🥪This may be Philly’s messiest (and tastiest) sandwich | Let’s Eat

Peanut butter, jelly, bacon, eggs, and cheese on a biscuit?! Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. Also this week, the city shuts down a restaurant that was adding cannabis to its food, Craig LaBan recounts his trip to the heart of the agave industry in Mexico, and we tell you how to dine out safely and score free burgers, tacos, and ice cream.

⬇️ Read on for a quiz.

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— Mike Klein

The Uptown Girl combines a PBJ and a bacon, egg, and cheese into one sandwich. From the moment colleague Jenn Ladd saw this creation at the Biscuit Lady in Wissahickon, she knew two things: This was a more adventurous breakfast item than she is used to, and that she was going to be as sticky as her toddler after eating it. Well? Worth it.

🍔 There’s now a $700 burger in town. Read on.

Have you followed critic Craig LaBan’s recent trip to Mexico with Cantina La Martina chef-owner Dionicio Jiménez and photographer Jessica Griffin? There’s a new chapter for you with more Philadelphia connections: David Suro, the owner of Tequilas, invited them to tag along at nighttime to an agave field, where they witnessed firsthand what Craig calls the ancient dance between pollinating bats and agave. Suro, shown above with a bat, produces mezcal under Siembra Spirits and is a champion of the spirit’s past and future. 🔑

Stoned, a New York pizzeria that adds cannabis oil to its food, was shut down last weekend by inspectors from the city’s Departments of Health and Licenses & Inspections. The reason: The owner never secured a business license or obtained an initial health inspection.

Atlantic City, meanwhile, is the most weed-friendly town at the Jersey Shore. It even has a cannabis czar.

Outdoor dining season is kicking in. Take three minutes and check out these safety suggestions to keep your valuables safe. There’s also word of one scam you need to watch out for.

And speaking of the outdoors: Colleague Paola Pérez is launching a weekly newsletter called Outdoorsy on June 2 to give you more ideas of how to enjoy the great outdoors. Sign up now.

Drury Beer Garden (1311 Sansom St.), which you may remember as a Greek hotspot called Opa, has changed its name and concept to DBG Burger Bar. Owners George Tsiouris and Vasiliki Tsiouris-Balis are giving out free happy-hour smash burgers during Friday’s debut (4-7 p.m.). They’re spanning the spectrum, selling not only that happy-hour burger for $2.95 but also what may be the city’s most lavish burger. The Gold Standard, priced at $700 and shown above, has 8 ounces of Japanese A5 ribeye wagyu, Wexford aged Irish Cheddar cheese, Italian black truffle and caviar, and lobster meat flambéed with Louis XIII cognac, served on a Wildflour Bakery brioche bun topped with gold leaf and rounded out with a side of fries drizzled with Manuka honey 1500+MGO. But wait, there’s more: It also comes with a one-ounce pour of Louis XIII cognac ($4,799 a bottle). There are more than a dozen other burgers, including pizza, French onion, vegan, duck, and lamb. And an ice cream burger. I don’t even want to know. Their high-end offerings are reminiscent of the Barclay Prime cheesesteak with wagyu ribeye, foie gras, and a split of Champagne, which was $100 when introduced and is now priced at $140.

This item qualifies for a pullet surprise: Horseshoe Ranch in Pottstown recently laid 20 cases of pullet eggs on Philly grocer Riverwards Produce. These prized eggs, the first laid by hens at about 18 weeks old, are smaller because they don’t conform to traditional sizing. “The big markets won’t take them,” said Riverwards’ Vincent Finazzo. “We hate seeing food go to waste, especially eggs. Bakers love them for custard. Chefs love them for special dishes.” Riverwards locations, in Fishtown and Old City, will sell them Thursday only for $2.99 a dozen. He may restock Friday if there is demand.

Free ice cream! So a literal scoop for you: Cloud Cups, Galen Thomas’ popular gelato pop-up, is opening its brick-and-mortar scoop shop inside of Pizza Brain (2311 Frankford Ave.), the former home of Little Baby’s. The first 150 customers on Friday and Saturday will get free scoops of gelato and sorbet. Thomas and partners Kolade Oronti and Drew Posey will offer 12 flavors by the scoop and in pints. Pizza Brain will also have special flavors and features for the opening weekend. Initial hours will be 4-10 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.

Free tacos! Mexican soda company Jarritos will pick up customers’ lunch tabs at the Si Taqueria food truck (15th and Federal Streets) from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday. The giveaway includes Jarritos and two free tacos per person (choice of pastor tacos, asada tacos and nopal tacos, which are vegetarian.

There are simple BYOBs, and now there is Illata. Just 20 seats in a spartan room that was the former Green Aisle Grocery on Grays Ferry Avenue, just off 23rd and South. Marble tables. Cream walls. Big windows. Tiny menu. No sign to speak of, other than a script “Illata” on the facade. Tiny galley kitchen in the back. Plenty of candlelit date-night vibes when the sun goes down. It’s the new home of chef Aaron Randi, who moved here with girlfriend Hannah Albertine when she landed the food editor’s job at Philadelphia Magazine. Illata means “gathering” in Italian. If this dish of marinated mussels with hakurei turnips, miso, and chili oil is any indication, it also means “a lotta,” as in “a lotta flavor.”

Illata, 2241 Grays Ferry Ave. Hours: 5-10 p.m. Thursday-Monday. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Provenance, from chef Nicholas Bazik in the former Xochitl on Head House Square, is one of the more anticipated restaurant openings of 2023. Bazik will do a pop-up collab dinner June 6 with chef Randy Rucker at River Twice on East Passyunk.

The 9th Street Italian Market Festival will hold its first ever cheesesteak competition. Starts at 11 a.m. Saturday at the main stage (Ninth Street and Washington Avenue) and judges will include Eagles great Jeremiah Trotter and chef Chance Anies of Tabachoy. Winner will get bragging rights, a trophy, and a $5,000 donation to a charity, courtesy of sponsor Deer Park.

Sophie’s BBQ, which picked up a partnership with Four Birds Distilling Co. when it moved from Ardmore to 1901 Darby Rd. in Havertown, plans to rebuild from a fire on April 22, only six weeks after opening. Sophie’s Greg Herman says they hope to reopen this fall. Meanwhile, Herman is smoking as Northeast BBQ Co. outside of Bald Birds Brewing Co. in Audubon, Montgomery County. It’s open Wednesday-Sunday.

Foghorn & Fletcher, chef Art Cavaliere’s burger and chicken shop in East Falls, has closed after seven years. On the bright side, the chicken sandwiches are expected to join the menu at his Black Squirrel Pub & Haunt around the corner.

Harvest Seasonal Grill’s North Wales location has closed in anticipation of its move across Route 309 to the former Green Turtle Sports Bar. Reopening is due in early June.

Ken Loves BYOB in Northern Liberties has closed for a la carte service; it’s open for private events.

Gregory’s, a Jersey Shore restaurant, is caught up in a trademark battle. What is the topic?

A) rights to the term Crabfries

B) rights to the term Taco Tuesday

C) rights to the term Shore enough

D) rights to the term clam bar

Find out if you know the answer.

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