Liberty Choice

1947 N Front St
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(215) 423-4500

A newcomer to the Front Street scene, Liberty Choice is a brick oven pizza place, deli, convenience store, coffee shop, and Middle Eastern food store. Is that enough for you?

They are located in a questionable spot, between Berks and Norris on Front Street under the El. I love that they are making an effort to become an anchor in this area and finally bring some good to the 'hood, instead of, you know, drugs and prostitutes.

There is a deli.

A brick oven.

A coffee bar.

A giant convenience store (with upstairs seating arena - not just area, but arena).

Oh, and a fresh orange juice machine.

I went for a spicy falafel (which they make fresh), with hummus and feta. They have a $10 minimum for cards, so I got a bag of pita ($1.39) and container of hummus ($2.00) to hit my quota. Unfortunately their machine was down so I had to use the ATM. Which gives out money in $5 increments, in case you forgot you were by the Berks stop on the El.

The falafel was unbelievably good. I haven't had falafel that "popped" with this much flavor in a while. Fresh, light, and herby, it was a welcome surprise. I was told by the owner that "this is because we are the people that know how to make falafel." Agreed. As you can see, they did not skimp on the feta.

The sandwich was chock full of fresh vegetables, like diced onion, tomato and cucumber, and slightly spicy. I am hooked.

The house made hummus to-go was good, creamy and topped with chickpeas, but it could have used some kind of stand-out flavor. Maybe tingling spice, or filled with a dollop of herbs or something to make it sing.

I have to say, I was surprised how good this falafel was. It had the distinct fresh, flavorful combination that so many offerings of the same type miss. I will be back to try the platters, and who knows, maybe a brick oven pizza.