Philly Visit: Reading Terminal Market

Another must-stop when we visit Philly is yet another market (sense a theme here?). The Reading Terminal Market is smack-dab in Center City Philadelphia, just off of Market Street. It's part of the city's Convention Center Complex and according to its website, it's been in operation since 1893 and was originally tied to the Reading Railroad that ran through there. It's had its ups and downs over the years, but it sure is thriving now, with many of the original stalls still in place.

It's a great farmer's market -- you can find just about anything you can think of in terms of produce, meat, cheese, spices, coffee and fish. For DC-dwellers, imagine Union Market, with the contents of the DuPont Circle Farmer's Market crammed in there too, plus about three times the number of restaurants. While we don't usually go in for the meat and produce -- after all, we can get that at home in DC just fine without having to figure out where to store it in the hotel room -- we do like some of the things that we can't get at home:  Amish food and some killer Italian sandwiches.

Amish baked goods as far as the eye can see.

One end of the market is crammed with Amish vendors selling everything from deli meats to pickles, to baked goods, pretzels and candy. It's pretty crazy, and the pickles and baked goods are particularly hard to beat. We almost always end up coming home with something, although I was a little disappointed they didn't have the little pickled sausages that we (and the dogs) love so much. <sigh!> Next time...

And then there's Tommy DiNic's. Probably my favorite lunch in Philly is a sandwich from there, almost always the pulled pork. It's an old school Italian sandwich stand that always has a huge line and for good reason. Their Italian fresh carved pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, with provolone and bitter greens on a hoagie roll are simply out of this world. Add some horseradish and some banana peppers and dive in to juicy, drippy, tasty goodness.

Some of the best sandwiches anywhere!

If there's one sandwich I *have* to have every time I'm in Philly, it's not a cheesesteak (though I love me a Wiz wit' like you wouldn't believe), it's a sandwich from DiNic's. This time we got both the pork and the brisket and traded halves so we could have the best of both worlds. They have other sandwiches, including roast beef and pork, Italian sausage and a meatball sub that my bro-in-law Cam gave a thumbs up to when we were there last year, but I can't go there and not order the brisket or pork.

The hustle and bustle of DiNic's