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Cplcoffeebean t1_j51bc0b wrote

Reply to comment by PhillyPanda in Good place for a "business friendly" lunch in Fishtown? by jacksonmills

Front street should be so much better than it is. I’d also toss in Cedar Point.

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Little_Noodles t1_j51dvwl wrote

That’s funny, because while I have some issues with Front Street (mostly about their cocktails), I’ve found Cedar Point to be pretty unreliable re: quality.

I like them both, FWIW.

What kind of “talking shit from NJ” are they? Like, sheltered South Jersey suburbs, rather go to Applebee’s, scared of the city? Or NYC area, being dicks about “the city” talking shit? That’s going to affect my call.

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idiot900 t1_j51nung wrote

Not familiar with the other two, but Suraya can hold its own against anything in NYC. (Source: lived in Manhattan for a long time.)

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Little_Noodles t1_j51oy33 wrote

Yeah, I think Suraya would work for the latter, and maybe/probably the former, so long as they’re not the type to be scared of food they haven’t had before, or be pissy about the city being complicated and expensive.

There’s a certain type of South Jersey that would go to Suraya, bitch that nothing is “a regular sandwich” and they don’t want something because it has a word they don’t know in it or whatever, complain about “how much food” you can buy for that price back at their local strip mall, and have Opinions about the way Suraya does seating.

If that’s their brand of difficult, I’d go to Murph’s

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idiot900 t1_j51t4mk wrote

Yep. There's no helping some people, doesn't matter where you bring them. If they want a deli sandwich or a grocery store then they're perfectly welcome to that.

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JesusOfBeer t1_j52fhry wrote

Suraya is overhyped tbh. But perfectly acceptable for a business lunch. Maybe Yanaga’s spot or Hook & Master

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Little_Noodles t1_j52iba0 wrote

Both are good, but neither is open at lunch during the weekday.

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JesusOfBeer t1_j52urfb wrote

Me, personally, I’m down for some Sulimay’s for a business lunch. If they can’t respect the Sulimay then dump em’ off a South Philly bridge

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teddyKGB- t1_j52qu6y wrote

Yanaga's is top 3 sushi in the whole city for me.

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Cplcoffeebean t1_j51ektn wrote

Cedar point isn’t anything to write home about but it’s reasonably priced and their sandwiches are usually very good. In my experience, Front Street is not reasonably priced and their food is usually meh and under-seasoned or lacking flavor. Also yeah you’re right their cocktails stink.

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Little_Noodles t1_j51fhrf wrote

Fair. I like Front St because they do a good job of accommodating my house’s dietary restrictions, and the worst food we ever had there was still pretty ok. I just don’t order cocktails there.

I like Cedar Point for the reasons you mentioned, but when they do fail on me, they’ve failed big. I wouldn’t risk it if I was trying to impress someone.

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Cplcoffeebean t1_j51fv0x wrote

Oh yeah absolutely. Their commitment to dietary variety is great. I’ve got a bunch of lactose intolerant or vegan and gluten free folk in my life so I’ve been there a bunch. The last few times I’ve been there I’ve avoided anything other than appetizers, just been disappointed so many times.

Cedar Point hasn’t failed me but I did miss in the original post the bit about impressing someone. Cedar Point is a great place for a happy hour beer or two and a burger on a rainy weekday.

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ReturnedFromExile t1_j520g56 wrote

great question

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Little_Noodles t1_j522xs7 wrote

I’ve got family in both camps. When they’re together, I give up and go where I want because there’s no impressing both groups in my neighborhood during the weekday lunch hour, especially one that can also accommodate my household’s dietary restrictions. The closest we get to that is Martha, which is open for lunch on Friday and everyone is, at minimum, ok with.

But when they come separately, I pick very different spots. There’s a few places they all seem to genuinely like, but none are open for lunch during the weekday.

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kflan138 t1_j53jc18 wrote

Front Street Cafe AND Cedar Point both are generally underwhelming, IMHO. I’d honestly have opted for Soup Kitchen any day over them, even with how brutal the service was there. (RIP Soup Kitchen)

Middle Child is your answer if you’re in this area and need a solid place. Sucks that virtually nobody bothers opening for lunch, definitely a tough job finding a perfect restaurant before 4pm.

Keep in mind, if he’s from Collingswood, they do have a couple SOLID restaurants-Hearthside, Sagami, and Zeppoli to name a few, plus a ton of others that are pretty decent.

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memphisbelle t1_j564ehc wrote

Front Street is really not very good IMO. It felt like the food was from a 'gastropub' from the mid 2000's when it didn't matter how good it was, because the idea of it mattered more.

Cedar Point is fine, but I don't find it particularly good/interesting.

I generally default to Lloyd for that level of food, plus good cocktails.

Middle Child CLubhouse is where it's at, that place is the shit.

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Cplcoffeebean t1_j568lny wrote

I’m a big fan of Lloyds. They have some fantastic cocktails and food at a reasonable price.

Front Street’s food doesn’t need to be great to get asses in seats. The location, inclusion of dietary alternatives, and the interior and exterior seating areas will do that by itself. I get why the food isn’t as good as it should be, but man is it way overpriced for what it is.

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