Gleaner's Cafe — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Gleaner's is a solid little cafe with great coffee (La Colombe) and delicious to-go bites like pastries, cookies, and maybe even a slice of pie! They also prepare all kinds of breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, which are carefully made and quite yummy. The place is always packed and popular for good reason.

That said, be aware that you will wait a LONG TIME if you go on a weekend morning and order any food items that need to be prepared, like those bagels. This morning I waited ONE HOUR for three peanut butter and jelly bagel sandwiches -- yes, you read that right. And hey, I get that sometimes food takes a while because the cafe is hoppin' and there's only one person slicing those bagels and maybe they're new, but 1) we're talking PB&J here, 2) they didn't have the bagel I wanted but decided to tell me AFTER I had waited one whole hour for these bagels, and 3) they need to be upfront about how long the wait's going to be. Had I known it was going to take one hour instead of the 30 minutes they claimed, I would have gone elsewhere. (I had already paid at the start and wasn't going to walk away.)

Again, it's a good cafe that everyone loves, but I was just so irritated by...

Gleaner's Cafe is a delightful and enjoyable part of my morning ritual I look forward to long before I get out of bed. From the warm genuine care the staff give you with sound recommendations and opinions, to the perfectly balanced and tasty coffee drinks, to the delicious bagel sandwiches. I've never had a bad time here and happily give them money (with tip) so they can continue doing what they do. They've respected quarantine and have made others respect it as well.

The important takeaway here is that Gleaner's has the superior product. I don't want to cause a turf war in South Philly, but out of the...other... Cafés very close by that may not offer pastries, Gleaner's blows them out of the water hands down. I've gone to some of these other so called cafés and the coffee drinks have become undrinkable by comparison. The ice is chunky and terrible and syrup sticks to the side of the cup just as your...well you get the idea. That's not to dog on some other other cafés in the area that are also decent. I'm mostly talking about one in particular.

Anyways, Gleaner's, don't ever leave, don't move, don't shut down, and keep...

I moved to Philly for the first time in 2005 when I had just turned 17. I went to gleaners on the very first morning I woke up in the city and have been going back consistently since that day. The baristas have always been so consistently kind to me as I’ve come and gone from the city and the breakfast sandwiches and coffee are always aces.

We have all felt Philly change over the years and knowing that gleaners exists with its flag firmly planted in the middle of the Italian market helps me to know that no matter how many weirdo condos get tossed up - the city will always have some unalterable realness engrained in its fabric.

Shoutout to Tara, Allegra, Steve and all the rest of the gang for the hospitality over the years and for fighting the good fight.

This is my favorite place in...