Jones

The night after Buddakan and M.I.A., Lara and I woke up relatively bright and early on Monday and headed out in search of a good Philadelphia breakfast. We just had two things on our minds—mimosas (or some variety of brunch cocktail) and eggs. We wandered around for a while and were just starting to think we needed to ask for advice when Lara pointed to Lush across the street. Lush, which deals in all natural bath and body products, is one of my favorite places in the world, and luckily they have locations in many major cities. Score. After getting a decadent hand treatment and picking out the many luscious goods that we couldn’t resist, one of the salespeople suggested trying Jones for breakfast. We took her advice and headed over to 700 Chestnut Street to check it out.

When we arrived we discovered that they only served breakfast on weekends, but the lunch looked great and they did have the brunchy cocktails we were in search of. Perfect. And it became even more perfect when we realized they had a huge offering of grilled cheese sandwiches. But which to try?

While we weighed the options of the different grilled cheeses we each ordered a Morning Glory, which consisted of Danzka Grapefruit Vodka, grapefruit juice, and champagne. I do believe I prefer this drink to a traditional mimosa. Lara summed it up nicely as she said, "It's like a mimosa with a punch." It was more light and refreshing and less sweet than a mimosa. The grapefruit juice also offered a little more of a bite, although that could have been the vodka as well. In any case, it was the perfect way to start the day and pregame for grilled cheese.


We came up with the brilliant idea to each order the grilled cheese that appealed to us most and then swap a half a sandwich with one another. We also opted for the fries with the sandwiches rather than the other option of a side salad because, really, who actually prefers a salad to fries?

I ordered the Brie grilled cheese, which came with black forest ham, granny smith apples, and honey dijon on raisin nut bread. The Brie was lovely and creamy and there was just the right amount of ham. The granny smith apples were sliced nice and thin, offering just a hint of sweetness and crunch. But the raisin nut bread was incredible. Who makes a grilled cheese on raisin nut bread? Jones does, that’s who. And they are brilliant. The combination of salty and sweet was absolutely perfect. It was the most decadent grilled cheese I’ve ever consumed.


Lara ordered the cheddar grilled cheese with roast turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce on pullman white bread. Wow. “It’s like Thanksgiving in a grilled cheese sandwich,” she remarked. And she was absolutely right. Just imagine the best parts of Thanksgiving on delicious, thick bread all held together with gooey, melted cheese. I’m salivating just thinking about it.


Jones was a great place for an accidental lunch even though we’d had out hearts set on breakfast. As soon as we saw the lunch menu we forgot all about our craving for eggs and hash browns. Jones is definitely worth a visit if you’re in Philadelphia and in the mood for the most tasty grilled cheeses on the planet! I was sad to say goodbye to Philly and to Lara, but at least my stomach was satisfied.