Happy New Year, Happy eating!

Jan 04, 2008 in Cities, The 411

New Years Eve Fireworks - 2007-2008So, it’s the New Year and we all made it…  No earth exploding, bombs going off or massive tidal waves (again).  But it’s not all bad. :)  We have another year to make new friends, go out and eat and great places and try to find new and exciting hobbies to perform.  And we always have next New Years — who knows, maybe my friends and parents will come out to my new apartment (not yet located) and dance the night away again.  But now it’s time to reflect.  I promise, only a little bit of reflection.

National Mechanics OutdoorLast year I started two new blogs (Srcasm and this one) and had a great time making many new friends in the Philadelphia area and finding new places to eat.  Some of the restaurant favs of the year were National Mechanics, Zot, Eulogy and Triumph to name a few.  I’m hoping to get some pictures, write some reviews and have some good times at all of these places and more in the coming year.  I’m going to try to find places to eat that I never would have tried before — the hole-in-the-wall places in Chinatown, the tiny cafes and diners all over Philly and some of the more upscale places in the city like Panorama.   There are the restaurants and fooderies that I believe people will find most helpful.

As for dining out, I would like to setup a monthly visit to a new place in Philly.  All of my new and old friends should join me on my expedition to find some of the strangest and coolest spots in Philadelphia.  So if you have any ideas for places to start off seeing and eating, please let me know.  Leave a comment, send a tweet or shoot me an email at yes (at) canyoueat (dot) com.  As always, keep enjoying great eats and great prices in Philly!

Images courtesy of inter.jection’s Flickr stream and Yelp member Wallspro S

The rating system is here

Dec 27, 2007 in The 411

I’ve finally decided on a rating system… Drum roll, please.

Tip Jar with MoneyA tipping scale — How much should one tip if they ate at this restaurant. To be fair I do not tip a waiter or waitress based on the deliciousness or lack-there-of of the food but I will use it for rating restaurants. The ratings will go on a scale from 1 to 4 (errr, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%). There will be few restaurants that will get a 25% tip but they may be out there. I also hope to find few restaurants that deserve a 10% tip but alas there will be some of those as well. And to prove to you how I feel about the meal I will scan in each and every receipt to go along with the restaurant I visited (sans the CC digits).

Pats SteakSecond, I will use cheesesteaks for the quality of food rating. Again, a simple 1-4 cheesesteak scale (and yes for those of you who know, I am lactose intollerant but I love cheesesteaks) will do the trick. Here’s to hoping that there are many restaurants in the Philadelphia area that serve 4-cheesesteak rated food!

So please, keep enjoying great eats and great prices!

Back in the states and over the holiday hump…

Dec 26, 2007 in The 411

Well, one of the two title statements are true. I am back in the states. I was in Mexico for a week long trip for work. For those of you who didn’t know I was in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico — a great home of cheese (that I can not eat). The plan was to review restaurants and bars down in Chihuahua but I figured it would help most of my fellow Philadelphians in finding great eats and great prices up here in the northeast.

Mexican Cheese

The second part of the statement is almost true. Channukah and Christmas have passed and I’ve definitely gained quite a bit of weight over those few weeks and with New Years around the corner I have one more holiday to make it through. I plan on eating and drinking around this final holiday of 2007 and then off to bigger and better things. I’ll try to get the first review of a restaurant online right after the 1st of the new year. Let me know if you have anything you’d like to see reviewed here and I’ll see what I can do.

Image courtesy of GourmetSleuth.com

First time posting…

Dec 16, 2007 in The 411

Well this is my first time posting on this blog.  I’m a man on a mission.  I’ll try to review foods and restaurants that you want to taste — the restaurants that you and your friends eat at on a day-to-day basis.  Maybe you’ll find information that you already know here, maybe you’ll find a new dish or a new restaurant that you had no idea existed.  I hope to start some discussions about the places that I go and things that I eat and I’d love to have company anytime I set off to try something new.

Lastly, no restaurant is out of the question but I’ll try to make sure that they’re the restaurants that we can all eat at.  There are plenty of excellent reviewers out there that can tell you all about the Four Seasons, Mosholu and the Capital Grill.  I’ll show you places like National Mechanics, Macaroni Grill, Gigi Restaurant and more.  So check back for some upcoming reviews and information on the places that you love.