Cafe Carmela first came to my attention on the Cheesesteak Guru Facebook page. That group has over 50,000 members and is almost certainly the best source for well-informed opinions on which Philly area establishments offer the best steaks. It’s a common occurrence to see members list their top five cheesesteaks, and one of the placesContinue reading “A New Favorite: Cafe Carmela of Northeast Philly”
Category Archives: Food
Culver’s and Freddy’s
My previous posts should make it clear to anyone paying attention that I like family-owned restaurants with a lot of history and old-school charm. That would seem to rule out fast food chains, but that’s not entirely the case. You won’t catch me waxing poetic about McDonald’s, Wendy’s or Burger King, but there are smaller,Continue reading “Culver’s and Freddy’s”
Clams, Pizza and Clam Pizza
Connecticut is somewhat akin to Disney World for roadfood lovers. It’s a great state for so many different sub-genres, including New England style seafood like fried whole-belly clams and lobster rolls, pizza, ice cream, hot dogs, hamburgers and probably more that I’m either not thinking of or haven’t experienced there yet. My wife and IContinue reading “Clams, Pizza and Clam Pizza”
2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 4)
We had one final evening left in Bloomington before moving on to the next leg of our journey. It’s a major university town so there are a lot of restaurants in the downtown area. But they aren’t generally the sort of roadfood-type places I look for when traveling. So I sometimes have a difficult timeContinue reading “2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 4)”
2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 3)
The morning after our Mooresville day-trip, I headed southwest on my own. My wife remained in Bloomington to continue visiting with her friends. But I had a date with some fried chicken in Henderson, Kentucky. I enjoyed a sparkling new stretch of I-69 for the two hours it took me to reach Evansville, Indiana. AtContinue reading “2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 3)”
2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 2)
I mentioned near the beginning of Part One that my wife and I go to southern Indiana Periodically to visit with friends. More specifically, we go to Bloomington, the home of Indiana University, my wife’s alma mater. Some of her college mates went to work for the university and never left B-Town. We arrived in BloomingtonContinue reading “2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 2)”
2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 1)
Our last significant pre-pandemic trip was four years in the making. During a 2015 vacation, we planned a stop in Henderson, Kentucky, in large part to try what was frequently billed among my roadfood circle of friends as the best fried chicken in the country. It was known at that time as Bon Ton Chicken,Continue reading “2019 Eating Excursion to the Midwest and Kentucky (part 1)”
Weekly Review: Sofie’s Steaks
I’ve driven past Sofie’s Steaks in Morton, PA, a number of times and have wanted try them for a while. The fact that they were closed down for a fairly long time delayed that. But I noticed recently that they’ve re-opened and decided to give them a shot as my weekly cheesesteak. Sofie’s offers bothContinue reading “Weekly Review: Sofie’s Steaks”
My Lifelong Love Affair with Corned Beef on Rye
While I write frequently here about cheesesteaks – and yes, I do love them deeply – there is another sandwich for which I have had serious affection since an extremely early age. I refer to the Jewish delicatessen stand-by, corned beef on rye. It was my maternal grandmother, the late-great Mom-Mom Bess, who turned meContinue reading “My Lifelong Love Affair with Corned Beef on Rye”
Weekend Road-Trip to Cleveland
Most of my wife’s relatives live in the Cleveland area, so we go there periodically, including the past couple days. Unless you’ve got a lot of extra time on your hands, allowing you to take the Lincoln Highway across Pennsylvania into Ohio, the drive from Philly to Cleveland on the PA and OH Turnpikes isContinue reading “Weekend Road-Trip to Cleveland”
BZ Maestro Eats 