curls Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Planning a day trip to Longwood Gardens. Any recommendations for lunch or dinner along the way or in Kennet Square? Looking for outdoor dining or take away options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgast Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 The Mexican places near the gardens are better than one might guess in ex-urban Pennsylvania. Evidently the mushroom farms have spurred a mini-Little Mexico in the area. Can't really flag anything more upscale unless you're willing to go past Longwood towards West Chester. Dilworthtown Inn was great, but now closed. I'm sure you know, but getting off at Exit 93 and taking Rt 1 up is a much nicer drive than continuing up I-95. My parents live up in this area, so we're old hat at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 @zgast thank you so much for the recommendations. No need for upscale on this trip but maybe for another trip. What do you recommend if we continue towards West Chester? Google was recommending taking Route 1 for the last bit of the drive and I was going to go that way but nice to know that a you recommend it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jderryup Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 We were there last year and tried a locally owned group of sandwich shops. Good food and a touch of local vibe. Purebread Deli has a cute dog theme on the sandwich names and a good bowl of chili besides. I don’t remember how far down the road it was in Kennett Square but not far….. Welcome - PureBread Deli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 5 hours ago, zgast said: I'm sure you know, but getting off at Exit 93 and taking Rt 1 up is a much nicer drive than continuing up I-95. My parents live up in this area, so we're old hat at this. I second this, except I don't know the exit number. I used to get off at Bel Air/Edgewood. Since I have no family up there any more, I haven't made the trip in a while, but the back roads are lovely. It really doesn't add that much time. My restaurant knowledge in that area is way out of date and, with a pandemic and closings, even more so. There's got to be stuff open in Media, which I think of as closer to the Gardens than West Chester, but that's probably my geographical bias. One idea would be to ask the Philadelphia Inquirer's restaurant critic in his live chat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted April 23, 2021 Author Share Posted April 23, 2021 Thank you all very much for your suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgast Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 17 hours ago, curls said: @zgast thank you so much for the recommendations. No need for upscale on this trip but maybe for another trip. What do you recommend if we continue towards West Chester? Google was recommending taking Route 1 for the last bit of the drive and I was going to go that way but nice to know that a you recommend it too! Finding a place that's open for outdoor dining in West Chester was a bit harder than I anticipated. Mercato has been pretty good in the past - https://www.mercatowc.com/ If it were me, I'd probably go to Gadaleto's, which is a seafood store run by a former chef just outside of West Chester (closer to the gardens). They are doing a takeout menu now to replace the business they've lost as a restaurant supplier. Eat outside nearby as it's mostly fried or sautéed, but I can vouch that we've never had anything that wasn't very good from there and my kids demand their crab cakes and salmon every time we go up, so we eat there every time we go. Enjoy the gardens, they're bound to be beautiful this time of year! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted April 23, 2021 Author Share Posted April 23, 2021 @zgast thank you! What great choices! Just looked at Gadaleto’s takeout menu and it sounds like a great option. Mercato looks good too but I’ll save that for another trip. Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing the tulips and other spring blooms! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Ate at 1906, the year Du Pont purchased the property that became Longwood Gardens. The food was surprisingly good. We started with fried oysters served with chicken salad, and a Maitake Bloom (tempura battered fried maitake shroom). The shrooms were served on top of a fake wood stump - cool presentation. They were followed by SEVERINO STUFFED RIGATONI (meyer lemon whipped ricotta, pancetta, english pea) and BERKSHIRE BONE IN PORK CHOP. The pasta was al dente, the pork chop served at the requested medium well was juicy and tender. Unfortunately the restaurants don't have a view of the fountains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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