Category Archives: Quick bites/Takeout

Local Links Market Café – Haddon Heights, NJ

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

Local Links Market Café – Haddon Heights, NJ

During a visit to the quaint tiny town of Haddon Heights, New Jersey I found Local Links Market Café (LLMC). Immediately upon walking inside LLMC you can tell they are part of the “local and sustainable” mantra of doing business. They have a tiny section of goods to purchase, a few tables and chairs to dine in, and a beautiful display case of their specialty meats and products. I would go with the sausage sandwich special of the day.

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The sandwich consisted of Guiseppi Link Sausage, broccoli rabe, fresh roasted peppers, onions, and was topped with sharp provolone. LLMC impressed with a delicious sandwich with the perfect combination of flavors and cooked it beautifully. I really enjoyed my time at LLMC with extremely friendly service, nice and interesting goods to buy at the truest meaning of a “mini-mart”, a community minded business model, and the ability to take quality fresh meats home. LLMC may abide by the “local” mantra, but I will not. Since I am not local to LLMC, I will be going for a drive to see them more often.

 

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Larry’s Steaks – 10th & Girard – Philadelphia, PA

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

Larry’s Steaks – 10th & Girard – Philadelphia, PA

Cheesesteaks, cheesesteaks, cheesesteaks! That is what anyone who is not from the Philadelphia area thinks about. Well there are many well-known cheesesteak proprietors around Philadelphia and Larry’s Steaks (LS) is one of them with a few locations to help satisfy your need. My visit to LS would be their 10th and Girard location.  Upon entering LS they had a very diverse mix of clientele inside, some more together then others. LS was packed with every seat and counter seat taken and the staff buzzing around wildly filling the orders. The service was blunt, loud, and a little hectic. I would go with a cheesesteak with American cheese, fried onions, and ketchup.

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I will give LS credit, where credit is due. The sandwich was filled nicely with meat, roll stood up well, and price was reasonable. I can see why they are successful and if I around a LS location again I would not hesitate to patronize them again. Was this the best cheesesteak around? No, but sometimes convenience and price is a good consolation prize and to be the best at that moment.

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George’s Sandwich Shop – 900 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

George’s Sandwich Shop – 900 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA

Whatever name you want to call the area of South 9th Street in Philadelphia, I will always think of it as the Italian Market area even though it is losing its once vibrant Italian character. Strolling the area you can get a little bit of everything, but George’s Sandwich Shop (GSS) is one of kind. They are simple, efficient, and delicious. I would go with the roast pork with sharp provolone.

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Every bite oozed with flavorful pork goodness of meat and juices soaking the roll while the provolone adds just the right amount of kick to balance it perfectly. Just like cheesesteaks, Philadelphians are very protective and opinionated about who has the best roast pork sandwich. I am not declaring that GSS has the best, but what I can tell you is that it is damn tasty and should be on the list of any roast pork sandwich fan to try.

 

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Agave Mexican Food – Bellmawr, NJ

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

Agave Mexican Food – Bellmawr, NJ

I love finding little hidden gems whenever I go out to eat. Well in an unassuming parking lot with a Laundromat next door I found Agave Mexican Food (AMF). When you walk into AMF, the décor is nothing to write home, the place is huge and definitely underutilized, setup kind of strange, but the minute I set food next to the counter to order and looked over at the fridge and spotted Refrescos O-KEY bottle of Mexican Orange soda sitting there I knew nothing else ever matters except for the food, and AMF was headed in the right direction. To go along with my tasty orange soda of choice, my order would be four tacos.

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The taco order consisted of two pastor tacos and two beef tacos. The waitress started things out with a beautiful complimentary basket of fresh chips and dipping accompaniments, but I ate them so quickly and they were so delicious, I forgot to even take a picture. The beef tacos would continue the trend of being fabulous at AMF with crisp onions and nice cilantro topping the tacos with a squirt of lime to go along with a hearty portion of beef in each taco. The pastor tacos were just average, but better than most places and after the success of carrying a soda I enjoy, to join forces with fabulous chips and beef tacos that were just amazing, I will give AMF a pass on the pastor. I cannot say enough good things about this small family operated gem of a Mexican style restaurant. So if you are in the area, you should give AMF a try.

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Charlie’s Country Ribs – Philadelphia, PA

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

Charlie’s Country Ribs – Philadelphia, PA

On the outskirts of the Temple area sits Charlie’s Country Ribs (CCR). This area of Philadelphia lacks any al fresco dining, walking around the neighborhood once done eating, or entertainment venues to make it a dinner and a show sort of night. What CCR does offer though is down home service with unfiltered conversation being had in the establishment. I do not wither when non-politically correct things are being said about or around me. If you do, be aware that CCR may not be for you. I embrace it and find that you can instead find the pulse of how people really feel or what is on their mind. I will admit it is best to say no comment at times on some of the subjects, but for what it is worth; CCR is at least entertaining with a crowd inside. The dining space is neither large, up to date, nor astatically appealing, but it is real. I would order fried chicken, cabbage, and mac and cheese as the ribs were still cooking and I did not feel like waiting.

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CCR is not cheap by any means, which is surprising for its location. The food was good, better than average, but not great especially for the price point with other locations offering a superior product and a more friendly dining atmosphere. The chicken was moist, but seasoning was a tad bland. The mac and cheese could use just a little more something to it as well as the cabbage. For where CCR is located, they are by far the best around. It is just a shame that nothing else is around them to make a trip there appealing. Would I go back? I certainly would, but next time to try the ribs that they are named for to find out if they are worth staying on my radar.

 

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Szechuan Hunan Chinese Restaurant – Philadelphia, PA – Rittenhouse Square Area

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

Szechuan Hunan Chinese Restaurant – Philadelphia, PA – Rittenhouse Square Area

The Rittenhouse Square area of Philadelphia is one of the nicest places to just go for a stroll in one of the most upscale areas of town while having a beautiful park to separate you from the urban jungle. While I enjoy fine dining just as much as the next person, sometimes you just are not in the mood or have the monetary means to do so, and this area is not budget friendly for the most part. Situated about a block away from the park I found Szechuan Hunan Chinese Restaurant (SHC). The interior was a little dark and dated, but the extremely friendly service overcame any of that. I would try their shrimp and chicken in peking sauce.

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I started with the egg roll, which was very nice and not greasy at all. For the entrée, the chicken was nice chunks of white meat and the shrimp were cooked just right and of decent size. Where SHC really shined was the extremely fresh and large portion of veggies. Nice crisp zucchini, carrots and celery were in the mix. One downfall was there were an absurd amount of water chestnuts in the dish. It just seemed like someone dropped a whole can of them in my dish. My major complaint with SHC would be the rice served to me was your standard Chinese take-out variety, which was a shame. SHC was a nice surprise and even better on my wallet.

Overall

Three out of Five Stars

 

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Jim’s Steaks – South Street – Philadelphia, PA

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Bluejeanfood

Jim’s Steaks – South Street – Philadelphia, PA

One of Philadelphia’s hottest tourist areas is the South Street area for better or worse. I find I have a love/hate relationship with this street. You have some of the most tasteless stores and flavorless eateries, but you also have some of the best shopping and amazing eats all right next to each other while trying to avoid the throngs of helpless and wondering visitors from out of town. It is horrible and great all at the same time. One of the most poplar places is Jim’s Steaks (JS) which at times has a line around the block just to put an order in. I passed by JS one day with a light crowd and decided to give them a shot. I would order a mushroom cheese steak with American cheese and fried onions.

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The sandwich itself was slightly above average. The steak was of nice quality, but chopped up way to much as it fell out of the roll, the mushrooms even though generous in portion size came directly out of a can, but I must admit the fried onions were delicious and some of the best around. If you are a tourist it is not a bad one to try and maybe slightly better than the other two well-known tourist cheesesteak destinations while provided somewhere indoors to eat your fare and having some neat pictures to browse around the place.

What really got me at JS had nothing to do with how my sandwich tasted. After my order was when things got a little dicey. The patron in front of me did not have cash so they went over to the atm in JS and tried to get money out of that machine. After a few minutes trying to no avail, they told the cashier that it was not working and that they would be right back as they were going to use the atm around the corner. One would think the cashier would move on to the next customer. NOT!!! The cashier said she already entered their meal into the register and she could not cancel it. I had to wait five to ten more minutes for the individuals to reappear while the line behind me grew exponentially as well with all of our sandwiches going cold on the counter waiting for them. Once that issue was cleared I thought I could move on, but boy was I wrong. Once I handed over my money, the cashier advised me that she did not have any more quarters or dimes at the moment even though it was only 1pm and she just stared at me for fifteen minutes waiting for the other people to find an atm instead of finding some money for herself as well in that timeframe. She asked if it was ok to just give me pennies and nickels. I agreed and was handed some coins. I looked down at noticed she did not give me the proper change in pennies as I was given eight pennies and three nickels for change of seventy-seven cents. I advised her of the mistake, and she said she gave me the correct change and she would have to check register count to refund anything else. With many other customers behind me and having a much longer wait than it needed to be already, I decided to let JS keep my extra change and move on, but I was not happy.

With all said and done I will give JS two ratings, which is the first time ever on this website, but I could not give JS just one score on the basis of one of the employees being completely incompetent.

Three and half out of five stars for the meal and atmosphere in and around JS

and

One star overall for the meal and quality of service JS provided to me

 

*********** UPDATE 01-26-2016 ********************

Talked to the president of Jim’s Steaks over the phone and then he sent a follow up email (shown below). They apologized for my experience and stated he will take corrective actions on the things I mentioned and he strives everyday for every customer to have nothing but an outstanding experience and sandwich. I will have to give them another chance. Kudos Jim’s Steaks for being professional.

 

******************************************************

Derek:
Thanks for your time on the phone this afternoon. It is not often that I get to speak personally to a reviewer, especially a negative one. I apologize for your wait you had in line at our restaurant and the unprofessional way in which your change was tendered. Most of our staff has been with us for many years and would never have handled you in such a manner. The cashier that day was in her second week of training and, as you might imagine, didn’t make it to week three. We pride ourselves on our service as well as our cheesesteaks and the wait you had to endure was completely outside our normal operating procedures. We handle the situation you described multiple times a day and simply move the patron ahead of you to the side if there is a problem. When busy we serve up to 3000 guests a day through a single cash register, so we have to have policies in place that address folks who don’t have cash.
We hope that the next time you have a chance to visit the South St. area you give us another try. I can assure you in no uncertain terms that your experience will be one that will leave you with a much more positive impression of Jim’s Steaks South St.
Sincerely,
K## S##### – President
Jim’s Steaks South St.
400 South St.
Phila., PA 19147

 

 

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Buffalo Bills Barbecue – Sicklerville, NJ

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Bluejeanfood

Buffalo Bills Barbecue – Sicklerville, NJ

I find critiquing barbeque one of the more difficult genres to be objective about since I am a Kansas City Barbeque Society Certified Judge. Eating barbeque from teams with dreams of winning hundreds of thousands of dollars for just one serving of food they labored over for days with recipes perfected over the years and then eating barbeque from a retail location setup to feed the masses is like night and day. With keeping this in mind I decided to try Buffalo Bills Barbecue (BBB) as I was seeing a lot of things posted about them on the internet. BBB is strictly a no frills take-out location. When I picked up the menu, I was a little hesitant as their menu was more on line with a pizza joint than a barbeque location and a little all over the place. I would go with a full rib combo.

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The meal consisted of a full rack of baby back ribs, mac and cheese, and collard greens. BBB is nowhere near championship caliber barbeque, but I must admit I was impressed for what is readily available barbeque in South Jersey. The ribs were cooked nicely and were tender throughout. I enjoyed the rub they used and the mild sauce painted on with just the right amount of sauce, unlike some places that pour the sauce on to hide an inferior product. Each bite was juicy and meaty as well. The collard greens really shined as hidden inside each forkful were tiny pieces of pulled chicken that enhanced the overall flavor profile and add a special surprise. The mac and cheese was not too impressive, but I have had worse and it held its own as a decent side.

BBB was enjoyable and I would be happy to try more things on their very large menu and hope everything is as good as what I had my first visit there. The staff was very personable and friendly. The woman behind the counter said she thought she recognized me and had I been to BBB before. With me responding I had not, she replied, “Well darling, I guarantee you are going to love your meal and if you don’t, come back and I’ll give you something else you like instead.” I respect a dining establishment who has confidence in what they are serving. I will be going back to BBB. Not to return what I ordered, but to order some more!

Overall

Four out of Five Stars

 

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Cameron’s Seafood Market – Philadelphia, PA (Broad Street Location)

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Bluejeanfood

2015-01-22_12-41-17_414Cameron’s Seafood Market – Philadelphia, PA (Broad Street Location)

Seafood is by far one of my favorite categories of food. It has so much variety and flavor. Yet it is probably the most ruined type of food around by poor execution, lack of freshness, and most times small portions due to its high costs. With a few locations in Maryland and two in Philadelphia, I decided to give Cameron’s Seafood Market’s (CSM) Broad Street location a try. As soon as you step inside CSM you are welcomed with a beautiful array of fresh looking seafood with decent prices on display in ice at the tiny market section of their store. I did not want to cook myself, so I decided to order a bowl of lobster bisque, fried scallops and shrimp, with a side of fries at the restaurant side of things.

As dreamy and wonderful as the market seemed, those few steps away into the restaurant side was more of a nightmare with what I was served.  The lobster bisque lacked any sort of flavor except salt, extremely thick and pasty, did not seem fresh at all, and I have had better lobster bisque come out of a can from my local supermarket. The scallops were beyond over cooked, dripping with grease, and were so rubbery they would have been better suited to be a child’s bouncy ball then anything resembling something to eat. The shrimp were of decent size, but were overcooked as well causing them to be dry. Also, the stiff and tasteless breading was three times the size of the shrimp negating anything the shrimp could have offered if they were cooked properly. To add injury to insult, CSM then threw double-breaded fries to my meal, which everyone already knows my feelings on this atrocity done to potates and is the bottom of the barrel French fry with the only reason to buy them is because you are cheap and worried about your bottom line.

Would I ever go back to CSM? Never to eat, but the market did look nice and service was friendly so at least that had that going for them.

Overall

One Star out of Five

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George’s Famous Roast Pork and Beef – George’s Luncheonette – Italian Market – 1007 S 9th Street – Philadelphia, PA

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Bluejeanfood

George’s Famous Roast Pork and Beef – George’s Luncheonette – Italian Market – 1007 S 9th Street – Philadelphia, PA

This is one of the few times I have to be very specific where I ate since this one block of the Italian Market has two of same named spots. George’s Famous Roast Pork and Beef – George’s Luncheonette (GFR) which is the one I went to and George’s Sandwich Shop up the other end of the street. GFR is a no frills, old school, but my kind service place. They do not mess around with any modern trends, deal with cash only, and has a charm that the Italian Market is losing every day. I would go with the pork sandwich with provolone.

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The pork was chopped nicely, sat in a nice gravy, just the right amount of cheese, and the roll did the job quite nicely. The pork was fresh and all the tasty fatty parts were included, which is the way all pork sandwiches should be served.

I like atmosphere in GFR, even though it is extremely dated and worn down. I just miss this kind of neighborhood eatery which was very common in my youth growing up in Philadelphia, but is going the way of newspapers and corded telephones. You are not going to get gourmet at GFR, but you will be nostalgic for the past when you are done eating.

Overall

Three Stars out of Five

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