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The Garbage Keeps the Rent Down
Philadelphia is famous for cheesesteaks, but it shouldn’t be. Besides Geno’s and Pat’s, there isn’t actually anywhere to get a cheesesteak in Philadelphia. This is because cheesesteaks are disgusting. You have to go to New Jersey if you want a cheesesteak.
What Philadelphia should be known for is its Chinese and Vietnamese food.
I fucking love New York Chinatown, but Philadelphia’s Chinatown is better. You can get every regional style of Chinese cuisine, including Chinese-Japanese and Chinese-Mexican; and, unlike New York, you can get it for a normal amount of money. The grocery stores and corner stores are affordable too, and it’s the best place to get fresh fruit in the city.
We also have not one, and not three, but half a dozen Vietnamese strip malls right in the middle of the city, with multiple large grocery stores. I know everybody loves H-Mart, but let me tell you about Hung Vuong: it’s not only bigger than H-Mart, it’s also more affordable. And you don’t have to drive to get there! There are also a bunch of Indonesian places in the urban strip malls, for which I am eternally grateful. Philadelphia has better (and cheaper) Vietnamese and Indonesian food than the DC suburb of Rockville, and I fucking love Rockville.
The other thing Philadelphia should be known for are bakeries. This culture used to be entirely Italian-American, but now it’s African-American and Chinese. The Black bakeries specialize in Southern recipes like 7-Up cake and banana pudding, while the Chinese bakeries do Japanese-style minicakes. I’m not super into sweet food, but damn if it doesn’t look fantastic in photos.
A friend recently told me that her parents are visiting Philadelphia as tourists, and she asked me what they should do here. I honestly couldn’t tell her. This city is made of garbage, and there’s not much to see. It’s a great place to live, though. I get the feeling that Philadelphia is one of the only American cities where it’s still affordable to go out to eat, and it’s nice to be able to walk into a grocery store, pay $20, and leave with a backpack full of fish and vegetables and mushrooms like it’s Breath of the Wild.
Seriously though, probably what I’m going to recommend are the Magic Gardens on South Street. Taking literal garbage and turning it into a unique and beautiful lived environment seems to be what this city does best.
What Philadelphia should be known for is its Chinese and Vietnamese food.
I fucking love New York Chinatown, but Philadelphia’s Chinatown is better. You can get every regional style of Chinese cuisine, including Chinese-Japanese and Chinese-Mexican; and, unlike New York, you can get it for a normal amount of money. The grocery stores and corner stores are affordable too, and it’s the best place to get fresh fruit in the city.
We also have not one, and not three, but half a dozen Vietnamese strip malls right in the middle of the city, with multiple large grocery stores. I know everybody loves H-Mart, but let me tell you about Hung Vuong: it’s not only bigger than H-Mart, it’s also more affordable. And you don’t have to drive to get there! There are also a bunch of Indonesian places in the urban strip malls, for which I am eternally grateful. Philadelphia has better (and cheaper) Vietnamese and Indonesian food than the DC suburb of Rockville, and I fucking love Rockville.
The other thing Philadelphia should be known for are bakeries. This culture used to be entirely Italian-American, but now it’s African-American and Chinese. The Black bakeries specialize in Southern recipes like 7-Up cake and banana pudding, while the Chinese bakeries do Japanese-style minicakes. I’m not super into sweet food, but damn if it doesn’t look fantastic in photos.
A friend recently told me that her parents are visiting Philadelphia as tourists, and she asked me what they should do here. I honestly couldn’t tell her. This city is made of garbage, and there’s not much to see. It’s a great place to live, though. I get the feeling that Philadelphia is one of the only American cities where it’s still affordable to go out to eat, and it’s nice to be able to walk into a grocery store, pay $20, and leave with a backpack full of fish and vegetables and mushrooms like it’s Breath of the Wild.
Seriously though, probably what I’m going to recommend are the Magic Gardens on South Street. Taking literal garbage and turning it into a unique and beautiful lived environment seems to be what this city does best.