Maxx’s is a venerable (I think) produce shop just a block west of Rittenhouse on 20th. I only lived over there for a summer but every time I walked in the door I felt like a whole bunch of (richer than me) neighbors were hanging out in there getting their veggie on. But it was an unwitting discovery by Karen (who forgot to look at the price label) that made this place a regular destination for us and led to the creation of this weblog.
Maxx’s squeezes their own OJ fresh every morning. This might not seem like a big deal - and 6$ for a quart might seem like a lot - but this is the only place in the city I’ve found to get fresh squeezed OJ. It is local (and was close) and we rationalized the price by guesstimating that the cost of the individual oranges that it takes to make a quart of OJ is a bit under 6$.
I know we’ve all had freshly-squeezed OJ before but there’s something about walking into a great local produce shop that you love and grabbing the last quart of amazingly delicious fresh OJ that makes the day start off right. Maxx’s has a lot of other great stuff besides, like ethnic and organic and local stuff.
Sue’s Produce is just a few blocks away on 18th street. It’s smaller and more of a straight produce shop than Maxx’s, but to find it among all those shops on that block of 18th street is almost enough by itself! What makes it better is that I think the produce is all local. The topper is that the middle eastern restaurant next door, Byblos, makes fresh hummous for Sue’s every morning. If they run out early sometimes they’ll even make a fresh batch in the afternoon!
This stuff is not just the best I’ve had in the city, it’s the best hummous I’ve ever had. It’s unbelievably creamy and smooth with perfectly balanced flavors and the ultimate freshness. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
What we found:
Best OJ in the city: 6$/quart at Maxx’s Produce
Best hummous in the city: $3.25 at Sue’s Produce
7 responses so far ↓
1 Sis // Feb 25, 2007 at 12:02 am
How much would a good juicer cost, and how long would it take before you broke even on the cost of the juicer plus oranges, versus buying the juice at Maxx’s? Just curious. I can’t help it…I did my taxes today and got bitten in the a$$, so now I’m switching into penny-pinching mode.
2 mattohara // Feb 25, 2007 at 5:05 am
i’m in the same place steph! i just found out that i owe a load of cash.
karen says “i have a juicer and use it once a day. the nutritional value of drinking fresh juice is far better that drinking store-bought. you don’t have to spend a lot on a juicer. a good one can be had for between 75 and 100 dollars. they are a pain to clean, but you can make enough for a couple of days at one time. most parts are also dishwasher-safe. if you need any recipes or recommendations on brands i can give them to you.”
i want to note that there is a fine line when it comes to buying organic produce. there is a book out about the subject and i can’t remember the name or author, but she made a point about how organic bananas are no better for you than the regular grocery store bananas. so you can save some money going to your average grocery store as opposed to buying the expensive versions. my guess is that this is due to the thick skin sometimes the pesticides don’t affect the quality of the food at all.
3 albert // Mar 20, 2007 at 2:02 pm
oh man do i love sue’s. been going there for almost 3 years now. most of their stuff is local - they buy directly from the farmers eliminating the middle man and building trust in the end product. just about everything is bought in fairly small batches and brought in fresh.
my favorite thing they sell are honey crisp apples which are all local. available mid fall through early winter if i recall correctly.
4 jas. // Apr 4, 2007 at 10:06 pm
matt, sue’s has been around for about 30 years now. maxx’s opened just a few years ago. it’s a nice place, but sue’s has other little things that make it rule: microgreens from blue moon acres, really good vanilla beans, green raw olives in season, raw peanuts, rambutans, scuppernongs… all kindsa stuff. it’s not all local, and it’s not all organic, but the place is awesome.
rick nichols wrote a nice column about them last year, if you google sue’s produce on philly.com you can get a cache of it.
5 mattohara // Apr 4, 2007 at 11:15 pm
mrbigjas?
6 jas. // Apr 5, 2007 at 9:35 am
one and the same. and i love me some sue’s. i started a thread on the eg pennsylvania forum about it like three years ago.
7 mattohara // Apr 5, 2007 at 11:58 am
thanks jas! i will look for the post. and some rambutans and scuppernongs as well!
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