Cantina and Royal To The Rescue

Plans of visiting friends in Chester County for a home cooked meal on their farm this past Friday were abruptly derailed when one of the biggest killjoys known to man happened to my boyfriend on his way out of Philly – car wreck! He was rear-ended on I-95 during rush hour, causing him to be sandwiched between two SUV’s. Boy’s OK, but car’s crumpled.

After it was all cleaned up and taken care of, I picked him up at a body shop in Philly, and we’re kind of out of our homemade mushroom soup and stuffed squash dinner in Chester County.

What do you do when your brain’s frazzled and you’re hungry? You turn to an old standby and favorite. For us that would be Cantina los Caballitos, the mexi-bar in South Philly with great mixed drinks, many veggie and vegan choices, and a rockin’ jukebox.

This being the third post on M&C about Cantina (first and second), this joint deservingly wins the popularity contest around here. My first formal post mentions the vegan fajitas with grilled seitan and tofu (the best veggie fajitas ever), but doesn’t have any pics. I solved that with this last visit.

And here’s a shot of the tooth-pickingly good grilled corn on the cob with cilantro, lime, and queso fresco.

As an aside, the lovely bartenders at Cantina comped two of our drinks on this last visit for being honest when I pointed out that the drinks were missing from our bill. That lack of filter in my brain sometimes has its advantages.

Now, can I rant a little bit about the South Philly Pub Crawl last Saturday that was part of Philly Beer Week? Not anywhere in the promotion of this event does is say that tickets are limited and to purchase tickets in advance. We figured you could show up at any participating bar all night long, throw down $12, and get a pass. Not so! After marching down to South Philly Tap Room only an hour after the event started, they tell us tickets are sold out, and to try the next bar! At the P.O.P.E? Nope. We gave up. Who knew tickets were limited? We didn’t, and apparently a lot of other people we passed on the street didn’t either.

So, a little peeved about the South Philly Pub Crawl event promotion, we head to our other standby – Royal Tavern. Royal has been written up here once before, so I guess they’re only second behind Cantina in the popularity contest, but considering that they both have the same owners, is there really a winner?

Food pics also don’t appear in my formal write up of Royal, because it’s the darkest place I’ve ever taken food photos, and they hopelessly look like shit. There ain’t no fixin’ these photos, but here they are…

The tempeh club is the bf’s favorite, even though the towering sandwich stack rips the top of his mouth every time.

My favorite is the vegan sloppy joe, but this evening I bravely tried the vegetarian crab cake sandwich special (it’s so hard not to order your tried and true!). I’m afraid of fishy smells and tastes, but the crab cake was only subtly fishy, and quite good. If only the size of the patty didn’t leave me asking, “Where’s the beef?”

So, thanks, Cantina and Royal, for being there when our plans fell through, and lending a little comfort.

Cantina Los Caballitos
1651 E Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-755-3550
Mon-Fri, 12p.m.-1a.m. ;Sat-Sun, 11a.m.-1a.m.
bar open until 2a.m.

Royal Tavern
937 E. Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-389-6694
Mon-Fri, 11:30am-2am; Sat-Sun, 10am-2am; kitchen open ‘til 1am