#14 Randazzo's Pizzeria - Sandy's synopsis

There are going to be those places where I have very little to say. I am waiting for the blog post that simply says "terrible" or "Good sushi" or "Diarrhea". I wont be quite as charmingly succinct for this one but if I had to be I'd say it is a standard pizza place that also sells milkshakes. My favourite thing to do, occasionally, is to have a small cheese pizza and a vanilla milkshake for dinner. This is not as easily available though, since not all pizza places make milkshakes. This is a sad thing people - after all - milkshakes do bring all the boys and girls to the yard.

Ergo, as far as pizza places go, this one is already on the list for me cause of the milkshakes. I ordered a vanilla milkshake and it was thick and fantastic. Sam, Erin (Quizzo team member extraordinaire and friend) and I shared a cheese fries and a large buffalo chicken pizza.

Nothing life altering, but good standard pizza. An additional perk is that they have a smoking section which according to this sign doubles as the bathroom. So, if anyone did want to smoke like you do in airplanes, this is an option.

So if you are in the area looking for a pizza and milkshake and a smoke in a bathroom - go here.

Also, please do not smoke in their bathroom - I'm assuming the sign is erroneous.
Also, please do not smoke in the airplane bathroom - I'm pretty sure that's against the rules.

#13 Fortune - Sam's synopsis

Another day, another chinese restaurant. I actually think there might only be one or two more, but they are ubiquitous in pretty much every city or college town or just regular town for that matter. Spoiler alert: This one was pretty good, and much better than Fuzhou House. Ah, but before I move onto the review, it looks like another restaurant we sauntered to has closed its doors. Apparently we are cursed, or people take our reviews very seriously.

             

doesn't it sort of remind
you of a pizza place?

I am always happy when a
maneki-neko is around

It was a hot summer day when we ventured to Fortune, so the A.C. was much appreciated as soon as we walked in. The layout reminded me of your local pizza joint but with chinese restaurant decor, and it was pretty empty save for the people working and the TV tuned to the world news channel of what I believe was a French broadcasting network. They had a pretty good lunch deal where you can get a main course, rice and some sort of appetizer for cheap, so I went with moo goo gai pan and wonton soup (obviously) as my appetizer, and fried rice as my rice option. I used to always get moo goo gai pan when I went out for chinese with my family, so I know it's a dish I enjoy, but now that I've looked it up on wikipedia so I could link it to those unfamiliar, it seems kind of silly since I don't like mushrooms and that's what the "moo goo" stands for... the more you know I guess. but I have always been a fan of the sauce that comes with it, and Sandya benefited from my dislike of mushrooms. We placed our order with a very enthusiastic and apologetic cashier, who answered the phone during the middle of our order and proceeded to get a little confused when we finished up our order, but felt pretty bad about it even though she had no need to feel that way.

I liked the decorations they had

Our food came out pretty quickly, but there was a slight problem with our order - we had gotten drinks but the cashier forgot to charge us, so when she brought the food over she had to apologetically ask us for a few more dollars. No big deal for two laid back ladies such as ourselves, but this poor woman felt so awful that she apologized at least 20 times and hoped we weren't mad at her. Hence my earlier descriptor of her being apologetic. But as I also said, she was very energetic and friendly, so it was hard to convince her that we really weren't that offended or upset that we had to pay for the drinks. I don't really know how to convey what transpired at Fortune, but it was a unique experience, because I've never met a cashier who took mistakes like that so seriously. She kind of reminds me of myself in that regard, feeling guilty for things that are obviously out of your control and/or not really a problem to begin with -- anyways, I digress. Onto the food!

the lunch combo - wonton soup, moo goo gai pan and
fried rice + soy sauce for good measure

The wonton soup was only okay - the broth was good but the dumplings were not very flavorful. The main dish, on the other hand, was surprisingly delicious, and if it weren't for that "this tastes somewhat healthy but in my mind I know it's loaded with really bad things for me and it's from a take-out chinese restaurant so now it's starting to taste a little artificial" taste I would have thought it were from a nicer sit-down restaurant. Interesting how biases work. Anyways, presumptions aside, it was pretty tasty and made for a nice lunch the next day. The fried rice was also exactly what I wanted - rice with a little more oomph. As Sandya pointed out, we didn't get fortune cookies which seems a shame for a restaurant named Fortune. But I think if we had reminded our cashier that she forgot to give us cookies she probably would have quit her job, so we settled with returning to Philly Cupcake for milkshakes instead - a great way to end a surprisingly great meal. I would recommend ordering take-out from Fortune if you live in the area, as it is so far the best chinese take-out restaurant I've encountered with very friendly service (n=2).

Fortune 

1828 South Street

Philadelphia, PA

(215) 546-3366

#13 Fortune - Sandy's synopsis

Fortune is a happy little place. Very clean - what I would call spic and span - although I'm not really sure what that means. Do Americans also say spic and span?
We were greeted by this adorable little girl in a bright yellow dress running around the place. The lady behind the counter was very friendly and took our order efficiently even though me and Sam were being a little confusing. I loved the decor, it was random but pleasing. How can you not appreciate a framed "Flags of the World" piece?

Sam was very pleased by the cat decor too.

I was very pleased to see a vegetarian version of General Tso's chicken on the their menu. I love trying various Chinese restaurant's version of vegetarian General Tso's. My favourite is at Square on Square (19th and Chestnut), where they substitute the "meat" portion with this amazing deep fried seitan. I like Yue Kee truck's (38th and Locust) version too.Their "meat" is a little like bread and not deep fried in batter. The texture is great but the sauce too sweet for me.

Fortune's version was the first one I've had that was bean curd. I love fried tofu and paneer so this was delicious to me. I got the lunch special which got you an egg roll or soup with the order and I chose the egg roll. It was good, I don't remember anything particularly interesting about it.

A very refreshing question, whose answer is rarely a "yes" in a small Chinese restaurant such as this, is "For here or to go?". I can't imagine a lot of people actually sit down and eat there but it made me happy that she clarified. So we sat down to eat our awesome meal and for me to savour the tofu.

And I really did enjoy it. I still think Square on Square's version is the best, but this is a great alternative. And as an added bonus, Sam got the Moo Goo Gai Pan which came with mushrooms. Sam hates mushrooms - so they were mine! *evil laugh* ALL MINE!

And they were delicious. I will be getting her dish if we go there again. 

There was one small hiccup as we weren't charged for our drinks and were asked if we didn't mind paying for them by a VERY apologetic host. She was so extremely apologetic and it really wasn't a big deal. It made me wonder how often she would have to deal with people who would be angered by something like that. Here's hoping not. Another minor detail - there was no fortune cookie at the end. I'm not sure if we were supposed to ask for it - especially at a place called Fortune. Is this irony? Probably not.

All in all this was a very good experience. I would order from here over Fuzhou House if I had to choose. Additionally, if you walk there, you get to stop by at Philly cupcake for dessert. Milkshakes are a wonderful thing.

Fortune

1828 South Street

Philadelphia PA 19146