Free Cheesesteaks At LOVE Park – This Wednesday, starting at 11am, the Philly Homegrown team will be serving free cheesesteaks made from local ingredients at the mayor’s farmers’ market on 15th & JFK. Supplies are limited, so get ‘em while they’re free!

DP Dough Gets A Groupon– Hooray for Groupons on campus! Pay $7 and get $15 worth of food here. Although you only have today and tomorrow to actually buy the deal, the Groupon doesn’t expire until February so there’s no rush to use it. Nom nom late night NSO food.

Slight Variations Abound On New Local 44 Menu

Click this picture for a close-up of the menu. Promise it won't Rick Roll you.

Good news for Penn student Local 44 regulars! All 8 of you are finally getting treated to a sorta different, but definitely spruced up bar-food menu.

As of yesterday, the popular gastro-pub has introduced a (vaguely) new menu, along with an (altogether) new chef. Jesse Kimball, of Memphis Taproom fame, has added treats like disco fries (they’re slathered in onion gravy – how much do you want to eat them??), beer battered zucchini, and a seitan Reuben for the tragically vegan set. Try these things while they’re new or commit yourself to a lifetime of lame.

[via CityPaper]

Food Truck Watch: Korean Tacos And Banh Mi Are En Route

Korean tacos...so delicious!

Just days after the news of a new juice truck,there’s word of another rad-sounding truck.

Chef Tyson Wong Ophaso brings us Bee-Innovation, a food truck serving healthy and affordable international dishes such as Vietnamese banh-mi sandwiches, a variety of curry rice bowls, and Korean tacos. Some may remember Ophaso from his previous venture at Chew Man Chu, the Center City pan-Asian restaurant that closed only a few months after opening. If it’s any indication, the food there was awesome.

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Foursquare Where?

We know, we know. We’re still trying to make Foursquare happen. But it’s seriously getting cooler! Here’s a list of all the deals you can get right here around University City. If nothing else, you can show these to your friends as proof Foursquare is not just about badges… shiny, beautiful badges.

We don’t know when/how/why venues change their deals, but we’ll try to keep you updated with what you can get for your checkins.

If you want to see all of Philly’s specials, go to the Businesses page and make sure your location is Philadelphia. Every refresh will get you different stuff!

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Food Truck Watch: There Is Now A SMOOTHIE TRUCK

As dedicated readers will know, we here at UTB take extreme delight in covering the opening of new food trucks in the Penn hood. Today, we present you with news of the newly opened La Vie Natural Juice and Smoothie.

La Vie set up shop on the southwest corner of 38th and Spruce (right next to Carribean food truck Gigi’s) two weeks ago, after doing a test run on 10th and University in Center City. The truck is run by Fednel St. Fort, a Philadelphian who grew up in Haiti. As the name would indicate, La Vie will serve up smoothies and natural juices: mangoes, carrots, bananas and the like.

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Lions and Tigers and Beers, Oh My!

Beer bear?

This Saturday you can drink beer and watch a bunch of animals doing cute things at the same time! Okay, yes, this is what we do most nights, but this time we’re not talking about watching sleepy kittens on YouTube. It’s the Philadelphia Zoo Summer Ale Festival!

The event is going to have beer from nineteen different breweries, plus a bunch of local food and a chance to kick back and hang out with the animals. You can also learn lots of eco-friendly tips and tricks as well as support the zoo’s Creatures of Habit initiative, so we’re sure the animals will be extra cute to say thank you. Did we mention the lifesize LEGO animals??? Buy your tickets here!

Tap House Will Now Serve Sunday Brunch!

After three years of hungover Sunday mornings, I have been jonesing for a new brunch spot near campus for a really long time! Really, I cannot eat another omellette from Allegro or breakfast wrap from Metro. Alas, the time has finally come!

In an effort to totally redefine the Penn boozing/culinary atmosphere, we just received word that City Tap House has now added a Sunday brunch, and it sounds awesome.

Brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays in the restaurant and on the outdoor deck. Selections ($6-$14) will include:

• Blue Crab + Brie Omelette with shaved black truffle, asparagus and chive nage
• Southwestern Eggs Benedict, chorizo sausage, cheddar biscuits, sundried tomato hollandaise and poached Lancaster eggs
• Summer Peach Parfait with crunchy granola, peaches and vanilla yogurt
• Tap House Lox + Bagel with lemon cream cheese, red onion, capers, tomato and egg
• Blueberry Pancakes with orange-honey butter and Vermont maple syrup
• Almond-Crusted French Toastwith apple-raisin compote and maple mascarpone

Oh yeah, this will be a boozy brunch for those of appropriate age. Look out for a spiked Arnold Palmer and a Bloody Mary.

Update: PennEats Cards Live, Seem Pretty Cool

We reported last week that PennEats, a new Penn student start-up, was looking for some super sales representatives. However, in our rush to apply for the job, we forgot to mention that the site– launching today– is actually a decent idea.

According to their website:

Now, with the purchase of a PennEats card, you too can feel appreciated for the long hours you put in at school. All cardholders receive a 10% discount at all of our participating restaurant vendors (restrictions may apply; please see the Vendors section of our website.) The card lasts you from the time of your purchase until May 2011, with a new card coming out at the end of the school year. Want to start saving money?

Nothing says “things we want to buy” like randomly bolded text! The “Vendors” page lists all eight restaurants accepting the card, including such noteworthy establishments as Tap House and Pod. We’re still waiting for Taco Bell to make an appearance.

Our Bellies Welcome Hoagies

And So Can You!

And now for more proof that Wawa is God’s gift to college students (or at the very least run by the Keebler elves or something): the mile-long hoagie.  Actually, it’s a mile and a quarter, and it’s being built today by the Philadelphia Art Museum to be shared among Philadelphians young and old. Nice try, Subway footlong.

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Recent Grads Can Still Get Their Nom On

All Menus is a party in the USA

Members of the class of ‘10 received an email from Campusfood stating that they understand how difficult it is for recent graduates to move on from their not-so-guilty pleasure. So they remedied the situation by inviting 2010 to use All Menus, the grown up’s version of Campusfood.

Same username, same password, and $5 off your meal if you enter a secret code (hint: it’s CLASSOF10) at checkout. Get nommin’.

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Cupcake It Till You Make It

Find me somewhere between the Peppermint Forest and Gumdrop Mountains

When we first heard there was going to be a cupcake truck in Philly, our bellies were all aflutter with excitement and we began planning our class schedule around Buttercream’s West Philly appearances. But after a year of satisfied sweet teeth, could there be a new cupcake sheriff in town? Get ready to welcome the wheels of not one, but two new cupcake trucks: Call Me Cupcake and Sweetbox.

Although Dave and Cheryl Dilks, the brains behind Call Me Cupcake, can’t be tied down to one location (follow the cupcake trail here!), the owner of Sweetbox, Gretchen Fantini, is working on parking her wheels permanently in West Philly! Though we’re a bit disappointed that the new cupcake competition is stirring up about as much controversy as last month’s coffee truck feud, we guess all the friendliness makes sense, because how could anyone have hard feelings while surrounded by cupcakes?

The all-you-can-eat sushi for $25 promo at Pod is back every Tuesday, starting tonight.

Summer Weekend Guide: Park It For The Solstice

The days are still getting longer, and the official First Day of Summer is just a couple days away! Whatever pagan solstice parties you have planned for this weekend, there’s hardly a better place to get started on your flower crowns than Clark Park’s annual Arts & Music Festival this Saturday.

The Festival will celebrate the longest day of the year as well as Clark Park’s 40th anniversary with over 40 local artisans selling their wares, 10 local bands and even a couple dance and theater acts. There will be plenty of food and plenty of merriment to be had, carrying on from noon until sundown–which, of course, is the latest it will be all year.

Phil ‘Er Up! Philly Beer Week 2010

Philadelphia is apparently “America’s Best Beer-Drinking City.” Though this makes us wonder about the criteria, as well as what America’s Worst Beer-Drinking City is, Philly will live up to its potentially arbitrary name from June 4-13 with the annual Philly Beer Week. This event, the largest of its kind, will celebrate beer culture with all sorts of revelry across the city, ranging from free tastings of local brews to prix-fixe menus of the classic beer-food combination to community-friendly outdoor parties and festivities.

There’s so much going on, in fact, that you might find yourself a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what beer-centric activities are right for you. But fret not! You can manage it all with the wonders of technology and “My Philly Beer Week,” a fun organizational tool that helps you itemize and prioritize all the ways for you to drink beer.

And if you’ve already started drinking and even this seems to be too complicated, we’re here to take care of you – find a list of all the Beer Week events in West Philly after the jump.

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