Restaurant chains that Philadelphia needs
 

After finding one of my favorite restaurants (by luck) at Franklin Mills last night, I started thinking about what quality restaurant chains have either vanished from the Philly area, have a limited presence, or never ventured there in the first place...

<a href="http://www.johnnyrockets.com">Johnny Rockets</a> simulates a 50's Malt Shop experience, and delivers GREAT hamburgers. The Christiana Mall (DE) location closed up, so Franklin Mills is the only one I know of within an hour's drive, and that's just under an hour for me. (There may also be one on South Street, for those who dare to venture there.)

Or, for burgers, there's <a href="http:/www.fuddruckers.com">Fuddrucker's</a>, which goes with a flashier style. There used to be one in Springfield; now Philadelphians must either venture into Jersey (Voorhees, Turnersville) or head west to Lancaster.

<a href="http://www.schlotzskys.com">Schlotzsky's Deli</a> closed up a while ago in Bryn Mawr, and now has no locations within a hundred miles of Philly.

We see commercials for <a href="http://www.quiznos.com">Quizno's Subs</a> all the time... but where are they? Voorhees, NJ, again, or all the way out in Nazareth, PA. A small outlet is coming to Exton, but it's not open yet.

The <a href="http://www.hardtimes.com">Hard Times Cafe</a> (GREAT chili) is an even longer haul -- the closest are along the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Naturally, they opened up a store in Raleigh years AFTER I'd graduated from college and returned home.

One that we _have_ gotten recently is <a href="http://maxandermas.com">Max & Erma's</a>, which has opened up in Downingtown and (reportedly) sometime soon around Newtown Square. They have several locations in western PA, but are only now invading the eastern half of the state.

Anyone?

I am a person of relatively simple desires, sometimes. (other times, they become impossibly complex and may result in serious injury if attempted without a spotter, but that may just be TOO much information ...)

I whole heartedly agree about Fuddruckers, Quiznos, and Schlotsky's ... commercials for the two deli sandwich places make me drool. I'm hoping that they are precursors of an extreme market pentration of our local area.

But what I REALLY want to know is ...

Where did Denny's go?

They're all GONE. I keep seeing TV commercials and hearing radio spots, so I know they're still in business somewhere ...

And I want Chicken Fried Steak 'n' Eggs in the worst way (and I'm not willing to go to City Line Ave to do it, either. I was told that one's still up and operating.)

We had a similar experience last night. The ambulance crew called in on the radio to get the location of the nearest Pizza Hut. I hit the web and came up with Paoli, North Wales, and Maple Glen, and that was IT (none of which were convenient, of course). Without even thinking hard we came up with the locations of 6 Pizza Huts that aren't there anymore. What happened to them too? My lawds ... My cutural heritage is disappearing before my eyes ...

There's still a Denny's on the outskirts of West Chester, on the north side of Route 3. A quick Store Locator hunt revealed stores in Media, Clifton Heights and Essington.

As for Pizza Hut, a friend of mine who used to work in pizza delivery said that she heard that one guy owned a bundle of franchises in the Philly area -- 25 or so -- and recently said "Screw it, I quit." In the carnage that followed, most of those franchise stores closed up. Your mileage may vary.

I thought of one more ... Hops

Chain Microbrew. I went to one in West Warwick, RI. Phenomenal Food, great beer.

Another Chain Microbrew that I really liked was Capitol City Brewing. I make a point of getting to the one in the Inner Harbor at least once while I'm down in Baltimore. Anyplace that brings me a bread pan full of the most delicious onion rings I have ever experienced has my vote. The beer is AMAZING (Prohibition Porter and Blackout Stout RULE), and I'm told that each Cap City Restaurant's Brewmeister is given control over his choice of ingredients, so while the same recipe is followed everywhere, different hops, malts, and grains may come into play giving subtle differences to the product. Of course, this could be advertising hype which is supposed to make me clamor to go to Annapolis to try out THEIR Blackout Stout to see if it's better.

Yes, I've been to Iron City Brewing, Mike Schmidt's place, on a number of occasions, and while the beer is good, it's not as good as Cap City's, and while the food is tasty, it's too much of that froo-froo neo-euro quisine crap for me. Gimme a burger with that microbrew and I'm a happy woman. (and it better not have any garnishes that I can't spell on it.)

Personally, I'd vote for a Chipotle. (URL may not be good for the bandwidth challenged.) They make wonderful burritos, modeled on a Subway-style assembly line. There is one in Columbus, OH that we always hit when we go back to see Badger's folks...

- Pie

[edit] Oooh, and I almost forgot, Buffalo Wild Wings (formerly known as BW3's). Again, a place I came to know and love while living in Cleveland (and no, Cleveland Sucks).
[/edit]

So, there are actually other Quizno's in the area now? The only one I knew of was at 30th Street Station. That is definitely one of the places I will be hitting when I go home.

Along with Jack in the Box. And Long John Silver's. And Sonic.

I used to eat at a Chipotle in Bethesda, MD regularly for lunch. Good stuff...there is a restaurant in St. Louis very similar to it called Tomatillo.

Vsp, which restaurant? Popeyes? Arthur Treachers? (Though I don't think that's in the mall anymore...I didn't see it when I was there a few months ago.)

We're very fortunate to live just down the street from Franklin Mills, since just about every chain has a location there. And if it's not at Franklin Mills, then it's on Street Road. Otherwise, we'd be in a jam...not a lot of chain restaurants here, compared to most cities.

There's a vacant Fuddrucker's near Oxford Valley...no telling how long it's been closed. And there's only one White Castle left in the area--in Pennsauken, NJ. There used to be a Denny's on Street Rd., but it's closed now. The next closest one to me is at Oxford Valley.

There is a Johnny Rockets on South St. 5th and South, IIRC.

We need more Starbucks. We have a pseudo-Starbucks at the Acme in Bensalem, and another pseudo one at Oxford Valley, but other than that, I think the next closest one is in Center City.

And we need Dairy Queen restaurants. There are a couple of them here (KOP and Bethayres), but they're more like ice cream shops that have a few food items. Most of the DQs back in St. Louis are fast-food style restaurants.

I've only had Schlotzsky's once...when I lived in Cape Girardeau, MO. We didn't even have them in St. Louis yet.

And we only have two Subways in my area...one run by the "Russian mob" on Bustleton Ave. and one on Street Rd. that is good, but closes particularly early at night (8pm).

I suspect some chains don't bother coming here b/c of the incredible number of mom-and-pops joints. I've never seen so many in my life until I moved here. That's good to a degree, but I'd like more variety.

Fuddruckers is worth the trip to Jersey.

It's a good thing the Springfield one went away because one can only weigh so many pounds. And the larger Michael Moore gets, the less I want to look exactly like him...

Sycamore, the favorite I was referring to was Johnny Rockets. I used to haunt the one in Christiana, until it vanished. The Franklin Mills store didn't have the singing & dancing or a working jukebox, but I may have just hit it on a slow night.

A friend of mine swears that if Sonic ever hits the Philly area, lots of other fast-food places will roll over and die. We'll see.

We're loaded down with Subways, but the only full-scale Dairy Queens I know of are in Edgmont and Chadds Ford. The burgers are much better than I'd initially suspected, albeit greasy. My only problem with DQ is that I can't stand their ice cream! (I like my ice cream chewy and full of texture, like Breyers or Baskin-Robbins; DQ is more like ice milk.)

I haven't been to the Bethesda area in years, but I'd like to. Not only is that Hard Times Cafe territory, but they've also got Armand's Chicago Pizzeria within reach. Woot!

I agree heartily on the mom-and-pops, particularly when it comes to pizza joints. Of course, I view that as an asset. I swear by one particular mom-and-pop pizza empire in particular (John's in Frazer, Mike's in West Chester, Berwyn Pizza in Berwyn, Mr. Pizza in Edgmont, Roger's Bistro in Exton), all of which are tied to one family and all of which are excellent.

Shit...shows what I know. I didn't even know there WAS a Johnny Rockets up there.

Sonic is (to my knowledge) still a largely southern chain. I first had them in Southeastern Missouri back in the early 90s. They expanded into St. Louis about 5 years ago and are doing well. Their food kicks ass, and is relatively cheap.

Speaking of southern chains, I haven't had a Krystal burger in ages.

We need Taco John's here too. I liked their food better than Taco Bell.

That reminds me...we need a BD's Mongolian Barbeque here. Oh my god, that shit is so good. There happens to be one in Bethesda, on Wisconsin Ave. (Chipotle is over on Old Georgetown Rd., just off Wisconsin.)

I don't like most mom-and-pop pizzas. Santucci's in the city is good. Sal's in Valley Forge is good too, and Society Hill Pizzeria at Broad and South is probably the best I've had in this town.

god, take some of ours. i can count 4 starbucks within 2 miles of my house. in all fairness, thats counting the barnes and noble with the fake starbucks, but even so. i think its only a matter of time before they start putting each other out of business.

~james

Yeah, but remember James...you live in the "new West." Everybody and their mom wants to move out to the mountain states. Nobody wants to move to Philadelphia...we can't even keep the college students. And where people go, the goodies follow them. What do you have? 13 Ikeas out there? :)

actually, im fairly certain we have no ikeas here. :) so there. im about sick of this place too. we have talked a bit about moving to ohio (i have family there) in part because the influx of people to colorado has blown housing prices way the fuck out of proportion. good if you owned a house before we got popular. bad if you were in middle school when just about everybody with 500 grand to spend decided they wanted to spend it here.

its really not as bad as it could be, we actually can afford to buy a house, but its not as much house as i would have hoped for the price. bah. think ill go get a caramel frappuccino.

~james

I can't see the value of adding additional Starbucks in the area. We're already overrun.

I'd give my eyeteeth (and I REALLY like my eyeteeth) for a real honest to goodness hang out and talk to cool people coffee shop out here in the burbs. All the places we have are the kind where if they have a sit-down area everybody kind of huddles in their little bubbles of personal space and ignores everybody else. Okay, so what I really want is a place like the coffee shop in Friends, not that I actually WATCH Friends or anything, but without people that are that stupid and annoying. Okay, what I really, really want is The Cellar with coffee and a shop.

Oh, and there's a full service Dairy Queen up in Quakertown, on Route 309. It even has a massive kid playland climbing thing that puts most mickey-dee versions to shame. I was VERY surprised to find out that they even have genuinely decent food. (awesome salads, which one eats to justify the caloric nightmare associated with the peanut buster parfait dessert) When faced with soft serve ice cream I do prefer a REAL frozen custard to the DQ version, but hey, large twist vanilla and chocolate cone dipped in chocolate is a childhood comfort food, and therefore gets a thumbs up anyway.

Anyone else seen the Jack in the Crack commercial where they send the suit to Philly to do research on the new Philly CS? Man, oh man, this is one funny commercial.
"Hey, Jackie! How you doin'?"
Classic!

I don't appreciate you misquoting me. I order you to cease and desist!!!

Haven't seen any of their commercials recently, but Jack in the Box has had the best commercials ever since they brought Jack back.

I loved the antenna balls...bought 3 of 'em. 2 got stolen, and the third died a slow death in the elements. Do they still sell those?

I have no idea what you're saying here.

Damn Griff, don't they teach you proper speech up there?

Public schoolin baby public schoolin.

I didn't realize the crisis in the public school system was that bad. I'm very fortunate...I went to Catholic school.

Roy Rogers. In particular, Roy Rogers Fried Chicken. I don't forgive Mariott for selling them, I don't forgive Hardees for screwing them up, and I don't forgive Boston Market (nee Chicken) for buying them up and then turning out to have overextended itself.

The closest remaining one seems to be the old Hot Shoppes location in the Delaware service plaza.

Yeah, but I don't forgive Marriott for buying out the Gino's chain and converting them to Roy Rogers restaurants in the first place.

EDIT: I looked it up for the timing of this (1982), and found that not only did Marriott buy Gino's, convert a bit over half to Roy's and close down the rest, but they also closed and sold the RUSTLER STEAK HOUSES, most of which became Sizzlers.

Damn. I may never stay at a Marriott-owned hotel AGAIN.

Don't SAY that or you will be forced to endure Sheratons and - gasp! - Holiday Inns!

I will second the role Chipotle plays in civic comfort of any area. A brilliant concept. Genius. Ask Ozzie.

I can also report that Ikea is finally coming to Mpls. - summer 2004. It will be a hoppin' poang chair party. No more consummer roadtrips to Schaumberg, all southerly sojourns to focus squarely on Wrigley Field.

Oh, I wondered what happened to most of the pizza huts near me. I'm a big fan of Subway, and after all of them near here shut down, I glad that we now have a couple more open (one in Ardmore and one in Drexel Hill). Tho I'd like to give Quiznos a try too.

What I REALLY miss is good Mexican food. There doesn't seem to be any around here, at least not in the burbs. (And no, I do NOT count Chi-Chi's.) A Santa Fe Burrito Company opened up in Wynnewood, but I wasn't enthused about them. And there is a place called Tequila's in Center City that I really like, but that's more in the "special night out for dinner" category than "casual I Don't Feel Like Cooking Tonight dinner with the kids".

Yeah, we need more Mexicans in this town...too many Puerto Ricans. ;)

The best Mexican that I've had since moving here is El Azteca, at Grant and Bustleton. There's another one in Old City.

Senora's in West Chester isn't bad at all. Margarita's in West Chester is a step down from Senora's -- their menu is more Chi-Chi's-ish -- but still quite edible, and they have live music (with a cover charge) on many nights.

My brother was bagging on Ikea not too long ago, saying that what they have is a step above cinderblocks and 2x12's, and I starting cheering.

Sometimes all I need is a few cinderblocks and 2x12's. Sometimes I can just go to Home Despot, or Lowe's whip something semi-permanent up with a couple of short book cases and a door.

Teryaki is good.

Oooh, so you're poorly educated, using materials that were outdated in the sixties, but have a good grounding in the Catechism and can remember where to kneel, stand, sit, and you can mumble through the nicene creed in record time.

That explains a lot.

Norristown Police Dept tells me that there is a FANTASTIC Mexican place at Main and Airy. Food described as delicious, plentiful, and cheap. I'm going to have to check it out one of these days.

You people are missing out. You need a Red Pepper in your area. Nothing better than a grinder when your liquored up.

Okay maybe you can live without one, what I wish Grand Forks would get is an Olive Garden, yeah I can drive an hour to Fargo and eat at one but damn we have a Red Lobster why the hell can't that be replaced with Olive Garden.

You mean a grinder as in a hoagie, or a grinder as in a hot hoagie? (admittedly the first person that thought of that must have been drunk, but it was still a good idea. mmm toasty roll).

Cold, loaded with ham turkey salami and taco meat, some unbelievably tasty hot white sauce and lettuce.

I don't know how things were where you lived (or how it was back in the day...you're from the Cenozoic Era, right?), but our books were always fairly new. Although I remember the whole sit-stand-kneel spiel, I don't even know what the Nicene Creed is.

So nyah! :)

You just don't remember the name ...
 

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.


(and no, I can't do it from memory. I'm a Recovering Cathaholic.)
(oh, and I date back to the Ordovician Era. My folks had a nice place in east Gondwanaland.)

Episcopalian, Catholic light: All the ceremony and half the guilt. I was quoting the Nicene creed last year 'fore Mom ended up in a small copper box.

STEVE, if you are ever in cochranville ( rte 41 $ 10) try "Taco Shells"

there's also a new mexican joint in the new Giant shopping center south of WC on 202...never been there before ( red sombrero?)

and, there's a quiznos in lionville .....oddly enough right next to a starbucks rte 100 & gordon dr

as for coffe shop/ lounge...borders or barnes and noble

kennett square also has several good mex rest's ...high mexican pop due to the mushroom farms....

not far from chadds ford

I agree that Sonic needs to place a few franchises up this way...I have experience with them from Florida and Virginia.

Good food, and the best Slushies around! And this from a confirmed water-ice-aholic.

I enjoy Fuddruckers from time to time, I go to the one in Hershey when I get the urge and can convince Dagney to come with.

Certain Chinese buffets get my nod, but none are really "chains".
Ditto pizza joints. Pizza Slut, Dom-a-hos and their ilk are not at the top of MY lists. Possibly Papa John's, but quality varies too much from location to location.

Quiznos' are da bomb! to use the current vernacular. Dagney is a recent convert who will second this opinion.

Brian

"Doesn't this belong in Food and Drink, properly?"

man I miss Jack double bacon cheeseburgers.
Also the best damn chain on the west coast - In'nOut!!
If ever in SoCal don't miss it!

jack in the crack is definitely something PA/NJ needs. Bacon cheddar potato wedges ... bacon cheeseburger .... mmmmmmm....

I can deal without In n Out though. It was so talked up all the way to Cali ... and then I found out why they call it in 'n out. :(

I don't think we had that forum yet when this thread was created.

<i>I don't think we had that forum yet when this thread was created.</i>

Indeed we didn't.

Quick thoughts:

* Quizno's isn't bad. Expensive, but not bad.

* If you're in the West Chester area, Red Sombrero (the place Lumberjim mentioned) is adequate, but Senora's (on Gay Street on the way into town) is the local champ. No contest. If I'm in the Red Sombrero shopping center, I usually end up at King's Island (Chinese & Japanese) instead.

I know the guy that owns that place....we sold him a jeep....he brought a giant bag of egg rolls when he picked it up. Nice guy. good sushi, too.

sushi...mmmmmmmmmmmm, sushi......


Yokahama in Marchwood.

tuna/mango roll. salmon w/ lime slice. spider roll...mmmmmmmmmmmmm, sushi

There is a Quiznos opening soon near where I live, in the shopping center at City Ave. and 70somethingth street. (Where the Sears Hardware, Ross, and Appleby's are.)

I will also add Coyote Canyon in Conshohocken to the quality Mexican list. Like Tequila's, it's too expensive (for us at least) as a quickie lunch option, but the food was great. (The crowd was a bit loud for my taste.)

I'll have to check out some of the places in West Chester.

Waffle House
 

If you talk about cheap fast food, they need more of these in PA :).

There's that, and there's also the road trip factor. You can find one of those places anywhere south of PA due to their large signs.

Waffle House=blecch!
Denny's=okay
IHOP=good
Local greasy spoon=best

Taco meat? Wild or free range Tacos I hope.:)

There is a new Quizno's in "Blue Bell" (dammit, it's NOT fucking Blue Bell. That's a fiction perpetrated by the post office to increase property values ... It's East Norriton)

There is a fake Main Street area up in Exton (actually an upscale shopping center that's simluating main street, but with better parking) that has a chain mexican fast-food place that was really quite good. I'll be darned if I can remember the name of the place, only went there once, but I was quite impressed.

They need more Wendy's in the lower Bucks County area. I hate going all the way out to Oxford Valley Mall - it's the only one in the area that I know of.

We need a Roy Roger's revival. (no, not reincarnation).

Desert Moon Cafe. As Mexican chains go, they're pretty good, though their "red-hot Hell Canyon Chili" is laughably weak. Of course, finding good chili around Philadelphia is hellishly difficult...

mmmm... Fried chicken. SOO much better than that kentucky shit-fried crap.

There is a taqaria in Norristown on Main Street near the courthouse that's really good. Going in daylight strongly recommended.

Very true. I saw one on the way from the hotel to the LACC, and declared we had to eat there one night - I was operating on the reason that I'm a fan of "The Big Lebowski", where In-N-Out Burger features modestly. It IS remarkably good. Great burgers and damn cheap too.

And Pie, you're right - Buffalo Wild Wings is THE SHIT. My brother and mine's chosen viewing ground of Giants games and pro wrestling pay-per-views for over two years now. Great food, great prices, no cover, TV screens aplenty.

What I would like to see edge a little closer is IHOP and White Castle - the staples of my childhood.

<i>That</i> explains a lot.

:)

There is one in Bensalem near the Denny's at the Bensalem Plaza. I used to live there yanno. You're welcome!

Brian

Yeah, but that's over the next horizon from Levittown - I don't stray much from Route 13/Levittown Pkwy during work hours.

I mean, we've got McD's, BK, Dunkin, KFC, 7-11 and Wawa all within one mile of my building. Where's the Wendy's luvin? Oh god, White Castle would fucking rock too.

Go to hell. You can't beat IHOP and White Castle. You can try, but you'll fail miserably.

Chicken! That means you will not experience the yummy fare at the Clubhouse Diner just up the street from there. And that new burger joint (Nifty Fifties?) that replaced the miniature golf place. Clubhouse has the BEST CHEESECAKE in the area, possibly all of Penna and on up to NYC. I will venture that as more than opinion, less than fact. Anyone want to nominate their favs for my evaluation?

Brian

We didn't have many Wendy's back in St. Louis...didn't have a lot around us in DC either. Now, I have 2 within 5 minutes of my apartment, and several more within 10 or 15 minutes.

The only White Castle left in the Philadelphia area is in Palmyra, NJ on Route 73, near the Tacony bridge. Their other locations here closed about 3 years ago.

IHOP...mmmm...so much better than Denny's.

Totally. I practically lived off of it back home in Baltimore.

Wendy's also has some good fried chicken, but I think they only serve that in certain markets/areas.(they sure don't serve it here in Philly! :()