Archive for January, 2006

MARATHON GRILL – Chestnut St

Monday, January 30th, 2006

marathon grill - chestnut st

We are frequent patrons of the Marathon Grill located at 16th and Sansom Sts, and have found it to be reliably fast and good. Recently, however, we visited the Marathon Grill on Chestnut between 13th and Broad Sts and found ourselves with some of the worst service we've ever experienced. Just to get it out of the way, the food was good, just as good as the 16th St location, but the service was horrendous.

We were a party of four and as we entered the half full dining room, we were promptly seated for our late Saturday brunch. We eagerly opened our menus and got to looking through their specials. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen minutes passed. Normally, a server will come by after a party is seated, introduce themselves and ask if we'd like something to drink while we look over the menu, not this time. Picky scanned the dining room looking for a free server. There were around four servers for the half empty room. There were two just standing by a counter. Picky glared at one of them for a solid thirty seconds. He looked back at him a few times and contined to chat with another server. Then, he got the message.

He walked over to us, but then made a left to the table behind us, a table that was seated about five minutes after we were. Picky was pissed and hungry so he blurted out "WE WERE HERE FIRST" right as another server walked over to our table. Server #2 said that this was Server #1's table, but that he'd help out. Server #1 heard Picky and walked over, after taking their order. He took our order.

The water, coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice came out and also the message that Messy's croissant sandwich wasn't available, they were out of croissants. She ordered the gorgonzola, pear and walnut omelette as a replacement.

A few minutes passed and what looked like our food came out. But Picky's sister's Our whole wheat and banana waffles with canned (not fresh!) strawberries were headed to the other table. The other table said that they didn't order it. We looked on incredulously. The server took it back to the counter. And turned around and brought it to our table along with half of our food. A few minutes passed and the rest of the food came. The side of bacon one of our party ordered took another five minutes (good grief, bacon!). We enjoyed the food, but were still miffed from the (lack of) service.

When were winding down, the server took away the finished plates of Messy and Picky, but not the other side of the table. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. After fifteen minutes or so, we flagged him down for a check, he walked right passed us without looking, very much avoiding our table. When he finally came back around after we asked for the check, he incredibly said "It was a long hard battle, but we got through it" – some of us bit our lips to not lash out at him. Ten percent later, we left.

Based on a U.S. Department of Labor finding as a result of numerous complaints by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission "alleging that Marathon Grill discriminated against its Mexican employees by failing to pay them overtime" we can no longer recommend the Marathon Grill chain as a destination.

More info here.

Messy **
Picky * (because of the horrendous service)

The final word: Head to 16th St instead.

Marathon Grill
1339 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA
215-561-4460
Mon – Fri: 7am – 10pm
Sat – Sun: 9am – 10pm

Posted in American, Center City East, Diner | 6 Comments »

RECIPE #5

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

sonoma chicken salad

Sonoma Chicken Salad

This recipe is from one of those free little recipe books at Whole Foods. The grapes make it stand out from a garden variety chicken salad. We didn't have some of the ingredients, so we had to improvise a little.

The dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise (We used Hellman's lite)
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
5 tsp organic honey (We used regular)
2 tsp poppy seeds (We used sesame seeds instead– tasted great)
Sea salt and fresh ground white pepper to taste (Again, we just used regular fresh ground black pepper)

The Salad:

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup pecan halves, chopped and toasted (We just skipped this)
2 cups red seedless grapes
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced (We diced it)

Prepare the dressing by thoroughly mixing together all dressing ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to dress the salad (can be prepared up to 2 days ahead). Preheat oven to 375°F. Place chicken breasts in one layer in a baking dish with 1/2 cup of water. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes until completely cooked through. Remove cooked chicken breasts from baking pan, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate. When the breasts are completely chilled (at least 2 hours refrigerated), dice into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes, celery, and dressing.

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

ALYAN'S

Monday, January 16th, 2006

alyan's

We ended up at Alyan's due to lack of seating space at Maoz Vegetarian on South Street — and we're very glad we did! We dined with our two vegan friends and we're happy to report that all of our meals (three falafels and one shawarma, a lamb and turkey rotissere broil sandwich) were delicious. (Guess who had the shawarma?) The hummus and falafel sandwiches were hefty enough on their own, and they were served with mixed salads on the side. We can't imagine how big the 'platter' size, which costs $4 more, is in comparison. The schwarma was also a huge sandwich, overflowing out of the foil wrapper. It partially exploded over Picky's hand.

But the true highlight of the meal was the large side order of Alayn's Fries: French cut potatoes mixed with hot peppers and onions. They were perfect! Not too greasy. Not too spicy. Not too anything. Everyone liked them. They are more like homefries, with chunks of potato instead of thin strips or wedges.

It was semi-cramped at our table in the front room, but there is a larger back room as well as more seating upstairs; we didn't venture into either of those rooms so we can't verify how spacious they are.

The menu is quite extensive and the prices, not expensive. The total bill for four was under $25, a miracle in Center City! We were all quite full too– no room for baklava, the only dessert on the menu.

We went back to Alyan's a second time and found the service to be especially slow, but the food was just as good. Picky had the same sandwich and was not disappointed. Messy branched out and tried a "small" Greek salad, which was certainly big enough to share as a side and filling enough to be a meal on its own. She also tried the spinach and mushroom pie, a delicious, almost pastry-like concoction.

Messy ***
Picky ***1/2

The final word: Great, Middle Eastern eats at diner-like prices.

603 S. 4th St
215-922-3553
Sun – Thur: 11am – 11pm
Fri – Sat: 11am – Midnight

Posted in BYOB, Center City East, Middle Eastern, South St | 2 Comments »

RECIPE #4

Monday, January 9th, 2006

rice and beans with guacamole

Rice and Beans with Guacamole

This is one of our favorite meals– we have it at least once a week.

Beans
1/2 to 1 diced yellow onion, depending on how much you like onion
1 clove garlic, minced
A couple of Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 small can tomato sauce
1 medium can black or red beans, drained and rinsed
salt, pepper, oregano, dried cilantro and chile powder to taste

Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato sauce. Turn heat to low and add beans and spices to your liking. Cook over very low heat for 20 minutes or so. Add water for desired consistency.

We usually eat these beans with yellow rice from a package; tortillas; cheddar cheese; hot sauce; sour cream and guacamole (see below).

Guacamole

1/4 of a red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 plum tomato, diced
3 or 4 ripe avocados (depending on size), mashed
A couple squirts of lime juice
chopped cilantro (fresh, if possible)
salt and pepper

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl. Voila!

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »