Sorority Rush

by Alex Richmond

Yes, Sisters is the premiere (read: only) lesbian nightclub in Philadelphia. But did you know it’s also a restaurant? Well, Sisters mainly serves bar food, but it’s better than most, and the value is undeniable.

Newly appointed chef Lisa Merlot keeps her menu simple and satisfying. With burgers starting at $5.50, and a half-pound pasta bowl for $6.95, you can eat a lot for very little money. Dining at Sisters is cheap, easy and fun. You can eat everything at the bar, except for maybe the fajitas, which are way too sizzling to be served there. There's also a virtual Wednesday-night all-you-can-eat pasta buffet (just $5.95); the endless dishes aren't sitting under heat lamps -- you simply let the servers refill your plate whenever you want more.

A recent trip to Sisters showed the considerate service that the staff dishes out. My dining partner and I ordered a Tex-Mex wrap ($6.95, with onion petals), a Florentine burger ($6.95, with fries) and a chicken fajita platter ($9.95). Our server looked a little concerned and said, ìThat's a lot of food.î It was. She delivered the wrap already halved, on two plates for us to share; the rest was carefully doled out, as she probably expected us to fill up and stop eating. The burger was too delicious, and the smoky, caramelized chipotle sauce on the fajitas was hard to leave alone.

Besides dinner, you can also go to Sisters for Sunday brunch -- the biggest appeal of which, for me at least, is the value. An all-you-can-eat brunch for $8.99 is a major bargain, especially when many other locations in Center City will charge you $8 just for an omelet. At Sisters, you can scarf all the cooked-to-order omelets you can hold, plus bacon, sausage, teeny-tiny muffins, a quiche of the day, two kinds of salad, roast pork, pasta, bagels, blintzes and fresh fruit. You'll need a shoehorn to get it all in.

The Caesar salad dressing tasted like it was from a bottle, but the baby spinach salad with a pear and mushroom vinaigrette was most certainly homemade. The sweet pears and meaty portobello made for a complex, satisfying salad, perfect for Sunday mornings.

There was only the briefest wait for the omelet bar, staffed by a poker-faced cook complete with toque. When my sausage, pepper and cheese omelet seemed to be taking a while, I walked over. Without a hint of an expression, the cook said, ìI just dropped yours. Hold on.î A few minutes later, she brought a fresh, undropped omelet to my table, apologized and said, ìIt was out of my hands.î Ba dum dum.

Sisters Restaurant

1320 Chancellor St., 215-735-0735

Wed.-Sat., 5-10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, noon-4 p.m.

Appetizers, $4-$5; entrees, $5.25-$10

Wheelchair accessible. Smoking permitted. Reservations not necessary. Cash only.

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