#57 Olympia II and #58 Cafe Bean - Sandy's synopsis

I wonder where Olympia I is. Actually I don't anymore, because my experience here was very mediocre. They do, as advertised, sell cheese pizzas by the slice as well as other pies. They also sell Greek food like gyro's and souvlaki's as well as american sandwiches. Basically they sell generic truck food and pizza. Not to diss trucks, I love truck food and would rather go to a truck than eat at Olympia II. 

So to kick off our experience, I decided to order some Greek food and try what I assume is their specialty. The elderly lady behind the counter taking our order was very contrite and managed to look at everything, even puppies I'm sure, disapprovingly. 

I ordered the Chicken souvlaki and a soda. While we waited for our order at a booth, a younger person came out of the restroom and took over the counter. He was much more jovial and would definitely look approvingly at puppies. I noticed the elderly lady was doing most of the cooking while the younger chap managed other things. A family establishment perhaps?

This photo looks very cute to me. Is food allowed to look cute?

The souvlaki was okay, nothing spectacular. It was at this time, while we ate our mediocre food that Sam noticed these vending machines that give you junk in balls for 25 cents. I'm sure there is a better way to phrase that.The highlight of my time at Olympia II was exploring these machines and re-living the American childhood I never had. 

Bling

After Olympia II, we sauntered across the street to Cafe Bean. It is a small coffee shop with about 7-8 tables. They have a large variety of flavours to add to your coffee and a small selection of food. The highlight of Cafe Bean though is their Star Wars Diorama. Yes, they have a Star Wars diorama that even included an over-sized Salacious B Crumb and it is awesome. He should be a mascot for a bakery or something with a last name like that.

Coming back to the food - I ordered a mint latte and shared the banana bread with Sam. The latte was delicious and the banana bread was forgettable. 

Will I come back here? Probably. Considering its' proximity to my house and the fact that I can drink good coffee surrounded by Star Wars characters (an ambiance few can say they achieve), it is a win in my book.

Olympia II

616 South Street

Philadelphia PA 19147

215-592-6574

Cafe Bean

615 South Street

Philadelphia PA 19147

215-629-2250

  

#57 Olympia II & #58 The Bean Café - Sam's synopsis

the bane of my
saturday afternoon

With so many restaurants on this block, we were bound to have a two-for-one event eventually, so we decided to combine the coffee shop and the pizza place into one outing (seems logical, right?). First up was Olympia II, a pizza/Greek joint that feels like it belongs in the late 90s. Do you remember those machines that you would put $1-2 worth of quarters into and get out sweet sparkly stickers and/or temporary tattoos? Those still exist, and they had multiple ones to choose from. They also have your standard quarter vending machines, which I suppose still exist in malls and grocery stores, but really seemed to have reached their zenith during my childhood. In fact, I got pretty excited about these machines and got $2 worth of bling - although the first item I received was just a chain with NOTHING ON IT. That wasn't even one of the advertised products! I wanted the necklace with the fake gun on it. Of course I had to try again - this time I got a slightly longer chain with an undetermined item on it. It might consist of daggers, swords, poison vials, or cigars. The world may never know, and now it's sitting beside my bed because of course the chain broke within the first 3 hours of me purchasing it. Some things never change. Maybe I should have gone for a sticker instead.

$$$BLINGBLING$$$

On top of the vending machines, the 90s vibe was furthered by the tacky trays our food was sometimes served on (I did not get a tray sadly), the faded decorations, and the overall layout of the restaurant. I got a lunch special which consisted of 2 slices of cheese pizza and a fountain soda for about $6, which isn't a bad deal. The pizza was alright. It wasn't terrible, but not that flavorful and the crust was pretty bland. Adding salt and dipping the crust in the leftover pizza grease helped a bit. The staff was a mix between slightly annoyed at customers and cheerful, and the customer base consisted of what looked like regulars and college sports players. I don't think I'd go out of my way to return here again.

After our lunch, we crossed the street and entered the Bean Café. The first thing that Sandya pointed out was a large glass display box filled with Star Wars figurines arranged in a scene that somewhat mimicked events on Tatooine. The walls were covered with photographs for sale that had scenes of various comic book/cartoon character figurines in some interesting poses. They had a couple of Pokemon ones, but I think my favorite was of Aquaman with a surfboard with his back to us, looking (presumably) longingly at the water. They also had a few random phone charms for sale - I was particularly excited to see a character from Barbapapa. I must confess that my knowledge of this franchise is rather limited, but I do own a small shopping bag with these characters on it that I purchased for $1 at Otakon many years ago. I was attracted to the colors and bizarre concept of some of them turning into airplanes and using each other for transportation. I almost bought said phone charm but in the end decided against it.

dat steamed milk tho

I ordered a chai latte and we decided to split some banana bread. I was pretty meh on both - the banana bread was too dry and not really flavorful. The chai was pretty standard (I enjoyed the copious amounts of steamed milk), but didn't have any defining quality that set it over the edge. They seemed to have some exciting coffee-containing lattes, and the overall vibe of the place was relaxing so I enjoyed that. The bathrooms were covered in graffiti, in what I guarantee is a purposeful manner, and the bathroom I used did have "I <3 SF" written in it, so I'll just go ahead and believe that someone carved that in there about me. So +5 points for stroking my ego Bean Café. Otherwise, I don't think I'd go out of my way to come here again.

Olympia II
616 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 
(215) 592-6574

The Bean Café
615 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 629-2250

#56 Golden Empress Garden - Sam's synopsis

dem walls
dat face (sorry Sandya)

Don't confuse Golden Empress Garden with Empress Garden, the latter being in Chinatown. I was expecting a fiesty short-haired waitress thanks to browsing some Yelp reviews, but alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, we had a friendly young man as our waiter - I should mention this is the first sit-down Chinese restaurant we've encountered, although the menu is pretty much laid out like the flyers for Chinese restaurants you get slipped under your door. Before I even get to the review, I will say that this is flat-out the best Chinese restaurant we've encountered on our saunter - every dish was just fresher and tastier than any of the other places we've been to so far. Also, it had a beautiful interior - seriously the nicest stone walls I have seen in any restaurant on South Street we've encountered so far.

wonton soup

Of course, I ordered the wonton soup as a starter - it's my baseline assessment of any Chinese restaurant. This, again, is the best one I've had so far. It wasn't overly salty and the broth was a bit different than usual - I think it was more vegetable based than chicken based, which went really well with the wontons. The wontons themselves were great too. You know how sometimes wontons from cheap restaurants are kind of waxy and lack any flavor? These ones were nice and chewy, and didn't taste like I was chewing on cardboard. The pork filling was nice too, complemented well with some scallions. We also ordered some fried dumplings as an appetizer, and Erin ordered a scallion pancake which she kindly shared with us. Both were very good - nothing out of this world, but definitely not bland or overly dry.

fried dumplings

I ordered chicken (real, not fake) and broccoli. The reason I mention this is because Golden Empress Garden is slated as being a vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurant. They have an entire menu devoted to faux meat items, which is almost as extensive as their meat-friendly menu. I'm pretty sure we ordered food from here during a ~girl's night sleepover~ and it being pretty tasty except for the faux Peking duck (sorry Julie). Sandya got the fake General Tso's chicken, so read her review for comments on that, but it's nice to see a Chinese delivery place that caters to herbivores without being overly obnoxious (see: Pure Fare and/or the juice place we went to that I can't even remember the name of because it was so terrible and overpriced). I enjoyed my meal, and it was even better the next day for leftovers. The meat seemed like better quality than you normally get at these types of restaurants, the vegetables were fresh, and the sauce was not overly salty OMG MSG IN YO FACE. It actually had some flavor to it other than salt - but what that flavor was I couldn't tell you, because my palate is not yet so refined.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon - eating tasty food with friends. In the future, I will be ordering take-out from here when I have a hankerin' for wonton soup. And as an added bonus, we even previewed a future stop by grabbing beers at Woolly Mammouth's afterwards - an even better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Golden Empress Garden
618 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 625-6688