Tourists form lines for cheesesteaks, but locals queue up for brunch. Like the ever-growing craft beer scene, breakfast is booming in Philadelphia.
By Grace Dickinson
Jet to Paris via this NoLibs café, where macaroons and croissants guard an ever-churning espresso machine. Stoic European décor evokes Rue St. Germain, but the French-Lebanese menu is entirely nouveau. Start with Foul Moudamas, a.k.a. the best excuse to eat hummus for breakfast; extra creamy and house-made, it’s topped with marinated fava beans, scrambled eggs and tomatoes. If you’re pushing lunch, try the Ananas: From an arugula base, the salad extends skyward with caramelized pineapple, pesto and a guac-like layer of mango, avocado and onion, all topped with salty, grilled halloumi cheese, shrimp and fried potatoes. You’ll never view salad the same way again.
Both the Center City and South Philly locations serve only three things: coffee, doughnuts and fried chicken, a glorious morning-after trio that has become a pilgrimage for the foodie and the hungover alike (double points if you’re both). The chicken’s twice-fried, Korean-style and covered in your choice of dry seasoning (ranch, coconut curry or Za’atar) or glaze (chili garlic or honey ginger). The doughnuts are ethereal rounds in flavors like warm vanilla lavender, banana cream pie and chocolate peanut butter. Go just before 11 a.m., when the fancy-flavored doughnuts begin selling out and the chicken starts sizzling. There are no tables; grab a number, and cross your fingers.
Bring your own Champagne, and you’ll get a cozy, sunlit space to down your morning mimosa. Each table comes with a friendly hipster to deliver the specials, and a view of a blackboard that explains the rest. Eating light? Go for the pesto-tomato frittata. If you can’t solve the pancake-or-eggs dilemma, order the Crespelle, a crepe stuffed with scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and fontina cheese, rolled up and drizzled with syrup. Sweet tooths should simply dive head-first into the Cannoli French Toast—a photo-worthy plate of cinnamon-vanilla-custard-dredged challah slices topped with ricotta cannoli filling, pistachios, bananas and dark chocolate— and take a post-brunch nap.
LATE-NIGHT BITE: After a beer bender, think like a chef and swing by The Industry, where restaurant-biz folk go for 1 a.m.-or-earlier pig’s ear lettuce wraps, beer-cheese fries and duck confit beignets.
