1)500 Degrees (1504 Sansom) Get off your ass, put on your favorite spring playlist and walk across the Walnut Street bridge.
Their special thing: Truffle oil. Truffle items on the menu include truffle cheese and truffle oil as toppings, a truffle burger, and truffle fries.
What we got: Humpty Dumpty burger ($8.50- Arugula, sunny side up egg, potato crisp, braised bacon), Classic burger with raw onion and a chocolate banana milkshake ($13- burger has cheese of your choice, bibb lettuce, tomato and your choice of one topping- mine was raw onion), Truffle fries ($4)
Our experience: You have arrived at one of the best burger places ever. Literally a guy bumped into me in there and instead of just saying “Sorry” he said “Sorry- it’s the best burger place in town, right?” It’s a really busy place, but if you want to do this food route/picnic right you’re going to do take out anyways. You can tell immediately by the menu that this is one of those fancy burger pl
aces- lots of unique options, which does make it slightly more expensive than something like Bobby’s. But don’t think you’re confined to regular or fancy pre-made burger options; there are tons of toppings to make your own burger with. It’s like a burger deli!
The Shake: First words out of my mouth were “Oh my God.” It’s really good chocolate ice cream, none of that Hershey syrup nonsense, and you can taste little chunks of banana in there, so it’s all the real deal. It’s not too heavy either, just perfection.
The Fries: You can smell them from a mile away. They melt in your mouth, and they are absolutely addicting.
The Burgers: The meat is a generous portion, cooked perfectly so it’s nice and juicy. You can tell you’re getting good quality meat. The best part of the Humpty Dumpty was the texture- the bacon and egg creates a texture that’s crunchy and smooth at the same time. It’s the right combination of textures and flavors. The best part of the classic burger was the meat and the freshness of the toppings.
The Only Thing: Make sure you grab lots of napkins. It’s a very messy and oily meal, but well worth it! But seriously stock up on napkins.
2) Dibruno Bros (1703 Chestnut).Once you’ve grabbed your burgers, head over to Dibruno Bros for gourmet groceries to take home.
Their special thing: Cheese. They’re very generous with samples.
What we got: Moses Sleeper Brie: It’s from Vermont, and it’s really creamy and yummy and would go perfect on some bread or crackers (which they also have a selection of in the store).
Livarot: It’s a “wash rind” cheese, it’s French, and it’s more on the cheddar side and perfect to put on crackers.
Heart Goat Cheese: It’s from upstate New York, it’s very soft and kind of tastes like blue cheese, but I did enjoy it.
Alehatolman: It’s from Vermont, comes from cows, and is a more solid texture. It has a mild taste with a hint of a cheddar flavor. I really liked this one!
Our experience: The store makes you hungry from the minute you walk in andmakes you want to be a good cook so you can really enjoy all their premium ingreidents. Go towards the back of the store to the cheese. It’s free sample time! There was a really nice guy behind the counter who helped us out, and he was well educated in the area of cheese. There’s a really large selection so you’ll definitely be able to find anything specific you’re looking for but this guy gave us some good ones to try.
3) Yogorino (233 S. 20th Street) Dessert time! This adorable frozen yogurt shop will fill your sweet tooth while simultaneously making you feel good about yourself.
What we got: The yogurt with strawberries, chocolate hazelnut sauce, dulce de leche sauce, chopped hazelnuts, and chocolate shavings. The yogurt isn’t too tart and the strawberries compliment it really wellThe chocolate hazelnut sauce hardens into a shell on the yogurt, a cheeky throwback to Magic Shell chocolate sauce? It tastes really fresh and light, perfect for spring. The first topping is free and the rest are an extra 50 cents.Their special thing: They’re known for their sauces- which are imported from Italy. They have options like dulce wafer, ciocco torrone, dulce de leche, and pistachio.
Now walk off your bloated feeling on the way back to campus!
