Buckethead

North 3rd is a great place, but of course not in old city. The Black Door is a great place for happy hour, and their fries are among the best I've had in the city, though they are a little uneven. Better than Monk's or Eulogy, at any rate. It's slightly south of Old City (2nd and Bainbridge), but if you usually go to Ten Stone it's easy to get there, just keep going down South st.

What does heads-up signify? I've only stiffed a server once in my life (unless you count the one time I left without paying the bill), at a truck stop we used to frequent in school. All she had to do was keep our coffee filled, or at least refill it once every half-hour or so. She preferred to stand at the cash register and stare off into space. It's not like the coffee machine gets backed up! We left a quarter so she'd know we didn't just forget. So what I'm saying is that your standard for not leaving a tip should probably be pretty high (or low, I guess), but once the service has gotten so bad to meet that standard, don't feel bad about it.

I've only been there once and see no reason to go back. Service was slow and uninterested, my tacos were dripping tablespoons of grease and were no good anyway. Plaza Garibaldi is better in every way. How La Lupe got two bells is beyond me. If Meze (which isn't that far away and is awesome) got two bells, La Lupe maybe deserves negative bells. Ugh.

Two people can spend $15 at Alyan's (on 4th St. 0.5 blocks south of South St.) and leave satisfied. For $25 you would have a feast. We usually split the falafel platter, fries (with fried onions on top), and another appetizer and pay $15 and change. It's BYO if you want to bring something.

If you want to dive right in and throw down with a couple other bakeries, I am pretty sure there is retail space available right now on the northeast corner of 4th and Bainbridge, which is one block south of South St., right near tons and tons of foot traffic, especially hungry foot traffic (Jim's Steaks is at 4th and South). That's across the street from the aforementioned Pink Rose pastry shop, and catecorner from the Famous 4th Street Deli, known far and wide for their chocolate chip cookies and their carrot cake. It's also across the street from Southwark, one of the two best restaurants in that area. It would be a veritable mecca for baked goods!

I agree with Katie. QV is not really a foodie neighborhood (though we do have Dimitri's), but it's central to so many other places that are. I can walk 5-10 minutes and get to so many great places: Southwark, Gayle, Pif, Sabrina's, Latest Dish, Overtures, the Italian Market, blah blah blah... Of course, if you're looking to buy a house in the city, QV may not be the best place. Home prices around here are kind of inflated right now, though they seem to be coming down lately.

They are open again now, and it is great. I had never been there before. We were chatting with our server before we left (it was late, the place was empty), and she said that they have a new chef now, but I didn't find out how long he's been there, so I can't say whether he was there before the renovations or not. Anyway, he does a stellar job. I heard that LaBan gave it two stars a couple days ago, he was not mistaken. The prices are very reasonable, as well. We had three apps, one entree (the Cypriot Ravioli, oh man was that good), two desserts and coffee and I think our tab was $45 without tip. Next time we'll probably do the Meze prix-fixe thingy.

And you get other people's saliva as a bonus fixin! Dee-licious! Haven't been back to Maoz since that incident, and doubt I ever will. But Philly Falafel sounds good; I'll try to head over there when I'm in town later in the month... ← Uh, hmm, ok, that kind of totally negates the benefits of the fixins bar.

I'd be interested to know how it stacks up against Alyan's. For $7 or whatever they charge, their falafel platter is some of the best bang for your buck eats that I know of. While Maoz's's falafel is inferior, their pitas are sturdier than Alyan's, making for a better falafel sandwich, and I like that you can build your own sandwich from the fixins bar.

For what it's worth, someone I know talked to someone at Gayle about the cramped seating and apparently they did not add any seats to the place, they just made the tables bigger. So that's why it seems more crowded.

The Blue Sage is also nearby, in Southampton. It is also vegetarian, but in my opinion is much better than Horizons. They seem to be going for a different audience, though: Horizons seems to cater to more hardcore vegetarians and vegans, while the Blue Sage is more of a place where veggies and their meatosaurus friends can all have a great dinner, though it may not be quite as healthy as Horizons. the Drafting House is good also, but I like their Exton location better than the Spring House one.

I went the second day they were open and didn't have to deal with any of the crowd issues, thankfully. I also didn't notice a smoky taste in anything that wasn't supposed to have it, maybe our meals didn't need to be kept warm. The food is excellent, though. We had the beef croquettes and the risotto fingers, both were outstanding. Our entrees were a little on the small side, and not quite as fabulous as the apps, but still great. Did you bring a bottle of wine, or did they finally get their liquor license? We took our own bottle when we went since they weren't serving wine yet, and last I heard they were still waiting for their license. I don't know if you found out while you were there, but they do reservations and the prix fixe only Friday through Sunday (or maybe it starts on Thursday, I forget). Early in the week you can just walk in, and it's a la carte. Of course, whether you'd actually be able to sit down is another matter..

Morimoto is the best Starr joint I've been to, but if money is really, truly no object, they may want to try Barclay Prime. It seems made for people who are spending someone else's money, and from what I've heard, it's excellent. The menu probably won't be as interesting as Morimoto, though.

As chains go, the Melting Pot is pretty good. I've always had good experiences at their Wilmington location.

Be warned that the Standard Tap doesn't take reservations and no one at the bar will help seat you, so you're basically reduced to hovering over the other patrons, waiting for stools or tables to open up. That can be a problem on weekend nights with a group of more than 2 or 3 people, especially since the place is two floors. I'd recommend the Royal Tavern, but I've been told their chef departed recently and that the new one isn't up to snuff. Ten Stone (21st and South) is a really good place. The Latest Dish (4th street just south of South St.) has good food and good beers on tap, and you can sit at the bar or call ahead for a table, and it's just off South St., so there are plenty of other great places nearby for after dinner.

The food at the Black Door, just south of South St. on 2nd, is very good as well. Their fries are a little inconsistent: always good, but the first time and one subsequent time I had them, they blew Monk's away. The other times, not so much. They make a really good lamb burger, and when the menu says it has caramelized onions on it, that's what they mean. Last time I had a burger at Monk's it was the style with 'caramelized' leeks (maybe onions, it was a while ago), and they were just barely fried. Their beer list is pretty big, maybe 70-80 bottles. Not the equal of Monk's, of course, and they only have 6 taps, but everything on draft is good and I haven't had a bottle yet that I haven't liked. I was never a fan of the Tap's food (or their service), it seemed overpriced to me, and never really great. I remember getting a cheese plate in the neighborhood of $15 which was 25% cheese, 25% fruit, and 50% bread, and the cheeses were nothing special. Of course, I haven't been there in at least a year for this reason, maybe it's improved now.

In my opinion, that has been true for a while, but I was never impressed with the food at the Standard Tap, myself. The help at the Royal is definitely a lot friendlier than at the Tap, as well.

I am actually getting married in November and could use a suggestion also, though we are only going to have 30 or fewer guests so our space requirements aren't as large. some places I've looked at so far that they may want to check out (all Italian): Ralph's, http://www.ralphsrestaurant.com/ Spasso (Old City) Bistro Romano (near South Street) Sabrina's Cafe in the Italian Market does private parties too, but I doubt they can handle 60 guests.

I have had a similar experience with the owner of the Butcher's Cafe, though I've never eaten there (and never will). I recently moved to the city and live close enough to the Italian market that I shop there often on weekend mornings. The way I walk there leads me from the corner where the Butcher's Cafe sits, crossing 9th on the west side of the street. Anyway, I was down there about a month ago and when I got to that corner, there was a giant SUV parked in the crosswalk in front of the Butcher's Cafe. It was parked so close to the car in front that I couldn't get through there, and the only other way to cross the street was behind the SUV, which, due to its size, meant walking in the middle of Christian st. So I do that, and I'm standing by the back of this car, in the intersection, waiting for the light to change, when the driver walks around behind me diddling his car alarm fob. So I says to him, I says: 'Sweet parking spot you've got here'. And he says to me, he says: 'Yeah, well, I own the place [nods to the Butcher's Cafe]. When you spend a million dollars, you can park wherever you want'. (maybe not an exact quote) I mean, I knew he was a jerk just from his selfish parking job, but he didn't leave any confusion with that remark. Anyway, the light changed and I crossed the street. Then, a few minutes later, I was down by Espositos and the guy comes out carrying a bag of whatever, spots me, and yells 'Hey, it's the Parking Authority!' So I won't be going there.

The New Orleans Cafe is indeed closed, permanently as far as I know. Last time I walked by I think I saw an Application for Alcoholic Beverage sign in the window, so someone else is moving in I suppose. I often get lunch at the Gumbo Shoppe, in Aston, PA, which used to be owned by the same guy (or group of people) who owned and ran the New Orleans Cafe, and they said that the NOC was doing fine financially, but that the chef felt he was too busy splitting time between his multiple restaurants. Apparently he closed the New Orleans Cafe (and maybe other places, I don't know) so that he could devote more time to his newest place, that being New Orleans, which is on Rte. 202 just south of the intersection with Rte. 1.

I just moved away from Media, and the only restaurant I can say I'll really miss is Nooddi, now called Nadia Thai. It's on the corner of Monroe and State streets, towards the east end of Media's main street. It's BYO. It started out as 'Nooddi - the Noodle Bar', and their old noodle menu is still available as a subset of their new, Thai menu. If you want to have breakfast out, I highly recommend Koffee Korner, half a block north of State st. on Jackson st. Sligo is good if you're in the mood for pub food. Avoid Margaret Kuo's Media, formerly Peking. If you don't mind driving about 15 minutes, there's a fantastic sushi place called Teikoku, on Rt. 3 a few miles east of West Chester.

A small brewpub making just enough beer to serve their pub customers can certainly succeed: Iron Hill and Brewer's Art (in Baltimore) are good examples. I don't know if the northeast is the best area for it, but I'm no expert. If anything, I think Philly may be saturated with great beers. Victory, Dogfish Head, Stoudt's, Yards, and a bunch of other great brewers are all nearby and are available on tap all over the place. What about selling his beer directly to bars that cater to the micro-brew crowd, to build up a name for himself? That would allow him to test the market without making as much of a cash investment as opening a restaurant would. Then if he wants to open a brewpub later on, he will have a customer base ready for him (if the beer is as good as you say, of course).

Suzuka is a great name for a place like this. - It has actual meaning to the people making the sushi. - It's a clever play on the conveyor belt sushi method (don't let the fact that you couldn't reproduce the track itself stop you). - It's short and catchy, and a 'Suzuka Roll' sounds better than a 'Revolution Roll'. I like 'C.B. Sushi' too, but it would look nicer on a sign as 'CeeBee Sushi'.

I was there a couple weeks ago and had a good experience. We just stopped in for coffee and dessert. I ordered the 'blackout' cake, figuring it was just some really dark chocolate cake. It turns out that the name comes from what you see when you hold the cake between you and the sun, or maybe what would happen to you if you ate the whole thing in one sitting. I mean, this 'slice' of cake was easily 7 inches square and 2 inches thick. It was very good, though the frosting was a little too sugary. It took me 3 days to eat the whole thing. Good coffee, too, and the server even brought us a thermal carafe so we could fill back up. He probably figured we'd need it if we had any hope of finishing the cake.

Hi James: Will this be going on indefinitely? It's hard for me to get down to the city for dinner during the week as I live in the 'burbs, but I will be moving to the city in July and am looking forward to drinking you out of house and home.. er, I mean sampling some new wines! Yeah, that's the ticket...