went to mccrossen's for brunch a couple weeks ago

just wanted to state the following: my buddy had a hair in his food.. like cooked in, he picked up a piece of his "steak" (burger) by the hair that's how cooked in it was; his egg whites were super runny (as were mine) and when he stopped eating his meal they wouldn't continue to serve him booze (their policy is you have to be eating your entree for the booze to be bottomless)

at that point he shared his little tale about the hair in the food and the raw egg whites and the waitress was very apologetic and comped his meal and let us all drink until 3 pm or whatever; just something to be aware of.. i got the same meal, didn't notice anything wrong with mine but it just felt wrong eating after what i saw in his meal, shame too because the bloody's and mimosas were pretty decent; i'd prob go back but order carefully

damn. that sucks. i've never been turned down a drink after i've finished my food. and my food (im guessing you guys got the steak 'n eggs like I always get) has always been terrific.

maybe just a bad day on their end

Checked out brunch at Lacroix last weekend. Very very good. One of the most enjoyable meals I think I have had in my life. Highly recommend it

harrahs chester!!!!

been out of town a lot - looks like the new Vetri spot is either open or close on broad and mt vernon?

hasn't opened yet not sure when it will. hope it's better than route 6. that place was kind of disappointing.

its opening monday, feb 27.

I don't go out into Philadelphia all that much but my favorite restaurant there is Talula's Garden. I'm not great at throwing out a lot of descriptions and atmosphere in my recommendations but I'd say it has a rustic, comfortable decor with very friendly, attentive staff. The food is really good. It's not progressive or surprising or different. I'd call it reassuring and comforting.

Going to Amada tonight. Full tasting menu and wine pairing. Will have TR tomorrow.

can't go wrong there- enjoy

went to Garces Trading co recently and enjoyed it alot as well!

Amada was fantastic as I expected. Will have a full TR tomorrow when I sober up.

Was a little heavy on the seafood, more than I was expecting. There wasn't really a single dish that really wowed me, but at the same time none disappointed.

Since it's mentioned in the last few posts I'll go ahead and say that I really enjoyed Talula's Garden and thought Garces Trading company was decent.

Went to Talula's last Friday night with my girlfriend. We kind of went on a whim and made reservations that night and showed up really casually dressed (jeans and a long sleeve shirt). I think because of our dress the hostess sat us in the section near the bar and the server station. It was probably the worst table in the restaurant. The brioche with caramelized onion butter was delicious and we got several of those. I'm not a cheese connoisseur but I really enjoyed the master cheese board and we took time to enjoy each cheese even though I'm not sophisticated enough to really describe the differences. I had the tuna and avocado appetizer and my girlfriend had the gnocchi both were excellent. I had the leg of lamb for my entree which was good but nothing amazing. I too liked the atmosphere and this is probably my favorite Stephen Starr restaurant for atmosphere (which is half of the experience at a Starr restaurant), not sure about food I'll have to come back.

I went to Garces Trading Company for Restaurant Week and they had their $35 prix fixe menu. It was certainly good but I wasn't blown away by the food (had a salad, pasta dish, roasted chicken, lemon tart thing). We waited for over an hour for our food due to a food runner dropping our tray. We ended up getting a round of sangria for free. The atmosphere was really fun and this is definitely a good place to go with a group.

I'm looking to move to Philadelphia in the near future. I have been browsing craigslist and other websites trying to find the very best value that I can. I have had moderate success so far, maybe you guys can give some opinions on some good spots that you know.

Ideal Apartment:
- 1br, 2br, or studio (good possibility that I am going to have a roommate though)
- Price range: 600-800 (per person, just for rent)
*If by myself and utilities included can probably afford around $1200 max
-Parking fee needs not to be through the roof, and have good parking
- Washer dryer in apartment or on premise
-quality gym nearby (not some dumpy apt complex gym)
-close to center city

Im just looking for some suggestions on what areas of the city that I should be looking in. I have been looking the northern liberties, art area, and center city mostly so far.

If possible, suggestions on specific apartment buildings or online resources (other than standard ones) would be helpful as well! Thanks

Favorite dish last night at Amada was probably a Spinach and ham salad with apricot and vinaigrette dressing. Mushroom dish, cured/smoked ham, lamb chop, artichoke and cheese flatbread, octopus were all fantastic as well.

Agree, Amada was awesome. Did not enjoy Tinto nearly as much.

see bolded: you will easily find great apartments that fit your ideal, but this is what you what you should expect to pay. Forget about 600-800 unless you want some complete rathole in South Philly.

Look at the Parkway House (I really enjoyed my year there) and Parktown Place apartments. Look at craigslist or one of the philly apartment websites for units in Rittenhouse, Naval Square, Graduate Hospital, or Fairmount Park (be careful with FP, stay closer to the art museum/spring garden). These will all fall at the more expensive end of your range.

Props to the following places I've hit up in the last few months:

El Vez, Pub & Kitchen, Farmer's Cabinet, Franklin Mortgage, (and Honey in Doylestown).

thanks for info! parkway house looks very nice place with a lot of amenities

I lived in parktown place. I think I paid like $1300 for a 1br, but 2br were only like 2k iirc, so would be under your budget if you had a roommate. Apartments were very reasonably sized ~750sqft for a 1br. Each floor had washers/driers.

The complex of 4 buildings had its own small supermarket, drycleaners, decent gym, swimming pool etc. About a 10m walk from downtown. Each building has doorman etc. On ben franklin parkway so get a nice view of art museum, plus it doesnt feel as city like even though you are so central.

We looked at a bunch of places, and it was by the far the best bang for buck combo close to center city. A lot of the places we looked at that were actually downtown were like $1600+, and were not any nicer.

The places werent super baller or amazing, but definitely as close to as good as you can get for that amount of money in that location.

Decent talent at the pool as well sometimes

Went to Franklin Mortgage last night. Cocktails were outstanding.

Lacroix is phenomenal.

Went to Ranstead on Saturday with a group of 4 and the drinks were phenomenal as well.

It's my roommates bday today and we are planning on going to a byo with some poker friends and a few plus ones. What are some good byos that aren't too snooty but aren't total dives?

Been to Lolita, Banana Leaf, Aqua, El Azteca and some random Italian places back in college looking for something that isn't one of the above.

chloe if it wasn't monday, the ribs are the nuts!

i've been greatly disappointed with many of the "good" south philly italian BYOBs, I think I've heard good things about Ridicchio and Famicia but nothing too solid

What about Garces Trading where you can buy your own wine on site? Probably not as good value but still a cool experience.

A great place to live is the Summit Park , on Henry Ave in Roxborough, about 15 min from center city, 5 minutes from main street on manayunk. They have an amazing outdoor pool, with a private clubhouse and bar on the grounds. They also have an indoor pool and nice gym, but it is directly across the street from LA fitness. I lived there in my twenties for 5 years, it was a great time. Heres there web page...http://summitphilly.com/?gclid=CP38o...FaYQNAodTT-8Xw