Hello folks, sorry its been so long since I’ve written. Due to the lovely weather thought I would make this next update about ice cream. Hooray! Who doesn’t love ice cream?
So before Lisa left traveling the world, for her birthday a few of us girls from the office went and got some dinner at Zahav in Olde City Philadelphia, which was good. After dinner we got Ice Cream from Franklin Fountain. Lisa and I shared an ice cream waffle sandwich. This is where they make the waffles right there in front of you and then when its still just a bit warm they put ice cream in between two waffles with whatever toppings you want. It was AWESOME. However, it costs in the range of 20 dollars. 20 dollars for ice cream??!! but it was well worth the price. I’m also pretty sure it was 1 million calories.
Franklin Fountain can be found at 116 Market street (Front and Market) in Old City. They make their own ice cream and cones. Its an old timey themed ice cream place where the servers wear paper hats and don’t have soft serve. The line to get in can be a little long but moves quickly. Also what is great is they are open pretty late, meaning, if you’re grabbing dinner in Old City Philadelphia you can always grab some ice cream for dessert.
Most Sundays I like to go down town, sit in the park and people watch. To make this even better I stop by Bonte to get a waffle and cappuccino. Bonte is a cafe serving coffee, tea, sandwiches and of course Belgian style sugar waffles.
The waffles at Bonte aren’t the usual American waffle which is a square foot of dough covered in maple syrup. These waffles are compact, flavorful and delicious. The sugar is baked right in and you can also get fresh fruit or chocolate mixed into the waffle mix before cooking. I usually go for the strawberry dark chocolate waffle which is awesome
The coffee is also pretty darn good and depending on the person making it comes with an adorable design in the foam.
Bonte Waffles
130 S. 17th Street - Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.557.8510
Hey guys, another music update for you. A fellow Razorfish Analyst, Ron Sansone, and his band “The Super Consumers” will be playing a rock filled concert at the famous Trocadero Theater aka “The Troc” on Jan 24th. So go check out his band and a couple of other local favorites.
My good friend and roommate-in-law Mary Scholz is releasing her second EP “The Beauty of it All” on Sunday, October 5th at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia). Mary is a singer song writer who plays the guitar and piano. So come out and watch her on Sunday and buy a CD!
So we have not updated in a while so I just wanted to do a quick update. Not too long ago Philly Weekly came out with their “Philly’s top 50 bars” article, which I thought was great. Like many young people of legal age, I like to go bars around the city unwind and have a beer.
So here is my list of my top 10 favorite bars, which in general are: only frequented by locals, most likely sell PBR and Lager, don’t care what shoes you have on, and are easily gotten to by public transportation.
10. Oscars Tavern - 1524 Sansom St
Where you can drink a giant domestic 23 oz. beer for only 3 bucks. The service is not the greatest, a good mix of hipsters and average folks.
9.Silk City - 5th and Springarden
More of a bar/restaurant with the bar on one end and a fancy diner on the other. Last year Silk City changed ownership and some things are for the better, such as the bathrooms (which used to be awful) however, the prices are higher and the crowd became less local. Overall, a good place to get a drink and your dance on.
8. North 3rd. - 3rd and Brown
Same owner as silk city, closer to a restaurant then a bar, but still a good place to get some drinks and some good food. Lisa loves the chicken quesadillas followed by a Napoleon Dynamite quote.
7. New Deck Tavern - 34th and Sansom
Shout out to my old college bar. While this bar is not as good as it used to be because the specials have changed, it’s still a great place to get a good draft beer and some fried pub food. It does get crowded with some drunken college kids, but that’s just part of the charm.
6. Bob and Barbara’s -1509 South Street
Great bar overall. Each night has its own entertainment such as drag shows on Thursday and really great jazz on the weekends. If you like PBR this is the bar for you.
5. Dirty Frank’s - 13th and Pine
So the service isn’t that great, but the atmosphere is chill, the music usually good and the drinks as cheap as you can find them in that neighborhood.
4. Khyber - 56 S 2nd St
One of the only tolerable and affordable bars in Old City. Good place to catch a Rock and Roll show and grab a cheap drink. Bathrooms, however, are gross.
3. Millcreek Tavern- 42nd and Chester
This was my favorite place to go to in college. Strange mix or locals and college students but always a friendly air about it. Depending on the night you can catch a good band or if looking for something more quiet there is a separate bar on the other side where there is no cover and you can hear the person next to you talk.
2. Sugar Mom’s - 225 Church St
Great bar overall. Tons of seating, friendly staff, and a good crowd. A dive bar in Old City that is not easy to find, it is generally not crowded and good place to go with a large group of friends to just hang out and have a drink or some of the awesome waffle fries.
1. Druid’s Keep – 149 Brown St.
A great and welcoming place in Northern Liberties but a little off the beaten path. Walking into this bar it might seem like you’re walking into someone’s house, and I think that’s how they like it. Good place to play some pool, darts, or this game they play outside that involves throwing sand filled sacks into a goal.
At work I have the great pleasure to coordinate birthday celebrations for our department and it’s a job that I take great pride in and take seriously as if almost planning a grand elaborate party full of goodies! As you may have noticed I also take my taste buds very seriously and don’t like too fool around with my dessert cravings. I’m very picky when it comes to deserts so I do like to fulfill sweet desires. I can go on and on about this.
Actually, when I was in the 9th grade I was given the topic of writing an essay on chocolate and you better believe that I was extremely existed for the first time in ever for a homework assignment. I nailed it! So now you know how I feel about desserts? I hope I’ve made it clear! As we continue to blog you will continue to hear about my dessert critiques. For those of you that enjoy desserts to the level that I do will appreciate my comments very much and hopefully I can guide you to the right path to finding the perfect dessert.
Well, getting back to my original point, for the most part on a monthly basis we celebrate people’s birthdays by trying different birthday desserts. This time around we hired the Chocolate Fantasy company to give us a full 2 hours chocolate fountain accompanied by strawberries, cheesecake, marshmallows,rice crispy treats and other goodies that now I have forgotten, but all in all you can basically ask for anything you want to dip into chocolate. This is a great service that is available for literally any occasion and they cater to parties that range from 20-300 guests. They travel anywhere from Delaware to Philadelphia. The prices are also very reasonable.Overall, it was a great success within our department and everyone enjoyed the experience very much so I highly recommend you take advantage of this great service.
So we went to the Urban Saloon in the Fairmount Area acrossfrom the Eastern State Penitentiary to have some drinks, dinner and of course dessert after work. We were looking for a place that was a little different than our standard OldCity and Northern Liberties favorites. Actually, a dear friend recommended this Philly restaurant so I thought this would be the perfect place to try out. It was definitely a success and it met most of our requirements: easy parking, fast sitting at dinner time, cool atmosphere, good drink options, good food and decent desserts. It’s pretty tough to satisfy my dessert cravings so maybe for the average Joe it would’ve been excellent.
Overall, it satisfied 5 out of 6 requirements. This is a good sign so I would recommend you try it out. Especially if you are looking to try something different out from your usual spots and if you are looking for a place that is semi-romantic and personal or just sitting at the bar with people you don’t know.
Oh, I should also mention that the night that we went there was a live band. This was a bonus as we didn’t know we were going to experience an unexpected live band that played a mix of music. To tell you the truth I don’t know what other specials they have on a daily basis, but I’m sure they have a few. Well I can say that they might have a Halloween special since they are across the street from the Eastern State Penitentiary. Maybe they have scary drinks or their own version of a haunted house.
Occasionally we go out with fellow coworkers for nights around the town. This was one such event. We decided that we would try out a place called North Bowl in Northern Liberties. Northern Liberties is a hip section of Philly north of Olde City (where all the historic colonial stuff is). This bowling alley is on north second street a bit north of the famous Standard Tap.
This bowling alley is not your average New Jersey bowling alley with hot dogs and kids running around. This is a Northern Liberties bowling alley with gourmet food (at least for a bowling alley) and bar selection, art on the walls, and most importantly for Lisa…desserts. This bowling is not very cheap but there are specials including happy hour specials, prices vary by the day you go.
Overall, we had ourselves a good ol’time. Lisa didn’t kill anyone with her above the head pitching style bowling, Olga bowled her best game by bowling over an 80 (she’s much better at wii bowling). Our co-workers all had a good time too. Check out our videos and see for yourselves. If you’re in Northern Liberties feel like bowling, having a couple of beers, are a vp looking for some cool new shoes, or eating some pretty delicious sliders — check out North Bowl (just remember it does get crowded, especially on the weekends).
