#77 - Primo Hoagies - Sandy's synopsis

As someone once said:

"I hate hoagies. I like bars" ~Anonymous

Primo Hoagies

326 South Street

Philadelphia PA 19106

215-923-3101

#77 Primo Hoagies - Sam's synopsis

I may be a bit biased in this review. Not because of any predisposition towards Primo or hoagies (even though Sandya somehow was convinced that I hated hoagies... false. I really like hoagies), but because I was absolutely starving by the time we arrived. It was President's Day, which I did not get as a holiday at work, but the rest of the businesses in my office park did - meaning the cafeteria was closed. This in itself is not a big deal, but having only been working for 2 weeks at my new job, I was unaware of said closure and was clearly not prepared. So I did not eat anything all day save for a Snickers bar from the vending machine. Needless to say, by the time we arrived at Primo's, I was ravenous. I'll also just mention that I beat Sandya there, even though she lives right around the corner.

In any case, you can order a hoagie and also enjoy a drink, because Primo's doubles as a bar. The inside looks very much like a modest sports bar, with a few flat screen TVs playing various sports games (or in our case, the Grammys on mute). Being a cold, rainy Monday night, there were only a few other patrons around, who were mostly just there to drink beer. I went to the back and quickly ordered the Suprimo: prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers. I added lettuce and onions and decided on the primo size (essentially ordering the Suprimo primo), and grabbed some waffle cut chips to indulge on while I impatiently awaited for my food. Not because they were slow - service was fast and friendly - but because I was starving. Dear DELIcious Bites: this is how you make a sandwich with prosciutto on it. It had the right ratio of meat:cheese:veggies. The prosciutto was nice and salty, the mozzarella balanced said saltiness out well, and the veggies tasted fresh. Solid bread for housing all the constituents of my hoagie too. What can I say? Primo's is a chain, but a good one. I'd grab a hoagie here again even if I hadn't spent the entire day subsisting off of a Snickers bar.

Primo Hoagies

326 South Street

Philadelphia, PA

(215) 923-3101

#76 The Boyler Room - Sam's synopsis

Well, Sandya and I failed and attempted to go to Hurricane Alley when it was closed (at least it's not closed for good), so you'll have to wait a little longer for that review. Luckily, the Boyler Room was open and the rest of our company was fine stopping there for the evening, so we were still able to get our fill of drinks and bar food. Turns out Mondays are free poker tournament night, so there were a couple of rousing games of poker behind us (Texas Hold 'Em maybe, I wasn't really paying attention). The group of people playing poker all seemed like they had been there before and were having a great time, so having a loyal fanbase is always a plus in my book. The bar itself is pretty low-key: pretty divey vibe, but that's a good thing. Cheap beer and food, plus the divey atmosphere might lead you to believe that we were in for an unpleasant surprise, but it was in fact quite the opposite. The draft beer list was pretty extensive with a lot of variety. The food was really tasty and didn't leave me feeling like shit afterwards. 

To start, Sandya and I ordered some gravy fries while waiting for the others to arrive. When they came out, the gravy was served on the side in two plastic containers. At first I was a little disgruntled - why didn't they pour the gravy on top?! But if they had done that, I realized, the fries would have gotten too soggy and been less enjoyable. Maybe that means the gravy was too thin in some people's minds, but it was delightfully salty and aromatic and really hit the spot on a cold winter night. When the rest of our crew arrived, we ordered some more appetizers, including meat- and gluten-free nachos (nachos might be the best and easiest dietary restriction snack ever... except if you're lactose intolerant). I also really enjoyed the nachos. The chips were sturdy enough to handle all the toppings piled on them, and there was a good balance of cheese, veggies/salsa, and beans. And they did a pretty good job of spreading the toppings out evenly - I hate hate hate it when you get nachos and only the three chips on top have everything and then every other chip has just a smidgen of melted cheese. UGH. 

At this point I was pretty full, as was the rest of our party, so instead of Erin and I splitting french onion soup and me getting a grilled cheese, I decided to just order a chicken caesar salad. I don't know why but I've been craving caesar salad a lot lately. I used to eat it all the time as my free meal when I worked at a restaurant in high school and then got sick of it, so maybe it's finally reemerging as a food I want to eat. In any case, it was a large salad but nothing special. Pretty standard. All in all, I'd return to the Boyler Room to grab some bar food and a beer for the evening.

The Boyler Room
328 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 413-8294

#76 - Boyler Room - Sandy's synopsis

Boyler Room is your quiet neighbourhood dive pub with a great selection of beer on tap and solid food (for the price). The ground floor has a cool Philly ambiance with posters of movies, that are about or based in Philly, on the walls. The night we went was apparently poker night, which seemed to draw in a few regulars. Its always nice to see regulars in a bar - I feel like it makes the place more homey.

We started with some beer and I was impressed with some of the craft brews on their draft list. I got an oyster stout (can't remember which) which was delicious. We also ordered some gravy  fries and nachos as appetizers. The fries were the perfect width (for me), well salted and peppered with some thick "probably from a can" gravy on the side. It really hit the spot. Your food may be made with cheap ingredients but it doesn't have to taste bad. 

The nachos were satisfying too. They came out fresh from the oven on an hot plate and with solid, basic ingredients.

For my main course I ordered the jalapeno mac and cheese and I had no complaints there. Nothing seemed to be made from scratch but it was assembled very well, baked with a lot of cheese and breadcrumbs on top and made for a good meal. 

All in all, this place is a great dive bar with a good beer selection and some affordable and delicious bar food. It reminded me of Manny Browns a couple blocks behind - both being great dive bars to go to on the east side of South street.

Boyler Room

328 South Street

Phila PA 19106

215-413-8294