Friday, July 07, 2006
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29 Comments:
Lots of things. Maybe the Phills will have fired their manager by then, and they'll be back in the race.
Hobnob, glad-hand, self-promote...
Not sure if the Barnes exhibit has been moved to Logan Circle yet, but it is breathtaking.
At the risk of being accused of self-promotion, I am posting a restaurant list that I prepared in 2003 the last time APSA was in Philly (and about 3 weeks after I moved from Philly to Boston). It's probably out of date, but hopefully still useful
_____________________
I remember visiting Philadelphia when I was in college. After a weekend there, I had no desire to go back. So when I moved to Philly at the end of 2001, I was not pleased.
But after a month in Philly, I was a convert – it is a great place. When I decided to move from Philadelphia to Boston, all my friends and family said “that’s great, you’ll love Boston – it’s a great city.” Maybe so, but Philly is a great city as well. And – to get to the point of this message – it’s a great place to eat. The Philly restaurant scene is excellent, diverse, and affordable.
First thing first. Philly is not just about cheesesteaks, I hate them and can’t figure why anyone would spend 2000 calories on one (on the other hand, other Philly treats – soft pretzels and water ice (kind of slushy fruit ice) are excellent. Look for pretzel vendors on the street and look for Rita’s on South Street for water ice). If you must have your greasy semi-tasteless concoction, I’ll steer you to a good place. But first, consider the great restaurants that Philly has to offer.
The Guide to Philly cuisine in the July 2003 issue of PS is actually very good. Maybe a little too good – the word on many of my favorite places is out. But I can offer some additional guidance (note: many of the places I recommend are in the PS – so I don’t give address for those restaurants)
First, since the conference is in the convention center, you’ll want to make it over to the Redding Terminal Market. The food stalls there are excellent – I especially like the Tai food stall (I don’t know any names, but it’s the only one there). Another good place there is the juice bar that is right across from the tea place. But it’s hard to go wrong in the market – look around, see what looks good – if it looks good, it probably is.
Also near the conference center is Chinatown. A couple places that I really like are Vietnam and Penang. If you go to Vietnam, the appetizers – especially the BBQ plate – are better than the main courses. But the drinks and the décor are top notch. Penang is really interesting Malaysian food. But it only serves beer and is cash only. Still, if it’s not too crowded, Penang is a really great place to go. Another place that I liked that was a little less swanky was Rangoon – a Burmese place on 9th street.
But the best dining is away from the convention center. Two big restaurant districts to visit are Olde City and Rittenhouse Square. Olde City is pretty trendy – perhaps too trendy for political scientists – but there are some really good places. One of my favorite places to go for drinks and snacks was The Continental. You can eat dinner there as well – try the Rad Na Thai Chicken and the Szechuan Shoestring Fries.
The Continental was the first restaurant run by Steven Starr, who is the trendy restaurant king of Philly. Another Starr Olde Town restaurant is Buddakan – an excellent Chinese fusion place. But be warned, it is almost impossible to get in. Deirdre and I tried to go for about 9 months before we finally went there for our farewell dinner in Philly a couple weeks ago. So call ahead if you are interested.
Other Stephen Starr Places include Morimoto (yes, Iron Chef Morimoto – I hear it’s good, but very very expensive) Tangerine, Alma de Cuba (see below) and Jones. I haven’t been to Tangerine or Jones. I hear that Tangerine is very good and Jones is very cheesy (think 70s ski lodge). But you can check out the restaurants for yourself at the Starr web page – access it through the Buddakan web site – there are links to all of his other places.
www.buddakan.com
A couple of other places in Olde City that I like are Café Spice (upscale Indian on 2nd street) and Novelty (reasonably priced new American on 3rd street – the prix fix is a great deal).
The Italian food in Philly is excellent. If you want to go old school, head to south Philly – the Italian market area is fun to check out on the weekends. I hear that Kristian’s (1100 Federal street) and Tre Scalini (1533 S. 11th) are very good. But I prefer to go to the Rittenhouse area (probably, in large part, because we lived at 15th and Pine). There has been an explosion of little Italian places in the area – many are BYO and several are cash only. Ernesto’s 1521 Café (15th and spruce) gets a lot of hype, but I didn’t love it. Better bets are La Viola (16th just off spruce), Bistro la Baia (17th and Lombard) and Prima Donna (right across from Ernesto’s). In a similar vein, if you are looking for good (and interesting) Pizza, go to Mamma Palma’s.
I think that one of the best scenes in Philly right now might be Latin. I would recommend four places. In descending order of price (and quality) they are: Passion! (excellent, but a little pricy – Craig Leban, the restaurant critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer recently said that it was the best restaurant in Philly), Alma De Cuba (Starr restaurant and priced accordingly, but great décor and drinks), Cuba Libre (on south street; atmosphere and drinks are better than the food) and Azafran (3rd street off South – short menu and its BYO, but if you can sit outside, it’s great).
That’s it for the “genre” stuff. Onto some random thoughts.
Monks (16th and Spruce) – On the plus side, it has a fantastic beer list and good burgers. On the negative side it is impossible to get in. I lived around the corner and Deirdre and I tried to go about 20 times – only once did we get in with less than an hour wait. If it’s a good burger that you are looking for, do what we did after we gave up – go around the corner to Copa Too (15th and Spruce). The beer list is short, but the margaritas are pretty good.
Le Bec Fin (15th and Walnut).Probably the premier French restaurant in Philly. If you can afford to eat dinner here, god bless you. But you might want to try the lunch – you can get out for about $75 a person with a glass or two of wine.
Rouge (18th just off Rittenhouse square). The view of Rittenhouse square is great. The burgers are very very good. But it’s even more pretentious and trendy than the olde city haunts. Still, if the weather s nice, the view might make it worth it.
Striped Bass (15th and Walnut). I don’t eat fish, so I wouldn’t go here. But Deirdre loves seafood and says it’s great.
Django (4th street, just off south). A great place. It’s sort of new American – the menu changes based on what is in season. I had one of the best meals in Philly here. But, it’s very small and almost impossible to get in – we were never able to get another reservation after that first one.
Standard Tap (Northern Liberties – 2nd street). This cool bar/restaurant is quite a hike from the conference —you’ll need to take a cab. But it’s worth it. All the beers served come from near Philadelphia and there are some excellent, unusual brews. The food is excellent too – try the burgers or the pork sandwich.
Well, that should at least get you started. Hope that you enjoy Philly.
Oh, and if you insist on getting a cheesesteak, don’t go to Pat’s, Jim’s or Geno’s. Head over to Rittenhouse Square to Tony Luke’s (18th and Sansom – or better yet, take a cab to the original location at Front Street and Oregon Ave.). But if it were me, I would order the roast pork with broccoli rabe.
I remember visiting Philadelphia when I was in college. After a weekend there, I had no desire to go back. So when I moved to Philly at the end of 2001, I was not pleased.
But after a month in Philly, I was a convert – it is a great place. When I decided to move from Philadelphia to Boston, all my friends and family said “that’s great, you’ll love Boston – it’s a great city.” Maybe so, but Philly is a great city as well. And – to get to the point of this message – it’s a great place to eat. The Philly restaurant scene is excellent, diverse, and affordable.
First thing first. Philly is not just about cheesesteaks, I hate them and can’t figure why anyone would spend 2000 calories on one (on the other hand, other Philly treats – soft pretzels and water ice (kind of slushy fruit ice) are excellent. Look for pretzel vendors on the street and look for Rita’s on South Street for water ice). If you must have your greasy semi-tasteless concoction, I’ll steer you to a good place. But first, consider the great restaurants that Philly has to offer.
The Guide to Philly cuisine in the July 2003 issue of PS is actually very good. Maybe a little too good – the word on many of my favorite places is out. But I can offer some additional guidance (note: many of the places I recommend are in the PS – so I don’t give address for those restaurants)
First, since the conference is in the convention center, you’ll want to make it over to the Redding Terminal Market. The food stalls there are excellent – I especially like the Tai food stall (I don’t know any names, but it’s the only one there). Another good place there is the juice bar that is right across from the tea place. But it’s hard to go wrong in the market – look around, see what looks good – if it looks good, it probably is.
Also near the conference center is Chinatown. A couple places that I really like are Vietnam and Penang. If you go to Vietnam, the appetizers – especially the BBQ plate – are better than the main courses. But the drinks and the décor are top notch. Penang is really interesting Malaysian food. But it only serves beer and is cash only. Still, if it’s not too crowded, Penang is a really great place to go. Another place that I liked that was a little less swanky was Rangoon – a Burmese place on 9th street.
But the best dining is away from the convention center. Two big restaurant districts to visit are Olde City and Rittenhouse Square. Olde City is pretty trendy – perhaps too trendy for political scientists – but there are some really good places. One of my favorite places to go for drinks and snacks was The Continental. You can eat dinner there as well – try the Rad Na Thai Chicken and the Szechuan Shoestring Fries.
The Continental was the first restaurant run by Steven Starr, who is the trendy restaurant king of Philly. Another Starr Olde Town restaurant is Buddakan – an excellent Chinese fusion place. But be warned, it is almost impossible to get in. Deirdre and I tried to go for about 9 months before we finally went there for our farewell dinner in Philly a couple weeks ago. So call ahead if you are interested.
Other Stephen Starr Places include Morimoto (yes, Iron Chef Morimoto – I hear it’s good, but very very expensive) Tangerine, Alma de Cuba (see below) and Jones. I haven’t been to Tangerine or Jones. I hear that Tangerine is very good and Jones is very cheesy (think 70s ski lodge). But you can check out the restaurants for yourself at the Starr web page – access it through the Buddakan web site – there are links to all of his other places.
http://www.buddakan.com/1.html
A couple of other places in Olde City that I like are Café Spice (upscale Indian on 2nd street) and Novelty (reasonably priced new American on 3rd street – the prix fix is a great deal).
The Italian food in Philly is excellent. If you want to go old school, head to south Philly – the Italian market area is fun to check out on the weekends. I hear that Kristian’s (1100 Federal street) and Tre Scalini (1533 S. 11th) are very good. But I prefer to go to the Rittenhouse area (probably, in large part, because we lived at 15th and Pine). There has been an explosion of little Italian places in the area – many are BYO and several are cash only. Ernesto’s 1521 Café (15th and spruce) gets a lot of hype, but I didn’t love it. Better bets are La Viola (16th just off spruce), Bistro la Baia (17th and Lombard) and Prima Donna (right across from Ernesto’s). In a similar vein, if you are looking for good (and interesting) Pizza, go to Mamma Palma’s.
I think that one of the best scenes in Philly right now might be Latin. I would recommend four places. In descending order of price (and quality) they are: Passion! (excellent, but a little pricy – Craig Leban, the restaurant critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer recently said that it was the best restaurant in Philly), Alma De Cuba (Starr restaurant and priced accordingly, but great décor and drinks), Cuba Libre (on south street; atmosphere and drinks are better than the food) and Azafran (3rd street off South – short menu and its BYO, but if you can sit outside, it’s great).
That’s it for the “genre” stuff. Onto some random thoughts.
Monks (16th and Spruce) – On the plus side, it has a fantastic beer list and good burgers. On the negative side it is impossible to get in. I lived around the corner and Deirdre and I tried to go about 20 times – only once did we get in with less than an hour wait. If it’s a good burger that you are looking for, do what we did after we gave up – go around the corner to Copa Too (15th and Spruce). The beer list is short, but the margaritas are pretty good.
Le Bec Fin (15th and Walnut).Probably the premier French restaurant in Philly. If you can afford to eat dinner here, god bless you. But you might want to try the lunch – you can get out for about $75 a person with a glass or two of wine.
Rouge (18th just off Rittenhouse square). The view of Rittenhouse square is great. The burgers are very very good. But it’s even more pretentious and trendy than the olde city haunts. Still, if the weather s nice, the view might make it worth it.
Striped Bass (15th and Walnut). I don’t eat fish, so I wouldn’t go here. But Deirdre loves seafood and says it’s great.
Django (4th street, just off south). A great place. It’s sort of new American – the menu changes based on what is in season. I had one of the best meals in Philly here. But, it’s very small and almost impossible to get in – we were never able to get another reservation after that first one.
Standard Tap (Northern Liberties – 2nd street). This cool bar/restaurant is quite a hike from the conference —you’ll need to take a cab. But it’s worth it. All the beers served come from near Philadelphia and there are some excellent, unusual brews. The food is excellent too – try the burgers or the pork sandwich.
Well, that should at least get you started. Hope that you enjoy Philly.
Oh, and if you insist on getting a cheesesteak, don’t go to Pat’s, Jim’s or Geno’s. Head over to Rittenhouse Square to Tony Luke’s (18th and Sansom – or better yet, take a cab to the original location at Front Street and Oregon Ave.). But if it were me, I would order the roast pork with broccoli rabe.
After reading that Adam, I'm convinced you've also put together the Assisting Politics blog. ;)
There are some nice neighborhoods within walking distance of the conference hotels.
Kvetch about the San Francisco hotel labor dispute.
Seriously.
Philly is a fun place. Get over SF.
But SF is uber-cool.
Then spend early Sept there instead. We won't miss you.
That was mean. And I was looking forward to seeing you again.
PPPHHHHTTTTT!!!!!!
When will we give up Labor Day weekend as the conference time? What a drag.
The AEAs meet right after New Year's. Would you prefer that?
"uber-cool"
do you actually use that terminology in real life?
Of course. I represent myself online just as in real life.
AEA, AHA, MLA all meet between Christmas and New Year's.
I believe we meet on Labor Day in part to get less expensive conference rates.
Not sure what you think is a better time.
Christmas-New Year's interferes with skiing.
...and going into the field.
So who are having conference affaris?
Talk about a subject that we shouldn't get into....
Me and yo' mama.
Are the Phillies in town during APSA?
They're at home Friday, Saturday and Sunday against Atlanta.
Will both teams be 20 games behind the Mets at that time? :-)
how about attending panels and mentoring graduate students?
My dream mentor is Jose Reyes. He's so fast.
Here is a thread about philly. I found it useful
http://www.aspd.net/forumdisplay.phps=&forumid=888
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