The Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar

5 star rating

February 16, 2007

Michael D. 1 review Send Message | Add to Friends

best vegetarian down-home food, ever

Hands down, this is the best vegetarian food I have ever had for under $10.00. The owner, Alphoncie Austin, does SOMETHING to this food to make it outstanding; I have eaten almost everything on the menu and all of it is standout. My personal favorite is the soy chicken hoagie (sub to all you non-Philadelphians) on a whole wheat roll with lettuce. tomato, soy bacon and soy mayo. Making a good fake chicken sald is the litmus test for any self respecting veggy chef, and Alphoncie leaves them all inthe dust. My wife favors the carrot tuna with soycheese and lettuce on a pita. No one knows how carrots can end up tasting like seafood salad, and to be honest, I'd rather not destroy the magic by finding out.

The stand offeres everything from breakfast (scrambled tofu with soy sausage and toast and hash browns ) to dessert (her sweet potato pie is woprth driving throught four states to get) and takeout dinners. Also, every Thanksgiving and Christmas offers Alphoncie a chance to spare turkey's lives by making vegan croquettes, muchroom gravy, mashed sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, all made by hand and just in time for the holidays.

Try Basic 4, it's the absolute bee's knees in terms of freshness, price, service and most of all, the food is outstanding.

Michael D.'s keywords: vegetarian, Philadelphia, soy, Reading Terminal

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