Best of your best - Your Top 25


Hello.

Something light for a change...

As we all know, each region does certain things best. Whether it be chicken wings in Buffalo or bratwurst in Milwaukee or cool cars and hot girls in Southern California.

What does your area do the BEST??? This could have been a Top 10 list, but a lot us would have more, so why not go all the way to 25?

In Philadelphia, we are tops for:
1) Hoagies - you call them submarines or heroes

2) Cheesesteaks - but you already knew that

3) Pizza - thin crust, and traditional toppings

4) Soft pretzels - no doubt, and one of my weaknesses

5) Italian water ice - fruit flavored ice, NOTHING can cool you down faster on a hot day. You'll still be cool even an hour or two later on a humid 95 degree East Coast day

6) Macaroni and gravy - you call them spaghetti and meatballs

7) Fishcakes - as opposed to crabcakes which belong to "Balteeeeemore"

8) Pierogies - heaven from Poland/Ukraine

9) People with "addytood" - as if I haven't shown it here

10) Jersey girls - BIG hair!

11) Rowdy sportsfans - the Broad Street Bullies are still our favorite team

12) The South Jersey Shore - we say "down the shore"

13) Ben Franklin - would have been a MAJOR audiophile

14) Rocky - YO Adrian!!!

15) Frankie Avalon - well, before he got to those California beaches

16) Bobby Rydel - the one who stayed

18) Warren Zevon - your adopted city REALLY misses you

19) John Coltrane - as above

20) Gamble and Huff - The Philly Sound

21) The Fresh Prince - now he's Will Smith

22) Pat Croce - a real Philly guy - see addytood again

23) Grace Kelly - Princess Grace to us

24) Yo - yes, you guys took that word - a greeting, a question, an exclamation

25) Yous - fills the English language's need for the plural form of you. No, you guys didn't steal that one, because you hate it so

When you come to Philly, make sure you try everything on the list. And, when I visit your town, I am going to try my best on your list. Thank you!
trelja

Showing 3 responses by trelja

Metralla, I hope someone corrects me if I am wrong, but cream cheese may come from Philly. We don't take it too seriously, as New Yawkas embrace it more for their bagels. Perfect weather is nothing to sneeze at. My only question is, does it get boring after a while? We get it so rarely that when it does come we go absolutely batty from not knowing how to handle it.

I should have said "yous guys" like we always do when speaking, but I write better than I speak(so you can tell how badly I speak).

I forgot about ice cream. Philadelphia ice cream is a different process, and people still think it is the best way to make it. Unfortunately, neither Breyer's nor Bassett's are made here any longer.

Gunbei, you got me. Yes, the Executioner is in my opinion, the best boxer of the past 5 years. He wants to prove it too. Says emphatically he will go up and down in weight to straight up knock out all the boxers people talk about more than him - Oscar, Roy Jones, etc. Tip of the hat to Joey Giardello and Joe Frazier(even though he's really from South Carolina) and a long line of Philly left hookers.

Great list Nrchy, I really want to try the brats and cheese of Wisconsin. Diverse ethnicity is just as you said, great restaurants, I know just what you mean as we are also lucky enough to have that here.

Chuck, I love your list, Number 2 excepted. They say you haven't really eaten a peach until you've been to Georgia. While our Jersey peaches are heaven, I have to believe that those from Georgia are on another level.

Which just made me remember - Jersey tomatoes and corn, and to a lesser degree, blueberries and cranberries. That's why they call it the Garden State.

Oh, and on our (Pennsylvania) side, we have the Mushroom Capital of the world in Kennet Square, PA. I guess you could then say we are all full of %$@& around here, as many have said of me here.
Ah Shubert, we need to catch up at some point...

The Main Point! My neighbors George and Charlotte Britton were the owners, in addition to founding the Philadelphia Folk Festival. I guess the Folk Festival also deserves to be on the list.

Rizzo is gone, but not forgotten, a true 20th century icon.

Tubegroover, the new ballpark should really please you from what I hear. It looks like we're going to need a new list soon that lays out the vernacular of one's region since you brought up Saufilly. The next time you are in town to hook up with Bill LeGall, let me know - I can meet you there.

Now that I think of it, Bill deserves to be on our list as well, best speaker guy in the country, if not the world - just ask the likes of Jeff Joseph, Carl Marchisotto, Dan D'Agostino, etc.
I think you are right about the chamber music Shubertmaniac, but I should check it out. I guess I need to wade in to that realm of music.

As they say, that was a pitiful Santa, and he was also mercilessly told so by the boobirds.

Hopefully, the loss of Rico for the playoffs will not hurt us. You may know that he has a habit of playing badly this time of year, so maybe we'll make it through fine. I guess we could always activate the Chief or Jonesy(laughs) if we need to...

Yes, the girls from the Great Northeast also have the big hair - AquaNet thanks them, the ozone layer does not.

I was thinking of listing Schooly D, but you probably are not such a fan. He is the creator of Gangsta Rap, with his song "PSK, what does it mean?", about the Parkside Killers(PSK) - those who live in his neighborhood(52nd - 54th and Parkside). NWA, GangStarr, WuTang Clan, Eminem, Beanie Sigel, JayZ, etc. all should tip their hats to Schooly.

Are you still local? If so, Joe(Slipknot1) and I will be getting together again in about two weeks, perhaps you'd like to join us? And, as he outlined, Buffalo is just the kind of city this list was created for.