Chester County Restaurants

[philadining]

hmmm... and they're closing the road right there for a few days this week? Sounds like a conspiracy to me. Are we confident that the G-Lodge wasn't some sort of top-secret intelligence-gathering post for some shadowy government agency? Or maybe Filbert's might be?

[mod*betty]

or hey maybe M. Night is filming a movie and it will all go back to normal soon!

[philadining]

or hey maybe M. Night is filming a movie and it will all go back to normal soon!

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You know, that is not beyond the realm of possibility...

Edited to add:

That MUST be it, I came across this related gossip on the wonderfully-titled Poke a Badger with a Spoon blog. Looks like there will indeed be some M. Night filming in the Phoenixville vicinity over the next few days, so the transformation of the G Lodge and closing of rt 23 seems like too much of a coincidence.

My question is, what's wrong with the name G Lodge? Seems cinematically enigmatic to me...

Edited August 20, 2007 by philadining (log)

[mod*betty]

I was right! The Happening has turned "the Lodge" into The Filbert which was supposedly established in 1984. I knew those guys working in the rain weren't regular contractors!

Now my stomach can rest easy, knowing my deep fried hash brown source has not been co-opted permanently!

Nancy Drew, signing out.

[Bluehensfan]

Has anyone been to the new Firehouse BBQ place (particularly Holly?) that recently opened up behind the WalMart in Kennett Square? Apparently they are a small company that also has a location in Elkton, MD. I was wondering if it's any good because a casual, more economic alternative to frequent visits to Talula's Table down the road would be appreciated.

[gfweb]

Has anyone been to the new Firehouse BBQ place (particularly Holly?) that recently opened up behind the WalMart in Kennett Square? Apparently they are a small company that also has a location in Elkton, MD. I was wondering if it's any good because a casual, more economic alternative to frequent visits to Talula's Table down the road would be appreciated.

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The Elkton place I know of is a little cabin behind a liquor store on Newark-Elkton Rd. It is pretty OK and certainly the best we can get up here. The hillbilly/hayseed feel of Cecil County adds to the ambience. (if you've been there, you'll know what I mean :-) )

[handmc]

St. Peter's Bakery, St. Peter's Villiage, PA off of rte 23w between rte. 100 AND RTE 345.

For those in Northern Chester County I went to St. Peter's Bakery, St. Peter's Villiage, PA.

I ordered the plain and chocolate croissant and a baguette. While there I sampled a chocolate macaroon and a large coffee. All my treats were delicious and the coffee was great!

Hrs. are 7-4 tue-fri; 6-6 sat & sun

They have re-opened the St. Peter's Inn as well although I have not been there yet.

Here is the link.

www.innatsaintpeters.com

It looks impressive. I have heard nothing but good reviews from the locals. I will have to give it a try. From what I have heard and what is on the website I would bring my camera.

[philadining]

Has anyone been to the new Firehouse BBQ place (particularly Holly?) that recently opened up behind the WalMart in Kennett Square? Apparently they are a small company that also has a location in Elkton, MD. I was wondering if it's any good because a casual, more economic alternative to frequent visits to Talula's Table down the road would be appreciated.

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Made a quick stop at Firehouse BBQ for a small sample. Tried the ribs and the brisket, jalapeno cornbread, fried mac and cheese, and coleslaw.

The Ribs had a bold smokiness, but oddly didn't taste like much else, except for what came from an unpleasant sugary glaze. We figured one of the many sauces provided on the table might help, but all of those, even the ones marked spicy, were extremely sweet. And not spicy. And not that good. The meat was very tender, but pulled completely off the bone upon the first bite, and had receded pretty far up each bone, each a sure sign of being cooked too long. They were also pretty tiny, but as they're sold by the pound, I suppose that's OK.

The Brisket was moist and tender, but as with the ribs, just didn't taste like much. We got one nice slice, and one strange mass of shredded edges. To be fair, it is early days, and pretty much the whole staff seemed very young, so maybe they're just not quite in the groove yet, both with the cooking and the cutting.

Fried Mac and Cheese was quite tasty, 2-inch cubes of their regular mac and cheese, breaded and fried to order, resulting in a crispy crust and oozing, cheesey center. Coleslaw was OK. Cornbread was on the dry side, but had a pleasant-enough flavor.

So I can't say we were thrilled by the Firehouse, but it might be worth letting them settle-in a little before passing final judgement.

[philadining]

We did have some better luck dining down in the Kennett Square neighborhood. We actually had a nice little vacation to Mexico City without venturing far out of town.

First of all, right on West State Street, in the "downtown" part of Kennett Square is a really cool little Panaderia. They must have had over 20 types of Mexican pastries, all on separate shelves, so one could cruise by with some tongs and make one's own selections.

Then a little bit south of KS on rt 1 (actually into the town of Toughkenamin, if you want to be picky about it...) Is the El Cuñado grocery store. We were drawn not by the store, but by the guys set up out front, with some folding tables, a tent, and some pans of food. We figured this would have to be good. And indeed, they had an array of about 6 different meats, maybe more, warming in pans. We discovered that our taqueria Spanish was not as good as we thought, and the guy behind the line's English seemed limited to just "pork" and "beef." No problems, we pointed, nodded, held up a finger or two, and eventually were handed some absolutely delicious tacos. The roast pork was far and away the best I've ever had, the perfect mix of crusty, fatty, meaty, juicy.... Even the plain old beef tacos had terrific flavor. Another one we just pointed at had a reddish-orangish sauce on it, and while we're not sure what meat that was, we don't care, we're going back and pointing at it again.

After tacos, we decided to take a look around the grocery. From the outside, it looks like a tiny convenience store, but it is in fact a rather large, full-on grocery, with lots of fresh produce, including unusual fruits and vegetables I'm not used to seeing. There's a full meat counter, offering specific cuts, and even marinated sliced meats. Of course, aisles of interesting sauces. Lots of tortillas. Home-made mole in little plastic tubs by the checkout. That not enough? They sell cool cowboy boots.

Perhaps most importantly, they have two big coolers of ice cream, sherbet and ices on a stick. These are mostly the Michoacana brand, made nearby, featuring some flavors you are unlikely to find even at Capogiro. We had the elotes (corn) which was sweet, creamy and a little spicy at the bottom, as it was dusted with just a little cinnamon and chile, and also a Watermelon Ice that was reportedly just like the fresh, sweet fruit, but colder.

The next day I went back to the East State Street la Michoacana store, and got some hand-dipped ice cream, this time Cajeta con Crema. Yowza! Even the more conventional flavors had great flavor and texture. Highly recommended.

There was varying amounts of English spoken at these stops, but everyone was super-nice, and we did fine with a few words and a bit of pointing and nodding. I assume it's because the Mexican population has been established for longer in that area, but it seems that the traditional shops are way more developed out there than in South Philly. At least so far...

There are several restaurants that need to be investigated. I've been to Moroleon, but we passed at least 5 more that must be sampled. Stay tuned.

Edited August 28, 2007 by philadining (log)

[percyn]

I visited Sabor al Tropical in West Chester tonight.  Really good Puerto Rican food!

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I think this place is now closed.

[percyn]

I've been trying to expand my horizons for Chinese food recently, in particular I've been jonesing for the spicy dumplings and Szechuan beef at Szechuan Tasty House in Chinatown.  Is there anything that comes close to matching that type of cuisine out in the Collegeville/Phoenixville area, just in case (like today) I get a serious lunchtime urge for a good burn?

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Tim, you may have seen the post on other threads, but try Han Dynasty in Exton, the Chef is ex-Tifco, ex-Chung King.

[Bluehensfan]

Has anyone been to the new Firehouse BBQ place (particularly Holly?) that recently opened up behind the WalMart in Kennett Square? Apparently they are a small company that also has a location in Elkton, MD. I was wondering if it's any good because a casual, more economic alternative to frequent visits to Talula's Table down the road would be appreciated.

←

Made a quick stop at Firehouse BBQ for a small sample. Tried the ribs and the brisket, jalapeno cornbread, fried mac and cheese, and coleslaw.

The Ribs had a bold smokiness, but oddly didn't taste like much else, except for what came from an unpleasant sugary glaze. We figured one of the many sauces provided on the table might help, but all of those, even the ones marked spicy, were extremely sweet. And not spicy. And not that good. The meat was very tender, but pulled completely off the bone upon the first bite, and had receded pretty far up each bone, each a sure sign of being cooked too long. They were also pretty tiny, but as they're sold by the pound, I suppose that's OK.

The Brisket was moist and tender, but as with the ribs, just didn't taste like much. We got one nice slice, and one strange mass of shredded edges. To be fair, it is early days, and pretty much the whole staff seemed very young, so maybe they're just not quite in the groove yet, both with the cooking and the cutting.

Fried Mac and Cheese was quite tasty, 2-inch cubes of their regular mac and cheese, breaded and fried to order, resulting in a crispy crust and oozing, cheesey center. Coleslaw was OK. Cornbread was on the dry side, but had a pleasant-enough flavor.

So I can't say we were thrilled by the Firehouse, but it might be worth letting them settle-in a little before passing final judgement.

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We actually tried Firehouse on Saturday and found it (well once we found it that is) to be above average. We tried a pulled pork sandwich on Texas toast (essentially buttered bread). The pork was good but next time I will stick with the roll. We also had some briscuit which was decent (but not as tender as say the Smoked Joint) and a very good seasoned chicken half. They were out of baked beans, so we tried the hash, which was essentially all of the meats mixed in with BBQ sauce and potatoes, and sweet potatoes which were decent but could use some more brown sugar. Also pretty good mac and cheese. The cornbread (we tried the regular and sweet) was kind of dry and not all that tasty. It's interesting because they have a lot of sauces on the tables to try. I think we liked the sweet something one (but not the tomato).

As far as desserts go, the bread pudding was just fair and the banana bread pudding was decent. The pig shaped cookies were much better but next time I think we will hit La Michoana next time for ice cream after our meal.

I was actually very impressed by the staff, as they were all very friendly and enthusiastic, and gave good recommendations on our visit.

[gfweb]

Fair Hill Inn is turning out to be my favorite local restaurant. I ate there last night and each time is better than the last. Even if it is not quite in chester county, it doesn't deserve to be in Cecil Co, MD, so for the purposes of this post, I'm promoting it to Chester Co.

Anyway, I really like this place. The menu changes roughly monthly and is invariably well-done. Wine list is pretty good with lots of good stuff at a fair price. They even have a big cheese menu, which is the way to my heart.

[mod*betty]

Just got back from a quick bite at the new Molly Maguire's in Phoenixville (corner of Bridge and Main, across from Steel City.)

The official grand opening is this weekend but since we drove by and saw folks in there, we decided to head in. They've done a wonderful job with the insides, and even though we just got a sandwich and some wings and a couple of drinks, this place seems to hold real promise. I got a cider, CH got a a Smithwicks (is it only me who pronounces it Smitticks? Is that a regionalism from my days up in Mass?). He had wings - nicely sized compared to some of the "pigeon wings" I've seen recently, and be warned, their mild sauce is surprisingly hot. I got a BLT and was impressed with the better than average bread.

I am fighting some seasonal allergies something awful, so subtle taste nuances were probably missed, but everything seemed tasty, the atmosphere pleasant, service just polishing off their rough edges, and best of all, no smoking!

Will be back at some other point to better examine the menu, here is a link for those who may want to get there before I do:

http://www.mollymaguirespubs.com/

Beth, who can't wait to head to New England on Thurs- perhaps I'll get my fried clams after all!

[percyn]

Thanks for the review Beth. I too wanted to try this place but wanted to give it a few months to work out the kinks. Good to hear that it is worth a visit sooner.

[SaxChik]

dr. sax and i had to take our cat to the veterinary referral center in malvern on rt 30 for surgery today. he's recovering nicely and doing well.

the VRC is located between maddie's and the classic diner. i had never eaten at the classic diner before, so we opted to go there (it was about 11am).

it was pretty packed for 11am on a friday. they only do breakfast and lunch. we opted for breakfast, since we're both big fans of eggs benedict. i ordered the classic, dr. sax ordered the salmon.

wow. some of nicest, tastiest eggs benedict i've ever had! the eggs were poached perfectly (not too hard, just runny enough), the ham and salmon were plentiful and the hollendaise had a hint of something spicy in it (i don't think it was mustard, it had a red peppery bite at the finish). both dishes were served with fried potatoes ... full potato-size slices, fried up with sea salt and seasoning on them.

the only downside of the place was it was FILLED with yuppies (some of them not so young) making business deals, loudly talking on their cell phones, bragging about their german sports cars. i just wanted to eat, not wheel and deal. i'll have to go back at a different time and see how if their clientele is any less ... uptight.

anyway, their menu has a whole slew of things i'd like to try and the waitstaff was great, so i'll definitely be back.

http://www.theclassicdinerpa.com/

[percyn]

Lauren, glad to hear your cat is doing fine.

The food (and clientel) at Classic dinner are pretty constant and good. I love their lobster club sandwich, which is huge and very reasonably priced. They also have amazing fries and salads.

It is a favorite local business breakfast and lunch meeting spot (nothing wrong with that), though I have been lucky not to have experienced someone talking loudly on their cell phone.

The wait on the weekends can exceed 40 min if you don't get their by 10am.

Edited September 28, 2007 by percyn (log)

[philadining]

I'm not exactly sure what to make of these two divergent experiences...

I tried the new-ish Joey's 2 Famous Philly Cheesesteaks in Phoenixville (OK, get this - the original is in Detroit...)

There was definitely a bit too much nostalgic South Philly schtick on the walls on in the menu for a place in the Philly area. It might make sense someplace where nobody's ever heard of a cheesesteak, but seemed a little surreal here. That said, the first time I went in, I got a perfectly credible cheesesteak, not mind-blowing, but pretty decent.

There's a fairly extensive menu of hoagies and cheesesteak varaitions with silly names ("The Godfather" "The Mambo Italiano" etc.) as well as wings, Italian pasta dinners, etc.

I went back about a week later and was amused to see about half the menu scribbled-out in black marker, but they still had most of the cheesesteaks and hoagies, so I didn't really care. It was mid-afternoon, so things were pretty slow, but after I ordered my steak, I happened to look over at the grill and see the guy pull a wad of pre-cooked meat out of a pot, and give it a quick toss on the flattop, adding some onions. About 15 seconds later, he slaps it in a roll, wraps it up and sets it aside. THEN I hear them drop my fries. Mind you, there are two customers in the shop including me, and there are, no kidding, ten people behind the counter, some of them in suits and ties, so things should be running tight! Still, they couldn't coordinate the fries and the steak, and worse still, couldn't make me one fresh.

I'm thinking the pot of meat is a bad sign, but hey, at some of the iconic places they're not exactly cooking one up special for you, and I wasn't even sure that was my steak, and my other one was tasty, so I figure I'll roll with it. A few minutes later, my name is called, I get a bag, and I go. As I'm driving away, I unwrap the steak, and not only did the meat have a watery, mushy texture, but they forgot the peppers that I'd requested, and paid for. In their defense, there were only ten of them working, and a huge rush of two of us customers...

The fries were terrible: seemingly fresh-cut, but soggy, limp and pale.

So, I guess it serves me right for getting a Famous Philly Cheesesteak via Detroit. I should have known - the phrase "Philly Cheesesteaks" was right there, staring me in the eye, warning me off, but I succumbed to the phaux philly trappings, thinking it was some folks from the city trying to do a real steak joint out my way.

[percyn]

Details on a recent eG dinner at Birchrunville Store Cafe can be found here.

[percyn]

Visited Molly MaGuire's on a Thurs and I wish my experience was as good as Beth's visit. Given our experience, as the evening progressed, I was half wondering if they were filming Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares there that night.

When we entered, the downstairs seemed busy, so we requested a table upstairs, which looked like a dining only area. Unfortunately, there is a bar upstairs as well, which through the course of the night got louder and louder to the point where you could not hear your dining partner seated 2 feet away. This also seemed to be bothering other patrons who were trying to have a meal. Yes, I know its a pub, but that does not mean you have to leave with a migraine.

I ordered a Guinness, while my wife was limited to a very sparse wine choice. They also happened to be out of one of the three white wines they carried.

Being a cheese fan, my wife ordered the spinach and melted cheese dip appetizer, which turned out to be served with greasy pita chips (had to blotch them on napkins). The dip itself resembled the blob, which Phoenixville is famous for.

The weather was just starting to cool, so we ordered Irish Stew and Shepard's pie. About 40 min after our appetizers, we were served our mains....both of which should have been already prepared and simply needed to be heated.

The Irish Stew was very light and lacked flavor and proper (almost any) seasoning. The soda bread it was served it was fine and served as a good mop.

The Shepard's Pie was way too salty (almost as though the salt from the Irish Stew also ended up in it). My wife commented that she could make a better Shepard's pie. I believe her...and she does not cook !!

For some odd reason we decided to stay and try the dessert the waitress was raving about - Chocolate Bundt Cake, with which we ordered an Irish Nutty Coffee.

The coffee we were served was cold and was hard to differentiate from a "non-Irish" one, especially since we were told that all their whipped cream was still frozen and had not defrosted. Our waitress was kind enough to brew a fresh pot and the next iteration of the coffee was pretty good and included whipped cream.

Hope this is not a typical experience, though judging from the tables next to us, it was a common experience on that Thursday.

Service was friendly and unless the food and noise level are addressed, I don't feel much motivation in re-visiting.

Edited October 29, 2007 by percyn (log)

[philadining]

The dip itself resembled the blob, which Phoenixville is famous for.

Extra points for local color in the smack-down!!

[mod*betty]

I may have been too quick to praise this place, as others have told me of negative experiences here as well, from lack of knowledge behind the bar and expensive drinks to meh food. Ah well.

Looks like the place that used to be Jesters is supposed to open up soon, and looks like the place next to that is supposed to be a food/drink type place as well.

Also the Hotel Washington is rumoured to have been purchased by someone who plans on opening up a (sigh) Irish Pub, so there will be plenty of activity in town. I'm all for the Irish (3/4 myself), but hey, how about something a little different?

Will continue to try the new places in town, searching for that elusive Great, Good Place (let's see if the Amazon link picks that one up!)

[philadining]

The crêperie set to open on the corner of Bridge and Gay has a good pedigree: it's apparently associated with the Crêperie Cafe on the 1700 block of Sansom, which rocks. So that has the potential to be at least a good place. And not Irish.

[percyn]

Cool, I have been waiting for the crêperie to open (no good local place fo crepes)....what is taking them so long?

[Rich Pawlak]

Friends of mine have just opened The Station Bistro in Kimberton, on Hares Hill Rd. I will not venture to shill for them in the least, except to say that co-owner Craig Miller is an expert at smoking meat, fowl and seafood, and I'll bet that those items will be the highlights of the menu. And any Cajun specials he ever offers. The man really knows his Cajun. He and wife Nancy are very talented restaurant veterans.