food in philly...

I've had several conversations with people since moving to Philadelphia about... how should I put it... the amazing averageness of most of the food the city has to offer. I'll go ahead and say it... I've had way better cheesesteaks in Birmingham. Birmingham definitely had better bar-b-q and even has better Thai food. There's no cheap Mexican food here... not like the stuff I'm used to at least. I feel like most of the transplanted Philly residents I've talked to have similar feelings. The food here costs more than I like paying and for the most part, its just mediocre. That said... I've been pleasantly surprised over the past few months to find a shining few exceptions. They definitely aren't going to top anyone's "must do list" for tourists, but if you just want some really tasty food at a fair price you should check out these places.

1. Hands down my favorite restaurant in the city... Que Chula es Puebla. From the moment Haley and I were seated and immediately served their refried bead drizzled tortilla chips I was hooked. The building is totally unassuming. It stands all alone in an odd little intersection of Kinsington / Fishtown with a plowed down empty lot on one side, and what seem to be abandoned or nearly abandoned buildings on another with row houses and corner stores rounding out the other sides. Nothing out of the ordinary for North East Philly. But inside there's the nicest people cooking up the best authentic Mexican food I've ever had. Chorizo, chorizo, chorizo... so good in whatever form you order it. I haven't talked to anyone that's been disappointed by this place... or who haven't gone back repeatedly. So good.

2. Ekta. I don't know the truth of how this place started, but all the stories agree that somehow the owners have connections to and had a fallout with the owners of Tiffin. I don't really care honestly, Ekta's food is delicious, it's not too expensive and if you're smart you can order one entree, which is enough to split and sometimes even have leftovers from, some non and you're set for under $20. Awesome.

3. Pichanha. Gene told me that he'd found the Brazilian section of town while looking for supplies for a Brazilian style BBQ he and Laura were having at their house (which was also very tasty). I was excited to go check it out. As soon as we stepped into the little grocery store way up on Castor Ave it was like I was back in Viçosa. No one spoke english, Guaranana was stacked to the ceiling and the butcher sold unbelievable cuts of beef at around $3/lb and chicken hearts by the bucket full. After getting the supplies we headed to Pichanaha for dinner. There are plenty of fancy Brazilian steak houses around... the kind you pay $50 for an all you can eat night of waiters bringing piles of meat to you table, provided you have the green card up. If you want to go that route, you can at Pichanha though I'm almost certain you can do it without the $50 price tag. But the smarter way to go is to grab a plate and go down the side buffet and load up on traditional Brazilian sides... rice and beans that are so much better than any I'll ever be able to make... and at the end of the line tell the grill man what kind of meat you'd like to try, he'll give you the cuts you want then weigh your plate and you only pay for what you want. If you want more, just hop back in line. I had a pound and a half of food for $12... which was definitely all I could eat. This place is definitely not the easiest to get to, but is definitely worth the trip.


food from Pichanha

I love that none of the food that's becoming my favorite in Philadelphia is traditionally Philadelphian. Next on the list is Ethiopian food in West Philly and hand made perrogies in either Port Richmond or Manayunk.