A few days ago, we related to you the results of what could be the most important scientific test thus far this year: our taste test of Philadelphia's best cheesesteak joints. We laughed (at the church groups at Pat's), we cried (over Geno's xenophobia) and we ate some damned awesome cheesesteak (at Jim's), but in all of our fervor to taste these three, we completely forgot that we actually visited a fourth: Carmen's Famous.

Carmen's was our first stop when we arrived off the train in Philly, and it joins a couple other cheesesteak booths inside of Reading Terminal Market. You won't hear folks from the City of Brotherly Love exclaiming their passion for Carmen's like they do for Pat's or Jim's, simply because their cheesesteaks are pretty standard. Nothing to write home about, but edible. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-07-21T16:14:35-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/7/19/12338/1106

You've seen it on the Food Channel and you've probably heard about it from friends who've visited Philadelphia...it's the battle of the Philly Cheesesteaks!

The City of Brotherly Love isn't so brotherly when it comes to the rivalry between Pat's and Geno's, two local joints serving up classic Philly cheesesteaks for decades, and who happen to be located directly across the street from each other. We stopped by recently, camera in hand and stomach empty, prepared to put these places to the test and declare our favorite cheesesteak.

But we went further than that; we reached out to our followers on Twitter, asking what Philly cheesesteak places they preferred, and we heard of a third location. And so this battle of Pat's and Geno's evolved to include a third contender: Jim's Steaks. So who won?]]> JetSetCD 2010-07-19T11:41:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/7/13/12828/3498

In the heart of Philadelphia's Center City sits a quaint neighhorhood of shady streets and attractive shopfronts. No, it's not the upscale "Gold Coast"-sort of area, but it is the Gayborhood.

Bordered on the north by Walnut Street, south by Pine Street, east by 11th and west by Juniper Street, the Gayborhood is a village of gay-friendly shops, bars and restaurants. Although it was hopping during Pride Week in June as you can imagine, the real summer action has just begun, with two weeks of this month set aside for the "There's No Place Like Home" two-week-long block party.

From now until July 24th, you can follow the yellow brick road 32 rainbow street signs that were just unveiled this last weekend when we were in town. From there, it's all photo exhibits, special film screenings, and even a discount card for the Gayborhood businesses and bars.

[Photo: Jaunted]]]> JetSetCD 2010-07-13T15:51:06-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/7/12/104039/290

In a desperate bid to escape the humid, 95+ temperatures of a summer New York City, we spent this last weekend two hours south in Philadelphia, where it's about three degrees cooler. It was a last-minute decision, and after seeing that Amtrak wanted $45+ per person for a one-way, two-hour ride on a non-Acela between the cities, we immediately turned to the budget bus options, because they at least have WiFi.

So, the dilemma: to Megabus or BoltBus? ]]> JetSetCD 2010-07-12T13:31:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/11/21/17278/459
At behest and via the courtesy of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Jaunted spent the weekend in 6th Borough for a sleepover and tour--meaning this trip was on Ben Franklin, Rocky, and Boyz II Men--or something like that. Our thoughts are scattered below. Enjoy.

Head on over the the Jaunted Flickr pool to view a batch of new pictures not included in our Philadelphia Field Trip posts. From brunch to art to street art and back to brunch again, it's a small but satisfying sample of what Philly has to offer (we were there for fewer than 48 hours, after all).

Final thoughts on Philly? If you're a New Yorker with a chip on your shoulder, it could be hard to stomach. Let the embarassment of the New York Times' "6th borough" headline go, because Philadelphia doesn't think it's New York, and it doesn't want to be either. Philly's pretty big, but still a small town at heart. The music and dining scenes are certainly bustling, though, and not in a trying-too-hard way. A new BYOB is usually just a step away, and it isn't as hard as it once was to find a good show to go to every night of the week. We won't be moving there, but wouldn't mind returning for some shopping and a meal.

We may be back home now, but we still welcome your Philly tips with open arms. Leave 'em in the comments or send to tips [at] jaunted [d-o-t] com.

Related Stories:
· Philadelphia Field Trip coverage [Jaunted]]]> djk 2006-11-21T17:32:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/11/15/113934/20
At behest and via the courtesy of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Jaunted spent the weekend in 6th Borough for a sleepover and tour--meaning this trip was on Ben Franklin, Rocky, and Boyz II Men--or something like that.  Our thoughts are scattered below.  Enjoy.

Philadelphia is at no shortage for good french toast, but Sabrina's is one of the city's most popular places to eat it and other brunch goodness. Also a BYOB, Sabrina's is the tradition to Rx's hippie crunch. The wait at Sabrina's can be brutal, but if you arrive early, say around 8 am, you can avoid the worst of it.

On the menu are several decadent varieties of french toast, most stuffed to the gills with fruit and farmer's cheese. You can also get pancakes, eggs, and more lunch-like sandwiches. It's hard to go wrong here, though even "healthy" options like the egg whites are quite buttery, but Sabrina's pretty much does its bread products best. Just the mention of it to our Philly friends prompted stories of all the varieties of french toast they'd eaten there in the past.

As a bonus, you can catch some of Philly's scariest street art right around the corner on 9th street. The entire Italian Market area, within which Sabrina's is located, is full of murals. Check out our favorite piece after the jump.]]> djk 2006-11-15T11:56:24-05:00 39.939028 -75.158155 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/11/13/85757/460
At behest and via the courtesy of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Jaunted spent the weekend in 6th Borough for a sleepover and tour--meaning this trip was on Ben Franklin, Rocky, and Boyz II Men--or something like that. Our thoughts are scattered below. Enjoy.

Can you tell the difference between those two pizzas? No, but can you really tell the difference? It's not as simple as you think. One will get you a verbal lashing and the other won't. That would be the plain versus the spinach-mushroom-and-peppers, and it's the former that will keep your ass safe.

At Tacconelli's Pizza, a famous casual pizza joint in Philadelphia, it pays to plan ahead. In fact, as you may have heard, if you don't order your dough in advance here, you won't get any food, period. And because a major Tacconelli's strong point is the crispy, brick-oven-toasted crust of its pies, the menu specifically states that you basically aren't allowed to order more than three toppings on any one pizza. If you try to, your server will snap you back into place. Even the three-topping pie pictured above drew some hesitation from our waitress ("too many toppings and the crust starts to get soggy," she said), though she eventually let it slide because it was a three-vegetable pizza. She'd be happy to know that the crust on the plain did turn out to be the crispiest, and we ate three slices of it.

Related Stories:
· Philadelphia Field Trip coverage [Jaunted]]]> djk 2006-11-13T11:54:23-05:00 39.980391 -75.113128 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/