Czerw's

3370 Tilton St.
Philadelphia, PA  19134
(215) 423-1707

Website

When approaching Czerw's (pronounced shev's), it looks like someone opened a Kielbasa shop in a North Philly garage. Well, that's pretty much the case, except it happened long ago, and they crank out (no pun intended) some of the best meats and pierogies I have ever tasted.


I was originally expecting a takeout kind of place, and although that may be the case, it sure didn't seem to be the day I meandered in. No big deal. I went with the cheesesteak pierogies, buffalo chicken pierogies, hot sausage sticks and traditional kielbasa.



The inside of this place is bare and utilitarian, with a healthy smattering of old-school Polock. I loved it. The guy working was friendly and recommended the piergoi's (cheesesteak and buffalo chicken) while I picked out the meats. He said those were the most popular 'rogies, so I figured they were worth a shot. They also happened to be filled with two of my favorite ingredients, so I was secretly happy to try such new-fangled stuffings, of an old Polish treat without feeling guilty for passing on the sauerkraut and potato, etc. (which I also love and will be back for).



Since we couldn't eat this things immediately, we retired to the Polish fortress of solitude, aka New Wave Cafe. Once here, we immediately ordered a round of Lech, some white borscht (so, so, good) and what else, kielbasa!



They deep fry their basy, which renders it crispy, dark and absolutely delicious. Served with a few fried onions, some Polish mustard and a couple slices of rye bread, and I was in heaven.


The pierogies, ALMOST made it a full 24 hours (I was eating mounds of Thanksgiving leftovers), and then they were fried up with some onions and spicy beef stick, in a healthy smattering of butter. All I can say is, wow. The dough was terrific, light, fluffy and a perfect vessel not gluey and heavy like can often happen with these delicate dumplings.


The buffalo chicken pockets, consisting of ground chicken and buffalo sauce were dipped in blue cheese dressing, and a bit of my own buffalo sauce. While the cheesesteak version, which contained steak meat, cheese and, a bit of onion, were served with a side of fried onions and ketchup. Delicious.