SteveR

Wasn't it on this Board that the person told the story of trying to ordered Chopped Liver on a Bagel and was told it was against Famous' policy to have Liver on anything but bread? I couldn't believe it! UNTIL a few weeks ago a waiter at another restaurant I go to - who works at Famous P/T confirmed that it is - in fact - the policy. Sunday and Saturday's at lunch seem pretty busy but 1/2 or less of the tables seem to be filled at Dinner. I've been once but haven't been back because I don't like to have half a sandwich the next day and the sandwiches are made for two! At least Honey's Sit and Eat offers a half sandwich with 8 ounces of corned beef on it (for $6.00 too!) Steve R

Thanks for report. I keep hearing great things about the food at Royal but everyone complains about the smoke. Gonna give them a few weeks to air out the place now that it's N/S and will try it. But I think Pontiac Grill may see me sooner. Steve R

Rich: they have one on the case at DiBruno's new store on Chestunut. Not sure if it's their own (probably is)or from a local bakery. Ianelli's on Passyunk also has one. I've gone there when Sarcone's is sold out. Steve R

Yep Sugar I';m sure and it's never crispy. My new fav is Lickity Split. Their plain slices are IMMENSE and for 50 cents more you get toppings. They have chairs to sit on too! And they actually are friendly! Okay, we are talking volume and value here (and convenience for me as I'm only a few blocks away.). But - as Rich says - this is not gourmet. It's the equivalent of a Kielbasi or Hot dog from a street vendor. Good cheap snack. Steve R

Great report Sandy! This was my first "tour" with the group and it was lots of fun! Hoping more join next time. Yep, I'm "heat adverse" but it helps balance out the group <g>. I think the "It tastes like Dominos" comment I made was based on the soft, thick chewiness of the crust. And It also reminded me of those greek pan pizza places whose name ends "style". One think you didn't mention that others by find helpful if they get the Wolf St. Pizza - though as we all agreed - you'd have to be within a mile to meet the PC criteria - is that the Wolf Street Special was so loaded with veggies and stuff that you really need a folk to pick up the inside point. Even though it cooked while in the box the crust was not crisp enough to hold it. (As compared to Celebre's White (Garlic deficient) Pizza which was firm. Further expansion on Celebre's tomato topped pie (which the other three of us found lacking in flavor and texture): The auce was the texture of Tomato puree rather than anything with texture. Finally, I think we all agreed that the folks at Wolf Street were certainly proud of their place and couldn't have been nicer to us. The wings and some complimentary waters showed the neighborhood touch. And, though we were on a Pizza run, we all commenrted on how delicious-looking and huge for the price the cheese steaks being made looked! We shouls also probably state that -for value - Wolf St. Pizza gave you a lot more for your money. The White Pie at Celebre's was $2.00- $3.00 more than the loaded Wolf Street Special. (Then again at Wolf St. we had to do a BYOC - Bring Your Own Chairs). I missed the last South Philly Pizza Club event but - living on edge of South Philly, I'm STILL looking for a good tasty thin crust pie - with anything besides HOT peppers - in South Philly. The journey continues. Steve R

I agree with Shalmanese. I would send a letter or email to the restaurant and ask them to reply. I've done that on occasion and usually hear back. Then share the reply with the group. There could just possibly be a reason - not sure what - and the restaurant will lose more business from bad publicity, so they really should reply. BTW, I went ti La Famiglia last RW and going back. It's a shorter menu but I had a small filet and large dessert sampler and heavenly gnocci. I'd never be able to do that for $30.00! And the BEST deals on RW are the restaurants that offer "Choice of any app, any entree and any dessert". There are a few of those. Lastly, there was a replyt mentioning RX. To my knowledge they offer the $25.00 3 course meal EVERY week - at least mid week. Am I wrong? Steve R

Speaking of Estia, did others notice that the "Best of Philly" award for Best Cofee went to Estia? Not sure what a cup of cofeee there costs but knowing how upscale it is the meal before that is probably $70. Can't you just see someone showing up there and saying "I'm jusr stopping in for a cup of coffee. I read that you have the Best in Philly. ;-) Steve R

RicH: The menu looks great - and it's too far for me to attend, but, like you I was looking for reviews. Interestingly, if you do a google search, the first full page is links to Restaurant.com and Ebay Gift certs ;-( I too could not find any reviews. Steve

Ops! Just read the other dates. the 27th will work for me or August 3rd. AS OF NOW. Steve R

← I'm in! Just put on calendar! Steve R

Uno's on 2nd St closed about 18 months ago and is now Kildare Irish Pub. Center City is Pizzerio Uno free. Steve R

See this article in this week's City Paper. Not sure I agree with some of them. But It's certainly relevant to this string. SteveR http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2006-07-13/food.shtml

And the Meat Dept on FIFTH St actually has better selection than 10th St and it's smaller! Steve R

I'd like South Philly and would PREFER a weeknight evening as EVERY weekend is full (well, for me at least). And, since I live on north end of South Philly, that's another bonus for me. Just comment on Center City. Going from NYPD on 11th to Mama Palma's up in the 20s, is a bit of a trek and you can forget about parking. Steve R

I think it's the 25th (Sunday). Unfortunately I can't make it. I'll make one of these. Preferably South Philly. A do better on weekday evenings. SteveR

Matyson is open Mondays!! Great place. Steve R

Hi All: i don't get here very often (Still trying to figure out how to navigate the EG Site. Anyway, I sent a note to Katie last week about a new DVD documentary on Trenton (NJ) Tomato Pies! I got a copy this weeek and finally watched it. Since I understand the Pizza Club actually did get to DeLorenzos on Hudson St., I thought you might want to know about the DVD. and the web site. First off, I'm a Trenton Native and lived there for first 1/2 of my 60 year old life. According to the film, there are only FIVE places near Trenton making Tomato Pies! How sad. Anyway, the film's web site has a printable map of Tomato pie places. I've only been to the two Delorenzos (No loger go to Hudson St as the wait for a pie (not a seat) is usually hours! (The oven can only make so many!) In case Katie did not post my info, here is the URL for the film. http://pieeyedmovie.com/aboutmovie.html Steve R

First, I want to alert anyone who is holding – or panning to purchase – a Gift Certificate on Restaurant.com for the Butcher’s Cafe at 9th and Christian not to plan on using it. They are not honoring them. I will be notifying Restaurant.com first thing Tuesday morning. Yesterday we came back from a most embarrassing experience at the restaurant and – based on the way the manager as well as the owner acted, I certainly cannot recommend dining there. A little “back story”: Last January or February we decided to go to The Butcher’s Cafe as we had a gift certificate. We had no problem using it but the food was poor and the service worse! I had read good things about it as the former Chef from Sabrina’s Cafe (across the street) had moved there. I posted our bad experience here and this was confirmed by others. It seemed the chef quit a few weeks earlier. Okay, a few months ago there was a post that he was back and things were good. We didn’t want to get burned twice (Sabrina’s has always been consistent as you can tell by the lines outside!). So when I saw a certificate on Restaurant.com in May for Butcher’s Cafe we decided to try again. The certificate did have restrictions clearly stated:” Total of Food must be at least $35.00. Must present certificate before ordering.”> That was it. It was a $25.00 certificate. Over the past week or so I noticed that they are still offering certificates for Butcher’s Cafe. They are the same $25.00 certs but for the new ones it says “Food must be over $45.00. Valid for Dinner Only.”. Okay, back to today. It was a holiday and I knew business would be slow so we went for a late lunch. First off, the place is not air conditioned (just ceiling fans) so we ate outside. The menu is priced slightly higher than Sabrina’s (which had folks waiting while there was plenty of room at Butcher’s). The waitress came and I said “I wanted to let you know we have a Restaurant.com gift certificate”. She said “Fine, just give it to me afterwards.”. So far so good. We would not normally spend $35.00 at lunch but figured we’d try the menu. We live in the neighborhood so we we’d probably go back. We tried appetizer, two platters and dessert. The food was good though the service could have been better. The own (Todd?) came by to ask how things were going and we said “fine”. The bill came to $36.00. We gave the waitress the check with certificate and a $20.00 bill, asking for change so we could leave a tip. Five minutes later the “manager” (not Todd) came running out waiving the certificate and saying loudly “We can’t accept this certificate. It’s only good for dinner.” I pointed out that not only did it not say that, but it said “must present before ordering” and we did that. He replied “well the waitress is new”. I explained that was not my fault and that we never would have spent that much – and probably wouldn’t have stayed – if we had known they didn’t plan to honor it. He said, I’ll get the owner if you want. I asked him to. Well he went across the street where “Todd” was standing and talked to him. Todd didn’t come over. He sent the “manager” (I didn’t get his name” back saying.” We don’t honor these certificates and we told the company. But – this once – we’ll take it. He said this loud and other customers looked surprised. We took our change (which he delivered with a curt “Have a nice day!” and left. I know that in the past some restaurants have had problems with Restauran.com as a company but in the few cases where they did, they did not blame the customer and handled it professionally. (Sabrina’s had restaurant.com in it’s early days selling more certificates than they agreed to but they honored every one of them and customers returned. I’d like to give you a review of the food but a dining experience is made up of food, quality of service, and atmosphere. The food was okay, though the service was slow and lackluster, and we’d probably have tried them again, but with an attitude like what we received in a public place today, I don’t think we’ll be back until the management changes again. Sorry for the lengthy post but I didn’t want others to have to go through what we did trying to use the certificate after following ALL the rules. Steve R