#85 South Garden, #86 - Tavern 222 and #87 Rita's water ice - Sandy's synopsis

South Garden is a popular Chinese place in this neck of the woods. I spoke with a good friend who lives north of Market who said he regularly orders from here. Sam and I went during lunch time so we took advantage of their lunch specials. I was craving a little grease so I ordered the general tso's chicken which came with pork fried rice. 

The chicken was crispy, the sauce was tasty and the fried rice was deliciously salty. It definitely hit the spot. The lunch special comes with a soup, so I got the wonton soup.

The soup hit the spot too with the wontons having nicely salted pork (I assume) in the filling and a soft exterior. My conclusion - this is a great take out Chinese place with generous portions.  

On another fine day we went to Tavern 222, a mysterious place that I had never stepped foot in before. The decor is fashionably low lit and and the daily specials are actually great deals. We went on a Tuesday where their domestic beers are half off and their chili-dogs are $4. No-brainer.

On the downside, the music was really loud and I found I had to speak relatively loudly to have a conversation. In summary, my bank account was extremely happy, between Sam and I our bill was $15. However, from an ambiance (I'm growing old) point of view, I don't think I'll be returning. 

I have nothing much to say about Rita's. I've always thought it was mediocre. I got the vanilla malt milkshake and it didn't change my mind. 

Its a Rita's!

South Garden

220 South street

Philadelphia PA 19147

215-413-0200

Tavern 222

222 South Street

Philadelphia PA 19147

215-923-1999

Rita's Water Ice

235 South Street

Philadelphia PA 19147

215-629-3910

#85 South Garden, #86 Tavern 222, and #87 Rita's Water Ice - Sam's synopses

Well, this is our first TRIPLE THREAT post of the entire blog. No wonder it comes so close to the end, when the restaurants are piling up street after street. We are slowly but surely making our way to the end of the line, I promise...

First up is South Garden. Sandya and I decided to come here on a Saturday afternoon after a party the night before, thinking it'd be a good hangover cure. I didn't end up drinking all that much, so it was mostly just mediocre chinese food. We ordered in the restaurant but my guess is most of their business is take-out, since they forgot and put our meals in to-go containers. Which actually saved up a step, since we ended up having leftovers anyways. I ordered the lunch special, with wonton soup, chicken with cashew nuts, and pork fried rice. I liked the wonton soup, it was salty and the wontons were a good consistency. The chicken with cashew nuts and fried rice were meh. They didn't have much flavor. We did however see Atul, our friend from Lovash, as he stopped in to get something from the owners of South Garden. It's nice to know the neighboring restaurants are friendly with one another.

Next, on a separate day, we visited Tavern 222 for dinner. The interior was dark, uncrowded, and loud. I could barely hear Sandya and she was sitting right next to me. I can understand this atmosphere on a weekend evening, but it was a weekday before 7 pm so it seemed a little strange. I was really in the mood for chicken fingers and BBQ sauce, and luckily for me they had these on the menu and in stock. The chicken fingers hit the spot, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. The french fries were okay - they were pretty crisp but lacked a good baseline flavor. We ordered lagers but forgot to specify on draft, so y'know, drinking lager from a bottle. All in all I probably wouldn't come back to Tavern 222, mostly based on the loudness of the music.

Finally onto Rita's, which we combined with Tavern 222. It was a good day for it too, since it was a hot summer evening. I decided to go for the 4-flavor sampler, choosing blue raspberry, cherry, swedish fish, and lemon. When it comes to water ice, I'm all about the fruit flavors and less about the ice cream-like flavors. I almost always get gelati when I go to Rita's, but it was hot enough that water ice sounded delicious and I was pretty full from scarfing all those chicken fingers. I enjoyed the flavors, but they gave me waaay too much of each. I think I ate maybe half of the serving total, and most of it melted in the heat anyways. It made for a pretty combination of reds and blues, but for some reason I remember them serving a more reasonable amount of water ice. I have to point out that the swedish fish flavor totally tastes like swedish fish too, which is pretty great. Rita's is a great Philly staple that I'd recommend on a hot day, if you're in the mood for some water ice or a delicious custard + water ice combo (I highly recommend black cherry water ice with vanilla custard...
mmmm....)

So while this is a triple threat of reviews, the places themselves were either underwhelming or commonplace, so onto bigger and better things next time around let's hope!

South Garden
220 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 413-0200

Tavern 222
222 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 923-1999

Rita's Water Ice
239 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 629-3910