Paloma

After a long hiatus (thanks grad school) I found some time to write about my best dining experience in a while.

Other than a bit of an identity crisis, Paloma is fantastic.  Honestly, it's been quite some time since I've felt compelled to tell so many people about my dinner.  Paloma defines itself as "Haute Mexican," while Zagat and Yelp both give a nod to French.  Honestly, it's a fusion restaurant that does have leanings towards Mexican with the glazes and spices, whatever you call it: it's damn good.

I dined at Paloma on a thursday night, and it was oddly empty inside; only two other tables.  Still, the decor is nice.  Steve, our server, has an excellent knowledge of wines.  Bring a few bottles and he'll be able to pair one best with whatever you order.  The service overall is fantastic.

During week days, Paloma runs a 3 course fixe prix menu at an even-better-than Restaurant Week $30. it's BYO to boot, so this is really one of the finest places you can dine on a budget.  Even the regular menu is filled with reasonably priced options.

I started with the mushroom flan and my date had the Caesar salad.  Both were great, just depends on how you want to start you meal. The portion on the salad was generous.

I had a 12 oz New York strip in a red wine reduction.  The chef recommends medium rare, and I heartily second that.  This dish is fantastic.  My date had the salmon glazed with hoisin and chipotle, which was also a really great choice.  Any dish will likely be of high quality.

Bottom Line: I can almost taste my food again by just writing this.  Bella Vista BYO offers delicious food with one of the city's best "bang for your buck" deals.  Get here soon.

763 S 8th St (at Christian)
(215) 928-9500
http://www.palomafinedining.com and on opentable
BYO: Yes
Cash Only: No

Stateside

(As this semester gets even more busy, I will neglect writing here.  But here's a recent snippet)

I'm really down with Stateside.  A good happy hour is one of the quickest ways to my heart, and Stateside has one of the best.  5-7 M-F the decent beer list, which is already reasonably priced, is half off.  To top it off, dollar oysters are served up by the plateful.

The atmosphere here is pretty cool, they're going for the classy 1950s era where cocktails were king.  The bartenders are dressed smartly, and the whole concept just seems to work.

For the food, none of the small plates are large enough or tasty enough to leave a memorable impression.  It's good at the time; but that's about the best I can say.  I won't be back for a meal any time soon.

The staff is working out some kinks to this new place, and the space is small, but I'm down.  The new American tapas is an interesting concept, albeit a bit pricey.  At the very least, check it out for happy hour before this place gets mobbed.

*On Passyunk just north of Tasker St.

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.

Adsum

I made my way here with my good friend Quinn on a Sunday for a quick bite to eat. I heard Adsum has a great burger. So at 5:30 we walk in and are seated at the bar. Sunday happy hour, not bad: $2 cans of Yella Pils and Phoenix pale ale.

The atmosphere here is kind of cool, it's trying to be an old time pharmacy. There are beakers and test tubes, and book shelves behind the bar filled with all kind of gadgets and books. Even though we were there pretty early in the evening and it wasn't busy, the service was surprisingly slack. We were the only people eating dinner and it took about 30 minutes to get our orders.

The burger is served with cheddar, which is not my favorite cheese for a burger. It's congealed before you can finish. The caramelized onions, however, were an excellent topping. But the size of the burger was the most problematic. It more of a ball shape than a patty. It's nearly impossible to fit into your mouth. To boot, my burger wasn't near the medium rare that I ordered. The duck fat fries, which were served on the side, were good and crispy, but had no flavor indication that they were cooked in any special way.

Bottom Line: This place is decent and unique. The service needs a little work, and if I'm back, I won't have the cheeseburger. I'm not going out of my way to visit Adsum again.

Bibou

I don't often use the word charm when talking about restaurants, but Bibou exudes charm. This small, quant BYOB in bella vista is where Carly and I had dinner Friday night. Even with 35 people, this place would be packed. I love that Bibou focuses on the small details. The bathroom was really nice. The butter was imported from France. Our server was attentive and gave in depth explanations of thie entire menu. These little things cultivate a really nice environment for dinner.

We opted for some Cabernet Savignon to go with dinner. The menu here is set up in two courses, and there's a lot of excellent choices. We started with duck heats marinated with mushrooms. This dish had a lot of flavor, and the hearts were tender and succulent.

Main courses came out shortly after. Carly ordered the bone marrow special. Bibou only makes ten bone marrow specials each day, and when they sell out, thats it for the night. Pierre, the head chef, takes a cow bone and splits it down the middle. The marrow is scooped out, and then made into a delicious stuffing with mushrooms and breadcrumbs, and returned to the bone and roasted. Where else can you eat out of a bone? It also came with a side of some of the best roasted potatoes I've had in recent memory.

I ordered seared ahi tuna with cauliflower cuoscous with tomatillos and raisins. The whole dish was topped with a turmeric sauce . I ordered the tuna rare, and it was excellently cooked. My dish wasn't my favorite, but it was still way better than what I expect when I'm out to eat.
After dinner, Pierre had slow moment in the kitchen. He came out to each table individually and asked us about our meal and thanked us for dining with them. This simple gesture was really nice and wins big points in my book.

We also had dessert; a chocolate sampler. Chocolate mousse, a brownie thing and chocolate gealtto. Thses three different things were distinct and tasty, a perfect way to cap off our dinner.

Bottom line: This byob will impress you. Its an intimate place to grab dinner, not too expensive, and a real pleasure to enjoy. Hang around long enough to talk to Pierre and get the full experience.

Xochitl

Xochitl was my second pick for restaurant week. I don't know why, but this place has been on my list for well over a year. I met up with my good friend Quinn for a Friday night dinner. The menu was exciting, three course plus house made guacamole.

For starters, the drink menu here is decent. There's a large list of house cocktails, a small wine list (36-42 per bottle) and a small, but decent beer list. Drafts are Negro Modello, Dos Eqius Amber and Lager, and Victory Prima Pils and they're all $5.

Throughout the night, our service was just okay, but not what I'd expect of a restaurant this caliber. The one high point of the night though, is when a drink was spilled on our table, someone (the hostess, I think) came over within a minute to help clean up the small mess.

After we ordered our drinks, someone came over and made our order of guacamole table-side. He used a fresh avocado and then asked what we wanted to be added in. We had him add everything, onions, cilantro, some spices, and a few others that I forget. It was good, but certainly not the best I've had.

We split the two appetizers The "Cazuela de chorizo y papas" (casserole of chorizo, potatoes, and kale" sounded really excited but in reality was pretty bland. There's a lot of potential with these ingredients. The same can be said for our other app, the civiche.

The first main was pork tenderloin with Brussel sprouts and turnups. It was a little overdone for my taste, but Quinn really liked it. This dish was decent. Our other main was head on shrimp, and I liked this, but it still lacked a distinct flavor.

Dessert was my favorite part of the meal. I ordered churros and hot chocolate. The churcos were sweet and had a perfect texture. Dipping them in the chocolate was fantastic. Quinn ordered a coconut and quince pie. She liked it a lot, I thought it was okay, but I don't often go for coconut desserts.

Bottom Line: The whole night was good, but not remarkable. I'd rather go to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place than a fancy one, and I don't even think Xochitl is doing the best Mexican. Still, if you find yourself here, you won't be disappointed.

Devil's Den

Last time I went to Devil's Den I remember horrible service, okay food and 3 lines tapped with no replacements in sight. My last visit, however, was much improved. This place first landed on my radar for the happy hour. M-F 5-7 gets you half priced drinks. And that's on top of the already reasonable prices. For beer selection, Devil's Den doesn't disappoint. Even though I don't go often, they always have something new for me to try, and I really appreciate that.

The decor here is great, I really like this place and it has a great long wooden bar. There are a few large screen TVs. I went here to watch a hockey game, and while there was music playing all night, the bartender turned up the TV's audio all the way so I could here the game a little bit. The service here does need some work. Everyone just seems to be moving on a slower pace, but it wasn't horrible.

I like the menu here. Dan ordered a raw meat platter and he enjoyed that. It had a lot of interesting different pairings, and the only complaint would be that it wasn't very filling for $15. I ordered the burger, my standard go-to. I ordered a cheeseburger, but it came out without my cheese. It was a few minutes before I could even get the bartender's attention to get it fixed, but I got a free beer for the ordeal. No harm, ho foul. There was harm in how it was cooked. I ordered medium rare, and it wasn't even close. No part of the inside of my burger was pink. The bread is great, the fries are good, and its served with a great aioli. If it came out with my cheese and cooked to order, I would be pretty satisfied. I was also out with Quinn, who is a lover of well done burgers, and she was still talking about it a few days later. I'm definitely willing to give it another go.

Bottom Line: They have a great happy hour here, good beer selection, and reasonable prices. It's not amazing, but Devil's Den is a welcomed retreat, especially in winter when you cozy up next to the fireplace, which brings the whole place up a notch on a blustery evening.

Catahoula

I visited last night with my good friend Lauren. I heard about the "My burger" and wanted to check it out. Catahoula is a small, welcoming bar tucked away on south front street. The beer list has some good craft beers on tap; its nothing you won't around the city but even with six taps we were both able to find something to enjoy. Straub, Six Point, Dark Horse and Abita were all represented.

The atmosphere here is great. Its not a big place, but there a nice long bar with about six tall four top tables around the rest of the room. There are several large flat screens, and all were playing sports while we were eating. This would be a great place to causally catch a game if you want to escape the normal monotony of a sports bar. The service was good, and the bar tender was helpful and welcoming. I can't completely put my finger on it, but something about Catahoula is welcoming and inviting.

The menu here is great and I'd like to visit again to try some of the Cajun offerings. But the purpose of this visit was to try the "My burger." Its a massive 9 oz patty cooked to order topped with goat cheese, bacon a fried green tomato and some kind of aioli. I generally don't go for goat cheese on a burger, or in general, but I was really surprised by it. I highly recommend trying it when you visit.

Honestly, this burger has too much going on. I recommend getting something more simple. One of the reasons is because the meat is delicious. It's excellently prepared ground beef, and my medium-rare was as truly cooked as medium-rare can be. The bun was a large, squishy buttery role that was the prefect delivery method for the patty. The bacon and fried tomato were a little bit of flavor overkill. THe cajun fries served with the burger are strong and flavorful. My only other complaint is that at 9 oz, even I had trouble polishing it off.

Bottom Line: Catahoula servers a great burger, and I like this spot. It's a little more pricey than I would like, but I'm still going to make this a to go spot.

Taqueria Veracruzana

Following a lead on the best Mexican food in Philly, I wondered in here for lunch on New Years Eve with my friend Rickey and his sister, Ashley. I expected it to be a tiny hole in the wall that had only enough room for a table or two and served mostly take out. And while the atmoshpere isn't much, it's better than I expected. There are about ten tables in a small dining area, and we seated ourselves. After a few moments, a waitress came over with chips and salsa. We looked over the menu, which was larger than I expected. From what we ordered, and seemingly everyone else, the tacos seem to be the obvious choice.

Three tacos are priced at $6. There are several different choices on kinds, and mix-and-match is no problem. I had a hard time narrowing it down, but finally went with chorizo, stuffed jalapeno, and pork. They are all simple tacos, with the meat sitting atop small steamed corn tortillas and garnished with raw onions and cilantro. The pork was simple, unmatinated, but flavorful. I would order it again. The jalapeno taco was interesting. It contained one large jalepeno stuffed with cheese and then breaded and fried. It was a good option, and has a decent amount of heat to it as well. The chorizo was served in crumbles, and left something to be desired. It was my lease favorite choice.

Rickey and Ashely had steak and and chicken tacos, and they both enjoyed their choices as well. When we recieved our food, the platters looked quite small. I didn't believe that it would fill me up, but we we all left satiated thanks to the surprisngly filling tacos. Veracruzana also offers imported Coke products (glass bottles and real sugar) and this is a plus.

Bottom Line: This is great Mexican, hole-in-the-wall food. Still, I have my preferences for other places that are closer to me. I don't think it's worth going out of your way, but you certainly won't be disappointed either. The price is right, and it's a BYOB with a six pack store four doors away. Still, an hour after much lunch there was the distinctive flavor of Taqueria Veracruzana lingering, and I loved it.

Tamarind

I can't recall the last time I had Thai food. And I love a good Thai meal. And good BYO, and a decently priced restaurant. Enter Tamarind.

Quinn lives around the corner for this spot and had never tried it out. It was a perfect spot for us to hit before catching a movie. Before dinner, I did some research and found that a riesling is probably the best wine pairing for Asian food. I picked one up that wasn't too fruity, yet had enough flavor to compliment the relatively big tastes served up by Tamarind.

We only had a short wait on a Friday night. Once inside, we were seated quickly and the impeccable service began immediately. Before we have even settled down at our table they took our bottle of win and brought it back in a wine chiller. The atmosphere is nothing special, but enjoyable enough. It's a good place to grab food, but you're not going to impress anyone here either.

The menu offers a lot of different choices, and I could be happy eating here a few times without repeating anything. We split appetizers of the chicken spring roll and steamed dumplings to start out. Both of these offered a lot of different flavors, and they were excellent renditions of standard dishes. Neither did anything new or exciting, they were just good. And I like that.

Shortly after we finished our first course, the mains showed up. The first was a Tamarind Spicy Noodle dish with pork. I liked this a lot; with the pork stir-fried with red pepper and large noodles. It was the heavier of the two dishes we ordered. It was good, but the real star of the meal was Pad Wonsoon. it's a rendition of a standard Pad Thai dish, with chicken and shrimp. Overall, it's very tasty, with the dish complimented by glass noodles.

Bottom Line: Tamarind is not breaking new ground, but they understand their food and craft well. There's so much to like about Tamarind. It's not going to change your life, but they provide great Thai dishes at reasonable prices and a BYOB to boot.

Essentials:

117 South St (at Front)

215-925-2764

Hours: Daily for dinner, lunch also on Fri, Sat, Sun

Avg Ent:10-15

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Accepted

BYOB: Yes

Bridget Foy's

Wednesday night, $10 for a burger and a craft beer. You really can't beat that. And it's a great idea because it got me in the door at a place I would have never gone otherwise.

There's a lot going on at Bridget Foy's. Outdoor seating, a nice sized bar with a huge plasma screen, semi fancy dining room, 3rd floor function room, and weird 2nd floor overflow seating: they all converge here, somehow. The atmosphere isn't too much. As a restaurant, I think it's a little overpriced for what it is. That being said, the service is great. Throughout the whole night our server was nice and attentive.

The tap list is small, but crafted with care. Lager and Kenzinger are standard while four taps rotate respectable beers. I had the Stoudt's scarlet lady ESB, which went nicely with my food. I was visiting with Lulu, and she opted for a pumpkin beer, I forget the exact one.

There are several different burgers on the menu, and we opted to split the Head House and the New Mexico burgers. I'm usually a medium rare guy, but I have to admit the the medium we ordered was impressive. It wasn't juicy, but the medium cooking complimented the loosely packed and well flavored meat. The Head House burger, my favorite for the night, was topped with an egg, mushrooms and gruyere. The New Mexico was also good, with a little spice added by the chipotle aioli, roasted green chiles, and pepperjack cheese.

While the burgers are well-made, the choice of toppings is also a great craft and I applaud Bridget Foy's for working to have a few, thoughtful good cheeseburgers. They come topped on perfectly buttery roles that compliment the burger.

We were too full to have dessert, and I criticize the place for offering a dessert menu without prices, but our server brought out tiny complimentary slices of a chocolate cake that were delicious. If I wasn't so full, I would have liked to have a slice.

Bottom Line: With the general atmosphere and location of this place, it's not really my spot. The prices are a little high, but when you're selling your burgers that are normally 11-13 dollars at $10 with a beer, you can expect me to show up. Wednesday night: great burgers, and a decent spot.

Essentials:

200 South St (at 2nd)

215-922-1813

Hours: M-F: 8am-10pm, S: 9am-midnight, S:9am-10pm

Avg Ent: 10-18

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Accepted for dining room, not for burger night

Photo: Copyright © 2010 Unbreaded. All rights reserved. Please contact to request use. Credit: Michaelangelo Ilagan / Unbreaded

Royal Tavern

The "Royal Burger" is a hot item. If you don't believe me, steer over to the write up about it on Food Network, which calls it the best burger in the state. A more credible write up can be seen at A Hamburger Today. And if you still need more reading material, check Unbreaded. I needed to add myself to this laundry list of bloggers who have written about this famed burger.

I've been to the Royal a few times, and it's never struck me as a great place. The tap list is small, the prices aren't great ($9 for the burger is decent however), and the bar doesn't have much character. I went hoping the burger would be a reason to bring me in.

Before I finished my visit, I had another reason to avoid the Royal. I had the worst service I've experienced in Philadelphia in quite some time. Our drinks took far too long, as did the check. Empty glasses were left on our table, and I was brought the wrong beer. One or two of these may have been understandable, but the overall result was pretty poor.

I was dining with my friend Danny, and he ordered the chicken sandwich. He enjoyed it, but didn't really have too much to say, either. Nothing special. I was hoping that my burger would be something to rave about. On paper, it sounded fantastic: bacon, caramelized onions, smoked Gouda, pickled long hot peppers, and chili mayo.

The pickled long hot peppers had great taste, but they weren't strong enough to stand out with the rest of the flavors. That may be the problem with the burger; too many good flavors mixed together in a way that they just cover up each other.

The bun was thick and dense, and left a lot to be desired. I ordered medium rare, and it came out medium. The result was a dry burger, which wasn't even remedied by the chili mayo. I was underwhelmed by the burger.

Bottom Line: Not the best burger in Philadelphia, or even South Philly. Poor service and a limited beer selection leave a lot to be desired. I haven't been for brunch in years, but I remember liking this spot. They have a lot of veggie options. $17 for fish and chips is a complete joke.

Essentials:

937 E Passyunk (Passyunk between Carpenter and Montrose)

215-389-6694

Hours: 11:30-2am, opens at 10 on weekends

Avg Ent: 9-17

Cash Only: No

Reservations: No

Photo from: A Hamburger Today

Pope: Pub on Passyunk East

I recently revisited this spot. Because it's so far from where I normally hang out, I rarely make it here. The Pope is an all around solid spot, and I'm sure I would visit a lot more if it was closer to me. Everything that they do is well done, but nothing stands out as excellent.

For atmosphere, this place is dark and cozy. If you're visiting during the day, expect to be blinded as soon as you walk out the door. The bartenders are friendly and attentive. The beer selection is very good, even by Philadelphia standards. They had a few beers that I hadn't seen on tap in the city or had not seen in a good while. It's nice to find a bar that can craft a good beer list in a city where standards are so high. They have one flat screen TV in the corner if you're trying to catch some sports.

For food, I had the Pope Burger. I'm drawing a blank on the toppings, I think I had a red onion, lettuce, tomato, and American cheese. I ordered medium rare and it came out cooked perfectly. While not the best burger in the city, it will certainly satisfy you. Dan ordered fish and chips, which he deemed best fish can chips value (at $8) that he has found in the city.

Bottom Line: Pope isn't doing anything amazing, but they're doing everything very well. You won't be disappointed when you visit.

The Latest Dish

The Latest Dish was on my list for a while. This weekend while my Mom and Charlie were visiting, we had a chance to dine here. The dinner was my thank you for all of the hard work around and on the house, and my good friend Quinn met up with us.

This unassuming spot is right off South Street. They have a decently sized bar with a surprisingly good beer selection. I started off with one of my favorites, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, and then moved on to the wine that we split as a table; a nice white out of California. In addition to the beer list, The Latest Dish has a good selection of reasonably priced wines. I really like the decor and atmosphere of this place. Pounded brass tabletops are complimented by the action of the open kitchen in the back.

Before we ordered, a loaf of bread with pesto olive oil was brought out. Mom loved the olive oil. As another starter, we ordered calamari. The perfectly cooked calamari came with a spicy chili sauce. This was a great way to start the meal. Mom doesn't love calamari, but even she enjoyed the appetizer. Even as a meat eater, she went with the vegan burger made up from black beans and mushroom. The large, crumbly burger was excellent, and she was really pleased with it.

I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich which came topped with caramelized onions, blue cheese,

and bacon on focaccia. It was huge, and I probably should have saved half for lunch the next day. It was too tasty to stop. The fries on the side were great as well. Charlie's chicken tacos were great. The side of guacamole was creamy and well made. The tacos were small, but they're really intended to be a starter.

Taking after their name, The Latest Dish has a great selection of specials. Quinn ordered off of the specials list and got a crab cake. The presentation of all of the dishes is great, and hers was no exception. She was happy with the dish, but it wasn't as flavorful as everything else I sampled.

Bottom Line: I really like this place. It's a great space, the beer, wine and food menus are all varied enough to keep me happy upon multiple trips. It's a great place for dinner, or just a drink. It's one of the best restaurants around for the price range, and the service was great.

Essentials:

613 S 4th St (4th and Bainbridge)

215-629-0565

Hours: M-TH 5-11, F 5-1:30, SAT 3-1:30, SUN 3-11

Avg Ent: 9-18

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Not taken

Percy Street BBQ revisited

I went back to Percy Street while Laura was visiting this weekend. I hadn't been since my first visit with Quinn shortly after it opened. They've made a few changes, tweaked the menu and the service. The quality of the food is almost identical, which is great. The beer list is still poor. I'm not going to rehash my review, you can read it here, if you like, but surprisingly, this spot isn't as good as when it first opened. The servers are great, but not as friendly as my first visit, and the menu has been changed around to offer fewer choices as sides, moving dishes like mac and cheese and chili under "appetizers." Either way, you're going to get more than enough food when you eat here, and it will be delicious.

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

SPTR

I've been to the South Philly Taproom a few times. I don't think I need to write an extensive review. I believe that most people who are likely go there already know what I'm about to write: It has some of the best beer and food under one roof in all of Philadelphia. And a cool vibe on top of that. On one of the quite snowy nights this last week, I went out with my friend Danny for dinner.

The beer list was great, as usual. I believe it was all American craft beer. There was a good selection of different styles, ABVs and regions in the country, which was awesome. I started with the Java Head stout from Troegs. This well made coffee stout paired well with the snowy evening. I had another drink, and tried a pair of Danny's, but I don't remember all of them. The beer list changes so often, that I don't really need to comment on what they were, because they're long gone.

One annoying factor was how dark and loud this place can get. Granted, it was a Friday night, but we had trouble reading the menu and hearing each other. Partly that was due to the incredibly drunk table next to us, which went from funny to annoying a few moments. This place is cozy but not cramped, and I usually love it here, but on this evening the atmosphere could have been a bit better. Our server did a good job despite the fact that the place was pretty busy.

The menu is a little small, but it's always accompanied with a nice amount of specials. We both ordered cheeseburgers for dinner. Before coming here, I've had the burger, and remember it being good. But it's more than that. It's excellent. Although paying $1 for the two small strips of bacon was a waste. Overall, it's one of my favorite burgers in the city. The bun and cheese are great, topped with lettuce, tomato and onion and special sauce. The meat is well seasoned and cooked. Overall, it's a great execution from every aspect. To boot, it's served with fries and pickled veggies. They serve it with a special "ketchup" which I didn't like, but you can get the real stuff by just asking.

Bottom Line:

I like this place for brunch, dinner, or just drinks. It has a great happy hour from 4 to 6. It's one of the best bars in the city. I just wish it was closer to my house. It's not getting the most outrageous lineup of beer, but I'd rather have a solid place that I can always count on. And that's exactly what SPTR is.

Essentials:

1509 Mifflin St

215-271-7787

Hours: 11am-2am

Avg Ent:9-14

Cash Only: No

Ants Pants Cafe

Lana and I used to love going here. It was a nice little place that no one seemed to know about, great coffee, and opens at 7am on the weekdays. It had been over a year since my last visit, so I was excited to go. I met with my friends Quinn and Nicole before we were going to head to a Penguins/Flyers game. This little cafe has a cool Australian theme.

It is really crazy on weekends. A space that is cute during the week quickly becomes cramped and uncomfortable. It was very busy, but that's not an excuse for the terrible service we received. I had to flag down our server even to get a refill of coffee, and we were never checked on after we got our food. I also remember the food being really good, and the breakfast potatoes (chips) blowing me away. The chips were a complete waste. Don't order them. They have a good range of specials, and the menu is varied enough to please almost anyone.

Bottom Line: The food was good, but not great. It's doubtful you'll even remember what you ate within a few days. However, there are several positive aspects of Ants Pants: The coffee here is great. They have decent grab and go breakfast foods, so it would definitely be a regular stop for me if I lived closer by. I'd like this place to be in my neighborhood, but it's too far away for me to justify the trip.

Essentials:

2212 South St

215-875-8002

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

Avg Ent: 5-10

Cash Only: Yes

Reservations: No

BYOB: No

Percy Street BBQ

Great minds think alike. As I was still digesting my meal from Percy St, Hatchy posted his review. It was nice to go out for dinner, because it's been about a month since my last post. Traveling/holidays will do that for you. I did eat some great food in Costa Rica, but the local food is nothing special.

When I first heard about this spot back in June, I was excited. People from Marigold were in charge. So I met with my good friend Quinn for dinner. and we arrived at 7 pm on a Wednesday. The place was busy, but not full. The atmosphere is great; big wooden tables and benches among other nice decorations. There weren't any two tops open. The hostess walked us through the restaurant and then pushed back two huge barn doors to open an additional seating area. Within ten or twenty minutes the area was packed and pretty hopping.

The menu is deep, but not wide. It's basically meats and sides. There is a lot of choices in those two, with sausage, brisket, chicken, pork belly and spare ribs. Many four to six dollars sides are available: pinto beans, vegan chili, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, German potato salad, collard greens and more.

The drink section of the menu is a little disappointing. There are several mixed drinks featuring sweet tea, and five to six dollar pints with local beers such as Brooklyn Brown Ale, Yard Philly Pale, Slyfox Rauchbier, Stoutd's Pils, and one rotating tap. There's also Yard's rootbeer, which looked interesting. Oddly, sweet tea isn't on the menu, but it's available in large 24 oz bottles for only $4. Considering the price and how well sweet tea and BBQ go together, I think this is easily the best option.

The service here is great. Sure, it's a new spot and they need to do a good job to jump start business, but the servers are enthusiastic, attentive, and quick. One thing that bothers me is people complaining about the authenticity of this joint. Maybe it's because I'm not a BBQ aficionado, or maybe it's because I realize I'm in Philadelphia and want to take this joint for what it is.

The best options for order here are the "all-in" combos. You can chose one or two meats and also two sides per person. If you have a table of four or more, you can really go for it and get all of the meats and sides at $24 per person. We went with the brisket and spare ribs for meat. The brisket is great, moist, well cooked throughout. It comes in small slices to make your own sandwiches topped with onions, pickles, and BBQ sauce. The spare ribs are also great. They're also excellently cooked, dryer than the brisket. The skin is excellent, nicely charred with great flavor.

Sides: Pinto beans were awesome. More like baked beans cooked with chunks of pork. The vegan chili would have been good if I wasn't comparing it to the pinto beans. The mac and cheese was creamy; nicely topped with breadcrumbs. Not nearly as good as baked mac and cheese made by the unbeatable Rashid-Kealey duo. The German potato salad was also impressive. All of the food ranges from good to excellent. I think it would be hard to make a bad choice. You get a lot of food here, I wish I would have had room for dessert. There are some pretty good choices, including a root-beer float with Yard's brew and homemade ice cream. Yum.

Bottom Line: Percy St slow cooks some awesome meats. The highest temp in the oven is 250F. They are serious about serving up some of the best finger food in the city. There's enough options and the quality is high enough to warrant repeat visits. South St is starting to develop a serious food scene. I just wish the beer list was better.

Essentials:

9th and South

(215) 625-8510

Hours: 5-11pm (currently)

Meats: 8-11, Sides: 4-6 Combos:15-24 per person

Cash only: No

Reservations: Recommended for busy nights