Polish Foods in Port Richmod

While my friend Brent was visitng a few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of enjoying two Polish joints nearby:

Syrenka Luncheonette at Richmond and Alleghany:

Delicious Polish food served up cafeteria style.  Completely authentic, and in a welcoming environment thanks to the staff willing to explain all of the food.

Pirogis, borsch,  and golapkis were all fantastic.  I believe the best way to order here is with little thought and just pick a few things that looks/sound good.  The adventure will pay off handsomely.

Syrenka is about low prices and hot delicious food.  This place doesn't have much going on besides that, and honestly, what else do you need?

Bottom line: For real Polish food, go here now (unless it's a sunday, or after 6. I failed so many times to eat here due to limited hours.



 Czerw's Kielbasy at 3370 Tilton St

Probably the most delicious kielbasy I've ever had, and I come from a Polish family.  Certainly in the top echelon.

Great selection, reasonable prices, and totally unique.  The food is good enough on its own, but visiting Czerw's (and learning how to say it) and an experience in itself.

For starters, I recommend trying the Bigos (Polish stew with a impressive number of animals included) and the smoked Kielbasy. 

Port Richmond Pour House

Short and Sweet:

This place is simple; and I like it.  Cheap craft beer ($4) and even cheaper bad beer.  There isn't any food, just a no frills bar deep in Port Richmond.  Friendly staff, a good mix of locals and hipsters, and a low key spot to catch some baseball.

Head bartender from Swift Half runs this joint.  Hot Dogs coming soon!

2253 East Clearfield Street

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

Slack's Hoagie Shack

I was checking in on a claim that Slack's has an excellent cheesesteak. Since Griladelphia went out of business, I've been craving a good cheesesteak place close to my house.

We ordered cheesesteaks while my mom was in town. She knew I'd be posting arrview, so she took notes as she picked up the food. The place was friendly and busy. There seemed to be a lot of regulars, and everyone behind the counter was at work on the lunch rush. Slacks has a pretty large menu, with subs as the main player, but wings, ect ect.

They charge extra for cheese wiz, which when talking about Philly cheesesteaks should be standard. Other than that, I was quite happy with everything from Slack's. The hoagies are pretty big, and everything here is reasonably priced. The meat is high quality, thin sliced and griddle cooked, as it should be, and it's clearly a good representation of a Philly cheesesteak. It's bigger, better, and cheaper than something you'd grab at Pat's or Geno's.

Bottom Line: There's not too much to say about this place. It doesn't blow me away, nor does it disappoint. Slack's doesn't do anything amazing, but it's a good cheesesteak, and I now know where to go when I need one.

Essentials:

2499 Aramingo Ave

215-423-4020

Avg Ent: 5-8

Cash Only: No

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

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

Pierogie Week at Green Rock Tavern

I was quite excited when I heard about Pierogie Week at the nearby Green Rock Tavern. Jonny and I visited for dinner on Tuesday night. Green Rock Tavern is a little corner bar on Lehigh Ave in Port Richmond. The bar is a quant little hang out. They have an old school dart board, and the place seemed to be filled with regulars. The draft list is nothing special, and there is no happy hour. The prices seem average, and the bottle list is halfway decent.

This week, they were offering different pierogie dishes matched with a PBC beer for $10. They were out of two different kinds of pierogie's, which I get it: They didn't expect to have the kind of demand they received. We ordered and received our dishes in a timely manner. Jonny had bacon, chive and potato, while I had "Farmer's cheese." We both had decent food, but six peirogies and a small side of kraut just isn't a meal. I wasn't about to order a second dish, either. The beer pairings seemed to be completely arbitrary, but to be fair, there isn't really a science to match those PBC beers with the food offered.

The service was fine and the bartender was nice. When we got our check, it said "Two dude under the highlife sign" on it. That was kind of funny.

Bottom Line: There's not much to say. Pierogie's weren't enough for me. The bar is nice, and if it was around the corner I could see myself going there more often. But it's not, so I won't.

Hinge Cafe

It's been far too long since I've written anything here. Holidays, cooking in, cold weather, and nothing too exciting on the restaurant front have all conspired against me trying out new places. I'll definitely have two new posts for restaurant week.

I went to Hinge Cafe for brunch on Sunday. I went to this spot months ago, and decided to try it out again. Despite its location on a weird block on Port Richmond, this spot was packed for Sunday brunch. We only had to wait a few minutes before being seated. It's nice to be able to have a good brunch spot close by without epic Sabrinia's-esc waits.

I had an omelet that was on special. It was filled with cheese, and several kinds of peppers and onions. It was a generous portion, probably a three egg omelet. With the side of potatoes, it was honestly enough food to fill me up for the entire day. Dining with my friend Bryana, she also ordered from the special board: eggs florentine. She had a similar assessment as myself; the meal was delicious and served in generous portions.

There are two factors that impress me the most about Hinge: The coffee is excellent and served continuously, and the menu is extensive. There were several great offerings on the board for specials that I didn't even take a serious look at the regular menu. I could easily come back here several times in the future and have a lot of good, different options. Hinge doesn't just do brunch, either, they have a good offers for all meals.

Bottom Line: Hinge offers quick service and meals at affordable prices. It makes a great brunch spot that is (for me) close to home. I've never been at night, but apparently Hinge also host small music events. It would even make a great stop for a coffee shop, as it has a few small tables up front and a bakery case filled with mouthwatering desserts. If nothing else, it's great to support this spot in a neighborhood that needs it.

$2 Tacconelli's pizza..

Maybe you don't know this, but Lana loves scratch tickets.  I bought one for her last night and she/we won $14.  I don't play the lottery often; therefore, I win even less.  So I was pretty excited.  Instead of wasting the winnings on more tickets, as I'm sure many people do, I proposed the idea that we should use the winnings for a trip to Tacconelli's next week.  In case you didn't know, this place is legendary.  You have to call a day a head of time and reserver your dough.  One guy makes all of the pizzas.  They are only open five days a week because they want to take a break.  It's pretty cool, and a total adventure, and some of the most delicious pizza you will ever have.  Want to join us?

Also, it's BYO, which is awesome.  There are often families drinking wine out of plastic cups (which is possibly the definition of kitsch).  Still, it makes for a good trip, and I'm sure I could find a good pairing for the pizza with one of the 14 different kinds of beer in the fridge at my house right now.