Manayunk Brew Pub, Pat’s & Geno’s and Johnny Manana’s…Oh My!

Hello blogworld! Like I mentioned yesterday, my friend Michelle came up from Virginia to visit me the past two days. I took some time off work and spent some time showing Michelle my city of Brotherly Love! We had a whirlwind two days of fun spending some quality time together, I am so happy she got to come up!

Here is my little recap from our past two days eating our way through Philly!

Like I do whenever I have visitors, I spent the majority of last weekend cleaning the apartment. It has to be spick and span when we have company! I also picked up a little somethin’ somethin’ to spruce up the place at Whole Foods.

Virginia grown tulips in honor of my guest (and my homeland!)

They are so pretty. I most definitely need to start buying fresh flowers for the apartment on a more regular basis!

 

After Mich safely arrived I gave her the compete tour of our apartment. I can’t believe I have lived here close to a year and she hasn’t been up to visit yet! She still hadn’t seen my ring since we got engaged, so we had to fix that right away!

After the tour we decided to sit back and relax and catch up for a bit before heading out for dinner. I made us some blackberry wines to sip on. Mich has a serious love for blackberries, so I picked some up at Whole Foods the other day and decided to just toss some in our wines for a little fruity flavor.

Red for me, white for Mich.

Have you ever put fruit in your wine? It’s quite delightful. We enjoyed our drinks while listening to our favorite music in the background. It was happy hour perfection.

After our drinks (and maybe a little dancing!), fiancé got home and we headed out for a nice little dinner.

We hit up one of my favorite spots, the Manayunk Brew Pub. Initially I wanted to go here and sit outside on the back deck, like I have done in the past, but it was pouring down rain on Tuesday night, so that wasn’t happening. We had a fun meal inside!

We had some drinks, a little sushi and some pizza action. The sushi here is always really good, and Mich wanted to try some pizza so we added that to our order.

We devoured everything in record time. The Brew Pub never disappoints!

It was a great dinner!

Friends since high school reunited once again!

On Wednesday morning, I woke up bright and early to do a dissection in anatomy class. After that, Mich said she wanted to try a real Philadelphia cheese steak. Obviously I knew right where I wanted to take her.

At the intersection of 9th and Passyunk in Philadelphia, you get your choice of Pat’s or Geno’s Cheese Steaks. These babies are a tradition in the city, and when you come visit, you have to try one for yourself.

Mich picked out her cheese steak at  Pat’s. She was very excited to order. She told me she had watched lots of shows on the Food Network about Philly Steaks.

 

I told her she had to order a “Wiz Wit” – it’s the only way to eat a real Philly steak!

All smiles for her first authentic cheese steak

Have you ever had the real thing?

 

I had a bite or two of her steak, but I wanted to head over to Geno’s.

I am a fan of the bread that Geno’s uses, so I always lean towards getting my steaks there.

I also was apparently dreaming when I thought either of these places served chicken. I wanted a chicken cheese steak, but that didn’t happen so I settled for a birch beer and fries.  

Since Mich had a steak from Pats and I had fries and a drink from Geno’s we were forced to eat in the middle of the two locations, some would possibly call it no man’s land. It was a beautiful day so we didn’t mind hanging out and chowing down.

I’m glad Mich got to experience a real steak!

 

After lunch we headed out to do what we do best: SHOP! Mich and I hit up the Philadelphia Premium Outlets, King of Prussia Mall and some other stores along the way. I got some killer shoes for my engagement party which I am super excited about!

While shopping we worked up an appetite, so when we got back to my place, we headed over to Johnny Manana’s for a Mexican meal! I love this place because it’s so close to my apartment and there is always something fun going on. Last night there was a DJ and the place was packed! It was lots of fun.

I ordered the Johnny Manana’s salad – which doesn’t come with any lettuce. Its chock full of yummy veggies.

I also love how its served in a bowl form.

 

Mich got some tacos. They were pretty good too!

 

I can’t believe our whirlwind visit is over already! We did a bunch of fun things and I am pumped Mich got to come up and see some of Philly! I hope she comes back to visit soon!