by James H. on My wife and I love to frequent Johnny Brenda's. The outdoor seating in the spring and summer months is a must. The food never disappoints. In fact, their cuban sandwich is the best I've had in Philly. The beers are all local draughts. The interior is inviting and the service is friendly. I haven't seen a show yet, but I'd recommend the Sunday gospel brunch. Of course I'll be back.
by Sarah E. on I must live under a rock (actually, I think the problem is that I live OTP) because the first I heard of Ecco was when their special "Garlic Nation" menu was posted as a rateclubs Event. Since I'm a huge garlic lover, I talked my friend into going with me last night. Once we sat down and looked at the menus, I almost ordered from the regular menu because everything looked so good. I'm definitely going to have to come back another time and try some of the meats and cheeses. We did try the oft-recommended fried goat cheese, though. It was good - kind of like a goat cheese doughnut. Yum! I also had one of the signature cocktails, Long Live the Queen. Our server told us that this drink won a contest sponsored by Bombay Sapphire for the best gin cocktail in Atlanta. After that, I had to try it. It was tasty, but I'm still hunting for a drink that will inspire me the way "The Bradley" at Woodfire Grill did. Sadly, this was not that drink. Our server was really nice, and super attentive without being in our faces the whole meal. He did talk REALLY fast, but I think that was because he was excited about the food. He gave us a very informative walk through the menu and warned us that the Garlic Nation was "not 80's style, in-your-face garlic" but a subtler way of working garlic into the dishes. I appreciated that. My friend and I both ended up ordering the Linguine with Peekytoe Crab, Garlic and Cream. The pasta is house-made and I could tell, and there was a nice blend between cream and garlic and crab. We both really enjoyed it. We had a small disappointment because the special Garlic Nation dessert item we'd been interested in, a lemon tartlette, ended up not being available last night. Apparently, the crust had fallen apart so the chef didn't want to serve it. That made me sad, because I bake too and it SUCKS when something doesn't come out right (especially if you're supposed to be serving it to people). Instead, we ordered the champagne truffles. Mmmm, chocolate. Not particularly standout, but definitely yummy. My feelings about dessert pretty much reflect how I felt about the meal as a while. This wasn't the most memorable meal I've ever had, but everything was really good. I'd be happy to visit Ecco again to order from their regular menu.
