Best Kielbasa Frita's Food Cart 33rd St. and Walnut by Veronica Zapasnik Frita's brings a true taste of old-world Europe to DRL's doorstep - without the shortages. This stern-faced Greek woman serves up a massive, plump kielbasa sandwich worthy of your Polish grandfather for only $2.50. Forget Magic Carpet meatballs; this is lunch, and it's best eaten with sauerkraut, cooked onions, and mustard - and washed down with a shot of vodka.
best place to drink for free during the day MBA pub by Stephen Morse The Wharton MBAs have a pub on Friday afternoons in Vance Hall. Just flash your PennCard and the Spectra guard will let you in. Worlds of free beer (including fine imports like Guinness on tap) and pizza await you. Runner-up: Drinking with the graduate architecture students outside Meyerson Hall on Friday afternoons. If you're more the hipster type, this is your spot. But beware of bad weather and crappy beer.
Best Hangover Cure Bui's Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sandwich 38th and Spruce by Vince Levy Every weekend morning you can find two lines of Penn students waiting to fix last night's mistakes. One is at Student Health, the other is at Bui's. No matter how wicked your hangover, there's nothing like a Bui's Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich to sop up last night's poison (for the record: salt/pepper/ketchup, please). You've got carbs for the leftover booze, protein to restore your blood sugar levels and enough grease to lubricate the recovery. Top it off with a Gatorade (electrolytes, bro!) and some Advil. And at a mere $2.50 a pop, you can afford to have an excruciating hangover every morning.
Best Dubious Cross-Cultural Food Greek Lady Chips, i.e. Greek Lady Nachos Runner-Up: Qdoba Gumbo by Derek Mazique Go ahead, pick two ethnic eats that have absolutely nothing in common. Chinese and Italian? Indian and German? Well, how about Greek Lady's one-two punch of Greek Lady Chips. Don't let the name fool you, this delicious concoction combines all of the trappings of a Greek Lady sandwich, piled on top of freshly made pita chips: Tex-Mex ingenuity, Peloponnesian execution. Not only is this appetizer larger and more filling than the typical Greek Lady sandwich, it also inexplicably costs less. Really, there's no reason to ever order a typical sandwich again. Unless, of course, Greek Lady decides to break out the jalape¤o gyro.
bestOnlinefoodService Diningin.com Runner-Up: Campusfood.com by Derek Mazique The problem with the regular food Web sites is that they're all variations on a theme: pizza, Chinese, hoagies. Which is fine to order all the time, if you don't mind the inevitable heart attack or the love handles (more to hold onto!). But sometimes, you just want to have Glazed Chilean Sea Bass or Bhindi Masala without having to go downtown or even put on pants. Enter Diningin.com: you order from restaurants like Pod or El Vez, deliverymen pick it up and deliver it to your door. Yea, it takes a near eternity to get your food, and yes, a meal can easily run above $30. But seriously, who could resist Teriyaki Filet Mignon while chilling in front of the tube in your skivvies?
best candy by the pound Houston Hall 3417 Spruce Runner-Up: C3, 1920 Commons by Chlo‚ Hurley Displayed in a matrix of clear plastic bins, Houston Hall's candy by the pound (or "CXLB," as I like to call it) is a modern marvel. A sweet-tooth is defenseless in its presence. At $6.99/lb., Houston sells CXLB for a dollar more than the convenience store in 1920 Commons. C3 also has a more diverse selection, but the chocolate goodies melt together in the store's excessive heat. Besides, Houston's CXLB is worth the expense, mostly because its location is so perfectly central to all campus activity. One could probably buy individual bags of each candy for the price of one white paper bag (so modern, so pristine!) of CXLB. However, there is something deeply satisfying about being able to custom-tailor a bag to your own personal taste. Personally, I like to pick out the Siamese-twinned, yogurt-covered pretzels, the kind that are attached to each other.
Best Place to get a cup of joe The Green Line Caf‚ 4239 Baltimore Ave (215) 222-3431 Runner-Up: Walnut Bridge Coffee House by Maura Goldstein Green Line's delicious cappuccinos made from fairly-traded beans are just the beginning. The caf‚ features tons of great treats to keep your coffee company, like locally made Gilda's biscotti and bagels that are more dessert than breakfast. The tasty Chai tea lattes are also hard to resist. It's located right across the street from beautiful Clark Park, so it's a perfect place to go after the Sunday morning farmer's market or if you want to forget about Penn, work or Starbucks.
Best Brunch Rx 4443 Spruce St. (215) 222-9590 Runner-Up: White Dog by Veronica Zapasnik This sunny former apothecary serves an … la carte brunch (Sat. 10a.m.-2p.m., Sun. 10a.m.-3p.m.) that screams FRESH. Perfectly poached eggs, steak, smoked salmon and other delicacies pair with mouth-watering home fries, all from local farmers. The Hollandaise is so good, it's drinkable. A well-made plate of huevos rancheros - tortilla with eggs, salsa, beans, and cheese - is always elusive, but Rx has it spot on. Of course, no brunch would be complete without a champagne cocktail, and since it's always more fun to BYO, Rx is the only nearby brunch place of its kind.
Houston Hall 3417 Spruce St. by Chlo‚ Hurley Good water is expensive, and free water is usually warm, chalky and diseased. The water fountains across campus are fed by the same plumbing that runs through the toilets, and the tap water in Philadelphia is routed from the Schuylkill. There is one source, however, that springs sparkling, fresh and completely free: the water from the soda fountain in Houston Hall. There you can fill your complimentary 32-oz. Styrofoam container with the teal seagulls on it with ice and agua all day long, as many times as you want. As people see you carrying that bucket around with you all day they'll wonder: is it coffee? Is it soda? Is it vodka? No, it's H20, Houston-to-go.
Best reason to NOT go to beijing PHO CAF SAIGON (BYO) 4248 Spruce St. Runner-Up: Pattaya Grill
by Veronica Zapasnik
Fast, cheap and shockingly delicious, this no-fuss Vietnamese cafe specializes in pho, a traditional rice noodle soup with chicken, beef, or 10 other options. The portions are outrageous, and a plate of fresh garnishes - lime, fresh basil, bean sprouts, and jalape¤os - allows you to tailor the right flavor for your dish. The glorious fruit shakes are additive-free and made from fresh ingredients, from mango to strawberry to lychee. And since Pho is a BYO, a six pack of Saigon - a popular Vietnamese pilsener - is a must.
