Another time, we started with a perfectly grilled calamari salad, and the brilliant combination of escargot in puff pastry. Then I had a Crispy Half Duck and Matt had Charcoal Beef, served with sticky rice and cabbage slaw. We have never had room for dessert, but next time I must try the fried banana with ice cream. The food seems genuinely Thai and the service is exceptionally friendly (it is called Smile Cafe after all), and the prices are very reasonable. If you are planning ahead reservations are not a bad idea due to Smile’s limited seating; we tried to walk in during the dinner rush once and had to turn around and go to Erawan (luckily just a block away on 23rd, also serving killer Thai food and BYOB).

One of my favorite things on the menu is the tomato bisque($5.00). I love her bisque, it’s creamy, complex and a little spicy. Tomato Bisque is not listed on the menu but it is almost always the soup du jour. Occasionally, it is to hot for soup and when this happens my old standby is the Alesia sandwich. Served on french bread it is a glorious combination of goat cheese, tomatoes, olives, pine nuts and fresh basil. ($8.00). Last but not least, if you happen to find yourself eating a Croque-Monsieur you are the winner!


The typical french sandwich is prepared slightly differently here. Ham and Cheese on white bread bathed in bechamel (wikipedia) and topped with gruyere cheese and baked in a crock. No doubt this is the best croque-monsieur you will find in philly. (Only $7.50) So good! I swear.

So, go for the Crouque-Monsieur and share some soup, and wash it down with Orangina.

no alcohol served
totally casual
outside seating available

I’d heard about it from a couple of people a while back but didn’t know exactly where it was. When i was recently reminded of it and realized it was just two short blocks away i decided to stop in with Karen for some breakfast. As you can see in the photo Shank’s has a sweet old RC Cola sign outside and not much more.

When you walk in you see a few tables along the right side and a bar in the middle. The ladies that will be serving, running, bussing, hostessing, cashiering and cooking are behind the bar on the left side. We sat down at a busy bar and watched the bustle for a bit. A few minutes later we realized that nobody would be handing us menus and noticed that some big menus were on the wall behind us.

There’s not a lot to be excited with at first glance. Some soups and sandwiches. Eggs, sausage and bacon. So we turned back around and waited for somebody to say hi. Eventually the youngest of the four ladies running around the restaurant asked as what we wanted. When i asked for some water and OJ she turned away and started talking to another of the ladies about her frozen pipes in her house. That threw us for a loop for a while. We tried again a few minutes later when another of the women came and asked us what we wanted. Again i tried in to order some water and OJ. “No no no no no just tell me what you WANT,” she says. My brain wrapped around itself for a sec and reversed its course when she pointed out the drink cooler by the door. So what you want to DRINK you gotta get yer DAMN self and what you WANT (to eat) you have to tell the waitress in about 3 seconds. ANY mistakes in this (seemingly) simple process and you’ll be waiting for quite a while until the ladies decide to give you another chance.

When we got all this figured out and ordered our food we decided that all of this was pretty great and a little bit hilarious. Combined with the fancy hair and makeup and fancy fingernails of the ladies keeping this steamship of a restaurant running their attitudes are perfect. It’s “Figure it out or get out!” It’s south philly at its best. So we sat back and enjoyed the show. The people all around us all obviously knew what they were doing. The ladies were chatting with everybody. Everybody was happy.

Our food came out and we started to chow. I had an egg sandwich and a side of sausage. Karen took a recommendation and got a chicken cutlet sandwich with greens. She was definitely the winner cause the greens (sauteed spinach) were sublime.

While we ate and watched everything going on we noticed something strange on the back of the grill. At first it was some sausage. Some peppers were thrown on top of them. Then it was maybe some mushrooms or spinach or bacon. Or maybe all of those things. The point where i got a little incredulous was when the pile was about five inches high and the girth of a large omellete and the server/waitress/cook/cashier taking care of it cracked three eggs over the whole mess. What was this incredible concoction and how much did it cost and was someone really going to eat it!?

It’s the Giambotti (jam-BOT).

And next time i’m going with 3 other people and we’re going to try to eat one.

What we found:
A real south philly feel with simple but killer diner fare for cheap! It’s right around the corner from Sabrina’s and Butcher’s but has a completely different feel. Get the greens and try the Giambotti if you have a crowd!