Feasting at the Reading Terminal Market

The Reading Terminal Market has been one of Philadelphia’s premier food-themed destinations since the late 19th century. It started out as a place to buy fresh foods, like produce and meat, but eventually evolved into what it is today – a combination food court and farmers’ market. 

When my wife and I lived within a few blocks of the Terminal, we did much of our fresh food shopping there. Then it became my go-to spot for grabbing lunch when I worked in the same neighborhood. While I’ve seen much less of it since the Covid pandemic ended my long stretch of working in Center City, I still manage to get in a visit every once in a while. One such occasion occurred a couple weeks ago when we met our friend, Andy, there for a late Sunday afternoon lunch. 

I had recently read that the covered outdoor space along Filbert Street next to the Terminal has been set up to attract more activity and diners. We passed through the increased crowd on our way in.

We arrived a few minutes early, but rather than making my way straight to our arranged meeting spot with Andy, we hopped right into line at one of the first stands we came across – Termini Brothers Bakery. 

Our eating plans for the day included an Italian pastry that has fascinated me since hearing it mentioned in a Soprano’s scene – the sfogliatelle. Its description and appearance both appealed strongly to me, but I had never tried one.

When we stepped up to check out the supply at Termini Bros., they had three sfogliatelles left and a line of moderate length. I headed to the back of it while my wife continued to monitor the situation, so I could exit the line if they ran out of what I prized. We were fortunate. Only one of the three was taken before I made it to the front of the line and placed my order. 

With our wrapped sfogliatelle in hand, we moved through the dense crowd to meet up with Andy and survey the scene. My wife then headed off to grab whatever suited her fancy while Andy and I made a beeline for the Sang Kee Peking Duck stand. 

I’ve raved about a couple of the Sang Kee area restaurants here in past posts. But their Reading Terminal stand was perhaps my most frequent lunch stop when I worked nearby. 

And once again, we arrived just in the knick of time. They had one small slab of barbecued ribs and one duck remaining in their case. I ordered the ribs and we moved on to our next destination.

That was Uncle Gus’ Steaks, the cheesesteak stand that opened in the fall of 2023. I was impressed enough with the steak I had from them back then to rank it in my top ten and wanted to see if they’ve maintained their standards.

The line at Uncle Gus’ wasn’t as bad as expected. In fact, we were able to walk right up to the counter and order, while the wait for our number to be called was perhaps 15 minutes. 

When we had the cheesesteak in hand, it was time to find my wife and grab a table. Given how crowded the place was, we managed to do that in a reasonably short amount of time. 

She had something from a Middle Eastern stand that I neglected to photograph. But I made no such error with the rest of our bounty. I’ll start with the cheesesteak. 

I’ve mentioned in a couple recent posts the extent to which I’ve felt less desire to eat cheesesteaks lately. While eating so many of them leads to me feeling the need to take a break periodically, that hasn’t been the only factor. The extent to which I’m getting increasingly disgusted with the growing number of steak shops and restaurants that are packing – or over-packing – a pound of meat into their steaks would be hard to overstate. It’s just too much for a standard sized roll if the sandwich’s balance and sense of proportionality matter – as they do to me. 

Well if every steak was even remotely similar to the one I had on this occasion from Uncle Gus’ there would be no issue and I’d probably be content to go on eating cheesesteaks at my former pace indefinitely. 

They use the same rolls that are featured at Angelo’s Pizzeria in South Philly, which serves my top ranked cheesesteak, in part because of how great that roll is. 

It’s got the best crust of any steak roll I’m aware of, while the inside is appropriately soft. On top of that, the chopped ribeye was perfectly proportioned to the roll – meaning there was about 12 ounces of meat – and the Cooper Sharp cheese was also ideally judged and blended in with the meat throughout. There was a light coating of cheese that had melted to the point of liquifying in each bite. That’s exactly how I like it. The meat was also seasoned as well as I could ask for, while the onions were nicely caramelized. 

In short, I found no fault with this sandwich. It was one of the best cheesesteaks I’ve ever had, and Uncle Gus’s will move up even higher in my rankings the next time I update them. 

In between bites of the cheesesteak, which I split with Andy, I managed to mix in several barbecued riblets. I call them that because – as is normally the case at Chinatown barbecued meat restaurants and shops – the guy behind the counter with a big cleaver chopped them in half in addition to separating the ribs from each other. 

As always, they were delicious. I’m not sure what they use to marinade and baste their barbecued pork, but it is sweet and absolutely divine. I ate a ton of the stuff both when I lived in Chinatown and worked near the Reading Terminal. 

The meat pulled off the bone very easily and was bursting with flavor.

Then came the moment I was most eager for. It was time to try my first sfogliatelle.

After photographing the whole pastry, I went to cut it into pieces so I could take a shot of the filling. But it was a struggle to get my plastic knife through the crust. That was amplified when I took my first bite and was very surprised by the texture. The crust was fairly hard and required a good chew. But that’s not a criticism. I found the texture very enjoyable.

The filling was sweet ricotta cheese with candied orange and natural cinnamon oil mixed in. I absolutely loved it. The strong citrus essence gave the cheese a fantastic flavor.

This will definitely not be the last time I have a sfogliatelle.

Normally that would have been plenty of food for me to eat for lunch. But even on a Sunday, when not all of the Terminal’s stands are open, there was so much temptation in every direction that we weren’t finished yet. 

Andy and I are both intense Jewish-style deli lovers. And one of Philadelphia’s best is Hershel’s Eastside Deli, which is situated near the center of the Reading Terminal Market. 

We agreed to split a pastrami sandwich and I made my way over to the stand to get it while Andy and my wife continued their conversation. It’s difficult to get my mind off of food and onto other things when I’m in such a setting. 

Unfortunately, it being fairly late in the day, I was informed by the sandwich-maker that they were out of pastrami. So I went for plan B: corned beef on rye with mustard. 

Herschel’s may have been almost out of corned beef too. The one that was carved for our sandwich didn’t look as good as they normally do. And what we ate followed suit.

The meat was a bit drier than usual and that was at least partially responsible for its texture being a tad off from what I’m used to. Perhaps that corned beef had been sitting out on the cutting board a while before I placed my order. 

I’ve had many corned beef and pastrami sandwiches from Hershel’s over the years. A few, such as this one, have been sub-par, but the vast majority have been outstanding. I’d even go so far as to say that while Famous 4th Street is my overall favorite deli in Philly, Herschel’s generally serves the best pastrami and corned beef. I’m not going to rethink that based on this one experience, but I’ll keep it in mind the next time I go there to see if it becomes a trend. 

Although my wife and I were finished with our eating for the day, Andy wanted to grab something else to take with him for a late dinner that evening. The three of us browsed the Terminal for a bit and wound up back at Sang Kee. That last duck was still in the case and Andy ordered it. 

I’m not sure how my weight didn’t balloon when we lived within a few blocks of the Terminal. I wouldn’t want to make a habit of eating like we did that day. But it was a wonderful time in terms of the atmosphere, company and food.