All meatballs are not created equal. Steven Calozzi’s grandmother roasted hers in the oven, as so does he at his new Italian Family Pizza on the Parkway in Center City. Pleasingly crunchy outside, tender inside. Get them on a plate to share or—to better savor the tomato gravy—on a roll made from pizza dough that he bakes to order.
— Mike Klein
Every Saturday, my dream and delight is to get an egg and cheese sandwich with a hash brown on a home-baked pretzel bun at a Truck Called Sandoz in West Philly. I’m obsessed. The pretzels are baked by Em Wilson, a local baker, and they’re perfect. The hash brown is crisp, the Cooper Sharp is melty. So the truck has somewhat unreliable hours and sometimes you show up needing this sandwich and it’s nowhere to be seen. When it’s there (Wednesday - Saturday, 10AMish to 4PMish at 50th St. by Cedar Park ) it’s worth it all.
— Zoe Greenberg
I could eat an entire barrel of Emmett’s airy sesame madeleines, which are served with a smoked vadouvan butter. If you don’t feel like sitting down for an entire tasting menu, you can sit at the bar and order them a la carte.
— Evan Weiss
The saffron peach cobbler at High Street was a great way to welcome peach season.
— Julia Haslanger
A recently opened Mexican spot in Grays Ferry has become a new ritual of mine. Deseo Mexican Grill, aka El Sabor De Mi Tierra or “The Taste of My Land,” is an unassuming neighborhood takeout spot working out of a former pizzeria on 26th Street. Tacos camarónes come in a chipotle cream sauce that I could eat with a spoon it’s so good, with two sides of salsa verde and spicy red chili salsa that I get extra chips to demolish. They’re also among the trend of Mexican establishments that do speciality Mexican pizzas including pizza al pastor or hot salsa, beans, and chorizo pizza.
— Henry Savage
I had a turkey pastrami sandwich on marble rye from Kibitz Room in King of Prussia, which Mike wrote about a few months ago. They have a free pickle bar with different types of pickles and salads. I loved their spicy horseradish pickles. The sandwich was enormous and smelled delicious. I slathered it with one of the four different kinds of mustards they had at the table and chowed down!
— Caryn Shaffer