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Food truck guide: by location
Market bet.34 & 36 St.
Spruce bet. 36 & 37 St. 38 St. bet. Spruce & Chestnut 37 & Walnut, near the gym 34 & Walnut, opposite IRCS 34-Spruce-South junction plaza 40 Street trucks Note that each review may include comments from several sources, so the different instances of "I" may refer to different people. |
(Ron) Mysterious no-name Greek truck on Market St. The chicken gyro has LOTS of fresh chicken and decent tzatziki sauce. Might be enough for two! |
(Aaron) In my experience, not bad, but more expensive than Falafel Expert (on 40th) and not as good as it. (Elsi) Yummy sandwiches; I found this to be a good way to eat a lot for a very limited amount of $$, i.e. good food-price ratio. review from CitySearch: Fly by this University City lunch truck for the tastiest vegetarian fare around. Cheap eats include pita sandwiches (for $3.50), such as the Magic Meatball, a top-secret recipe of tofu meatballs, red sauce, cheese and salad, and the Sloppy Jason (named after the owner's eldest son), a twist on a Sloppy Joe made from veggie chili, tofu and cheese. "Meal Deals" such as the Seizan, a seitan peppersteak with rice and veggies and the Adriani (named after Varvoutis' younger son), made of vine leaves, rice and veggies range in price from $3 to $3.75. Other favorite dishes--like peanut satay-- appear as daily specials. (Ron) A favorite of vegetarians. I'm always impressed at what they manage to put together with a bare minimum of ingredients (brown rice and veggies, tofu meatballs, etc.), like the "Bella Donna", but this meat eater finds most of their dishes short on taste. Go early to get their specials such as curry or peanut satay, which always sell out by 1 p.m. or even earlier. (Augustin) The vegetables usually have a lot of bite, and their Lo Mein is rather good (available for an extra 25 cents for every meal). The hot and sour soup is excellent, as are dishes such as Hunan chicken (crisp meat). And it's interesting to watch them prepare five orders at the same time. (Ron) Very friendly Chinese Vietnamese brother-and-sister team prepare your food in record time. Nothing spectacular, just the usual boring brown sauce over standard Chinese American fare with steamed vegetables, but the lo mein is decent. Even at the peak of lunch hour, I've never had to wait more than five minutes in line. A Williams Hall staple. (Sophia) Their vegetarian dumplings (fried) are absolutely divine! Background: The Dimopoulos family actually earned two spots in the top 10. The 37th and Spruce cart was started up by mom Olga Dimopoulos in 1985. The second truck was added a year ago, and employs University of Pennsylvania students during the school year. Specialty: Greek Lady specialties include gyros, grilled chicken breast, lamb and salads. Customers: University of Pennsylvania students. Lots of them. Why customers raved: Fresh food, clean trucks, amazing gyros. (Maya) A bean burrito at the burrito truck (two trucks down from Magica Carpet) is one of the best food deals around--I think it's something like $2 for quite a lot of food. (John L.) TacoPal, the next-door neighbor of MexiCali, is not quite as good, in pretty much every way. |
(Sophia) I LOVE their chick-pea thing they serve on rice! I highly recommend this truck. Background: The Dimopoulos family actually earned two spots in the top 10. The 37th and Spruce cart was started up by mom Olga Dimopoulos in 1985. The second truck was added a year ago, and employs University of Pennsylvania students during the school year. Specialty: Greek Lady specialties include gyros, grilled chicken breast, lamb and salads. Customers: University of Pennsylvania students. Lots of them. Why customers raved: Fresh food, clean trucks, amazing gyros. (Ron) I got a bad vibe from waiting 15+ minutes with a relatively short line while the woman working there (who barely speaks any English) took orders every minute on her cell phone and occasionally turned around to chop something with a very large knife. Finally I got my veggie General Tso's chicken...and what a disaster! It looked like bits of fried Wonder bread, with a few pieces of broccoli and huge, badly sliced chunks of onion. I was so disgusted, I ate the broccoli (and a couple pieces of the "chicken") and threw the rest out. I NEVER throw out food so you can imagine how revolted I was. Then I made a beeline for Le Anh and got their not especially tasty but filling and oh so quickly prepared standard Chinese fare. Yue Kee must die. (John L.) The Chinese truck that is closest to the Millenium Bridge is alright quality, and the prices are probably the best you'll find. You can definitely eat your fill for $3.00 or less if you get their cheaper items. (Ron) I haven't been there in a long time, but their Singapore Noodles always impressed me. Hot but not too spicy for the weak-stomached, with generous amounts of beef, chicken, pork (I think), and shrimp in any combination. Also popular with undergrads. |
(Michael) Kim's has excellent wonton soup for $1.25 (!) and pretty much everything else is excellent and the price is right. That's why there's always a long line, even in the rain! |
Food Plaza at 34th and Walnut (Aaron) In my experience, not bad, but more expensive than Falafel Expert (on 40th) and not as good as it. (Elsi) Yummy sandwiches; I found this to be a good way to eat a lot for a very limited amount of $$, i.e. good food-price ratio. review from CitySearch: Fly by this University City lunch truck for the tastiest vegetarian fare around. Cheap eats include pita sandwiches (for $3.50), such as the Magic Meatball, a top-secret recipe of tofu meatballs, red sauce, cheese and salad, and the Sloppy Jason (named after the owner's eldest son), a twist on a Sloppy Joe made from veggie chili, tofu and cheese. "Meal Deals" such as the Seizan, a seitan peppersteak with rice and veggies and the Adriani (named after Varvoutis' younger son), made of vine leaves, rice and veggies range in price from $3 to $3.75. Other favorite dishes--like peanut satay-- appear as daily specials. (Ron) A favorite of vegetarians. I'm always impressed at what they manage to put together with a bare minimum of ingredients (brown rice and veggies, tofu meatballs, etc.), like the "Bella Donna", but this meat eater finds most of their dishes short on taste. Go early to get their specials such as curry or peanut satay, which always sell out by 1 p.m. or even earlier. |
(Elsi) Very good fruit platters; much cheaper fruit than what the food courts offer; fruit is usually very fresh. |
(Ron) Sammy, born in Beirut, named this truck after his son. The man lives up to the name on his truck as the "falalel expert": along with Saad's at 45th and Walnut, he makes the best Lebanese food this side of the Schuylkill. His falalel is less oily and just as tasty, and his kafta (ground beef) and lamb sandwiches are just divine, though as Lukasz notes, you might not want to carry them around too long before eating. Veggie combo strongly recommended. And Sammy is the only (semi-)native speaker of a modern Aramaic language around Penn, so stop by and greet him in his parents' native tongue with a "shlomo a`layxu!" (` = `ayn). |
Reviews from other sources:
It would have been impossible to visit each cart, but here are the results of the ones we were able to sample. Ralph's on Walnut Street stands out from the slew of cheesesteak carts. The bright red truck will catch your eye, but the authentic South Philly steak and chicken cutlet sandwich speak volumes on their own.
Rami's, on 40th between Walnut and Spruce, serves up nearly authentic Middle Eastern fare. Rami's hummus with pita ($3) is exemplary, as is the vegetarian platter ($4), which includes falafel, baba ghannoug and tabouli. Both also stood up to an hour-long walk between purchase and eating. A lamb gyro ($3.50) didn't fare so well, becoming soggy after the trek, while the lamb was a bit dry and mealy. Le Anh's Chinese on Walnut produced mixed results. General Sao's chicken was spicy-zippy, but a bit slimy; shrimp with cashews was excellent, the shrimp of excellent texture, the cashews firm and tasty. We only wished there were more of it.
When nationalities mix, the human gene pool can only benefit. Such is the case with Taco Pal on Spruce. Operated by two kindly Indian gentlemen, the Taco Pal cart serves up Mexican fare for a low, low price. Tacos ($1) are a bargain.