The Official Foobooz Fall Food Bucket List

Everything you need to eat, drink and do to take advantage of the best season of the year.

fall food

One must-try fall food? Pies from Pie Bird Farm. Photo courtesy of Pie Bird Farm

It’s a cliché to even say it, but whatever: We love fall. Sure, all that fresh, barely cooked produce we eat in the summer? It’s amazing. But when the air gets cold again, we get excited to start eating cheesy, saucy, rich foods again. And yes, pumpkin-related food and drink are on that list. The fall in Philadelphia is just as fleeting as spring and summer, so here are the items on our must-eat (and drink) list so we make sure it doesn’t pass us by.

Enjoy a scoop of Weckerly’s pumpkin ice cream
In Philly, we use Weckerly’s seasonal ice cream menu to keep track of time. And it’s not fall until we’ve had at least one scoop of their pumpkin ice cream and bought another pint to keep in the freezer at home.

 

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Eat an apple cider donut at Linvilla Orchards
You don’t have to go to Linvilla Orchards, specifically, to eat their donuts (there are plenty of spots around the city to get your cider donut fix), but Linvilla does some fantastic donuts — especially when they’re still hot from the fryer.

Have a Trick or Treat at Evil Genius Brewing
If a donut isn’t so much your type of treat, try a pint of Evil Genius’s Trick or Treat beer, a malty, dark porter brewed with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and chocolate for a flavor that is almost better than the first Reese’s Cup on Halloween. Available in bottles or at their tasting room in Fishtown.

 

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Wake up your fall with a maple latte at Rally
Rally is our go-to spot for all kinds of seasonally flavored lattes. The flavors are never overly sweet, and they rely just as much on matching them with the correct espresso as they do on choosing the right syrups. The maple latte is a great example of this: a slightly sweet, special occasion beverage that’s never too cloying.

Try a bagel with Lady Bunny schmear at Korshak Bagels
If you have strong feelings about sweet bagels, please put them aside for a moment and try the Lady Bunny schmear at Korshak. They take their classic cream cheese (made with goat milk and mozzarella whey) and add shredded carrots, roasted walnuts, drunken raisins (which are soaked in liquor) and cinnamon for a schmear that feels distinctly autumnal.

 

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Indulge in black truffles at Cicala
Different types of truffle have seasons throughout the year, but fall is the best season of the year to go all-out on a truffle-centric meal, ideally at an Italian restaurant. Angela and Joe Cicala’s luxe dining room in Fairmount is an excellent place to watch servers shave paper-thin black truffles over your dinner.

Warm right up with a bowl of beouf bourguignon at Bistro La Minette
After months of craving cool, it feels so good to tuck into a bowl of red-wine braised beef, carrots, and potatoes that heats you from the inside.

Prep for Thanksgiving with a gobbler-style sandwich from Original Turkey
Every year, there’s a moment a few weeks before Thanksgiving when a craving for the Thanksgiving-style sandwich hits us hard. We need dark-meat turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing between two slices of bread, and we need it bad. This year, we’re getting ahead of the craving by going early and often to Original Turkey.

Get in the Halloween spirit with a spiked apple cider at The Eastern State Penitentiary
They may have done away with being the scariest haunted house in the state, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch some spooky vibes at Halloween Nights at the Penitentiary — ideally with a hot spiked apple cider and walking through one of the haunted houses.

 

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Pick up a loaf of pumpkin challah from Essen Bakery
There are limitless options for what to do with a loaf of Essen’s pumpkin challah: toast it and slather with butter, dip it in coffee, turn it into an autumnal bread pudding. Actually … come to think of it, you might need two loaves.

Try a maple whiskey old fashioned from Manatawny Stillworks
In the fall, Manatawny releases their seasonal maple whiskey, which is fortified with aged maple from Whiskey Hollow before it goes into barrels. The result is perfect for enjoying in their autumn old fashioned, ideally during Passyunk’s Fall Fast.

 

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Have a pumpkin brew at Morgan’s Pier
If you think of Morgan’s Pier as strictly a summer destination, we’re here to let you know about Fall Fest. The whole space is covered in haystacks and flannel, and the drink menu switches to include a lot of apple, bourbon and spices, as well as plenty of pumpkin beers. As a bonus, you can buy a pumpkin onsite and they’ll let you carve it with a complimentary carving kit.

Have a very good pie from Pie Bird Farm
Head out to Buck’s County and make a visit to Pie Bird Farm, a 161-year-old farm finding new life as a husband and wife team Jennifer Brodsky and Eric Theesefield rebuild the old property. Their pies range from classic apple to heirloom squash and ginger beer, all of which are handmade with all-butter crusts.