Our Eagles Tailgate Takeout Guide


eagles_logo_200Whether you’re spending your Sunday at the Linc or in your living room, area restaurants and creative caterers have put together some special options that go way beyond hoagies and steaks so you can get out of the kitchen and cheer on the Birds. — Cristina Perachio

Craving: American
Restaurant: DiBruno Brothers, 930 South 9th Street, 215-922-2876; 1730 Chestnut Street, 215-665-9220
On the menu: Check out the “Ultimate Tailgate Menu,” which has a mix of football party staples that are slightly elevated — think pulled-pork nachos and Kobe pigs in a blanket. Don’t forget a cookie tray for dessert.

Craving: American (that’s organic)
Store: Whole Foods. Locations in the Art Museum area, South Street, Wynnewood, Jenkintown, Marlton, Devon, and North Wales.
On the menu: For groups headed to the game, try the boxed lunches (complete with napkins and plasticware) for $11.99 per box. Each meal includes a sandwich or wrap, chef’s pasta salad of the day, all-natural potato chips, and a homemade cookie. Larger groups will enjoy snack options like the antipasto display, shrimp platter, quesadillas, or wing trio.

Craving: Asian
Restaurant: Margaret Kuo’s, 175 East Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, 610-688-7200; 190 Lancaster Avenue, Malvern, 610-647-5488
On the menu: For a little something different, try Margaret Kuo’s private catering. The fixed-price menu has flavors from Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Warm up with Shanghai Steamed Buns or succulent Royal Peking Duck and Tempura.

Craving: BBQ (Manayunk)
Restaurant: Tommy Gunns American BBQ, 4901 Ridge Avenue, 215-508-1030
On the menu: Tommy Gunns offers out-of-the-box catering for simple, custom tailgate packages. Pick your meats and sides (like baked beans, slaw, or collard greens), then let them know if you want to pick it up or have them deliver.

Craving: BBQ (Northeast)
Restaurant: Sweet Lucy’s Smokehouse, 7500 State Road, 215-331-3112
On the menu: For groups of 15 of more, Sweet Lucy’s offers a banquet menu. Each banquet option (like ribs, sandwiches, and chicken) comes with sauces, jalepeño peppers, rolls, cornbread and butter, plates, napkins, utensils, and servings tongs and spoons. For smaller groups, their normal menu has lots of options.

Craving: BBQ (Main Line)
Place: Zachary’s BBQ Catering, 610-687-3130
On the menu: Zachary’s offers comfort food in special tailgate packages for every sized party. Choose from prepackaged plans or build your own with yummy BBQ and sides like Santa Fe Chili and Louisiana Peel-n-Eat Voodoo Shrimp.

Craving: Fresh and Local
Restaurant: Supper Restaurant (Global Dish Catering), 926 South Street, 215-592-8180
On the menu: Global Dish is known to whip up anything from an all-vegetarian menu to picnic food to more complex dishes like potato-crusted seared tuna on brioche to broccoli rabe frittats. They’ll also come to you so you don’t have to schlep all that goodness up and down Broad Street.

Craving: Gourmet
Restaurant: DuJour, 379 Haverford Square, Haverford, 610-896-4556
On the menu: This Haverford café and caterer allows you to build your own party with oodles of creative sandwich options, hot and cold apps, and specialty salads.

Craving: Hoagies
Restaurant: Primo Hoagies. Locations throughout the area.
On the menu: There’s nothing wrong with sticking to the classic hoagie tray — just make sure it’s from Primo. The Super Duper sandwich tray feeds up to 25 guests and has sides such as tortellini, pepper shooters, and sharp provolone bites.

Craving: Indian (Center City)
Restaurant: Palace at the Ben , 834 Chestnut Street, 267-232-5600
On the menu: Tired of wings? Bring some authentic Indian cuisine to spice up a ho-hum tailgate. Palace at the Ben specializes in large parties, so invite all the guys from the office. Expect classics like chicken vindaloo, lamb biryani, and fresh naan.

Craving: Indian (Northern Liberties and Northwest Philly)
Restaurant: Tiffin, 710 West Girard Avenue, 215-922-1297
On the menu: You crave Tiffin every other day of the week, so why not dig in on Sunday? Their tailgate menu is separated into packages based on how much you want to spend per person. These perfectly portioned meals begin at $11.50 per person and go up to $18. Feeling picky? Fill out their catering form for a customized tailgate experience.

Craving: Italian (and more)
Restaurant: Johnny Paisano’s , 226 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, 610-690-0150
On the menu: Johnny Paisano is certainly known for his eggplant parm, chicken cutlets, and homemade gravy, but he’d love to do something different for your tailgate event. Ask about his jerk chicken or tangy pulled pork — he’ll give you a sample.

Craving: Jamaican
Restaurant: Jamaican Jerk Hut, 436 South Street, 215-545-8644
On the menu: Create your own island oasis for your next tailgate. Jamaican Jerk Hut will supply the savory jerked meat; all you need is buy a few Tiki torches. Check out their a la carte catering menu as well as their 100 percent natural juice options (like carrot-orange, mango, and strawberry lemonade), which make unexpected mixers.

Craving: Jewish Deli
Restaurant: Famous 4th Street, 700 South 4th Street, 215-922-3274
On the menu: Famous 4th Street has a sandwich tray filled with something for everyone: For just $16 a person you’ll feast on classic deli sammies, cheeses, salads, pickles, bread, and all the Russian dressing you could ever need, plus a cookie tray.

Craving: Mexican
Place: Mission Burrito Bandit, 610-622-6900
On the menu: This mobile burrito truck serves quesadillas, fajitas, and chipotle hot wings, not to mention massive burritos with all the fixings. Their catering menu serves six to eight fans, but if you need something custom, they are happy to put together a non-Mexican menu.

Craving: Sandwiches
Place: Cav’s Mobile Catering, 215-301-8337
On the menu: Cav’s Mobile Catering drives right to your tailgate with its big green Eagles truck. You’ll be the envy of the parking lot when it starts serving hot meatball sandwiches, roast pork with horseradish, and all the BBQ you can stomach. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Craving: Seafood
Restaurant: Bobby Chez. Locations in Voorhees, Cherry Hill, Margate, Collingswood, and Washington Township.
On the menu: For the at-home tailgate, Bobby Chez offers an extensive takeout menu of fried fish, lobster sides, and crabcakes. All of the food is partially cooked with quick and easy reheating instructions, so you can pick up the food even before game day.

Craving: Soul and Southern
Restaurant: Geechee Girl Rice Cafe, 6825 Germantown Avenue, 215-843-8113
On the menu: Perfect for tailgaters craving some serious comfort food. The generous package serves eight people for $18.75 per person and comes with tomato and okra gumbo filled with chicken, shrimp, and sausage; a green salad; jasmine rice; greens; cornbread; and your choice of pecan or apple pie.

Craving: Spanish
Restaurant: Cafe Apamate, 1620 South Street, 215-790-1620
On the menu: Turn your tailgate into a tasty tapas party with assorted authentic Spanish dishes from Apamate. Order up seared pork tenderloin stuffed with figs, grilled artichoke hearts, and, of course, Apamate’s signature dessert, churros with Spanish chocolate.

Craving: Vegetarian
Restaurant: Govinda’s Gourmet Vegetarian, 1408 South Street, 215-545-5452
On the menu: Try a platter of the Philly chicken cheesesteak made with soy chicken and rainbow peppers in a spicy sauce, or a zucchini melt made with grilled zucchini, olives, and tomatoes.