Restaurants long gone...

[sg89zqb4]

I miss Marty's around 13th and Sansom for their great corned beef specials, the Thursday lunch special of knockwurst and beans for $1.95, and their kasha & varnishkes with the beef juice on top.

And yes, absolutely, Charlie's Water Wheel and the meatball and pickles on the counter, and the pickled condiments to put into the little wax paper bags, the piece of fruit, and little Hershey bar.

[jmbrightman]

Ye Olde Ale House, corner of Red Lion road and Roosevelt Boulevard... I know there are other locales, but this one had the train set...

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I remember ye olde ale house was sold in the 90's but retained the name. the new owner upgraded the train set and downgraded the quality of the beef.

Edited March 30, 2005 by jmbrightman (log)

[herbacidal]

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Does anyone remember the Happy Paradise in chinatown?  Tommy Bong made the best hot and sour soup, steamed dumplings and dishes with pickled turnip greens.

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I remember the place by its more popular name, "The Happy Pepsi Sign." It was fun.

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Y'know, I probably know more about Chinatown than anyone here, having grown up in it and still being continually involved in some fashion or another, and yet until Holly mentioned the Pepsi sign, I didn't know what you were talking about there.

[Rich Pawlak]

My brain's stuck in retro mode today.

Anyone remember a cheesesteak place called Mike and Carol's?

I was first taken in to south Philly for a cheesesteak by my friend Gary who had gone to Drexel and had a working knowledge of the area (he took me to Walt's the first time too).

Gary was quite the joker.  He said "Come on, we're going to Pat's the king of steaks!

So we get down there in the maze created where Passayunk screws up all the intersections, find a place to ditch the car after passing Pat's with great fanfare from Gary.  "There it is!  The King of steaks!"  We walk back towards Pat's and he keeps right on walking by.

What's up?  (It wasn't whattup back in those simpler times).  Gary says, "the only thing Pat's is good for is a landmark so you can find Mike and Carol's.  Pat's steaks suck!"

Mike and Carol's was a shotgun hole in the wall that was about a block east of Pat's I think.  I remember the slicer on the counter in there that was cutting the fresh rib eyes for the meat.  Great steak, it seems to me, but perhaps rose colored by youth and nostalgia.

Been gone for years, probably 20 years gone.

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At the same intersection, was Pat's, Geno's, Mike and Carol's and Gloria's, another good cheesesteak place. In college, we'd pull a late late night run to all 4 places in one night. Such kids were we.

Someone in our group dared me once to go up to the window at Pat's and give them a horse whinny. Grill man came right through the window at me and chased me for blocks. Seemed the place had been sited once for serving horsemeat. But no one told me that.

[mrbigjas]

I ate at Le Bus when it was a bus, and they later opened a second bus called Le Bus Pizza.  They made an awesome whole wheat crust.  The Roost was another spot to get good pizza in University City.  I used to get the whole wheat with asparagus.

There was a place called the Wurst House near Clark Park that made homemade corned beef.  I think the store might have the same name in that location, but it is not the same owners and not the same food.

the wurst house is still there, and you're right, it's not the same as it was.

i remember the roost having good pizza as well, but i have no idea if my memory is tainted by the fact that i was in college at the time.

[phungi]

the wurst house is still there, and you're right, it's not the same as it was.

i remember the roost having good pizza as well, but i have no idea if my memory is tainted by the fact that i was in college at the time.

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funny thing about memories from yester-year... I also have some hazy college-age memories of meals from Le Bus (the Bus and then the Sansom Street locale), Troy's (oh that hand-written menu), Ronnie's Sandwich Shoppe (now Billy Bob's? 40th and Spruce) and the Wurst house (something about the mushrooms I ate made the place/plates seem magical).

[mrbigjas]

Troy's (oh that hand-written menu)

troy's was a dream come true for a scrawny drunken 18 year old. for the eggel, the bagel was grilled in grease rather than toasted; they were open till 4 or 5 a.m., and the owners publicly stated several times that they didn't believe in the drinking age. actually when that quote showed up in the daily pennsylvanian, i suspected that the place wasn't long for this world--and indeed it closed shortly thereafter.

i've driven by recently and the space where troy's was is still unoccupied, if someone wants to reopen it...

[philadining]

i remember the roost having good pizza as well, but i have no idea if my memory is tainted by the fact that i was in college at the time.

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I ate a LOT of Roost pizza, and liked it, especially their whole-wheat crust, but my memory is just barely good enough that I have a strong suspicion that we wouldn't like it much today, it was pretty doughy and dense... or perhaps we would just take it out of the category and judge it as a comfort food that just happens to resemble pizza.

I always liked the idea of Troy's more than actually eating there, but it was a life saver from time to time.

And Rich, I love that Pat's story. I wonder if that still happens? I wouldn't be surprised if it were some South Philly rite of passage, and the grill guys are still just sick of it and feel obliged to chase the offenders down the street. I'm going to be in the neighborhood today... hmmm....how good are my running shoes?

[18/10]

i suspected that the place wasn't long for this world--and indeed it closed shortly thereafter.

i've driven by recently and the space where troy's was is still unoccupied, if someone wants to reopen it...

I be scared to see what condition the space would be in right now-they closed in 1988 or 89.

Awesome cheese fries and they would serve beer to anyone who had the $$$. Always a madhouse after the bars closed--and lots of characters hanging out.

Greatly missed

[chowfun]

...

Does anyone remember the Happy Paradise in chinatown?  Tommy Bong made the best hot and sour soup, steamed dumplings and dishes with pickled turnip greens.

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I remember the place by its more popular name, "The Happy Pepsi Sign." It was fun.

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Y'know, I probably know more about Chinatown than anyone here, having grown up in it and still being continually involved in some fashion or another, and yet until Holly mentioned the Pepsi sign, I didn't know what you were talking about there.

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Now that you mention it, people used to call it pepsi garden or something like that.

[chowfun]

Sorry for double posting, but I just thought of a few more places that I miss a lot.

European Dairy Restaurant, it was at about 21 and Walnut, they had hot and cold borscht with sour cream of course and gigantic golden (and greasy) potatoe pancakes.

Charlies Waterwheel, on sansom and something like 17th, great sandwiches and you could eat pickles and swedish meatballs while you waited to take out your sandwich. They also had sweets that you or they would throw in your bag for dessert. Things like hershey' minis.

The Goldmine, only fairly recently gone. Good Jewish style deli.

Does anyone remember a Japanese place on Juniper between chestnut and sansom. It was a little hole in the wall that served bowls of ramen soup and katsu? It was there in the mid to late 80's.

There also was a Japanese chain restaurant for a short time on Chestnut between 18th and 19th that had noodle soups and dumplings, called Dosanko. I liked being able to get dumplings in a fast food type setting.

I think the Commissary was already mentioned. That was a great place.

Entrees on trays in the same building as Urban Outfitters at Penn was a favorite of mine. Especially for brunch.

Jamiesons, a little bakery that was on Pine at around 12th. They made awesome sticky buns and bear claws.

[MarketStEl]

the south philly nifty fifty's b/c where else can I get fluorescent bright soda and crazy yum milkshakes without a car. The french fry potato shooter machine was cool too.  Aww, milkshakes. And chocolate egg creams.

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A friend and former neighbor of mine told me that the sudden demise of the Nifty Fifty's at 10th/Reed/Passyunk was the fault of a greedy landlord. The owners of Nifty Fifty's were doing great business at that site, and so the owner of the building jacked up the rent.

It's now been two years since Nifty Fifty's vacated that space (directing patrons to another location in (IIRC) Sicklerville, NJ in the process--right, as if we could walk or take SEPTA there!), and the space still remains vacant. And it's a high-visibility site at a fairly high-traffic intersection.

I hope that landlord has recurring nightmares over his bad business decision.

[MarketStEl]

Jamiesons, a little bakery that was on Pine at around 12th.  They made awesome sticky buns and bear claws.

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Pine at Camac. I used to live on the next alley south of Jamison's.

The owner was one of the sweetest and friendliest women I've ever met, and their pastries were indeed wonderful. They also had a good Sunday brunch for a while.

Apparently, the rent rose faster than they could afford--since it was a small space, there wasn't much they could do to grow the business other than move or raise prices--so they decided to pack it in. Their closing was a real loss.

[MarketStEl]

you miss Hardee's?  I miss Frank Clement's, in my opinion one of the best burgers in the city (good quality blue cheese and bacon as a topping, good crisp steak fries on the side).  Also Jimmy's Milan on 19th St, for the veal parm and Milan salad.  and Silveri's, home of the best wings, mozz sticks and onion rings ever.

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Judging from the reviews it's gotten, Good Dog has a burger that's Clements' equal and seems to have channeled some of the spirit of the prior establishment, revised and updated for a new generation. (I haven't had their burger yet. That makes two burgers I'm still jonesin' to try.)

I'll second your assessment of Silveri's wings. I also remember when ownership of that place passed from the Silveri family to Joey Venuti, a man with alleged Mob ties who owned a series of somewhat sleazy black gay bars from the early '80s (I arrived in Philly in '83) until his unlamented passing about five years ago (his last establishment being the somewhat legendary, now-demolished Drury Lane, two doors down from McGillin's Old Ale House). Needless to say, he turned Silveri's into just such a place. I remember being there one evening shortly after the changeover and seeing some acquaintances I knew well come in, looking to have wings for dinner. You should have seen the shock on their faces as they took in what had happened.

Silveri's is now a day spa.

[monavano]

I miss Bauer's Bakery on Bustleton. It burned down like 2 years ago, and was never rebuilt. I NEED MY BABKA!!!!

And don't tell me to go to Stocks, it just ain't the same.

[MarketStEl]

After reading this thread, I realize that I've now been here long enough that I can get nostalgic for places from years ago, including several already mentioned.

I also remember the Magnolia Cafe fondly--it had a lively atmosphere and was more reasonably priced than Cafe Nola. I guess Tequila's is doing all right in its old location. (Does anyone out there remember La Panetiere, which occupied this space prior to the Magnolia Cafe's opening?)

I never ate at The Commissary, but I did eat at both Frog and City Bites. I thought City Bites was very clever. The Frog experience (in its final location) was very impressive.

The LeBus Pizza bus was parked right behind the Chemistry Building at Penn, which is where I began my Penn career. I loved their pies--especially the sweet, chewy crust. (I've since reverted to my childhood preference for crisp crusts.)

Then there's the Napoleon Cafe, which was a wonderful restaurant (I never visited it in its incarnation as a pastry shop in Port Richmond) that had the sad fate of opening in Center City--at the site of the very last H.A. Winston's--only to have PATCO begin construction on an elevator right outside its front door the next month. The construction dragged on for two years, longer than Napoleon could hold out.

Perhaps my most unusual restaurant memory involves Lickety Split!, one of the Restaurant Renaissance pioneers. But it's not a food-related memory. Gary and I had had a good meal at LS the night before Easter 1983, and afterwards, we went upstairs to the bar, where we got into a heated argument over something to do with life, careers, living together and stuff like that.

So we left the restaurant grumbling and yelling at each other through the streets of Society Hill, when a group of women in plain dresses carrying candles came marching towards us. One of the women turned to us and said, "He is risen."

That shut us up.

[cinghiale]

I guess we can now add Inn Philadelphia to this list, according to today's Table Talk. Brunch in the back garden was always nice. Dinner was uneven, but you couldn't top the guys singing show tunes to Miriam's piano for entertainment, IMO.

Also, wasn't there some early upscale ice cream joint at Broad and Spruce or so in the 80's -- something like Thomas Sweet?

[jmbrightman]

funny there is no mention of the Triangle Tavern - I guess that was more about atmosphere than food, come to think of it.

[deprofundis]

funny there is no mention of the Triangle Tavern - I guess that was more about atmosphere than food, come to think of it.

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Oh yeah how could we forget the Triangle Tavern! It is still there, although under different ownership, and it's just a bar now (no food). I still stop in every once in a while.

[phungi]

funny there is no mention of the Triangle Tavern - I guess that was more about atmosphere than food, come to think of it.

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I still smile and shudder when I think of the old dude singing Mick Jagger with his shirt unbuttoned... they did have some great mussles...

[philadining]

I still smile and shudder when I think of the old dude singing Mick Jagger with his shirt unbuttoned... they did have some great mussles...

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I went a couple of years ago after a long break, and those mussels (red) were still really good, the gnocchi was pretty enjoyable too. But it was indeed both smile and shudder-inducing to see the band again. After Dusty died, Tony the drummer took center stage for the whole set, and what used to be a hilarious surreal break from the old-standard crooning, had turned into a surprisingly X-rated revue (still funny at times, but more and more creepy as the night wore on.)

Whenever The Triangle came up in conversation, especially with someone from South Philly, they'd always say "you don't go there for the food". But I actually did.... It's too bad the kitchen is closed.

[chowfun]

Thomas Sweet rings a bell, but I thought it was in Princeton. Steve's Ice Cream from Somerville Mass. made a short and sweet appearance on the penn campus. I loved the mix-ins. I would order the sweet cream ice cream or sometimes the cappucino flavored ice cream with heath bars mixed in.

Napolean Cafe was great when it was in Port Richmond, their pastries were very good. I never went to the center city location.

Silveri's was a favorite of ours when they served food (I didnt know it became a sex bar), it was the first place I ever had Buffalo wings. They also made a great carbonara sauce.

There was a very expensive, but very good gourmet pizza place somewhere in the Wash West neighborhood called Pizzaz. They made a great barbecue pizza with carmelized onions and an excellent seafood and pesto pizza. Very thin crusted and crispy.

[MarketStEl]

I guess we can now add Inn Philadelphia to this list, according to today's Table Talk.  Brunch in the back garden was always nice.  Dinner was uneven, but you couldn't top the guys singing show tunes to Miriam's piano for entertainment, IMO.

Gary and I used to dine there regularly. The owners were friends of friends of ours, and one-half of the couple used to work at Penn--we used to see each other on the 40 bus headed home from work.

I was surprised to hear the news from Phil when I ran into him at the Super Cruise Thursday evening.

The back garden was a wonderful dining spot. Phil said they had been close to a deal to sell the place, but it didn't go through. I hope somebody buys the place and reopens it. Fritz Blank, perhaps?

Also, wasn't there some early upscale ice cream joint at Broad and Spruce or so in the 80's -- something like Thomas Sweet?

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That rings a bell, but I think it was 13th and Spruce, where the Last Drop is now.

[shacke]

Oh the memories of my years at Penn.... late night "eggels" at Troys, Koffmeyer's cookies and the dueling bookend Roy Rogers' on each corner of 39th street (Chestnut AND Walnut) where I lived was too funny.

Not sure I would eat that stuff today - good thing they make tasty memories.......

[Holly Moore]

Also, wasn't there some early upscale ice cream joint at Broad and Spruce or so in the 80's -- something like Thomas Sweet?

That rings a bell, but I think it was 13th and Spruce, where the Last Drop is now.

As I recall, Thomas Sweet was on the 1500 block of Spruce next to the laundromat.