My car got broken into on 19th and North last summer. The area in general is really bad for people breaking windows and just generally being total dickheads.

had brunch at Fare on Fairmount near 21st street...

restaurant was very nice and clean, they focus on everything being organic, including the booze.. the drinks we're really good, the chipotle bloody mary not a sodium bomb that i'm used to but still tasty with a smokey taste from the chipotle. i had a french press martini (vodka, french press coffee, and organic coffee liquer) and that was really good as well...

food: apple pancakes with maple yogurt and sauteed apples were delicious, again not overly sugary but still tasty... omelette of the day also quite tasty (****ake, spinach, goat cheese, and leeks)

i would probably go back due to its proximity to my place, not somewhere you "need" to go but nevertheless a tasty meal on a sunday morning. food reasonably priced (9-10 per plate) but specialty drinks were 8 bucks

will have to try Fare.

Kyle, I know you brought up McCrossen's bottomless mimosa brunch earlier. The gf and I have been there twice for the brunch, and it's delicious.

Mimosas have legit alcohol in them (although last time I think we were getting screwdrivers, not that I'm complaining), and the food is great. I get the steak 'n eggs and its a fresh ground beef burger patty, over easy eggs, with a hollandaise-like sauce, and potatoes and fruit. And she gets whatever (eggs first time, french toast 2nd time) and loved it all too. And all for like $50 when you include tip. Great deal.

And it's a cool little place, equal mix hipster and yuppy/douche. Music playing. Bar gets crowded at like noon on Sundays.

Well worth a visit. And it being only a 15 min walk from our spot means we'll be going there a lot more.

I have been to Sabrina's a few times before and liked it but went today at like 11 and there was a 2 hour wait, lol. That type of crap makes me hate the city. How are you even supposed to ever go there unless it's like a Tuesday at 2 in the afternoon.

ETA I went to Belgian Cafe in Fairmount instead and had buffalo scrambled eggs and they were amazing.

Ate at Stella too. It was very good and very quick and of course like all Starr places cool ambience.

Which Sabrina's? Wondering if the wait times vary between South Philly and Art Museum.

I've been meaning to go but keep forgetting the liquor stores are closed on Sundays so we end up going elsewhere each time. I've definitely read that about the wait, any way around like calling ahead?

Definitely going to try McCrossen's, your review is basically what I expected so that's good to hear.

We called ahead, made a reservation for a party of 4 and STILL had to wait an hour, and that was at the art museum one.

I stand by my point I made then, that no matter how good it is (and it is really good) I would much rather have slightly worse food for a ten minute wait, and its not even close.

Definitely worth checking out tho

I think it's probably worth it if you have friends in town or it's your first time - but I know what you mean especially on a sunday morning it's all about convenience and fulfilling the hangover hunger

I have a train out of 30th St at 12:45 tomorrow afternoon, and I have all morning to get there. I'm taking the SEPTA in from Trenton, so I can get off anywhere and make my way to 30th St by cab or whatever if there's nowhere near 30th St Station.

Suggestions of a place to grab an early lunch? Looking for something a little unique (this does not necessarily mean non-American), definitely casual (I'll have an overnight bag), and (most importantly, perhaps) something that won't cause > 50% of my 7+ hour train ride to be spent in the bathroom.

Went to route 6 last night for dinner with a group of 8. While I'll admit I only chose it because it was close and I was curious I do have to say I am very disappointed. Nothing was offensively bad but nothing was a good value. The dishes weren't that creative which is fine but they also weren't very big. It definitely takes $40-50 per person to have a good meal. I'm never one to be stingy about eating out but nothing really stood out here. Starr never messes up atmosphere though so I'm sure I'll be back for drinks and appetizers some time but this is probably the worst of his restaurants in my opinion. Alma de Cuba and Buddakan blow this out of the water.

Assuming you're taking the R7 from Trenton to 30th Street, the problem is there's no where to get off before 30th Street that makes sense, since it doesn't go through Center City (you'll get good scenery of Philly's open air drug markets though).

If you want to take a cab into the city and back, you can go wherever. Nearby there's White Dog Cafe on 34th and Sansom or Pod (sushi, Stephen Starr place) on 37th and Sansom. Most of the real good food near 30th Street is food trucks, but that doesn't really match up with the bathroom requirement. If you actually want to do that and get a really great sandwich go to Hemo's on the corner of 38th and Walnut.

ditto to this. if you want to go into center city, just get off at the stop after 30th street, suburban station. you get off at 16th-17th and market and have your pick of the litter for places to go.

you can't ever go wrong with marathon grill for lunch. its a chain (i think there are 3 others in the city) but its casual and won't put you in the bathroom. there's one on 19th and market or 16th and sansom.

you can also just walk up and down 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th streets from chestnut to walnut. there will be a crapload of places to choose from, and most will be very good. you can look at each menu and decide on a place. of the top of my head in that area are (1) corner of 18th and sansom -- dandelion (british pub food) (2) 18th and wanlut on walnut -- pietros (delicious brick oven pizza). there's also a place called Good Dog at 15th and sansom on 15th street. great menu and always a solid place for lunch.

just some ideas...

good to know.

did anyone get the fried chicken?

the reason i ask if i'm not much much of a seafood fan, so that's what I would get if I decided to eat there. I only see myself going to the bar there for drinks and maybe the chicken if it's good.

I'm a sucker for street food. Good chicken sandwich. Thanks for the rec. Availed myself of the restrooms at Wharton before hitting the food truck, so fingers crossed. 4 hrs to go.

plus I got a nice little walking tour of Penn and Drexel. good to get a walk in before the train.

btw 36th and spruce =/= 38th and walnut

They have two trucks! Or used to.

Our group got oysters, lobster rolls, diver scallops, calamari, crab cakes, clam chowder and some other items. No chicken . I thought the clam chowder was good and the lobster rolls and crab cakes were particularly over priced at $25 or so for very small portions.

went for a long walk with the dogs today, north broad to center city to olde city to and back to north broad - we're looking for a good spot with the dogs the whole time and finally settled in at wedge & fig, a byob at 3rd and race

we sat in the back garden area and had lunch - their lunch menu consisted of sandwiches, salads, and a few other things like grilled cheese and mac n cheese - overall a pretty good meal we had a hot turkey, pork roll, onions on a pretzel roll and another turkey, brie, mango, herbs on another pretzel roll - sounds pretty pedestrian but felt very gourmet

they have a collection of cheeses and desserts inside which looked amazing, we didn't try any since we were on a quick pit stop but they looked good (cookies, mini pies, and a ton of cheeses)

they're also a byob and have brunch saturday / sunday til about 2 or 3, recommend sitting outback if it's nice out nice ambience like you're being served in someone's backyard

Heh, sorry I'm coming back late.

I didn't see one on 38th, and I wandered from Walnut to Spruce, but no big deal. I googled quick and found the one on 36th and Spruce. I didn't look harder, since I only had about an hour layover, but the sandwich was definitely tasty (and cheap), so thanks for the rec.

Hemo himself was always at 36th and Spruce anyway. Hope you got Hemo sauce!

Yes indeed.

If you're ever taking a vegetarian/vegan to lunch/dinner or have one in your group of friends (who is always looking at a tiny part of the menu when going to dinner at a normal restaurant) I'd recommend the all-vegetarian Su Xing House on 15th and Sansom.

Been there twice in the past two days. My gf is vegetarian so it's crazy we haven't discovered this before. We've gone to Szechuan Tasty House in Chinatown before a few times which has a good vegetarian selection but Su Xing ONLY does vegetarian and they do it well for cheap.

As a big time meat eater I thought I wouldn't enjoy it but all their tofu dishes were the best tofu I've ever had. Very filling. If you don't like tofu then pick something like the cauliflower and potato curry or General Tso's Vegetables. The dumplings were good and so was the seaweed salad. Lunch specials are a great deal at $7-10 for a soup, brown/white rice, main dish and a side dish.

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Also, for the people in this thread who go to Parx and play poker, try Parx Grill some time (the steakhouse in the main casino). I have been there twice in the past month using up my hundreds in comps and am always pleasantly surprised at how good it is. Barclay Prime, Capital Grille, Smith and Wollensky etc. are all way better of course but Parx Grill is worth saving up some of your comps.

Does Parx or Chester ever run a shuttle to the casino from the city and back?

Went to Ladder 15 last night, my god the talent there is awesome.

A few more multi-colored bowties than I'd usually like to see at the bar though.

Yeah this is always the dilemma at that place, since it opened really. The chicks there are almost always outrageous, but the douche factor, in multiple forms, is also very high.

http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/eve...es.asp?evt=676

thought i'd spread the word on this event. i went last year and had a great time.

beer fest at world live cafe. great beers. good music. food.

VIP is definitely worth it.

tickets sell out pretty quickly, if you're interested

just an FYI