Themed Restaurants
Salad creations, dazzling protein-meets-dairy-meets-vegetable concoctions, dessert spectacles: clearly one of the best parts of going to a restaurant is the ever-changing variety of dishes. However, there is a new type of food experience out there centered on one food alone. There are restaurants and food trucks all around Philly serving one type of food a variety of ways. How dare such restaurants limit food-picking freedoms? However, one should not judge too fast! These restaurants are stretching the limits of food combinations to provide an incredible variety of flavors.
Hot Diggity on South Street offers over ten varieties of hot dogs. The hot dogs range from Hawaiian themed (topped with guava mustard, grilled onions, pineapple salsa and spicy orange habanero aioli) to home-style Philly (fishcake wrapped dog with pepper hash and mustard.) Hot Diggity is sure to have a hot dog that reminds anyone of the tastes of home.
Closer to Center City West is Underdogs. The Underdog hot dog creations have regional American focuses alongside adventurous global cuisine. One can travel to Thailand without leaving Philly with Underdogs’ spicy peanut sauce and green papaya slaw dog.
The food phenomenon has not been limited to restaurants. The Mac Mart hot pink food truck is hard to miss and easy to get addicted to. Mac Mart is the definition of comfort food with various creative Man n Cheese dishes. The BBQ-in-Bowl Mac n Cheese with BBQ Chicken chunks, cornbread crumbles, potato chips and a drizzle of smokey BBQ sauce is as american as it gets. “I’d like a Mac Daddy size bowl of Margarita Mac” is something I could definitely get used to saying. Also, The Mac Mart does not limit their Mac n Cheese to the constraints of a bowl. It also comes in grilled cheese form, or atop a hot dog.
Alongside The Mac Mart is another truck. But, this one is devoted to tater-tots. The Tot Cart fulfills anyone’s wildest tater-tot dreams with the “In the ‘Buff’ Tots” smothered in wing sauce and homemade blue cheese. The “New Bay Tots” doused in crab seasoning and covered in drunken cheese are sure to satisfy as well.
There is a whole new food experience out there, full of outrageous combinations and hilariously named dishes. If there is someone out there not yet convinced that this food experience is expanding their food horizons rather than infringing on their food freedoms, they should try a Saigon Fusion dog from Hot Diggity, a Haute Dog Parm from Underdogs, Heart attack Mac from Mac Mart or G-Parm Tots from The Tot Truck and talk to me then.
— Ali Greenstein