The Best Street Vendor Food in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has some of the best food around. Like any big city there are quite a variety of street vendors on just about every corner in the city. You can purchase drinks and hot dogs or Philadelphia's famous cheese steaks and soft pretzels. There are even street vendors that have a variety of Chinese food available. I had not noticed a street vendor with Chinese food prior to this.

Some of the street vendors are very basic and have a basic card that they haul around. These typically have hot dogs, sausages and pretzels. There are quite a few that are like small trailers with sinks, grills and other amenities. Several of these vendors even sell breakfast. The menus read like you are in a diner. The one thing that most do not have though are fountain sodas. The reason is probably size limitations to have the seltzer and soda syrup on the truck. Typically the sodas are just either cans or bottles of sodas in coolers often that you serve yourself with.

Mr. Lee's Chinese is right across the street from The Constitution Center. I did not think I would like Chinese food from a vending cart, but I must say that it is pretty good. His card is similar to a hot dog cart in that the vendor stands outside of the cart and serves you. They do not have an extensive menu but a bit of variety that can vary from day to day. Typically white and fried rice is available or noodles. There is usually pork, chicken or beef. Often the flavors are available in spicy, teriyaki or sweet and sour. He also usually has egg rolls on the cart and occasionally things like wonton and other side items. The last time I got food there I got roughly a half pint of spicy chicken and rice for like $6.50 with a drink.

If you want a really good hot dog there is a vendor named Charlie that sets up right by city hall. He also has a rather simple cart with sodas, hot dogs, sausages, and chips. It is seldom, but he has had nachos before. He usually has chili, cheese, and sauerkraut for toppings for the food. I think the hot dogs are really good they are all beef based and on a very small club type roll. This way you don't get your lunch all over you. Eating a chili cheese dog with sauerkraut can be quite messy when you eat them walking down the street during your lunch. The prices are quite reasonable. I had a couple hot dogs,chips and a coke for $5.50. The hot dogs were a pretty good size as well.

My absolute favorite vendor in the area though is John's Lunch Cart. This guy and his wife sell just about everything a short order diner would have. They sell sandwiches, fries, cheese sticks, subs, cheese steaks and other favorites. For breakfast they have bacon or sausage with eggs along with pancakes. You can get a scrapple sandwich here, which is a local favorite. They also have odds and ends like chips, soft pretzels, Tastykakes and fruit. Their drinks are all bottled and include milk, juice and various sodas. I really like their cheese steaks. I think they are as good as Pat's, Geno's and all the other shops that people hype up. I usually get a cheese steak and soda when I stop there for lunch and that last time it cost like $4.75 for a cafeteria sized steak, drink and some chips. This is one place I will say you can get a good meal at a really low price and sample some Philadelphia traditions like scrapple, cheese steaks and Tastykakes.

Some people are concerned about buying food from a someone on the street. These vendors periodically get inspected by the department of health. They have a division in the area that just handles inspecting street vendors. They have to pass these health checks and have proper permits. These are often prominently displayed someplace on the card or the trailer for patrons to see. There was a problem at one time when people were renting vending licenses off of people that had them instead of getting one themselves, but this has been more closely regulated because of that. Like it said it is great food so give it a try.

Reference and resources.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/street-vending-as-a-way-to-eae-joblessness/

http://nyc.indymedia.org/or/2009/04/105002.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/23/us/street-vendors-in-philadelphia-fight-for-space.html

www.cheesesteakshop.com

www.tastykake.com