Thursday, May 9, 2013

Philadelphia: Federal Donuts & By George! for Cheesesteaks

I asked a bunch of people what is a must in Philly and they all told me that I must visit Federal Donuts, which is this gourmet/hipster donut shop that sells donuts and fried chicken!  It was bit far from from the convention center, but I was determined to try it, so I made the 20 minute trek to Federal Donuts' location in Center City during lunch.

Just realized that I visit a donut shop in every city I've been to and it's always some cool, new, hip thang.  Where's LA's hipster donut shop??


Federal Donuts
1632 Sansom St 
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Rittenhouse Square, Penn Center 

federal donuts
Federal Donuts!  Went with my coworker again.  He always said that if he follows me around, he'll be sure to try something good haha.

coffee, donuts, chicken.
Coffee, donuts, and chicken.  Genius.

inside
Inside.  Very simple but pretty cool decor.

blueberry muffin
So for the donuts, they have two categories: fancy and hot fresh.  Fancy donuts cost a bit more and exactly like the name implies, fancier than your average donuts.  They only had two different ones left.  Got the Blueberry Muffin, and it is a donut covered with blueberry glaze, then sprinkled with blueberry muffin crumbs!

strawberry lemonade
Strawberry Lemonade!  Lemonade glaze with strawberry icing.  When I took that first bite, my brain was so confused because it really did taste like a strawberry lemonade, but I was eating a donut.  I got the last one too!

japanese ginger fried wings
Besides donuts, also got a 1/2 order of the fried chicken.  I'm actually not too sure which seasoning I got... since I ordered the Shabazzi but may have gotten the honey ginger.  In any case, ridiculously good fried chicken.  It's done like the Korean-style fried chicken, so a nice crunch outside and moist inside. They also give you a small side of Japanese cucumber pickles.

cinnamon brown sugar donut
With every order of the fried chicken, you get a honey donut!  It's part of the hot fresh, so they fry it on the spot.  Nothing better than fresh donuts

Some fried chicken and three donuts later, I went back a really happy dude.  Good thing I had that short work too just to work some of it off.  Dammit.  LA needs a place that sells donuts and fried chicken!


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For my last day in Philly, I figured I should at least eat cheesesteak once.  It's just I've had a few cheesesteaks, and they have never lived up to the hype.  Yelped a bit, and found this vendor, By Geroge!, inside the Reading Terminal Market that sells Italian food and cheesesteaks.  A little skeptical, but all the other cheesesteak spots had crazy long lines, so I went for it.


By George! Pizza, Pasta & Cheesesteaks
Reading Terminal Market 
51 N 12th St 
Market East
Philadelphia, PA 19107


By George!
Still a line, but definitely not as long.  There's one vendor that had to use a security guard to direct the line.  That place wasn't even that good.

cheesesteak with onions, whiz, bacon
After about 20 minutes, my cheesesteak with whiz, onions, and bacon was finally ready!  It is a biiiig sandwich.  When I was walking back, I held it in the palm, in a horizontal position so the juices wouldn't all drip to one spot, and man my arm actually got tired.

steak
Damn that's a lot of steak!

bacon
Bacon!  Someone told me that I had to get it this way.  Good thing I took his suggestion haha.

sandwich
There is a layer of cheese whiz on the bottom so when you take your bite, after you go through the bread, your tongue hits the cheese!

Not gonna lie, it is probably the best cheesesteak I've had anywhere.  Tons of steak, tasty cheese whiz, and sturdy bread that held up to everything.  I'm sure the bacon helped too.  It was the last thing I ate in Philly and I'm glad it was that huge sandwich.

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