Philadelphia: “Everything, but the Cheesesteak”

This summer I had the opportunity to live in Philadelphia, PA during my internship. I have always heard that Philly is the “city of brotherly love”, but wasn’t expecting to like the area at all. I’ve been to New York a million times and get frustrated with how rude people can be as well as how fast it is. I have also visited Pittsburgh and was not impressed (it could also be that I was only there for a weekend). Needless to say, I felt like Philly wasn’t going to be anything special. Oh, how I was wrong.

First things first, I stayed in University City in West Philly. The day I moved into my apartment, I knew for sure that I was about to have the time of my life since I was within walking distance from great restaurants. Philly has such a rich culture and large variety of food choices that you often do not have to travel far to experience. I grew up having to drive 15 minutes just to get to a McDonald’s or Burger King. In Philly, I could walk around the block and choose to eat at an Ethiopian cuisine or Italian restaurant. To say that Philly had a collection of delicious, exquisite cuisines from around the world is an understatement.

From the title of this blog, you may have guessed that I will focus on all of the cuisines I ate from places that did not specialize in making cheesesteaks. I made the mistake of going to the closest place for a cheesesteak and getting sick. Needless to say, I failed as a tourist and did not properly get the cheesteak experience I was hoping for. However, I tried other great foods that I often still crave to this day. If you ever find yourself in Philly, be sure to check out some of these places and let me know how you like them!