, and I never will.

Bottom Line: This is a good bar, serving one of my favorite burgers in the city. As long as I'm heading down to Center City for work, this will be one of my top options for lunch. Their solid beer list only supports the cause.

Essentials:

224 S 15th St (15th and Locust)

215-985-9600

Avg Ent: 9-15, Burgers: $11

Cash Only: No

Reservations: No

Monk's Spanish Flies: The hottest wings in Philly

I like spicy food. Generally, when I order wings, I ask for the hottest ones without a second thought. I'm here to tell you that if you are like me, and decide to go to Monk's, you are about to make a mistake.

The culprit (Photo by Dave Hong)

These wings are painfully spicy. I was dining with my good friend Callen, and we had a great night. It's fantastic to get someone who regularly drinks Miller Lite to enjoy a Delirium Tremens. As usual, the mussels here were fantastic. This was also my first time sitting at the back bar, and I love the atmosphere back in that little room.

The wings are a slowly growing fire in your mouth, and it sticks with you. One of the worst things is that if you have any other food or beer, you can forget about tasting it. Luckily, I saved the wings for last. By the end of the six wings I ate, I was visibly sweating and involuntarily crying. I'm not sure if that's embarrassing. These may be the hottest wings I've ever had.

Bottom Line: If you're looking for a challenge with incredibly hot wings. Stop by Monk's. Order these to go. Then take them home so people don't see you cry.

Essentials:

264 S. 16th Street (16th and Spruce)

215-545-7005

Spanish Flies: $8.50
Avg Beer: 6-8

Cash only: No

Reservations: No

The Abbaye's "Speed" Lunch

Shame on me. I keep going to the Abbaye, despite knowing what I'll inevitably encounter. Yesterday Dan and I hit up the Abbaye for lunch. We waited for about five minutes for beers. We were not even offered the speed lunch menu; I had to go snag it from another table.

For beer, I had Atwater Voodoo Vader, and then moved to Phoenix Pale Ale. All of the beers were warmer than usual (think cask temperature). We both decided to try out the sliders and split an order of wings. The wings are advertised as Chimay marinated, but I didn't taste it. They were served with side of pathetic, watery blue cheese "dressing." All in all, they weren't terrible, but I wouldn't recommend them. The sliders, however, are a great value. $6 gets you two little sliders with one topping. They come with a side of fries, a pickle, and the Abbaye's fantastic dipping sauce. Considering the meal alone, I was satisfied.

But when my credit card sits on top of the check for ten minutes, it's poor service. Lunch was busy, but by the time we were trying to pay, there were only a few people left from the lunch rush. The word "speed" shouldn't be allowed in the Abbaye's lexicon. And while I'm complaining, let's talk about "Keep the Glass" night. Cool promotion. But having four taps from one brewery days after the event? I'm not interested in any one of those four from Manayunk brewery (Despite the face the Alpha Dog is surprisingly good).

Botton Line: The food here is generally great, and there's always a decent beer, but the service is subpar. Terrible Horrible. Ect, ect.

Essentials:

637 N 3rd St (3rd and Green)

(215) 627-6711

Avg Ent: 9-16, Speed lunch $5-7, served M-F 12-2pm

Cash only: Card accepted and ATM on site

Reservations: No

Tommy DiNic's and Flying Monkey

My good friend Brent came into town and we hit up our old favorite, Reading Terminal Market for lunch. While there are so many good tried and true options for lunch, I was tempted to try out a new spot. Tommy Dinic's serves up slow roasted pork and roast beef, and it is awesome. For the market, it's one of the better values for food. It's along the lines of John's Roast Pork, but also offers toppings. We had a roast beef sandwich is provolone and broccoli rabe. It's a unique sandwich that is delicious; RJD2 agrees. If you're a meat eater, this should definitely be one of your future stops at the market.

For dessert, I also passed on my favorite cookie stand and walked over to Flying Monkey for cupcakes. We had chia tea and peanut butter chocolate cupcakes. The frosting was excellent, but the cupcake was subpar. If you're going to charge 2-3 dollars per cupcake, I expect an all-around outstanding product. I did, however, purchase a double chocolate dipped peanut butter sandwich. This was incredible. Flying Monkey seems to offer mixed dessert, if overpriced.

It was a great trip to Reading Terminal Market, and I was glad to try out some new spots. This is an around great stop for produce, meat, cheese, spices, coffee, and prepared food.

Essentials:

12th and Arch

Hours: 8am-6pm, Sun 9am-4pm

A Full Plate

A Full Plate is a nice little BYO cafe in Northern Liberties. I met up with my good friend Manderson for dinner last week. But I'm having a hard time thinking of anything to write, because the overall experience is so...so....extremely mediocre. I hadn't visited in a while, because last time I was less than thrilled. This visit was no exception.

I do like the cool little vibe this cafe has going. It has a great atmosphere, and I like the friendly menu. Vegetarians, vegans, and glutenfrees will have no trouble eating here. Also, all of the food is fresh. The service wasn't great, but there seemed to only be two or three people working; weird for a weeknight dinner.

There was one fantastic part of the meal: The fries. We split a side of fries, which was a mix of hand cut sweet and regular potatoes. They were thick and perfectly cut. They were also a good compliment to my catfish po'boy, which had two huge pieces of fried catfish. Melissa ordered a salad that looked pretty good, but also pretty small. The prices aren't cheap, but they're not unreasonable either.

Bottom Line: I like that this place is BYO. There are also a few other place I'd rather go within walking distance. I know a lot of people who really love this place, so maybe you should talk to them instead of me. I don't see myself visit again. Honey's for dinner seems to be a much better option, and is also BYOB.

Essentials:

1009 N Bodine St (Liberties Walk)

215-627-4068

Hours: M-TH: 11-9, F: 11-10, Sat: 10-10, Sun: 10-3

Cash Only: No

Reservations: No

BYOB: Yes