Richie’s Deli and Pizza

Let the battle continue.  This is proving harder than I expected as most of the trucks have boarded up shop for the summer.  Richie’s is one of the most popular food stands on campus, and I have yet to figure out why.  Most of what I have ever ordered there has been mediocre and the service isn’t incredible.  How did Richie’s do in my grilled cheese battle?  Not great.

Overall appearance: 8 Not toasted quite enough–too much white
Overall taste: 6 It was quite tasteless, even with the ham added in.
Size: 8 Not too big, not too small.
Greasiness: 5 Not enough! Did they grill it without butter? It was SO dry. Dryer than E & E’s.
Cheese (quality and quantity): 6 Tasteless and not very much in there. But maybe they under-compensated because I asked for ham.
Carbohydrate Delivery System: 6 Average white bread that was barely toasted.
Price: 5 $3.75 because I ordered ham. A regular grilled cheese would have been $3 and would have been way to much for the quality.
Extras: 8 None included but I ordered ham for an extra $.75. Two slices of really cheap ham.
Service and timing: 7 Not very friendly and I had to wait a while, I think because lots of people had placed advanced orders.
Accuracy of order: 9 It was almost a lower score. They gave my sandwich to someone else but caught their mistake as she was walking away.

Total score: 68

Rubric Recap: Tommy’s and Richie’s

My reviews of Tommy’s and Richie’s breakfast sandwiches need scoring since I started using my rubric:

Tommy’s
Overall appearance: 7
Meat: 8
Egg (quality, quantity, and tuckage): 3
Greasiness: 5
Cheese (quality and quantity): 5
Condiments (quality and quantity.): 6
Carbohydrate Delivery System (credit: Matt Palmer): 2
Price: 4
Accuracy of order: 8
Overall taste: 5
Total score: 53

Richie’s
Overall appearance: 7
Meat: 6
Egg (quality, quantity, and tuckage): 9
Greasiness: 5
Cheese (quality and quantity): 8
Condiments (quality and quantity): 5
Carbohydrate Delivery System (credit: Matt Palmer): 5
Price: 6
Accuracy of order: 10
Overall taste: 6
Total score: 67

Breakfast Sandwich: Richie’s Deli & Pizza

My quest for the perfect breakfast sandwich continues here in North Philly. Because I’d really like all of my summer clothes to fit, I am limiting my samplings to one sandwich per week. Today’s pick: Richie’s Deli & Pizza on North 12th St. by the Anderson and Gladfelter buildings. Richie’s is lively in the morning with lots of regulars and banter and Richie is always up front, schmoozing with the customers. 

I ordered a “toasted English Muffin with egg, cheese, and bacon and salt pepper ketchup.” My first impression, even before I unwrapped the sandwich, was not great. Ketchup on the side? DIY? It just doesn’t taste as good when you have to lift the top of the sandwich and squeeze out the ketchup yourself. It just doesn’t.

Again, like Tommy’s, it wasn’t cut, although I do understand this practice more for an English Muffin because it is not as hard to manage as a bagel.

After I cut it I realized that the English Muffin was not toasted–it just felt warmed in the microwave.

No brown crusty goodness, and it was soggy.

The bacon was whole, which made it harder to eat and easier to pull from the sandwich in one bite, but the fillings portions were generous and evenly distributed from center to edges.

The two eggs were Mmm Mmm good. Cooked with care, fluffy, and almost perfectly tucked around the outside edges of the muffin. I like my eggs tucked.

I rate Richie’s sandwich higher than Tommy’s (maybe I should come up with a rubric) but I know my quest must continue to find the perfect breakfast sandwich in North Philadelphia. I hope my pants and waistline forgive me.