West Philly Vegetarian Favorites (for $5 or less)

Other GSE student bloggers have talked about food, so I figured I’d go ahead and ward off my tunnel vision on the current semester by joining the party. I’ve had the chance to live in West Philly for 4+ years now, and I could share quite a bit about its offerings – so I’m going to start with the list that’s been perhaps the most important for me:

Top 5 Vegetarian Take-out Meals for $5 or Less:

Wawa’s vegetarian options aren’t that great, and the student café is more likely to stock turkey or beef, so what does that leave for a price-conscious vegetarian looking for portable foodstuffs? Lots. Presented in alphabetical order:

• Fu Wah Market: Tofu Hoagie ($4.30; 47^th and Baltimore). Ask any West Philly vegetarian, and there’s a good chance they can list the ingredients and name the price of this legendary sandwich. Tofu generously marinated in their Vietnamese-style house sauce, topped with pickled vegetables, cilantro, jalapenos, and sriracha, all packed into a hoagie roll (AKA a “sub” for non-Philadelphians).
• Mexi-Philly and/or The Mexican Spot: Burritos ($3.50-$5.00; Spruce St. b/w 37^th & 38^th). So I’ll be honest, I can’t ever remember the difference between these two trucks which occupy adjacent tracts of sidewalk, so I just pick whichever one has the shorter line. I’m partial to their plantain burritos, but when I have a hankering for guacamole I’m more likely to go with tofu or just black beans.
• Kabobeesh: Veggie Roll ($4.99; 42^nd and Chestnut). Located in a former diner, this Indo-Pakistani-Middle Eastern place makes phenomenal veggie rolls, featuring spicy fried potato-vegetable patties, salad, and creamy dressing – all wrapped up in fresh naan. Served with a deliciously spicy cilantro sauce on the side for people who like that sort of thing.
• Pizza Rustica: “Vegetarian Extravaganza” Pizza by the slice ($3.20; 36^th and Chestnut). This is probably my favorite slice of pizza in Philly. The crust is maybe a little too thin, but the toppings include caramelized onions, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, spinach, roasted red pepper, garlicky crème fraiche, and so on. $3.20 isn’t normally cheap for a slice, but their slices are enormous
• Saad’s Halal: Falafel Sandwich ($4.50; $5.00 with hummus, baba ghanouj, tabouleh, or feta; 45th and Walnut). There’s a lot of good falafel places around (people looking closer to Penn might try the Marrakesh Express food truck just off Locust Walk at 40^th and Locust), but this one happens to be my favorite. It’s just really, really good.

Honorable Mentions:

Here’s a few places where you can grab a quick, delicious, and affordable bite, which just miss the cut-off on preference or price:

Chili Szechuan (Baltimore, between 47^th and 48^th). My favorite local Chinese place; there’s other good ones (I’m also favorable to Best China Inn at 45^th and Locust), but Chili Szechuan’s edge is its menu of Szechuanese dishes (in addition to its more typical pages of “Americanized dishes”). I recommend you go adventurous with the Szechuanese food – if you like spicy, absolutely go for the Dry Pepper Style Tofu; Dry Fried String Beans is another favorite that’s more mild. Their food is slightly pricier than some Chinese places, but the portions are bigger.

Greek Lady: Vegetarian Platter ($7.60; 40^th and Locust). The platter lets you get your fill with soup or salad, spanakopita, three vegetarian sides (I recommend the green beans and the lemon roasted potatoes, plus maybe the spinach rice), pita, and hummus or tzatziki. They do sandwiches too, which are cheaper but I’ve never been that impressed with the vegetarian offerings (though they do put French fries inside the sandwiches!).

Manakeesh: Combo Manakeesh ($4.15; 45^th and Walnut). There’s a lot of other vegetarian options here, but this is my favorite AND the others are over $5. A Lebanese-style flatbread sandwich with spices, vegetables, and cheese. 

Mood Café: whatever chaat Hassan recommends ($5.99; Baltimore between 46^th and 47^th). Basically the same as the sister spot Desi Chaat House (42^nd and Baltimore), but the owner of both works the counter at Mood and will make sure you’re satisfied. If you’ve never had Indian chaat before…it’s hard to describe, but you should definitely try it. They also do lots of lassi varieties. Just introduce yourself and say you’re hungry, and Hassan will do the rest.

Qdoba or Chipotle, whichever floats your boat: Whatever floats your boat (40^th and Walnut, either to the south or the east). You know the drill – fast food Mexican. I’m a Chipotle man myself, but that’s mostly because the guacamole is free with the vegetarian burritos while Qdoba makes you choose guacamole or roasted veggies. Also - Chipotle's got a new tofu option that's pretty great! But the guacamole isn't free with it

·         You know, any of the other food carts. There’s a lot of them around Penn, and some of them are quite good – sandwiches, Indian, Korean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, crepes, who knows what else. There’s a lot of trucks that line up on Spruce and on 38^th St. for lunch, but there’s other pockets, like the little alley that runs from Sansom to Walnut between 37^th and 38^th.

What did I miss? I haven’t checked out some new places, I’m sure I forgot things, and hopefully there’s places I haven’t heard about that I can try next!