Angelo’s Café Bryn Mawr
Family-owned breakfast and lunch counter on Lancaster Ave that shuts by mid-afternoon. Two dozen omelets on the board, a scrapple Benedict and a dozen kinds of pancakes, then burgers and cheesesteaks once lunch starts.
Lunch in the burbs
Every lunch spot we vouch for, across every town we cover. Cross a town line for the good ones. That's the whole point.
The picks
- Angelo’s Café Bryn Mawr
- Ardmore Station Cafe
- Capp's Deli
- DanDan
- Dim Sum Factory - Bryn Mawr
- Don Mezcal Mexican Grill
- Ekta Indian Cuisine
- Elia Greek Authentic Cuisine
- Empanada Mama
- Golden Bowl Ardmore
- Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen
- Humpty's Dumplings
- Jasmine Asian Bistro
- Jeannie's Deli
- Jin Ding Restaurant
- Las Frida's Mexican Kitchen
- Lilly's Gourmet
- New Rising Sun Cafe
- Nock's Cafe
- Nourish by MAMA
- Pak Yue Chinese Restaurant
- Santiago's Family Restaurant
- Sesami
- Soltane Cafe
- Songsan Korean BBQ
- Sushi Sei Express
- Tabouli Cuisines
- up-RYES Bagel & Deli
- The Village Diner
Ardmore Station Cafe
Breakfast and lunch a few steps from the Ardmore train station on Station Road. The kitchen closes at 2pm and the doors stay shut Mondays, so this is a morning plan, not an evening one.
Capp's Deli
A Colwell Lane deli piling hoagies and cheesesteaks over the counter for the lunch rush. Order at the register, take a number, out the door before your break ends.
Dim Sum Factory - Bryn Mawr
The Bryn Mawr branch of the Tom's Dim Sum family that started in Philadelphia's Chinatown, cooking Shanghai and Cantonese dim sum. Soup dumplings, pan-fried pork dumplings and scallion pancakes.
Don Mezcal Mexican Grill
Mexican grill on Lancaster Ave with a full Del Mar seafood section, a molcajete of rib eye, shrimp, scallops and chorizo, and fajitas that arrive in a carved pineapple if you order the Hawaiian.
Ekta Indian Cuisine
Indian kitchen in the small run of shops on West Lancaster Ave, and the only one of the four Ektas outside the city. Curries, biryani and mango lassi, with pickup and delivery inside a five-mile radius.
Elia Greek Authentic Cuisine
Greek and Mediterranean cooking on Keswick Avenue, a sit-down dinner house that takes reservations by phone and keeps a separate takeout menu. Elia is Greek for olive tree.
Empanada Mama
The empanada case worth crossing town for: hand-folded, oven-baked, running from the cumin-spiked B.A. Beef to a Mama's Big Mac. Grab extra chipotle aioli and remember they close on Sundays.
Golden Bowl Ardmore
Hong Kong style Chinese on Rittenhouse Place, open seven days and set up for pickup as much as for the dining room. Crystal shrimp dumplings, roast duck, big bowl noodle soups, and a whole page of smoothies.
Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen
Mediterranean counter on Greenfield Avenue, where the menu runs from sabich sandwiches and gyro platters to house-made manti and gozleme. They cater too, and say they have been doing it for 14 years.
Humpty's Dumplings
Dumplings from a Keswick Village storefront, filled with anything from pork and ginger to chip steak and American cheese. It started in 2014, and they run a dollar each on Wednesdays.
Jasmine Asian Bistro
Chinese kitchen on South Easton Road whose menu reaches past the usual: Phnom Penh noodle soup and Angkhor Wat shrimp sit next to General Tso's and lo mein. Lunch specials run 11 to 3.
Jeannie's Deli
Athens Avenue deli with a 6am open and a specials board rewritten every day. Meatball subs, turkey reubens, grilled chicken quesadillas, and five soups daily, chili and chicken gumbo among them.
Jin Ding Restaurant
A Chinese kitchen on Conestoga Road running several menus at once: a dim sum list of crystal shrimp dumplings and roast pork buns, a Sichuan page of dan dan noodles and Chongqing chicken, and Peking duck under the chef's specials. Lunch deals Mon to Sat until 3pm.
Las Frida's Mexican Kitchen
Street-style Mexican named for Frida Kahlo, with breakfast on the menu and the doors open at 10 a.m. sharp. The fish tacos come on blue corn tortillas.
Lilly's Gourmet
Lunch for the courthouse crowd, Monday through Saturday, 11 to 3 sharp. It shares a roof with Geronimo Brewing, so a sandwich run can end with a pint.
New Rising Sun Cafe
Breakfast and lunch counter in the Ardsley Station building, running on Rival Bros. coffee and focaccia baked in house. Egg and cheese in the morning, herb chicken salad and a chipotle chicken club by noon.
Nock's Cafe
A daytime cafe on Bethlehem Pike in Sellersville, open 7 to 2 every day for breakfast and lunch. There's no website to scout the menu ahead of time, so you sort it out at the table.
Nourish by MAMA
Vegan and vegetarian bowls, wraps, and smoothies built from farms it names out loud: Blue Moon Acres greens, Freedom Farm eggs, Le Bus bread. Doors close at 4, so treat it as a lunch plan, not a dinner backup.
Pak Yue Chinese Restaurant
Neighborhood Chinese takeout on Haverford Road, with lunch specials from 11 to 3 that come with rice and a choice of egg roll or soda. The menu runs long: Hunan and Szechuan plates, moo shu, and a Happy Family piled with lobster meat and scallops.
Santiago's Family Restaurant
Breakfast and lunch only, seven days a week, from a family kitchen inside the Babylon Business Campus off Horsham Road. Doors open at 7 and close at 2, so this is an eggs-and-a-club-sandwich place, not a dinner plan.
Soltane Cafe
Bakery-café on Bridge Street run by the Camphill Soltane community — breads and lunch with an actual mission behind the counter. The good kind of quiet.
Songsan Korean BBQ
Korean cooking on Rittenhouse Place, where the menu runs from a Table BBQ section to dolsot bibimbap, tteokbokki and Korean fried chicken by the six-piece. The $22 KBBQ platter special tops their own best-seller list.
Sushi Sei Express
A sushi counter inside the Ardmore Farmers Market, cutting rolls to order and packing party trays on pre-order. Chef Tu Truong started at 16 as a dishwasher at Kawabata in Old City. The ginger miso, honey wasabi and spicy mayo are made in house.
Tabouli Cuisines
Chef Mona cooks the Levantine food she grew up with in the Golan Heights: hummus, muhammara, maqlubi and stuffed cabbage sold by weight from the case at the Ardmore Farmers Market, plus imported za'atar, sumac and raw tahini to take home.
up-RYES Bagel & Deli
Hand-rolled bagels that rise more than 24 hours before they hit the oven, from a shop a few steps off the Bryn Mawr train station. Deli sandwiches on house-baked bread, omelets and cinnamon buns too. Doors close at 2pm.
The Village Diner
A Keswick Avenue diner that keeps daylight hours, 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon, seven days a week. Breakfast and lunch, and then the lights go off.
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