Tacconelli's Pizzeria

2604 East Somerset Street
Philadelphia, PA 19134-4733
(215) 425-4983
Website

I know it's sacrilegious to follow up the last post with the best pizza ever, but what can I say, I like pies in all of their many forms. So this is the famous Tacconelli's, where you have to call ahead to reserve your dough, they only offer three styles of pizza, and you can get soda to go with it. Bring your own beer or wine (or both!) and come hungry.



The menu is a lot like the restaurant, faded and well weathered. But this place is like the girl at the dance who lets her hair down (when the pizza comes out) and suddenly there is no one more beautiful. The typical slice-joint booths, tile floors and a welcoming but hurried attitude are trademarks of experience. The whole shop turns around one man, and one oven. This translates to, 'your order will come when it comes.' Which is fine. It leaves plenty of time to enjoy that ice cold beer (I went with Budweiser to show my true patriotism) or wine, and speculate on how good the upcoming meal is going to be. We ordered three pies for four people, and although I strongly believe I could have eaten everything, my often broken good sense told me not to. It was a close decision.


First up was the Margherita pie. Fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and a healthy dose of that utterly perfect pizza sauce. My obvious first mistake, burning my mouth on the first bite. My second mistake, burning my mouth again within fifteen seconds, because I was so excited to get this pizza into my stomach. The crust on all of these pizzas is served well done, and wafer thin. There is no folding involved. It is like perfect pizza ingredients on a perfectly yeasty cracker. The immense heat it undergoes really makes the crust sing, and I was barely able to wait to shove another slice down my throat. It's that good. The simplicity of the Margherita pie really lets the superior ingredients and attention to detail shine.



The next pie up was the the White Pie, which housed salt, black pepper, cheese and a whole smattering of garlic. We added onions and sweet peppers. This pie was also incredibly good, and the peppers and onions were plentiful, and delicious. The garlic really shone through, but was not overpowering and the oil in the cheese helped wilt the onions slightly while the sweet peppers added a vinegar tinge to the pie. Delicious.


Last but certainly not least, came the Regular Pie, little cheese and sauce. On this one, we went sausage only. Not too much, but a little extra fat to balance out the light cheese. It was perfect. Once again, the sauce is just too good. It's just what I want on a pizza, and reminded me of a place I used to eat at as a kid, which is no longer with us. I got a side of the hot peppers ($.75) but they weren't really necessary. With a menu this small, I don't think you can go wrong. Just remember, cash only, bring your own beer or wine, and CALL AHEAD to reserve your dough!

Papa John's Deal

Done deal. I ordered twelve toppings, an extra garlic sauce, and an extra cheese sauce. It cost me less than $12 out the door. Go Eagles!


Thanks to Michael Vick, you can get (up to) ten free toppings on a large cheese pizza TODAY ONLY in the Philadelphia area. Look for the Eagle's touchdown offer here. Might not be the best pizza, but I am going to embrace my inner fat kid, and go for broke. It's $10 for a large cheese. Awesome. UPDATE: So apparently, you are only "limited" to ten toppings on the website. If you call your order in, you get up to sixteen toppings for free! One per Eagle touchdown (8) and it doubles if they win! HAHA, insanity.

Middle Run

My favorite place to ride bikes. Three parks, miles and miles of flowy single track. It soothes the soul.










I remember making stick forts.

Market Street Grill

6 W. Market St
West Chester, PA 19382
(610) 429-5328
Website

After a (frigid) Sunday ride with some good buddies in West Chester, we sought some warm food to bring our core temperatures back up above freezing, so we popped into the Market Street Grill. I had never been, but I certainly will make a point of it the next time I find myself in that area of Chester County.



I went for the Bruno burrito, which is a breakfast burrito stuffed with andouille sausage gravy, fried eggs, cheddar cheese and hash browns wrapped in a tortilla. All of their gravy is made with andouille, and it's all quite delicious. I loved the slices of tomato on the side, which is a Mexican touch that is always welcome on my plate. I never quite understood why, but I usually integrate them into my meal somehow. In this case, I simply sliced them up and mixed them in with the burrito fillings. I was a big fan of this, although it may be the most unhealthy breakfast burrito I have ever eaten. Eh, I am not too worried about it when it tastes this good.


One of my dining mates got the huevos, which included crispy tortilla wedges smothered in sunny-side up eggs, beans, pico, cheese, andouille sausage, and an herbed cream sauce. Another out of the ordinary breakfast that hit the spot. This is gourmet diner food at reasonable prices. I was a big fan. Comfort on a plate in West Chester. I am going to have to go ride out there more often.

Varga Bar

941 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 627-5200
Website

I have snacked at Varga before, and they have some pretty tasty stuff. When some friends wanted to meet around 10th and Spruce, I figured it was a good chance to try out the rest of the menu. First of all, when you walk in, it's pretty dark. That aside, we were seated in the very back, the darkest corner of the dining area. So the pictures are better once I get a camera with a good flash.


The service was pretty mediocre, the server seemed out of it, and left us waiting for a couple of extended periods of time. She also seemed not to care to really take our orders. The food, however, is quite good. We started with the lump crab meat cheese fries. I am pretty sure I don't have to explain why.


The fries are thin, crunchy and fast food-like with a nice coating of truffle oil. With that additional earthy-essence, these fries are very good. If I would have realized I was ordering a burger, I would have still wanted the extra fries before-hand (the burgers come with tons of fries). Which brings me to the burger. I went with the Kobe burger medium rare. It came out medium well, but it was still quite delicious. They serve it with aged cheddar, bacon, caramelized shallots, organic greens, and heirloom tomatoes. Oh, and did I mention - a huge pile of truffle-oil fries. They offer homemade ketchup and sweet-hot mustard to go with the fries. Delicious. The burger was really juicy, the meat was perfectly seasoned and not overwhelmed by toppings. I really enjoyed it, and it almost lasted two minutes on my plate.



The fish and chips were another fry-laden meal, but when they taste this good, who's complaining? The fish was perfectly cooked, crunchy on the outside, light and flaky on the inside. Just how you wish they made it everywhere (but often fail to do).


The risotto was riddled with English peas, wild mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, Parmesan cheese and drizzled with (dare I say it) truffle oil. The lemon and thyme helped lighten this cream-heavy dish, but it was still an absolute gut bomb. Not in a bad way, but two people probably could share this and hit their daily allowance of fat in one sitting.


Overall it's a pretty solid spot for upscale bar food. It's not cheap and the service is confusing/underwhelming, but the beer is good and the food is really tasty. I will definitely be back for another run at their appetizer menu.

Mc Rib

I have to admit, as much as I love artfully crafted food of the gourmand nature, I have a secret love affair with bad food. Not just bad for me, but sometimes legitimately bad food. If I am too busy for a healthy homemade meal and don't feel like leaving the house, I have no qualms with firing up the oven and popping in a party pizza. I am not saying I don't feel a tinge of guilt, but I have A LOT going on in my life, and every meal can't be amazing. Don't get me wrong, I eat tons of amazing food, but sometimes compromises must be made. Every once in a while I have to stop at places such as this great Scottish restaurant, Mac Donald's, perhaps you have heard of it? Anyway, when I heard the Mc Rib was back I knew I had a date with gastrointestinal distress at least once during its six week recurrence. I felt like Homer when the first bite hit his arteries, heart rate slowing, glands salivating, and brain asking (screaming) WHY? Well, because of the marketing geniuses at said Scottish restaurant, obviously. Now full disclosure, I often will satisfy my cravings for this marginally tasty specialty item with these things. It's not the same, but probably has about the same number of suspect ingredients.



As you can see, this Mc Rib was made just for me. Apparently that means hastily slapped together, which would in fact be the proper interpretation.


The "pork" is of the same consistency as its vegetarian brethren, however it has a smack of hog fat about it. The onions give it a bit of crunch, while the pickles kind of slide down the gullet undetected. I could use a bit more kick from the sauce, and was half tempted to ask for some of their new chipotle BBQ sauce. I refrained however, because by the time I thought about it, I was almost done the darn thing.


The Mc Rib is pretty okay. It's mostly a novelty, but for $1.99, it's worth getting while the getting is good. Although my insides may beg to differ, I will probably be seeing another one of these things before the promotion ends. Unfortunately.

South Philly Costume Crit

The bike race this weekend was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone for coming out, we had great people, costumes, and food. Can't wait for next year. And fittingly, I was dressed up as a piece of bacon.