Aramark Tower

[jpdchef]

I'll be in Philadelphia on 6,7,8--this coming month.I'll be taking training@ the Aramark tower,and staying at a hotel nearby.What is worthwhile nearby? Limited budget,walking distance or cheap cab ride as I'll have no car.Pizza,cheesesteak,bars--what options will I have? Is Standard Tap nearby? I don't know your town, but trust you opinions--please clue me in. Thanks,John

[rlibkind]

Aramark Tower is practically sitting atop the Reading Terminal Market and just a couple of blocks from Chinatown. You will definitely not die of starvation for lack of good food. Standard Tap is probably a $7-8 cab ride away. Lots of other great places within easy walking distance: Lolita, Sansom Street Oyster House, Capogiro for gelato, Happy Hour at McCormick & Schmick (it may be a chain, but it's got great Happy Hour deals, as does SSOH),and tons more. And don't discount the Stephen Starr establishments; although most are too glitzy and expensive, Jones and the original Continental offer tasty food at a reasonable price.

Aramark sits atop one of the city's transit hubs (Market East commuter rail station, Market-Frankford El [subway], lots of city buses) so you can get to other locations by public transit pretty easily, i.e., South Philly for lots of good Italian (many of the places are walkable if the weather isn't horrid).

You will be overwhelmed by all the choices available to you from that location. I'm sure lots of other regulars to this board will offer many more good suggestions.

BTW, which hotel?

At the Reading Terminal Market, with the exception of the Down Home Diner, everything closes at 5:30 p.m., and it's totally closed on Sundays. But for breakfast and lunch, it's ideal. For breakfast, be sure to try scrapple with your eggs or pancakes at the Down Home Diner or the Pennsylvania Dutch Eating Place. For lunch, it's hard to do better than a roast pork with sharp provolone and greens at Tommy DiNic's, though the hoagies at Salumeria give him a run for the money (make sure to get house dressing and pay a little bit extra for the marinated artichokes). Excellent pizza at Pizza by George, and there's a Pakistani/Indian stall that's pretty good. Don't forget Bassetts ice cream; there's a reason why they've been in business for 144 years. In fact, you can't go wrong at any of the eateries at the RTM, with just one exception: the new creperie is awful. And you might want to avoid Pearl's Oyster Bar; not awful, but uninspired fried seafood; you'll be much better off walking six or seven blocks to Sansom Street.

[herbacidal]

Okay, ready for the overwhelming?

I'll try and limit things to walking distance.

Of course, I'd easily walk from Old City to Rittenhouse, so I gotta big area.

From the Aramark Tower on Market:

Not counting Market St, go south on 12th for 3 traffic lights to Walnut.

On the left corner, right next to the Cosi is Caribou Cafe.

A very good approximation of a Parisian brasserie.

If you stop at the second traffic light instead, that's Sansom St.

Go right (west) and half a block down is Fergie's. Great place for a beer, decent bar food. You can get dragged into the Quizzo game if you go on a Tuesday or Thursday.

At the end of that block is a great place for eats.

There's Capogiro for the best gelato you'll have this side of Italia.

There's El Vez for good kitschy Mexican food.

One or two stores away from one of the corners is Lolita, a Nuevo semi-Mexican BYOB.

[ BYOBs are restaurants that seat from 25-70 that do not have liquor licenses and therefore permit you to bring alcohol. In the past decade or so, their emergence has become a strength of the local dining scene, as they provide innovative food at reasonable prices with (generally) good service. Most people bring wine or beer, though Lolita is popular for suggesting you bring tequila for margaritas. I wonder what a BYOB would think if I brought a bottle of bourbon or cognac. ]

If when you get to Walnut you choose not to cross the street, go east on Walnut towards 11th. You'll come up on Pompeii, an Italian restaurant. Haven't heard much about it at the new location, but I believe I always heard good stuff about it before the move.

It's at least worth checking out for lunch if you feel the mood.

Pizza, no place I'd really recommend. Pizza Club went to Top Tomato (few doors down from Pompeii), and I thought it was so-so.

Cheesesteak, I guess you can go for Steve's (on the 12th St. side of the Reading Terminal, right next to Pearl's Oyster Bar).

I've generally been happy with the food at the restaurant at Loews, and I've tried it several times under different chefs/names.

Not jawdroppingly delicious, but if you're time crunched and don't feel like fast food, it's conveniently right there at 12th and Market.

If you don't feel like cabbing it to Standard, walk to Good Dog. It's on 15th just south of Walnut. Just as good, although they don't play with the menu overall as much as Standard. But on what a cheeseburger.

[KatieLoeb]

jpdchef:

Welcome to eGullet and to our fair city soon! There's an awesome food scene here so you shouldn't ever be at a loss for what to do or eat. Feel free to PM if I can be of further assistance, or avail yourself of the pinned Philly dining companions thread at the top of our forum. If anyone is available I'm sure you could find eager dining companions.

I'll only add that the truly not to be missed things that are spitting distance from where you're staying are Reading Terminal Market and Capogiro for gelato. You can not leave this city without visiting both of these. Chinatown is a good choice too and also quite close by. I thank rlibkind for the plug, and of course you're welcome to come eat some oysters or whatever at my restaurant if you feel like walking a short ways. Stop in for Happy Hour 5-7PM after a tough training day.

Might I inquire about your training? Will you be working for an Aramark outpost or is it just a "see how the other guys do it" sort of thing? Just curious...

[MarketStEl]

Herb's rather comprehensive list of all the good eateries within walking distance of the Aramark Tower left out another good choice for hoagies (Salumeria having already been covered), Planet Hoagie at 1209 Walnut.

One block further south of the 12th and Walnut intersection and one-half block east is More Than Just Ice Cream (1120 Locust, on the street floor of my apartment building), an inexpensive neighborhood favorite for several decades. No liquor license and no BYOB, so it's probably better as a lunch choice for you.

[g_camper]

Wow, a comprehensive list to say the least - I would also add El Vez to the otherwise comprehensive listing.

[rlibkind]

I forgot Ludwig's Garden on Sansom, just a block or two east of Broad. In the midst of a cold winter, some hearty German food (and beer, lots of good imported German brews) are wonderously filling and tasty. The Jaegerschnitzel is the ultimate in comfort food.

[rlibkind]

Cheesesteak, I guess you can go for Steve's (on the 12th St. side of the  Reading Terminal, right next to Pearl's Oyster Bar).

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Good list, Herb! The cheesesteak place in the RTM, btw, is Rick's (not Steve's). It's okay and is not a bad representative of the Philadelphia cheesesteak, although there are better in town.

[TarteTatin]

For expensive, yet delicious (maybe you can get someone to take you out?!), try Pasion. It's walking distance, 15th right off of Walnut. Sit at the Ceviche bar (oh, there's another place I like to sit at the bar and eat at....but that's another topic) and watch them cook. You can order off of the entire menu at the ceviche bar; not just the ceviche...

Also, we haven't been there yet, but I think the other egulleters liked the new Smoked Joint on Locust? Spruce? around 15th. Good BBQ I heard.

[jpdchef]

Wow--I guess I'll be in the thick of things.Seems I'll have some choices to make.Anyone care to recommend someplace in the chinatown area?Also,I really want to thank you all for taking the time to respond.I sincerely appreciate it.As to the questions above--the hotel is a hyatt.As for the training--I already work for Aramark and this would be training for using their computer programs for inventory/menu planning, costing,etc. Again,thanks for the response--you friendly people have been quite helpful. John.

Edited January 30, 2005 by jpdchef (log)

[mrbigjas]

in chinatown, pho xe lua (aka the train), at 9th & race has great vietnamese food. tai lake has great seafood. that's at.... ok i forget exactly where. also on 9th?

one place that people haven't mentioned, but where i've had several very good meals, is la boheme, on 11th street just south of walnut. basically french, but not real traditionally so.

[KatieLoeb]

I'll second the rec for Pho Xe Lua (aka the Soup Train due to the giant neon train in the window) as a Chinatown favorite. Very inexpensive and the food is consistently excellent. The Pho is great but I'm also a fan of some of their other soups like Mixed Seafood Noodle or the Beef Satay with Rice noodle which is perfect for a chilly night - spicy and thick with wide rice noodles, chunks of beef and pineapple. Yummmmmm! Other specialties include the Spring rolls, the Papaya Salad and the thin sliced Raw beef salad that you douse with lemon and is sort of an Asian Carpaccio. The Specials board always has a couple of good choices on it of whatever is super fresh that day. There is Thai food on the menu too and Pho Xe Lua does a very serviceable Pad Thai if you're in the mood.

Let us know where you ended up going and how you liked it!

[MarketStEl]

Oh, you're staying at the Park Hyatt? Let me add another option to your already crowded list if you're looking for a little entertainment with your dinner:

Chris' Jazz Cafe, in the 1400 block of Sansom.

This place doesn't get the big name acts that pass through Zanzibar Blue (which is in the basement of your hotel), nor is its menu as adventurous, but the kitchen is certainly competent enough, the food is good and reasonably priced, and you will get to hear some of the city's better jazz musicians holding forth. (The really good local jazz is served up at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus on North 2nd and Bob and Barbara's Lounge in the 1500 block of South, but neither of these places have restaurants attached.)

[rlibkind]

Oh, you're staying at the Park Hyatt?

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In addition to the Park Hyatt (the old Bellevue) there's a Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing.

[herbacidal]

But that wouldn't be "a hotel nearby". For most people anyway.

I assumed and continue to assume he means Park Hyatt as well.

[jpdchef]

ok I'm back.First I'll say sorry bout the superbowl thing---I unfortunately didn't have enough time to check out all the places you guys suggested.I did manage to make it to sansom street oyster house--very nice.The only other place I was able to partake was the soup train pho place---verrrrry good.While I was trying to do reconnaisance on the pho place I walked chinatown at about 6:40 am.The most impressive thing was seeing all the (viet?) bakeries cranking it out at that hour.Anyhow I'd be pleased with what you got if I was y'all--thanks for the direction,John by the way at sansom street--what was the bar nibbles in the snifters at the bar?

Edited February 11, 2005 by jpdchef (log)

[rlibkind]

...at sansom street--what was the bar nibbles in the snifters at the bar?

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Those are a Philly-South Jersey oyster cracker, known as OTC's, for Old Trenton Crackers, the brand name. I hope you put a dab of horseradish on each one!

[KatieLoeb]

ok I'm back.First I'll say sorry bout the superbowl thing---I unfortunately didn't have enough time to check out all the places you guys suggested.I did manage to make it to sansom street oyster house--very nice.The only other place I was able to partake was the soup train pho place---verrrrry good.While I was trying to do reconnaisance on the pho place I walked chinatown at about 6:40 am.The most impressive thing was seeing all the (viet?) bakeries cranking it out at that hour.Anyhow I'd be pleased with what you got if I was y'all--thanks for the direction,John                                                                                                                by the way at sansom street--what was the bar nibbles in the snifters at the bar?

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jpdchef:

You stopped in at Sansom Street Oyster House and didn't say hello??? I'd have loved to say hi and buy you a "welcome to Philly drink"! What day were you in? What did you have? Glad you liked the OTC's. You can only imagine how many of those we go through in a week. And they are very good with a dollop of horseradish on them. Addictive, in fact.

Pho Xe Lua (aka The Soup Train) really rocks. I love that place and I don't think I've ever really had anything there that I didn't enjoy. Best Vietnamese food and best soups in town, I think.

Introduce yourself next time you bop through ferchrsissakes! I love having eGullet visitors!