Circles

When I walked up to Circles, I wondered why I was eating at a dumpy to-go joint. But surprise!, they have a pretty nice dining room just across the street. The food is still cooked at the original spot, and then covered with a plastic tray and carried across the street.

I was out with my friend Cambria, and we both ordered apps and entrees, which was more food than either of us could eat. The prices for all of that food were quite reasonable. Her app, the summer rolls, had a light and crispy skin and was much higher quality than normal spring rolls I've had elsewhere. I ordered the corn and tofu fritters with lump crab dipping sauce, and these were awesome. It sounds like a weird app, but the somewhat bland fritters provide the perfect accompaniment to the crab sauce.

The place is veg friendly, but neither of us explored these options for dinner. All of the choices are available in four spice levels; medium, mild, hot, and Thai hot. I went with hot, and it was manageable and good (which means I wasn't sweating). Maybe next time I'll bump it to the top level.

For my main, I opted for the Chicken Pumpkin curry, and it was awesome. Just the right blend of spices, the pumpkin flavor was subtle, and the dish was enough food for two days. Cambria ordered a simple pad thai and really enjoyed that choice as well.

Even though the dining room is quite new, it doesn't have too much atmosphere. The service was okay during dinner. Nothing much going on in either of these departments.

Bottom Line: It's a bit far for me to be a regular, but the food here is good. Circles is a solid BYO, Thai place and has great prices.

It's at 15th and Tasker.

Liberties

I'm afraid that the secret will get out about this place. Because on Mondays, they have an order of wings and a pitcher of (admittedly cheap) beer for $10. Liberties isn't great, but that's paradoxically what makes it good, especially for Northern Liberties. This is a low key spot, and the beer is always cheap, Rolling Rock pounders go for $2 and Kenzinger pints are only .50 more. I ate here with a bunch of friends, and its a good place for a group. It's not overrun and there's a bunch of space. Several flat screen TVs pump out sports in HD.

The food here is just okay. My friend Chris ordered a Bacon cheeseburger, which came out piled high and looked awesome, but ended up tasting average. The wings were okay, but great for the price. I ordered hot but was disappointed by the lack of heat. There isn't much atmosphere here, but its a small time joint seemingly filled with locals and served only by one bartender, who is chill and accommodating.

Bottom Line: Liberties is a breath of fresh air from the normal No Libs joints. That doesn't make it great, but I reward points for challenging the status quo.

It's at 2nd and Fairmount.

Old City Coffee

Great treats and coffees. It's pricey though. I ordered the old city malted milkshake, and it was awesome, but I think my $6 could be better spent elsewhere. Still, this shake has perfect consistency, and was made with two shots of espresso. I'm sure I drank it much more quickly than I should have.

The atmosphere here is okay, but I wouldn't make it a normal coffee shop for myself, even if I lived close-by. It's not the most cozy. The owner was working when I went in and she was nice. I was out with a few friends and we shared the chocolate chip cookie. It was pretty good, not amazing.

Bottom Line: This place is fine. They have some fun coffee inspired shakes, and tasty baked goods. Just nothing that stands out.

221 Church St (between 2nd and 3rd, market and arch)

Llama Tooth

I hope this place survives. It's quirky, but I like it. There is a beautiful outdoor space where you can eat if it's nice.

The menu doesn't have much of an identity, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot of good options. I guess it would fall under the broad and unhelpful classification of "New American."

The owner really worked on getting a good beer list going, which I appreciate. I do take a few issues, however, like Kenzinger and a 10% imperial stout from Duck Rabbit are both $6. The beer list isn't up to date either, so in our first round of drinks, two of our choices weren't available. These aren't huge issues though.

The food is reasonably priced and quite tasty. I have a hard time ignoring a Cuban sandwich on a menu, so I opted for that. While this is unlike a traditional Cuban, I still enjoyed it. My baguette came out topped with pork, thick slabs of bacon, cheese, and a pickle. The flavors really combined for a great sandwich.

My friends John and Allie both ordered burgers, hers lamb, his beef with bacon, and blue cheese. John's burger had the same thick slabs of bacon as mine and was cooked as ordered, medium rare. His burger also had "blackening spice." Neither of us knew what this was, and he commented that it may have been a bit too strong for a few bites. Allie remarked that her lamb burger was made of flavorful meat.

All our dishes came with fries, John and I went for the sweet potato variety and these thick cut fries were well made and hit the spot.

We were dining inside, and the atmosphere is a little bare. The music played is also a bit weird, but none of this distracted us from our dinner. The service was quick throughout the night, and the owner and chef came over and checked to see how we were enjoying the meal.

It's on Spring Garden between 10th and 11th.

Bill and Krissy's Place

Bill and Krissy's place feels like a forgotten roadside diner on an old US highway. The atmosphere, the menu, the attentive service, mediocre coffee; all of these remind me of the quintessential roadside diner. And the prices! It's all an homage to another time.

I ate here with my friend Rachel for breakfast, and we both really enjoyed ourselves. The menu is really basic; french toast, pancakes, and egg platters are the only breakfast options. Lunch offers similar commonly found fare.

The food is by no means amazing, but it does hit the spot. I ordered an bacon cheese omelet, and I was happy with it. It came with toast and a tiny order of hash browns. Rachel got eggs sunny side, also with a generous serving of bacon. We sat outside on a wonderful morning, and both Bill and Krissy came and checked on us during the meal.

The bill for the two of us came to $13.40. What the heck, that's fantastic. As we were leaving, Bill rushed out to our table with a novelty slot machine. He insisted that we pull it and if we hit the jackpot we'd get a free dinner on the house. If that's not a great unique touch; I don't know what is.

Bottom Line: The charm and effort of the place, along with the rock bottom price, make it a worthwhile venture. You'll never have a wait for a table, even at 11am on the weekend. Unless, that is, people get wise of this location.

2723 E Cumberland St
215-275-1303

Stahley's Cellarette

This place is by no means worth going out of your way for, but if you are nearby, it's certainly worth a stop. Stahley's is cheap. Really cheap. Sandwiches start at $4 and a pint of Yuengling was $1.75. In addition to the beers, they have birch beer on tap, which was really enjoyable.

The service was great; it was like my grandmother became much more sassy and was serving me lunch. I ordered the namesake sandwich, the Stahley's Cellarette. It was an odd sandwich; ham and cheese on a roll topped with pickles, peppers, and tomato sauce. I don't think the flavors complimented each other in any way, but at $4, I was happy with it. I ordered sweet potato fries on the side and they were pretty good.

I was out with my two friends Liz and Emily. Emily ordered a tuna melt that was piled high with enough tuna on it for two sandwiches. Liz went for the buffalo chicken sandwich which was also pretty big. Their sandwiches were also just average.

The atmosphere is pretty fun. Lots of locals, people who have probably been coming here for years upon years, kids running around, neon signs for all of the worst beers: it all combines into an oddly charming environment. Most of the bar patrons were closely following the state little league game. The whole place was quaint and simultaneously divey.

Bottom Line: The food is pretty average, but this is still a fun joint and you will definitely get your money's worth.

The Institute

I'm shocked I haven't written about the Institute, because I've been here tons of times.

There's a lot to like about this bar: It's close to work (for me). It's got a chill atmosphere and is never too crowded. The beer list is good. The happy hour is every day of the week and features $2 off drafts and half priced apps. Most importantly, the Institute is always improving. The bar has expanded along with the number of draft lines, and the kitchen has always been experimenting and getting better ever since they started serving food.

I also finally had dinner here, and the burger is delicious. I'm pretty judgmental when it comes to cheese burgers, and the Institute was impressive. It was perfectly cooked to order, the meat was juicy and flavorful, and the toppings and bun are good quality. All of these are essential for a great burger.

I'll continue to hit up this joint and look forward to seeing how they improve. Maybe Quizzo?

Charlie's Hamburgers

Charlie's hamburgers is a traditional burger stand, the kind that used to dominate before fast food chains took over nearly every roadway in the US and the world. And for this simple nostalgic reason, I'd probably like Carlie's even if they served up mediocre food.

But the burgers here are great. The grill man is a master. If you watch closely, you'll see him with a large slab of beef in one hand while picks off perfectly sized blobs and places them on the grill. The buns are also toasted on the griddle.

I ordered the two special burgers, the bunny special (tomato, lettuce, raw onion, pickles and cheese, and the Charlie special (fried onions, pickles, and cheese). The patties are on the small side, so I recommend ordering a double if you like a heavy meat to bun ratio.

The food isn't amazing, the beef is average, but the Charlie's serves up a gooey, messy burger that truly satisfies. The two burgers I ordered came out to just over $5. I've heard the milkshakes are good, but I can't bring myself to pay for them at $4.35. They don't have a deep fryer, so there aren't any fries.

This place looks more like someone's living room with an indoor grill than a restaurant. It's small, there's lots of locals, but the staff will quickly take care of you and get you fed. If you get the burgers to go, they come in little wax paper sacks, which I found oddly charming.

Bottom Line: It's a bit outside of the city, but if you're headed to/from the airport, it's not that far out of the way. It's a classic American burger stand, and I like it simply for that. But the burgers also hit the spot. Closed Tuesdays.