Savoring South Philly

No matter what people are saying about the awful state of the real estate market, this is a great market for first time homebuyers and investors. There are lots of homes to choose from in most areas, interest rates are extremely low, sellers are motivated and buyers are in short supply. That all spells a great Buyer’s Market.

I showed houses to Evan and Katie today – first time homebuyers looking to purchase a 2-3 bedroom rowhome in Philadelphia, perhaps in South Philadelphia. Today we looked at one home in Fishtown (just northeast of the Northern Liberties along the I-95 corridor) and several other properties on both sides of Broad Street below Washington Avenue. On the west side of broad we looked at new construction and some rehabbed properties right around $200K. Many of them featured granite kitchens and finished basements and ranged from 960 square feet to 1700 square feet. The neighborhoods were south of Graduate Hospital and ran from Broad over to Point Breeze. On the east side of Broad we looked at similarly priced rehabbed rowhomes in the 1000-1200 square foot range as well below Bella Vista.

Philly Delis
At the end of the day Evan mentioned that we were really close to Cosmi’s, a South Philly delicatessen that I had never been to. I love deli food, and Philadelphia more than holds its own against the great lower Manhattan eateries that pile on the corned beef. I am partial to Koch’s Take Out Shop in University City (4309 Locust St), which I have been frequenting for more than 20 years. Now run by Ezra and Raffi, they still build the great sandwiches with mounds of fresh, thinly sliced lunch meat that would have made Frances Koch proud. In the Italian Market area (abutting Bella Vista), I am very fond of Chickie’s Italian Deli at 1014 Federal Street for “The Original Veggie Hoagie” which is piled high with baked eggplant, sautéed broccoli rabe, roasted peppers and sharp provolone on a seeded Sarcone’s roll. So at 4pm today, with a new deli to experience just a few blocks away, I ventured to 8th and Dickinson to check out Cosmi’s Deli.
It’s a very unassuming corner store – a neighborhood staple on many city blocks – which I have passed dozens of times over the years (mostly on my way to Termini Bros bakery a block further south on 8th Street). Inside the menu boasts it’s 2004 and 2008 “Best of Philly” Cheesesteak awards and offers an Italian Chicken Hoagie (Missanelli’s) that Evan speaks highly of – marinated, grilled chicken breast topped with prosciutto, sharp provolone and either roasted or long hot peppers. It was 4pm, and I was going home to make dinner (Indian Chicken and Potatoes with ginger, onion, garlic, cardamom, turmeric and cinnamon from Madhur Jaffrey’s “An Invitation to Indian Cooking”), so a hoagie was not on my agenda; if it were, I think the prosciutto with fresh mozzarella and roasted peppers on a seeded roll would have been my choice. Instead, I cruised the center aisle which featured packaged foods including DiBruno’s cheese spreads, sharp provolone bites and Zayda’s Kosher Hot Pickles, the latter of which I took home.