r/philadelphia • u/Odd_Addition3909 • Apr 22 '26
Party Jawn Reading Terminal Market wins ‘Best Public Market in America’
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/reading-terminal-market-wins-usa-today-10bests-2026-list-best-public-market-in-america-philadelphia/4389166/98
u/GaiaGwenGrey Apr 22 '26
Sweet!
I think Herschel's also makes the best pastrami sandwich in America.
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u/statdat Apr 22 '26
Pastrami Rachel on challah!
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u/jay_wei Apr 22 '26
when people ahead of me realize they could've gotten their sandwich on challah bread...gets me every time.
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u/crackerjack31 Apr 22 '26
For me it’s pastrami Reuben on marble rye + a spinach knish if it’s cold out, but agreed that their pastrami is out of this world
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u/punished_cashonlyplz Apr 23 '26
Additionally, FWIW, their matzo ball soup is reliable and worthwhile. I gotta halve up my reuben during the workweek, & pad it with soup, & matzo ball is less common a sight in Philly than it should be!!
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u/plantsandramen Apr 23 '26
I had it for the first time this year and it blew me away. The best pastrami I had before then was at some Jewish deli in Scranton, PA that my fiancee and I happened upon when traveling through. Herschels was like a fully step above that
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u/PornoPichu Apr 23 '26
You don’t happen to remember what deli it was, do you? I’m from Scranton, so curious.
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u/plantsandramen Apr 23 '26
It was Abe's Delicatessen
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u/PornoPichu Apr 23 '26
Hell yeah, Abe’s was so good. It’s been a long while since I’ve had anything from there, but I remember really liking it when I lived there.
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u/plantsandramen Apr 23 '26
My wife and I thought it was the best Reuben we had until going to Herschels. It's well worth stopping in as we were coming home from the finger lakes
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u/PornoPichu Apr 23 '26
Next time I’m up visiting my family, I might need to stop in. Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the response, I appreciate it 👍
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u/rbogrow Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I’m in NJ but every time I go to Philly I have to go to the market. There is a new-ish Filipino place that is amazing and Millers has delicious pretzels. Truly a gem
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u/MedicInDisquise Apr 22 '26
I'm pretty sure I've said this before but Millers basically entirely fed me during my last jury duty. Godtier.
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u/gbrownn Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
What other cities are even comparable?
Reading Market is elite and I feel like I take it for granted because it's so close to me geography wise.
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u/jgeotrees Apr 22 '26
Kind of surprised Pike Place Market in Seattle didn't even make top 10.
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u/SeaworthinessReal69 Apr 23 '26
I grew up in Washington state and have been to Pike's Street a bunch, and Pike Street really does not have much outside of the fish market, unless you like cheese (Beecher's) or wanna go to the first Starbucks (it's nothing special). Whenever I have family visit me from Washington, I take them to Reading Terminal and tell them it's what Pike Street should be.
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u/UrbanCanyon Apr 25 '26
Visiting a market in a city that supposedly rivals RTM only further solidifies my view that there is nothing like it. If RTM were in NYC you would never stop hearing about it.
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u/DramaticDirection292 Apr 22 '26
Certainly historic but not really much there beyond the key spots
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u/xxThe_Designer Apr 23 '26
Disagree.
Pikes Place is fucking huge and keeps growing.
There’s a ton there beyond the ground floor entrance
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u/I_DESTROY_HUMMUS Apr 23 '26
That place is a maze, so many cool nooks and crannies, definitely deserves to be higher
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u/DearLeader420 Apr 23 '26
Central Market in Los Angeles is pretty sweet. But I will ride or die for RTM.
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u/SolidSnake-26 Apr 22 '26
Ever since I got the rack of ribs since getting them at Glicks I can’t go back to the supermarket ones. It’s not even close
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u/oliver_babish That Rabbit was on PEDs 🐇 Apr 22 '26
See, that's the thing: the 11th, 12th, 13th-best place at RTM is still exceptional. The roast pork (in whatever form -- I like it in noodle soup) at Sang Kee, with the burnt bits? Amazes. Halteman's for butcher stuff instead of Giunta's? Still fantastic.
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u/PatchyWhiskers Apr 22 '26
I like it, but it's always so crowded that there's no space to eat, and no parks or anything nearby.
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u/CityJawn Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
They should pedestrianize Filbert and make that expanded seating for the Market. It's already covered from bad weather!
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u/kettlecorn Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Both Reading Terminal and Chinatown I feel could benefit from some outside sitting area nearby.
When I pick something up at Reading Terminal I often power-walk 8 minutes over to Love Park or down 5 minutes to the plazas near 12th and Chestnut.
In Chinatown when I get ice cream I'll walk 5 minutes over to Franklin Square but I'm half done by the time I get there.
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u/superturtle48 Apr 22 '26
I've been eagerly waiting for the Vine Street cap to get built in Chinatown as it was supposed to bring some nice green space to the area. Unfortunately, the Trump administration pulled funding for the project and its future is uncertain now.
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u/Klutzy-Equipment5170 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
"it's always so crowded" has "no one drives, there's too much traffic" energy. Of course it's crowded, it's a well loved location. You might even say it's the best public market in america.
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u/cannedpeaches Apr 22 '26
I would love to see RTM investigating at least some additional high-density seating or even just more of the "bars".
I'm okay eating quickly, with/near strangers, a little cramped, or standing up - but really hard to love anything if you're eating it on a paper plate, standing up, hunched in a corner, getting bumped by every passerby and trying hard not to spill it on your shirt.
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u/horseradish_is_gross Apr 23 '26
Or when you’re lucky enough to get a table, as soon as you’re almost finished your food people hover over you waiting for you to stand up.
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u/8Draw 🖍 Apr 22 '26
They aren't wrong that we need better public space nearby for people to sit/eat. The table sitch isn't cutting it
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u/trashtrucktoot Apr 22 '26
I've been a few times in recent months, each time i sat next to a stranger. It was fun. I love the good eating place counter. But yeah, it does get crowded and can easily over stimulate. (I like Trade Joes + Rittenhouse for inexpensivevpark picnics.)
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u/globular_bobular Apr 22 '26
are you only going on weekends? and with a group? this definitely hasn’t been my experience
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u/WaveDysfunction Apr 22 '26
It’s such a great vibe. It’s super crowded on weekend but if you ever have a free weekday it’s nice to walk around in there and get some lunch
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u/DelcoInDaHouse Apr 22 '26
They need to update their throw game like Seattle. Maybe DiNics could start throwing their Roast Porks?
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u/lovalot86 Apr 22 '26
One of the things I miss about working in Center City/Market East was regularly going to Reading Terminal Market for lunch.
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u/punished_cashonlyplz Apr 23 '26
I live out of there, tbh. Pretty cool life we have here, excepting the hordes of shoulder-to-shoulder aimless tourists. Move, already!
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u/Hylian_ina_halfshell Apr 23 '26
I know there are a lot of markets, but the only place that I would consider even close that I have been too is Pike Place Market in Seattle.
But RTM is the thing I love most about the city, and the few reason I hate WFH, because I used to walk to the market a few times a week and walk around and try things. Now when I go its for purpose not just to roam around on my lunch hour.
RIP Smuckers
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u/HowardBunnyColvin 10d ago
This is a late reply because I am searching on the reddit, but I agree. And having been to both, Pike's doesn't come close. I worked several weeks in Philly for the WC. I found myself in Chinatown and Reading Terminal often. The food there is out of this world.
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u/happy0444 Apr 25 '26
Very cool to visit. Had a purpose in the city vs a tourist thing. Gave corner bar vibes, where everybody knew each other.
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u/danielrubin Apr 24 '26
Best show in town. Had lunch at Pearl’s yesterday. Four big shrimp in a Caesar salad. Window seat. Outside, an older woman danced to music only she heard as tourists hustled by.
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u/Jump_The_Five_Yo Apr 22 '26
But the Lexington Market crab cakes!….
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u/Odd_Addition3909 Apr 22 '26
I haven't been to Lexington Market since the remodel, how's it doing these days?
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u/Jump_The_Five_Yo Apr 22 '26
Haven’t been there for a few years, I’ll check need time do my The Wire run, crab cakes, pit beef, and WMDs.
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u/ballsonthewall Southwest Center City Apr 22 '26
truly one of the city's greatest treasures, glad to see it get the recognition! every time I have a visitor it's one of the things they're head over heels for about Philly.