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Category: Pennsylvania (Page 2 of 5)

Yocco's hot dogs are well-browned and topped with a dark brew.

Yocco’s, Allentown PA

June 28, 2015 / / 0 Comments

THIS LOCATION CLOSED

REVIEW

Hot dog places are often as much about the place as about the dog. That’s why we recommend that if you visit Yocco’s you head to the original downtown Allentown store rather than the newer branches. From the outside, the downtown location looks like a corner bar. Step inside to a narrow room with tables beyond the grill area and ordering counter up front. In keeping with the corner bar theme, there is a double-size self-serve cooler filled with beer, including the largest collection of oversize bottles we’ve ever seen. Continue reading

Onion ring fans all have their favorite styles: breaded, battered, big hoops, etc. Wert's onion rings are prepared in our preferred style, thin and lightly breaded. These rings are just about perfect.

Wert’s Cafe, Allentown PA

June 24, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We both ordered burgers from the long burger menu: Sue a Wert’s Cheeseburger, Bruce an Alyssa’s Barbecue Cheeseburger. Bruce hoisted the burger to his mouth and took a bite, whereupon this virtual Super Soaker of a hamburger took aim on his shirt and pants. These are among the juiciest burgers we’ve ever enjoyed! They also taste very good. The namesake burgers are stuffed with mushrooms and onions. You can also get burgers without the “Wert’s” prefix; these are unstuffed. Continue reading

Cherry Fair & Early American Craft Show, Schaefferstown PA, June 25th 2016

June 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

We find this hard to believe, and it’s incredible if true: the Cherry Fair in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania is said to go back to the 1700s! Presumably they skipped a few years since that first fair for, say, the Revolutionary War or something. The fair, these days, is held at the circa 1736 Historic Schaeffer Farm, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011. Continue reading

A rack of pork ribs is a lot of food. The bones are meaty and sing more of pork than smoke, despite their well-crusted surface.

Sweet Lucy’s Smokehouse, Philadelphia PA

June 20, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We’d be the first to admit that barbecue in the Northeast must be graded on a curve. We’ve rarely had barbecue in our home region that compares favorably with the stuff obtainable in the barbecue regions of America’s South, Midwest, or Texas. It’s just a fact of Northeast life. But it doesn’t mean that we and our fellow cold-weather Q-lovers are condemned to a barbecue-less existence. We just have to readjust our sights somewhat (and avoid the local Q for a few months following a barbecue-country trip). Continue reading

A Western Skillet mixes good home fries with peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Atop is layered bacon, two eggs, and shredded cheese, white toast on the side.

Summit Diner, Somerset PA

June 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

The Pennsylvania Turnpike runs 360 miles from Pennsylvania’s eastern to western borders, a five to seven hour drive end to end, which is long enough to send most long-distance drivers in search of sustenance along the way. And therein lies a problem, because the Pennsylvania Turnpike has long been notorious for its extremely meager dining options, both on the turnpike and in the nearby communities. The situation is so bad that most of those who have rolled on its pavement would be grateful for any sort of tip at all that would lead them to something more promising than the rest areas or the burger and chicken chains. Continue reading

The sandwich that bears the name of the eatery is prepared like a Stahley's cheesesteak, with grilled ham replacing the steak. It's a satisfying combination of flavors.

Stahley’s, Allentown PA

June 11, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Let’s get this out of the way up front: Stahley’s does not serve the best anything. We know that some people who come to LAF care about the food, and nothing but the food, and we have no problem at all with that approach but we have to say, if that describes you, do not come to Stahley’s. You will be disappointed. Continue reading

You can get your pizza any way you want, but there are a few set-piece specialty pizzas. This one features ham, double cheese and onions, and no red sauce.

Pizza Perfect, Trucksville PA

June 6, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Pizza snobs beware: what you will find at Pizza Perfect in Trucksville, PA, and at similar pizza specialists in the region, requires you to compartmentalize everything you think you know about what makes great pizza and what constitutes inferior pizza. In other words, enter these doors with an open mind and a LAF spirit. Continue reading

A plate of Dirty Wus from Pip's of Portland OR

America’s Top Dozen Donuts

June 4, 2015 / / 0 Comments

This past winter we popped into Frangelli’s Bakery in Philadelphia to try their donnoli — that’s a donut filled with cannoli cream. Alas, they were out, and we returned home with a fine selection of “regular” donuts, which included a dossant (like the trademarked Cronut). Little did we know at the time that their jelly donuts are a force to be reckoned with. Frangelli’s jellies were just named one of America’s top 12 donuts by The Huffington Post (full disclosure: the story’s writers are from Philly). Continue reading

Wrap a Jim's cheesesteak in a slice of Lorenzo's pizza and you've got yourself a Philly Taco!

Have You Tried the Philly Taco Yet?

June 2, 2015 / / 2 Comments

We first became acquainted with the trend in Washington D.C. with the U Street Taco: get yourself a chili-topped half-smoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl, then walk down the block to a pizza joint which sells giant slices. Wrap the dog in the slice and eat! Now comes the Philly Taco (we think South Street Taco is catchier): wrap a cheesesteak from Jim’s on South Street with a big slice of pizza from Lorenzo’s, also on South Street. Ken Silver of Jim’s figures you’ve got about 2,000 calories of Philly eatin’ right there. Continue reading

Fresh-from-the-oven pretzels, ready for a squirt of bright yellow mustard

Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, Inc., Philadelphia PA

May 23, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Maybe you’ve tried those butter-sopped mall pretzels, or the smoky (and too often dry and stale) New York City street cart pretzels, but until you’ve eaten one in Philadelphia you haven’t had soft pretzels at their best. Most people pick them up locally from a convenience store, or in brown paper bags from a street vendor, and they’re quite alright, but if you really want to see how good they can be, head straight for the bakery. Continue reading

The classic Lehigh Valley configuration includes brown mustard, chili, and chopped onions.

Pete’s Hot Dog King, Bethlehem PA

May 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Chili dogs and deep-fried pierogi: that’s your lunch. Where are you? If you answered Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, count yourself among the LAF cognoscenti. What French fries are to most of the fast-food eating populace, fried pierogi are to the Lehigh Valley. And what Yocco’s is to Allentown, Pete’s is to Bethlehem. Continue reading

To gild this lily, pour on some of the homemade strawberry jam found on every table.

Pat’s Colonial Kitchen, Newtown PA

May 5, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

When we’re on the road, we enjoy spending our mornings at a town café where the locals meet, the sort of place open for breakfast and lunch only, a place where there’s no need for the waitress to introduce herself as she already knows all the customers. And also the kind of place where the food is good. Oddly though, we’d never found such a place near home. Until now, that is. Continue reading

Love those idiosyncratic dogs!

Jimmy’s Hot Dogs, Easton PA

April 26, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Located in a strip mall. No place to sit; take-out only. They make nothing but hot dogs. Want something on the side? Have a drink and a bag of chips. Nothing else is available. Yet there’s a line of people waiting to pick up their bags of 8, 10, even 12 dogs to go. Service is quick and businesslike at the small counter, but this place, with its quirky personality, does not in any way resemble a chain restaurant. Continue reading

One has tomato sauce, one doesn't, and both are a taste of superb sausage.

Green Dragon Farmers Market, Ephrata PA

April 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

One cannot help but be skeptical when confronting a “real” Amish anything in Pennsylvania Dutch country. This area has more than its share of cheap attempts to cash in on the Amish people who do in fact still live here, and the stream of visitors hungry for some contact with Amish culture. Most of these places seem about as authentic as an Arkansas merman. Continue reading

The Quilt Auction is the highlight of the Pennsylvania Relief Sale, but don't ignore the homemade Amish and Mennonite food.

Pennsylvania Relief Sale, Harrisburg PA, April 17th and 18th 2015

April 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Way back in 1957, Ford Berg, pastor of Zion Mennonite Church near Morgantown, Pennsylvania, organized a relief sale on Ralph Hertzler’s farm. Over $4000 was raised. That Tri-Country Relief Sale (Berks, Chester, and Lancaster) evolved into today’s Pennsylvania Relief Sale, which last year raised $478,000 for the Mennonite Central Committee, which does relief work around the world. The centerpiece of the two-day sale is the auction of over 350 gorgeous, handcrafted quilts. See all the quilts available in this year’s auction in this gallery. Continue reading

A classic cheesesteak from Joe's Steaks + Soda Shop of Philadelphia

Cheesesteak Survey of Philly

April 10, 2015 / / 0 Comments

From Meniscus Magazine comes this story about cheesesteaks in Philadelphia. From John’s Roast Pork (” they make the sandwiches as if they were going to eat them”) to Mama’s Pizzeria (“the cheesiest cheesesteak of them all”) most of the major players are covered. As a bonus, they teach you how to order like a local, with an explanation of the various cheeses likely to be available and the toppings that might be offered. You want yours wit or witout?

A diner classic: hot roast beef sandwich, side of mashed potatoes

Glider Diner, Scranton PA

April 3, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Never underestimate the power of good brown gravy. Blanketing a hot roast beef sandwich, served as a dip alongside crisp, salty fries, and of course pooled in the crater of a volcano of mashed potatoes, brown gravy can make or break a diner meal. Continue reading

In our opinion, one of the best veggie sandwiches anywhere is the one called the Uncle Mike at Tony Luke's.

Tony Luke’s Coming to Ocean City MD in May

March 30, 2015 / / 0 Comments

A new Tony Luke’s, popular South Philly purveyor of cheesesteaks and Italian roast pork sandwiches, will be opening on 33rd Street in Ocean City, Maryland in May. The restaurant will remain open year-round, i.e., it’s not a summers-only venture as is the practice of many businesses in Ocean City. Read more in this DelmarvaNow story.

A classic cheesesteak from Joe's Steaks + Soda Shop of Philadelphia

Joe’s Steaks of Philly Opening 2nd Store April 1st

March 25, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The arrival of a second Joe’s Steaks + Soda Shop in Philadelphia has been delayed a few weeks from its planned opening last month, but a date has finally been announced. Next Wednesday, April 1st, Joe’s will open at 1 West Girard Avenue in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. The new spot will be run by Joe’s son, Patrick Groh, while Joe Groh will continue to operate the Torresdale original.

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