PhillyLunchBox

Berkerker Is Lovin' It at McDonalds

McDonalds
1706 Walnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 545-9574

In my recent review of The Palm, I noted that Mr. Box thought the place was the "McDonalds of fine dining." Well, yesterday we decided to see if he was right - Turns out he was being insulting to McDonalds - we liked the experience at the McDonalds on Walnut St. much more than The Palm.

Why? I don't know about the ones at City Hall, but the brothas and sistahs at this Mcdonalds are running this place right! The young black girls at the front counter are some of the friendliest, hard-workin'-est food service workers we've seen anywhere - from the US to India to Costa Rica and back.

The managers at every McDonalds - nay, EVERY fast-food place - need to visit this place to see what good, friendly, prompt service is all about. Part of the reason I stopped going to McDonalds in the last few years was the service - it was just awful, no matter which one you went to.

McDonalds Corporation knows it too - you might recall that they created "customer recovery teams" a few years ago, in response to all of the lost sales from rude employees, wrong orders, dirty restaurants, etc.

I go to this McDonalds on Walnut St. about once a month, and they never fail to amaze me - sometimes, I don't even make it halfway from the door to the counter, and they are already asking me what I would like to order - and it's always with smiles on their faces.

Mr. Box, thinking out-of-the-bun as usual, got one of their new Premium Salads called "Fiesta." I got my usual - the Big Mac meal with a Diet Coke.

We had both seen ads for the new salads on TV. Mr. Box liked it alot - especially for the price of $3.95 or so. But, the Paul Newman salsa dressing should be changed to make it thinner so that it can spread out to more of the lettuce and veggies. And yea, the lettuce does need to be a little fresher. And my fries were a little dry and not too hot. But overall, the food is typical McDonalds fare, which we've always loved.

It's an eclectic crowd in there which I like - you've got your office drones, teenie boppers, asian women in skirts/heels, blacks, whites, muslim guys (I loved the dark robe on this one guy, such an f-u to white people), street-people, construction guys, and even a young, totally hot girl in a wheelchair. And the 'modern' art work on the wall is a nice effort by the owners.

McDonalds always seem to take its lumps in the media. A Google search on "mcdonalds bad publicity" yields 9,630 results. Their PR people must be the busiest people on the planet.

People sue McDonalds for their obesity, make funny but slightly disingenuous documentaries about them (One thing I couldn't help notice - almost everyone in there - about 100 people in-and-out during our meal - was relatively thin...hmmm), and even the Hindus attacked a sacred cow of McDonalds by forcing the company to remove beef fat from the french fries (I'll think about that the next time I pray to a cow). And cheeseburgers are getting a raw deal compared to pizza.

So, if you're walking by the McDonalds on Walnut St., pop in and see what real service is all about. You'll be lovin' it too...

Berkserker Bisques Up The Palm

The Palm
200 South Broad Street at Walnut
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215.546.7256

Had lunch at The Palm on Friday afternoon. It wasn't bad, but for $30-a-head in Philly you can do so much better - like down the street at the Capital Grille. You're right, Mr. Box, The Palm really is the McDonald's of fine dining.

As the Box himself said, everything was "just a little off" at The Palm. My crabcakes had a little too much pepper or something, our lobster bisque soups were barely warm and lacked punch, his tuna burger was undercooked a tad, and the Tiramisu was absolutely overkilled with rum.

But if you're in the celebrity-f-ing, E! Channel-watching crowd and want to hang around the 'power-brokers' in Philly, The Palm might be worth a visit. If you twist your rabbit ears the right way, you can over hear things like "Boy, how about Street's budget, cutting out those fire ladders...hubba, hubba..." Juicy stuff, I tell ya.

The caricatures of "celebrities" on the wall are a bit much, but I guess that's the charm of the place, no? But alas, having Jerry Penacoli stare me down during the entire meal just kind of creeped me out (yea, I know it was only a rumor, but - yuck!!).

Our female server was fine - professional, competent, if not the friendliest person we've ever gotten service from. Same deal with our table-cleaner/dessert guy. I can't remember his name, but I just recall that he did his job ok but just wasn't into smiling or being the least bit friendly. They need to love you back a little more at The Palm - like by scraping the crumbs off in between courses, like at the Grille.

I loved the packs of matches - they're definitely worth taking with you, even if you don't smoke.

Berkserker Still Loves the Lore's Touch

Lore's Coffee Shop
7th Street - Between Chestnut & Market
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: 215.627.3233

Stopped by Lore's yesterday, my first visit in over three years to this charming little independent joint. I used to work around the corner from the place, during the heady days of Internet startups/blowouts (still trying to pay back the 7k I lost on those stock options...brutal).

I actually started out the morning with a small coffee from Dunkin Donuts at 11th & Chestnut at 7am, on my usual morning visit to my mom's hospital room. I had been getting the DD coffee all week, but as I left the hospital that day, with my still-almost-full DD coffee cup and the awful after-taste of the first swigs still in my mouth, I thought about Lore's - wondering if they were still there.

So I walked down Chestnut St. a few blocks, dumping my cup of DD along the way (my apologies to one of the young trees on Chestnut St.), and there it was - good ol' Lore's, with people streaming in and out, most with smiles on their faces and hot cups of java and sweets in their hands.

The Rasta guy behind the counter was so friendly, greeting everyone with a warm hello - nice to see the atmosphere hasn't changed at Lore's, a very refreshing thing these days.

Lore's setup is still the best I've seen at any coffee shop anywhere - you do everything yourself: pour your own coffee, do the sweetener & milk thing, and put the lid on too. The gal at Dunkin Donuts that morning put my three Sweet & Low's in my cup herself (with her bare hands touching the powder, mind you - yuck!), and she didn't even stir it before putting the lid on.

The cups at Lore's are great too - the outside has a plastic-y, raised-spongy feel that prevents you from feeling the heat. There's no need to double-up on cups a la La Colombe (whew, say that fast 5x). I'm sure they're more expensive, and probably bad for the environment, but man - that cup is awesome.

I asked the other counter person - a nice young gal - about another nice gal who used to work at Lore's - she was about yeh-high, studying music (was it piano?), and was setting out to travel the country with nothing but her guitar and her wits. Turns out, she did do some traveling, still has her wits, and she's now in New York. She even emails Lore's owner sometimes, just to say hi. That's the kind of atmosphere this place has...I like it. And the coffee is still $1.