#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