Snowy Day

The Italian Market during the storm.

George's Tripe Sandwich

I've walked past this place a million times but never tried it until a few months ago. Split a roast pork and cheesesteak with some friends and holy s#$% it was good, totally blew my mind.

If you order a roast pork he warms it up on the grill, bastes the meat and greens with the pork juices. Sharp provolone and a lightly toasted roll and you're ready to go. Cheesesteak was great too, good amount of meat but not so much it falls out onto 9th street. A good mid-sized steak somewhere between the smaller soft-roll style of Pat's and the massive Sarcone's-loaf style of Cosmi's and John's Roast Pork.

Anyway if you don't know they are famous for having an Italian Tripe sandwich which made it onto the PBS Sandwiches You Will Like documentary a few years back featuring Philly food guru Holly Moore.

I'm a big fan of tripe but until now had only eaten it Asian or Mexican style. So I went back last week for a roast pork & tripe combo with provolone, roasted long hots, hot peppers and onions, a monster of a sandwich. The tripe cooked in tomato sauce was super tender and the combination with the pork was out of this world.


Some guy drinking out of a paper bag asked me for change while I was ordering. But don't let the exotic atmosphere scare you away, or you'll miss out on some of Philly's best. There's another George's sandwich shop across the street, haven't been there & can't vouch for it, look for the one with the "sandwiches you will like" sign.

George's
900 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA

Bebe's BBQ

I know I'm late on this BBQ posting, because Bebe's has been open for a while now, and it has lovely reviews so there's no reason for me to wait this long. I've been trying, their hours have just been extended and now they have delivery ( YES!) South Philly just got sweeter.

So were going to take our pork focus away from hotdogs and to Bebe's beautiful pulled pork. Which lovely Tamara, my biscuit angel, pulls from the bones and chops up right in front of me and drenches in their North Carolina style sauce. Everything of course was awesome and I don't have a single need or want for anything more. I am normally a sucker for sticky sweet tomato based BBQ sauces, but everything about Bebe's BBQ was done with love, detail and care. So there was no need to hide mediocre meat behind a sauce, at Bebe's everything was moist delicious and the sauce complimented the meat perfectly.

What made visiting them on Sunday a little bit more special was the smoked chicken, which for a pork lover like me, actually swayed me a little bit. It was amazing. The spicy biscuits were so good I don't think I came up for air or spoke until they were all gone. And to top it off was the most perfect tiny pecan pie.

It was a great way to end a year of good eating.

Bebe's BBQ
In the Italian Market
1017 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(267) 519-8791