The best spots for takeout on The Inquirer's The 76

This Palestinian restaurant in Northeast Philly is known for two things: crisp-yet-fluffy falafel and mashawi mixed grill platters, which come with chicken and beef kebabs, kofta, scratch-made hummus, and pliable laffa bread for DIY sandwiches. Both translate to takeout very nicely. All of Al-Baik’s platters are packed in sectioned containers so there’s no mess in transit, too. You can place pickup orders via Al-Baik’s own online platform, which means no pesky delivery service upcharges.

Amaryllis Rivera-Nassar’s hot pink Fishtown storefront packs a lot of Puerto Rican culture into a few hundred square feet. There are sazón and adobo spice kits for sale, a shelf of cookbooks, and a kitchen that churns out 2,000 pastelillos each week. Rivera-Nassar’s versions of the crispy Puerto Rican turnovers are always stuffed with savory fillings like tangy guava barbecue pork or classic yuca with pigeon peas. Available only for takeout, the pastelillos are never overly greasy or heavy, leaving room to try the menu’s underrated hits: golden brown tostones and Rivera-Nassar’s rotating soup specials. Amy’s Pastelillos is available to order on GrubHub and Uber Eats, but we recommend walking up to order for the peak pastelillo experience.

At this Bella Vista institution, the menu is short and sweet — just five bánh mi iterations, all served on Sarcone’s rolls slicked with a top-secret homemade mayo. Yes, there’s the classic bánh mi ga stuffed with tender roast chicken, pickled carrots, daikon, jalapeño, cilantro, and thick shreds of cucumber. But there’s also the chả lụa — which swaps chicken for Vietnam’s slightly sweet** **version of pork roll — and the deluxe: a combo of pork roll, slow-cooked pork cheek, and ham with all the fixings. Each, Kiki Aranita wrote, "is one of the best ways I know to spend $10.” Owned by the Lam family since 1989, this cozy counterservice spot feels frozen in time, save for the GrubHub couriers who stream in and out. Our suggestion: Take your bánh mi around the corner to one of the benches in Palumbo Park for a pleasant solo lunch date.

Cara Jo Castellino and Matthew Barrow’s Fishtown deli is not the place to go if you want a quick Italian hoagie. They’re “high practitioners of mindful hoagie art,” Inquirer critic Craig LaBan wrote, so you may need to wait a spell. Finesse, after all, takes time. Every cold cut is sliced to order and carefully layered on a Liscio’s roll. Even olive oil drizzles must be done in perfect vertical lines to avoid a soggy hinge. The shop’s bestsellers include the Fig Pig (sweet fig jam and mascarpone with prosciutto and roasted red peppers) and the Adronos (hot capricola and soppressata with Asiago and spicy cherry peppers), but it’s hard to go wrong on the 14-sandwich menu. You can order online for pickup or local delivery, or swing by to browse its selection of artisan sweets, beverages, and pantry items while you wait.

You do not need to cross a bridge to try legit Trenton-style pizza. You just need to go to South Philly’s Cartesian Brewery on a Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday. That’s when CJ Volk’s and Dara Silvestro’s pizzeria turns out these thin-crusted pies with cheese on the bottom and sauce on top. The menu is tight, but it’s easy to add intrigue with CJ&D’s handful of extra toppings: pepperoni, sausage, ricotta, hot honey, and (most intriguingly) mustard. Plan to be patient. There’s no option to call ahead, so you must order at the counter, and wait times can creep toward an hour on busy nights. Luckily, you can kick back with a beer — and a giant salted chocolate chip cookie — to pass the time.

The James Beard Foundation dubbed Corrine’s Place an American classic for good reason: This Camden, N.J. institution has been serving hefty soul food platters since 1989, when owner Corinne Bradley-Powers opened the joint after working as a youth counselor. The restaurant’s charming dining room notwithstanding, Corinne’s is primarily a takeout joint, with a hot table displaying fresh sides of baked mac’n’n’cheese, collard greens, candied yams, and corn bread, etc. The must-haves: Bradley-Power’s ultra-thin catfish cutlets, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and textbook fried chicken. Corinne’s works with all the major delivery apps, but these platters are best enjoyed hot, so we recommend ordering in person.

Ethiopian fried chicken is a West Philly special dreamed up by sisters Mebruka Kane and Hayat Ali, who opened Doro Bet in 2022 as a follow-up to their ** **Baltimore Avenue coffee shop, Alif Brew. Doro Bet’s berbere- and turmeric-spiced chicken wings, which rank among the best in Philly, are its calling card, earning it a spot on the New York Times’ guide to eating in Philly. Marinated in buttermilk and coated with teff flour, the chicken is surprisingly light and very snackable — and gluten-free and halal, to boot. There’s something particularly satisfying about picnicking in Clark Park with this chicken. Save room for their tiramisu, too.

With outdoor seating only, the Fishtown branch of Carlos Aparacio’s Michelin-recognized Mexican BYOB (at 1431 Frankford Ave.) is especially prime for takeout. His Puebla-style cemitas make for an exciting lunch or dinner: Baked on fresh sesame-speckled rolls, these cemitas come piled with house-made chorizo, chicken Milanese, or pork marinated in bright sugarcane vinegar along with additions such as citrusy pápalo aioli, sweet guajillo peppers, and tangy Oaxacan cheese. The original South Philly location also offers its full menu — from albondigas and crab tostadas to tacos and cemitas — for takeout. 

Behind this unassuming storefront in Olney is a treasure trove of Haitian favorites: frittay street food platters, zel poul (aka fried chicken wings) glazed with mango-infused Rhum Barbancourt, and whole fried snapper with a pepper red sauce, plus fried plantain cups stuffed with spicy pikliz slaw and stewed oxtail or conch. The brainchild of Yves Atoulon and husband-wife duo Imma and Emmanuel Laguerre, Gou is both comforting and nostalgic, with a reputation for to-go portions that are just as (if not more) generous than what you get in the restaurant. Order from Gou directly for pickup, or find them on the major delivery apps. Fair warning: Favorites like rasta pasta or griot sell out often.

The debate over the best cheesesteak in Philly will wage on forever, but Craig LaBan’s go-to has remained the same for years: John’s Roast Pork, the Snyder Avenue stand that has turned out some of Philly’s best sandwiches for three generations. A blue-collar breakfast-and-lunch stop since 1930, John’s didn’t gain citywide renown until 2001, when a group of Lower Merion High students declared the cheesesteaks emerging from John Bucci Jr.’s griddle to be the area’s finest as part of their senior project — with LaBan as their mentor. You would be missing out if you only got a cheesesteak, though. John’s full menu — the titular roast pork along with roast beef, meatballs with red gravy, fried meatballs, and breakfast sandwiches — is well worth diving into. Just make sure you get there before they run out of bread. — Jenn Ladd

The pizza and cheesesteaks at these sister shops on Lancaster Avenue are some of the best in the Philly area overall. Pizzaiolo John Bisceglie is a “rare double threat,” according to Craig LaBan: He can assemble a 20-inch cheesesteak with the right ribeye-to-Cooper Sharp ratio and man a pizza oven full of pies — thin and thick, rectangular and round — with equal finesse. Since Bisceglie trained in Brooklyn, his pies are more New York than classically Detroit-style or Sicilian, with a thinner crust that’s prone to develop delightful air bubbles. The grandma pie is stunning with its cup-and-char pepperoni, as is the white pie with fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and caramelized onion on a sesame seed crust. Johnny’s turns off online ordering when there’s a high volume of orders, so we recommend heading over in person to be safe.

Located in a nondescript South Jersey strip mall with a Wawa and a water ice shop, this Pakistani restaurant space is so over the top, you really should dine in, at least once. Ornate gold bride and groom's thrones preside over a dining room fit with upholstered benches, an autograph wall, and even a swing. But Anny Khan’s menu is a terrific fit for takeout as well: Comforting mutton karahi curry and beef shank nihari stew hold their heat well, as do riffs on Pakistani fast-food guilty pleasures such as the Zinger Burger, a spicy chicken sandwich popularized by KFC. You can order from Karachi Kafe on DoorDash or GrubHub, or walk in.

Since its 2011 opening, M Kee has been a mainstay among the Chinatown lunchtime crowd, known as much for its succulent Cantonese barbecue as the lines that snake along Race Street on weekday afternoons. Despite the onslaught of takeout orders, M Kee still manages to package its roast duck and roast pork dishes — served on rice platters or with pan-fried noodles and congee — with care. “No item is ever too oily,” writes Kiki Aranita. “The roast pork is blisteringly crisp, and the egg noodles are excellent — al dente, swimming in clear, delicate but deeply savory broth.” Their duck congee may also be the best she’s ever had, packed with the meatiest chunks and shreds of fresh ginger.

This James Beard Award-winning bakery in South Philly is heavy-hitter when it comes to all things bread: crusty sourdough loaves, breakfast biscuit sandwiches smothered in bacon jam, and an Italian hoagie that piles gabagool, prosciutto, and salami high on a soft-yet-sturdy sesame-studded ciabatta. This doesn’t even scratch the surface of the decadent sweets that come from owner Chris DiPazza’s kitchen, ranging from gigantic chocolate chip cookies to twice-baked croissants and strawberry-pistachio danishes. Pretty much everything is built for takeout, and that’s especially true at Mighty Bread’s Rittenhouse location, which is grab-and-go only.

Konstadinos “Gus” Christis’ metallic cart — which is stationed on the southeast corner of 20th and Market Streets most weekdays — serves one thing and one thing only: a $20 hodgepodge platter of blackened chicken (grilled on legit charcoal) and falafel with spaghetti, arugula, and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Weird, but it works. A Center City institution for 36 years, Octopus Cart is a’ one-man show, so you may end up waiting up to an hour. Don’t dare ask for modifications — or cutlery. Christis will provide neither. Not that his regulars mind. “His food is medicinal,” one regular told Craig LaBan in 2024. “I ate his food and it changed my life.”

There’s something special about unwrapping Puyero’s pabellón — a gigantic arepa stuffed with tender pork, a heap of black beans, sweet caramelized plantains, and queso blanco — while knowing you can immediately follow it up with a much-needed nap. This fast-casual spot with locations in University City and Society Hill specializes in Venezuelan street food: authentic arepas stuffed with meat, sweet corn cachapas filled drizzled with nata (a sweeter version of sour cream), and tequenos, which is basically a buttery version of a mozzarella stick. Puyero is available on all major delivery apps, but you can also place pickup and delivery orders directly on their website.

Let’s be real: Sometimes eating inside Reading Terminal Market can be overstimulating. That’s why we like using it as a takeout smorgasbord, picking up a little of all that you crave, to eat at home (or your desk). The Terminal has so much under one roof. You can get the best, say, roast pork sandwich, matzo ball soup, and cookies without spending a fortune. It’s very much a choose-your-own-adventure experience, but for the uninitiated, we recommend the khachapuri (a cheese boat!) from the Georgian stall Saami Somi, salmon curry from Little Thai Market, or a glorious and gluten-free corn dog from Fox & Sons Fair Foods.

This Indonesian food cart parked at 1600 Market St. in Center City is a lunchtime favorite that’s best known for its rendang hoagie, which packs the spicy beef stew into a long roll with daikon, cilantro, and pickled carrots. Much like Sego’s fried chicken, it’s perfect cold-weather comfort food. You can order ahead by calling 267-559-1656, which we recommend — the hits tend to sell out early.