Dining in Port Richmond

[monavano]

One thing I wish I could do more of when I visit my home town of Philadelphia is stop by the neighborhood of Port Richmond. Home to many Polish immigrants, it boasts stores, deli's and restaurants which serve up good old-fashioned Polish food. I miss it.

On our most recent visit my husband and I took my mother to Port Richmond, where she grew up. At first bemused as to why we would want to do a "foodie" trip, she was soon made very happy by visiting a place even she had not been to before: Krakus Market.

Krakus Market is located on Richmond St., just off of I-95. It has a plethora of all things Polish, from pantry supplies, to frozen prepared foods, deli goods and bakery goods. Also, a small luncheonette serves up delicious Polish food. It has a real neighborhood feel and lots of folks who still converse in Polish. We enjoyed a light lunch of borscht and potato pancakes. The servings are large and the prices are cheap.

We also made a visit a few blocks away, to Czerw's on Tilton St. Czerw's is known regionally for thier kielbasa. I bought smoked, fresh and "skinny" kielbasa for a brunch we were attending the next day. Czerw's also carries homemade pierogies, bigos, and other products such as jarred herring and horseradish.

Other not to miss places include Syrenka's Restaurant and Taconelli's Pizza.

Syrenka's is also on Richmond St. It's a cafeteria style place which serves up Polish and Eastern European fare in a no frills, all about homey food atmosphere.

Taconelli's Pizza, on E. Somerset St has honest to goodness thin crust brick oven 'za. Be aware that it's very popular and hitting it at peak service time could mean a wait. Eh, go wait at the bar across the street!

FYI on Port Richmond

[monavano]

During an unexpected plan to Philly these past few days, we managed to do a couple of my favorite foodie things. Hey, ya gotta eat.

We spent some time in the Port Richmond section, which is in NE Philly. Really, it's a couple exits up north on I-95; about 10 minutes from Center City. I wanted to go to Krakus Market to stock up on mustards (because I'm obsessed with mustards....like Bubba can rattle off shrimp dishes, I think there ought to be that many mustards. Just because), but alas they were on vacation. So, Mr. MV and I thought to wander across the road to Syrenka's Luncheonette, a cafeteria style, informal, no frills restaurant serving good comfort food. Get anything but the canned veggies.

We ordered a golabki (stuffed cabbage), a kielbasa sandwich with sauerkraut on rye, and potato cheese pierogie. Waddling out, we wandered over to Julia's Bakery and Cafe to see if anyone else besides Krakus Market sells Polish cookies called cruschiki. Well, no actually. But, we got a good look at the menu which serves not only sweets, but savories such as crepes, soups and sandwiches.

Walking back to the car, we spotted Piast Market, a typical corner store. It is all Polish, all the time. I mean, not one sign in English. So, I got some kielbasa; kabanosa which is skinny kielbasa, and grunted at a very dark smoked kielbasa (well, they all are, but this one looked very dark and actually smells incredibly smokey) which I ordered a pound of. I bought a package of Borowick (the king of) mushrooms and we set out.

Here's a slide show, including the iconic St. Adelbert's, whose twin spires are seen from I-95, and has anchored the local community for generations.

[DonRocks]

One thing I wish I could do more of when I visit my home town of Philadelphia is stop by the neighborhood of Port Richmond. Home to many Polish immigrants, it boasts stores, deli's and restaurants which serve up good old-fashioned Polish food. I miss it.

10/23/14 - "Exploring Polish Fare in Port Richmond" by Caroline Russock and Neal Santos on citypaper.net