Sandy's Restaurant

231 S. 24th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 732-8335

I had ridden my bike past Sandy's for many years when coming off of the Schuykill River trail, but I never stopped in – mostly because I was sweaty and potentially wearing head-to-toe spandex.

I had also heard some good reviews, so I figured I might as well give it a try. Now, in all honesty, I am a lunch guy, not a breakfast one, so the breakfast might be great, but the lunch was not so hot.

The quaint little spot is run by a husband and wife team, and has not been updated in decades. It's actually kind of charming. And kind of weird inside.

They offer an Italian grinder, so I thought I'd throw a change-up and go with the hot version of the sandwich I so dearly love. In all actuality, a good Italian hoagie beats a good cheesesteak almost every time. This, however, was not a good Italian. It was like a mash-up of Quiznos and Wawa.

The meat was kind of slimy, the bread was thin and mediocre, and the shallow height of the roll prevented effective sandwich eating. Everything just kept popping out the top, or sliding out the back.

It had the old school, quaint, diner style some people may love. I do, if it's done right. This however, was just not that good.

As they tend towards a somewhat Greek theme, I decided to give that a go as well. Seeing no Gyro spit, I decided to go for the chicken Souvlaki, which came in a pita, and was served with fries. It looked pretty good, but improper tzatziki distribution, flavorless chicken, and a soft pita equaled total failure. It was nearly impossible to eat this without taking giant bites of sauce and lettuce, followed by bites of just wet pita and chicken. It was incredibly messy, and a true gut bomb.

The fries, though they came straight from a bag, were the highlight of the meal. Fried well, and battered, these things helped me through an otherwise lackluster outing.

See sausage fingers below for evidence of sloppiness. This entire sandwich basically disintegrated by the time I hit the middle, and I was forced to abandon ship and move to a fork/finger based method.

I would possibly try them again for breakfast after an early morning ride, but that would have to entail waking up extra early on a weekend. And that seems like so much work.