Philly’s Temple of Culinary Delights

If there is such a thing as a food wonderland in Philadelphia, it is surely the Reading Terminal Market. It’s part farmer’s market; part food court, with multiple produce, baked goods, meat, fish and seafood stands, in addition to purveyors of classic Philly sandwiches, Chinese food, Pennsylvania Dutch delights and an increasing array of ethnic cuisines. 

My wife and I lived a few blocks from the Terminal for eight years and did much of our fresh food shopping there. Then I worked around the corner from it for another eight years – until Covid reared its ugly head – and would get lunch there several times a week.

Those days are gone, as I both live and work in the suburbs at this point. But I still feel the need to head into Center City periodically for lunch at the Terminal and this past Friday was one of those occasions. 

The leading reason for Friday’s visit was to take care of my Jewish deli craving with a sandwich from Hershel’s East Side. But I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to satisfy multiple food urges and invited my friend Jim to meet there and split sandwiches from a couple different stands.

We started out at Hershel’s, where they hand-carve freshly steamed pastrami, corned beef and brisket and pile it high on rye bread. I opted for pastrami.

DiNic’s, which is arguably the most famous stand in the Terminal, is right across the aisle from Hershel’s. They are best known for roast pork sandwiches on long rolls with sharp Provolone cheese and greens, but they also do a great job with meatball sandwiches, roast beef and brisket. Jim ordered roast pork for himself – and another to take home to his wife – while I went for a brisket sandwich with Provolone, which Jim would also help out with. I have to say, he impressed me with his appetite on this day. 

The two big challenges at the Reading Terminal Market are deciding what to get and finding an open table at which to eat. I incorrectly assumed that the crowd would have died down by the time we met at 2 p.m., but we did manage to snag a table after several minutes of waiting for one to open up. It was in the Rick Nichols room, named after a former Philly food writer and colleague of mine. 

There was an air of excitement as we unwrapped our sandwiches. But of course, there were photos to take before we could dig into them.

I’ve had many sandwiches from Hershel’s over the years and they rarely disappoint. Their hand-carved thick slices are vastly preferable to thinner, machine-sliced meat from a textural standpoint. The pastrami was also bursting with moisture and flavor. 

As is often the case with Hershel’s, the meat was so soft that it broke apart while being sliced. But that wasn’t a detriment to my enjoyment of the sandwich in the least. 

The brisket sandwich from DiNic’s came on an unseeded long roll that was fresh and an excellent vehicle for the meat and Provolone. 

The flavor of the gravy-soaked and tender brisket was top notch, while the cheese mixed beautifully with it in addition to adding an extra textural element to the sandwich.

I didn’t taste Jim’s roast pork sandwich, but he seemed extremely pleased with it. I’ve had a few of them over the years and well know why they are Philly’s quintessential sandwich in the view of many locals. 

We finished our lunch quickly enough to afford me time to browse the Terminal and possibly grab something for dessert before catching my train home.

The following photos are merely a sampling of what is available for food lovers at Philly’s ultimate food temple. Click here to see a complete list of vendors. 

I’m sure most of you can understand now why I refer to the Reading Terminal Market as a food wonderland and temple of culinary delights. And I’ve only scratched the surface. Any food-lover who visits Philly should make a point to stop there. You won’t be sorry.

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*After I wrote the above piece, a former colleague posted a drool-worthy photo with a rave about Uncle Gus’, the new cheesesteak stand highlighted in one of the above photos. I’m going to have to return to the Terminal sooner than expected to try one of their steaks. That will likely be the subject of a post over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I expect to be back with photos and commentary on one of Philly’s most acclaimed pizzerias next week.