#8 - Roberto Cafe - guest blogger Jamie's synopsis

Thanks to our second guest blogger Jamie, who has written up a nice review about Roberto Cafe!

When I realized that Sam and Sandya’s journey had taken them to Roberto Café near 21st and South (obviously), I jumped at my chance to be a guest blogger and they said yes! I had been to Roberto once before and was still thinking about the perfectly cooked cheesy chicken penne that I had. Mmmm….

On the evening that I was sauntering down South Street with the two S’s, spring was finally in the air. I was thinking about how bummed I was to be inside as I walked into the cozy, dimly lit Roberto’s (which was perfect in the winter) when the waiter escorted me to the back patio where my friends were waiting! Such a pleasant surprise, I had no idea it was even back there! The patio only had 3-4 tables and was mostly concrete, but the white-washed walls, paintings of Mediterranean scenes, flower boxes, and trees overhead made it a pleasant space. At some point, I think Sam broke a chair by putting her sweater on it (deceptively fat sweater?)…but we just switched it out and acted confused when the waiter came to ask about it. (Sam's note - I have the worst luck with these sorts of things at restaurants.  In the infinitesimally small chance that the owner is reading this, I swear the chair was already on the verge of breaking before we got there!)

Now that I’ve set the scene, on to the food! We each decided to go with the fantastically priced 4 course special: appetizer, pasta, main, and dessert courses for $35. First, I ordered the Insalata Organica which was supposed to be arugula, radicchio, and Belgian endive with sundried tomatoes. In reality, it was mixed greens with balsamic vinegar. However, I could drink balsamic straight from the bottle, so I wasn’t that miffed.  Next came the pasta (Penne Amatricana), and once again it did not disappoint. It was a penne with chunky, spicy tomato sauce and bits of pancetta. I’m biased towards cheesy, spicy pasta, but this one was particularly great. I came back to Roberto’s because of the pasta and I will go back again! 

Jamie's tasty entree.  I (Sam) took a lot more pictures on my phone, which conveniently died prior to writing this post, so this is all you get from our experience.  Sorry guys.

 At this point, I had a few glasses of wine and even if the food was terrible, I doubt I would have cared. And this, my friends, is the key to the Italian BYO’s formula for greatness. Regardless, I think my main course was pretty good. I ordered the Pollo e Funghi, which was chicken in a white wine garlic sauce with mushrooms. The chicken was m-okay (meh to okay), but the garlic sauce got better with each bite and the mushrooms were cooked to perfection. There were also some roasted potatoes on the side whose, let’s face it, primary purpose was to soak up all the garlicy sauce.

Somehow, I still had room for a cannoli and a cappuccino, and they were a nice end to the meal. The cannoli was fresh but not that memorable and the coffee was nice and smooth. Just to be thorough, the service was nothing special, but the food came out timely and all the waiters were pretty smiley, and that’s good enough for me!

My final thought: Roberto Café serves up reasonably priced, comforting food in a setting that’s conducive to talking, laughing, and drinking the night away. It’s exactly what an Italian BYO should be.

Roberto Cafe
2108 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 545-0793

#8 Roberto's Cafe - Sandy's synopsis

Roberto's cafe surprised me from the get go. And since its getting nice and warmer - dare I jinx it - I urge everyone to read the sign in the middle of the picture below:

Surprise #1 PATIO! and Roberto's has an extremely gorgeous, relaxing patio.  This really shouldn't have been a surprise to me considering there is a sign on the outside but I never thought of the place having outdoor seating as you don't see chairs outside on the sidewalk.

It was a fantastic day outside, so we picked up a bottle of wine at the wine and spirits conveniently located on 24th and South and spent the evening in this little patio. I'm jumping to the end, so let me backtrack to the middle. Our friend Jamie joined us for dinner and I'd like to note that this might be the first time I've hung out with Jamie and actually remembered getting home. However, the loss of drunken shenanigans for the night was replaced by some wonderful food. 

Your meal starts off with bread and some bruschetta as your wine bottle is de-corked and you peruse the menu.

Roberto's main menu (This makes me think of DVDs) has a array of classic italian dishes some of which use pasta made on the premises. I gather that many diners encountered our "want to eat everything on the menu" problem, so, they also have a 4 course prix fixe menu for $34. You get to choose an appetizer, pasta, entree and dessert from a shortened menu. Jaime, who is guest blogging for us this week, will give you her take on her dinner. For the appetizer portion I ordered the Puglia Bruschetta, which is bruschetta with cannelini beans, arugula, tomatoes, onions and it tasted so fresh and satisfying. 

My pasta dish was honestly my least favourite part of my dinner. I had the Penne with pancetta and it was alright. However, I had a taste of Samantha's pasta and it was the best thing I put in my mouth that night. So my suggestion, and I know this is early in the review, but get the Fusilli Zuchinni if you end up here one sunny summer evening. 

For an entree I had the Talapia with rosemary and it was really good. I liked Jamie'e chicken better but this was really really good. 

I got the tiramisu for dessert and it was the best way to end this meal. Just fluffy and delicious -  and the cream. Oh the cream. Made my night.

As far as Surprise# 3 goes, Roberto's accommodates anyone with a gluten allergy as they have gluten-free pasta on hand to substitute in any of the pasta dishes. And risotto is a great non-pasta option. I was surprised, since they don't come up when you search the inner-webs for gluten-free friendly places in Philadelphia. I haven't had the chance to do this yet on this blog, but I have a rule that if I've truly had an amazing dinner and I feel a certain level of content - I have to end the night with a coffee. If I am ending dinner with a cup of coffee, well, that is one of the biggest compliments I can pay. And so I did end this evening with a cappuccino that hit the spot quite nicely.

What am I getting at? Go to Roberto's cafe with a bottle of wine this summer and let the experience relax you. And hopefully you'll end it with a coffee too. 

Roberto's Cafe

2108 South street

Philadelphia PA 19146

215-545-7793

#7 Sal's Omega Pizza - Sandy's synopsis

I was very excited for Omega Pizza. I know, it is just a pizza place but they sell pizza AND are a place to pick up a six pack. Of beer. Although after sitting there from 6-8pm, essentially getting drunk and people watching, I can say there are quite a few of the other type of 6 packs that frequent the establishment. But I digress - Omega pizza has tables inside, so our grand plan was to buy  beer, order a large pizza and sit at one of their tables and enjoy both things. 

We started off by buying an assorted selection for our 6 pack and taking it to the counter. We noticed that there was a menu for everything else - burgers, side dishes - but no menu for the pizza. They had a specials menu for the pizza (you can get a large pizza and wings for $12.95) but no actually pizza menu. 

When I then proceeded to ask them what veggies are there on their veggie pizza (cause Sam isn't a fan of mushrooms or olives. I know right? Don't ask), I was told "I dont know, its whatever they have back there". Right. Well, now that we are all annoyed please tell them not to add olives and mushrooms to the whatever. Thank you.  Basically keep it simple and to the basics. You don't need a menu for plain, veggie and pepperoni (I'm assuming they have pepperoni. I mean you must. I cannot fathom a world where pizza places didn't sell pepperoni pizza).
We then picked a booth, kicked back, opened a beer and began the wait for our whatever pizza. And it was fabulous - the weather was perfect, the beer was good and we got to chatting about life. Did I say, chatting, I meant bitching. About life. It was very cathartic.

We got our pizza right about when we were done with our first beer and it was delicious. I mean it was pizza, so not pork belly delicious or anything. It was hitting the spot delicious. 

Whatever = Broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, onions and peppers

And cheese. Delicious cheese.

So then we really settled in. Took our time eating our pizza, drinking our beer and humming along to the music playing. Oh, the music was perfect 80- 90s nostaglia. All those terrible songs we hate but love, playing on Philly's very own B101. By our third beer we really kicked back and were feeling quite good. 

Your side. My side. This is a Farscape reference.

Sam kicking back. 

What really made this experience exceptional and awesome was what a 6-pack beer pick-up and pizza combo means about the clientele.  Sal's brings together a little "slice" of Philly if you will (I'm so sorry about that terrible pun). I'd like therefore to give a few shout outs to some of the people whose lives we overlapped with for a few minutes that evening. To the high school girl who asked her father to stop singing in public cause he sounded terrible - you are correct ma'am, he did sound terrible. To the hipster punk group who were doing the same thing we were - yes, this was probably your idea first. To Em, who popped in to just pick up some beer, congratulations on the new job, we will miss you. To the old lady who walked in with the duck hat (yes the front flap of the hat was a duck) to use the restroom, cause there is one in here,  you kind of made my evening. To the CVS pharmacist who came in asking for her usual - I hope your shift wasn't too terrible. Last but not least, to the guy sitting next to our table when we were through drinking our 6-pack - I'm very sorry. I'm sure hearing me burping loudly every 5 minutes was not how you planned to spend your evening. 

I don't like crusts

burp

All in all, I had a wonderful time and I would highly recommend everyone pop in to Omega Pizza once in a while. Get a slice, some beer, relax and hang out with Philadelphia for an evening. 

Sal's Omega Pizza

2145 South street

Philadelphia

PA 19146