Hershel's East Side Deli

Reading Terminal is fun, but Hershels is a NECESSITY, especially if you are Deli lover like me. Better than Katz in New York ! All food is fantastic but the Pastrami is the best!!!

Yes, Philadelphia's most famous food is the cheese and beef sandwich. Well, it's a matter of personal taste. For example, I love cheese, so it's a treat for me. But for someone like my friend who gets sick of cheese after just one bite, it's a nightmare. We originally had two well-established sandwich shops across the street saved in our favorites, but they were a bit far from downtown, so we skipped them. We chose this highly-rated, trendy shop in Reading Market instead. I thought it was delicious—a calorie bomb, but very satisfying. My friend couldn't eat anything else all day after eating it! Hahaha. By the way, I also need to thank the Chinese-speaking waiter at the beginning. Without him, we wouldn't have been able to get our sandwiches so easily. It was truly a heartwarming experience to meet someone like family in a foreign land. However, when ordering, we were overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices on the menu. Even though we had done our research, it wasn't what we expected. Then the Chinese-speaking waiter took our order. We simply told him we wanted the best-rated sandwich. Haha, made to order! I guess it was the "PASTRAMI REUBEN" for us, $19.25. It was such a steal! Super, super generous amount of beef, incredibly thick, with a little pickle and shredded cabbage, and then melted cheese sauce. Oh my god, I rarely feel guilty while eating, but this was one of them. It was so oily, dripping as I ate! It was all that mixture of butter and melted cheese! I feel like I'll gain 10 pounds after eating this. We each had half. I was so satisfied and felt like I could eat another half, but my friend couldn't. He seemed to finish it by sheer willpower, no waste, hahaha. Although I really wanted to try the other two beef sandwich places I've saved for future reference, my friend couldn't, so we'll just have a taste. Store Name: Hershel's East Side Deli Address: 51 N 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19176 (City Center East)