Pizza
Mama Angeleno’s (Broad and Locust): By the slice. Cheese is the greasiest ever and very rich. Thin, dry crust. Sauce is sweet but probably underused. A totally random place, frequented by University of the Arts students and the homeless. Each visit is good but a little bit worse than the previous. Still, the place has been there for years, and so there’s no reason to expect a decline now, just regular fluctuations. Verdict: surprisingly good and very convenient. B.
Lorenzo’s (305 South St.): Jumbo slices with the tips folded over to fit on the place. No toppings. Do not ask for a fork or knife, or else. Really. Annoy the staff and you’re bounced. A square, windowless room in the back has thin counters along the walls for standing and eating. Do NOT sit on the counters. The staff is surly. Crust is thin, a bit moist, basically perfect. The cheese is a bit sour, which isn’t bad, and not so greasy as might be expected. Slices are enormous. Sauce is almost nonexistent. Verdict: Very good for late-night dining intended primarily to sop up alcohol. Otherwise, not really.
Bagels
South Street Bagels (”Hot Bagels,” 613 S. 3rd St.): The place is filled with steam from boiling the bagels; it smells yeasty. This is good. Bagels are fresh and soft–also good. The coffee is terrible–also a good sign. No freezer bags. Line up from the back towards the door. The whitefish salad seems popular. Verdict: Bought two dozen plain but haven’t tried them yet. High expectations.
Hot Bagels (Rt. 70 (?), Marlton, NJ): The gold standard. Bite into a bagel while you’re leaving the store. Don’t buy cream cheese or anything else there–just bagels, ideally plain. Bagels are a bit saltier and much denser than elsewhere. Bagels freeze well–for best results, defrost with a microwave to around room temperature and then into the oven for a couple minutes. Verdict: Excellent bagels but not in Philly.
Restaurants
White Dog Cafe (University City near the law school): Losing its touch. “Cajun Catfish” for lunch was way over-seasoned. The salad was tasteless. Quality of ingredients, formerly a plus, has gone down, as has the inventiveness of the menu. Definitely coasting on its reputation and so probably not worth the moderate prices. The bar is friendly and good for a beer. Appalling politics that you may not wish to support with your patronage. Verdict: Eat there once if you like the cookbook, otherwise stay away.
Ludwig’s Bavarian Beer Garden (1315 Sansom St.): The beer selection–especially on tap–is great. Good dunkelweizens and at least one always on tap. You can get, apparently, a thick and five-foot-high glass. Go for the foot. Excellent spaetzle, cooked perfectly, though the swiss cheese on the kasespaetzle was really too flavorful, drowning out everything else. More onions, too, would have been welcome. Potato sides–the dumplings and the pancakes–are excellent. The red sauerkraut is extremely acid and just delicious. Eat it with everything: the spaetzle, Bratwurst, etc. And the price is not bad: dinner for two, with two beers, two entrees, a brat, and a generous tip, came to $36. If you can, eat and drink in the room to the left when entering; it’s less raucous and just generally nicer. All the waitresses wear St. Pauli Girl-type uniforms and most of the staff are German (or close, anyway). Verdict: Probably the best everyday German in Philadelphia and not equaled in D.C.
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