Honey's Sit 'n Eat
800 N. 4th Street
(215) 925-1150
Ec-lec-tic (adj.): Eggs scrambled with tomatoes, jalapenos and chorizo served on challah bread with latkes and a slice of honeydew on the side.
Honey's Sit 'n Eat on 4th and Brown Streets is just that, in the best sense of the word. My friend ordered the above and enjoyed Honey's fresh take on the food he'd grown up with.
The diner itself is unpretentious and comfortable, painted a soft green and crowded with thick wooden tables. It sits across from a wholesale seafood market a few blocks north of Spring Garden in the rapidly-gentrifying NoLibs area, on the original site of the historic African Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church.
This sense of history is reflected in the food; it fuses Ashkenazi Jewish, Mexican and Southern culinary traditions, often in the same dish. I had challah French toast stuffed with raisins, pecans, and chocolate - combining a Jewish base with Southern touches. I'm a sugar addict, and this was the perfect way to satisfy my sweet tooth while still feeling like I'd eaten a real meal.
If you want breakfast, you can order anything from granola to pancakes to the biggest breakfast sandwiches you've ever seen (they come with an alarming-looking knife stuck through them to hold everything in). If you're in the mood for lunch, they've got brisket sandwiches and fried green tomatoes. Honey's uses many locally grown ingredients (from Lancaster County and Greensgrow Farms in Kensington) and has enough vegetarian options to keep me happy. It works for the sustainable crowd as well.
We were lucky enough to sit at the counter, directly across from the juicer. This thing is amazing. Our waiter piled two crates of oranges into the top and let it work its magic. In short order, its retro-looking metal arms had marshaled a line of fruit into what I can only describe as the squisher part and dispatched a line of fresh juice directly into a waiting pitcher from which it was promptly served. Too bad I don't like orange juice; it looked delicious.
Honey's does have one (tiny) drawback: Everyone knows it's good, reasonably priced and laid back, so you've got to go early. When we arrived around 11 a.m. on a Sunday, 15 to 20 people were outside, braving the January cold to wait for a table. We were seated surprisingly quickly given the crowd, but I'd recommend going early and in a small group.
It's a bit of a hike from Penn, but easily accessible via the El. If you're willing to get up early enough on the weekend, Honey's is definitely worth your time and tokens.
