Scrapple For Everyone: Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market to Expand
The little slice of heaven that is know as Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market is slated for an upgrade.
Business has been booming at Philly’s Shangri-La of gastronomic delights thanks to the overall growth in interest of food and more recently by the expansion of the nearby Convention Center. The folks who run one of the preeminent indoor food experiences in the country are going to shuffle some of the vendors around and move some storage areas underground to free up some space.
Storage areas along “Avenue D,” the aisle closest to 11th Street, will move to the basement to make room for up to five new retailers, which have yet to be named. Veteran tenants – the Spice Terminal, L. Halteman Family Country Foods, Flying Monkey Bakery, Spataro’s, and DiNic’s – will move to new spaces.
New faces are always welcome, but perhaps the biggest impact will be the relocation of a few of the big names. DiNic’s, in particular, is the proud purveyor of what I believe to be the best damn sandwich in Philadelphia. Yes, I’m a cheesesteak man until I die, but the roast pork with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe is otherworldly.
Having them move to a larger spot won’t do much to shorten your wait if you’re looking to buy lunch from them, but it will prevent the monstrous line from clogging the main aisle, as it does now. And, for the record, whatever the wait happens to be at the time you get there, it’s worth it.
The success of Reading Terminal Market is a heartwarming story when you consider that it was a dingy, unappealing place for a long time during the ’70s and ’80s. Of course, you could probably say the same thing about Philadelphia in general during that period.
In case you’re wondering, the roast pork sandwich is one of my three favorite things from the Market, alongside the scrapple sandwich from the Dutch Eating Place and the world’s best pickled cherry peppers from AJ Pickle Patch.
What culinary gems can you just not pass up when you go?
