Schmidt's Piazza

Only in Philly could there be a place called "Schmidt's Piazza."  This is one of those places that was conceived of as a shopping/living experiment, with three big apartment buildings, artist lofts, stores in the bottom floors and a large space in between for...piazza-ing. I know this is a trend across the nation, but the pairing of Schmidt's with Piazza makes me giggle for some reason. I kind of love it.


It's in Northern Liberties, which is the hipster part of town.

Anyway, back to the Piazza. It's called Schmidt's because of the former Schmidt's Brewery building that the owner um, demolished basically, in order to make this modern thing. I had heard that there were lots of little independent boutiques and cool restaurants there, so M and I tried to visit one Tuesday afternoon. Yeah, well, not surprisingly, with all the inhabitants at work, none of the stores were open and only 4 people were hanging out in the little seating area in the middle. We shrugged and decided to try a Mexican restaurant called Dos Segundos, which was open but completely empty. The food was good there, but I could have been swayed in my review by a really good cadillac margarita.


That was the last I saw of the Piazza until I heard they were having these weekend Farmers Market/Craft fairs there. I thought if I went to those, then the stores for sure would be open and I'd maybe see some cool crafts. Maybe put my postcards out there. Maybe get some business.


Maybe it's because it has been so hot, but at 11:30 on Saturday, when both fairs should be hustling and bustling, it was dead. There weren't even that many booths. The farmer's market goodies were nice looking, but way over priced. I could get better prices at Reading Terminal Market for fresh-from-the-farm goods. And the craft fair....wow. Effing depressing is what it was.


A lot of handmade jewelry that well, looked quite handmade. And crafts that are basically frames with a jewel glued onto them, or bibs with iron on transfers. One or two of the booths looked like legit craft booths, but the rest were quite ramshackle. There were a couple that looked very low-rent swap meet, with people selling old board games and random clothes, garage sale style. Not an antique or vintage piece to be had! This, as I said, could be because of the heat, but it could also be because in order to generate interest in participating, the people who put on the "Market at the Piazza" are not charging for booth space until after Labor Day. This means up to 200 booths (the place, as far as I saw, was populated by less than half that many) are free. 


So we (I went with my mother in law) decided to try the stores surrounding the Piazza, and did find a few open, but many more were closed, not fully open yet, or out of business. Sad! We threw up our hands and went to lunch. Instead of the diner, Darling's, which we knew was good, we opted to be adventurous and try a new Mexican place called El Camino Real.

At first, I had high hopes:

They had Coronas, which is a good sign. I went to a place in center city that didn't have any Mexican beers and yet was calling itself a Mexican restaurant. I don't drink beer, but it seems like something that should be there.


I immediately ordered a Mexican Coke and some chips and salsa.

Once I opened the menu, though, things went south. First of all, it was the brunch menu. Weird. It had burritos, enchiladas, salads, and other random things, but no tacos. NO TACOS. I looked over at Ruth, my mother-in-law, and said, "Why aren't there any tacos on the menu?" Not surprisingly, when the waitress came over, Ruth asks that very question. The waitress, of course, had no clue, but we were perplexed.

Chips and salsa came to the table. It was good, don't get me wrong. I tend to like the fresher kinds of salsa, but it was $1 per person. That's right, as in not free. As in breaking the unspoken bond that all Mexican restaurants have with their patrons...that no matter what you order, no matter how broke you are, no matter how many of you have to share a burrito, you will have your fill of chips and salsa. A let down, people. Total let down. Why didn't we leave at this point? Why? I don't know.


I decided that hard times make for hard choices, and maybe this is something I shouldn't be a jerk about. And then my order came.  I ordered the chicken burrito.

It did have chicken in it, which was actually tasty, but what surprised me was the pieces of bacon and potatoes that were in it. Bacon. Potatoes. I guess I didn't read the menu carefully, but at brunch, they fuck up your burrito, just FYI.

After realizing what I was eating, I turned around and looked at the kitchen area, where you could actually see the cooking taking place. I almost dropped my fork. Guys, the kitchen staff consisted of two white dudes. I was actually kind of amazed. I mean, even the Italian places have latino staff in the kitchen.  Now, white folks can make Mexican food, and Bobby Flay himself proves that if you steep yourself in the culinary culture, you can make some good things (albeit things that all have chipotle in them), but this little adventure was proving the opposite. Despite the ambiance, this place was a bust.


Ruth's taco salad seemed OK. Other than it just being a bunch of lettuce with some black beans and cheese at the bottom.

My Mexican food journey here in Philadelphia is starting to sour. I have tried about 6 places so far, each with promise and excitement. Only one seemed somewhat authentic (the one on Washington and South, where not coincidentally, there is quite the hispanic enclave). And now, I'm afraid, literally afraid of trying Mexican food.


The day was somewhat saved by a new gift for Radley, found at a cute pet store:

And a couple of red velvet cupcakes from Brown Betty: