Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Johnny Brenda's

1201 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19125-3905
(215) 739-9684
Website

I used to LOVE JB's. The beer is great, food was solid and reasonably priced, and it's pretty laid back inside. However, the last couple of times I have eaten there, it has been just...meh. But brunch on Sunday really sealed the deal for me to cut them off. It started with a flat soda. No big deal, but the next drink (which was iced tea), in my opinion, should have been comped. I SERIOUSLY don't care about $2, but it's the principle of the matter. Anyway, one of my favorite Cuban's around was from the kitchen up there. Big, crunchy pickle slices, tasty pork, salty ham, and mustard all served on a grilled panini. Seriously good. NOT THIS TIME. As I was eating it, I crunched down on some sort of cartilage or who knows what. Gross, but forgivable. I opened the sandwich to see where it came from, and right there, under my bread was another two-inch by two-inch piece of inedible something or other. I mean, it was huge. Nearly one half of the meat's substance was this nauseating thing. This was not going to cut it. I was so sickened by this I almost gagged (and this is coming from someone who will eat about anything).



The waitress saw it and said "eww that's gross". Especially because I had already spit the first inedible piece out and pulled the offensive material out of the sandwich. After that, I wanted no part of that sandwich and promptly sent it back. My dining partner had ordered a cheeseburger (also usually a ringer), which we then split, but it was over cooked, and we were both still reeling from the previous offense. The fries were good, as usual, if not less than warm when served. The malt vinegar aioli (you have to ask for it), was the highlight to an otherwise horrendous outing. I was totally put off by the egregiousness of the whole event, and although I was comped a sandwich that I was unable to eat, it would have been nice to just go ahead and take care of the burger and the flat soda as well. Sigh.




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