Ed’s Buffalo Wings & Pizza (Philadelphia)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Clean location in University City with large screen TVs to watch sports.

Negative: Below average quality and taste.

Overall: Good place to visit for halal food if you are a college student in the area.  Otherwise look elsewhere. 

Revisit:  Nope

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are you a student looking for a quick bite while in university city?

Ed’s is located by University City and is in a great location for students at Drexel and Penn who are looking for a quick halal bite. I have been to this restaurant two times and since my visit earlier in 2011, they have renovated. The restaurant is very clean and has two wide screen tv’s, making it an ideal location to watch sports with friends.

But besides this, the food lacks quality and taste. We ordered curly fries, boneless chicken fingers, philly cheesesteak, and buffalo chicken cheesesteak. Out of these, only the curly fries were good. I do not recommend the other items. The chicken fingers were dry and hard with way too much buffalo sauce. The meat for the philly cheesesteak had a very strong meat taste and no flavor; there was more cheese on one half of the sandwich too. It just was not made well. As for the buffalo chicken cheesesteak, the chicken was dry and tasted too much like buffalo sauce. It didn’t have much cheese in it either. So all in all, I would not go back again and the only reason I went a 2nd time was because I had forgotten how bad their food was. Oh and make sure to ask them for the halal menu because not all their items are halal.
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Ed’s Buffalo Wings & Pizza Website

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Saad’s Halal Restaurant (Philadelphia)

REVIEW FROM 11/26/2010: 

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price, & Staff

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Positive: High quality, flavor-full meals served the “maroosh way”.

Negative: The surrounding area may seem somewhat run down if you are not from Philly.  The owner is very busy and therefore may seem to be a bit unfriendly on some days.

Overall: Excellent, Flavorful Middle Eastern and American dishes for which you would want to come back every time  you visit Philly or go to school in the surrounding area.

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There is a reason why saad’s is highly rated!

After researching restaurants on Yelp I was surprised to find that Saad’s was one of the top restaurants in Philly, it being Halal and all.  First time I made it out there it was closed (since it was Sunday).  Second time I made it out there it was closed because it was Ramadhan.  The third time I made sure I verified the day, time, month and the restaurant’s timings before going.   Finally, third time was a charm and I got a chance to experience Saad’s food first hand.  The wait was definitely worth it!

Every time I have been to Saad’s it is fairly busy.   Sometimes you have to wait a good amount of time to find seating, and other times you just get lucky.  The owner, Saad, is very busy managing everything and does not pay attention to your questions or concerns.  I don’t blame him though, he’s a busy guy.

My family had the Chicken Falafel and various platters and sandwiches “the Maroosh way” (ie. with a soft roll rather than pita) when going to Saads.  The Chicken Falafel and Chicken Maroosh are unique and definitely worth having. I haven’t tried their american dishes but I have a feeling they will be equally excellent.  The food is very tasty and mouth-watering. It makes you happy that food like this is available for you to enjoy.

The surrounding area is somewhat run down if you turn into an adjacent street.  But that shouldn’t shy you away from visiting Saad’s.  The street on which Saad’s is located is well lit, close to University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, and usually has some sort of traffic.  Across from Saad’s is a Masjid as well.

I have gone to Saad’s a few times and plan on going every time I visit Philly (as long as the time is right, sun is aligned in the right direction, and Saad’s is actually open!).  Joking aside, its a great place and I don’t have to say anything for you to believe it.  Check out reviews on Yelp and eat for yourself.

UPDATED 8/20/2011:  (from sameerseats.com)

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Saad’s Halal Restaurant Website

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