I'm trying to put together some out-of-town goodie bags for people staying in Philadelphia for my son's wedding. Any ideas for food or things that are uniquely Philadelphia? Thanks.

Definately Tastykakes! I'd suggest some cheesesteaks but those might be a tad messy in the goodie bag.

It's been 20 years since I lived in the area, so I'm a bit rusty. I'll keep thinking.
H

We actually leave goodies in our guest room when our relatives from California and Tennessee visit us here in Philly. Some area items we have included:

TastyKakes{R}.
Soft pretzels.
Hank's soda.
Amish root beer.
Shoo-fly pie.

:^) If you want to lose some friends or relatives, just leave them scrapple.

For some great soaps and other goodies of the kind, try duross and langel at 12th and Locust Streets; it's local stuff.

Soft pretzels, of course; I'm not sure how you'd preserve them, though, as they're best on the day baked.

A Philadelphia "tawk" dictionary; you could google Philadelphia dialect/accent and make these up yourself to help people understand what's meant by words like iggles and Ol-a-ney and addytood.

Postcards--it's a beautiful city!

Items from the gift shop at the Independence Visitors' Center or the souvenir shops at the Bourse...

I agree with the Tastykakes: all the good things wrapped up in one!

Depending on the time of year, Zitner's chocolates are wonderful, plus there's Asher's and Lore's and, well, any local chockies.

Have fun putting them together!

Well, of course, Tastykakes!

Also:
Jubilee Chocolates
http://www.johnandkiras.com/site/Welcome_business.htm

Yards microbrew
http://www.yardsbrewing.com/

Famous 4th Street cookies
http://www.famouscookies.com/

Metropolitan Bakery
http://www.metropolitanbakery.com/

Some nice Italian, perhaps?
http://www.dibruno.com/

was in philadelphia recently.
i thought i had prepared my trip fairly well with recs from here..but NO ONE told me about TASTYKAKES.shame on all you locals.

what ARE they?

i'll have to be sure to get some next time!

To quote a very old jingle of theirs:

"Tastykake is a day in spring,
A brand new love or a golden ring.
Tastykake is a world of fun,
It's all the good things wrapped up in one!"

http://www.tastykake.com/HomepageTem...21&ChannelID=2

Quite simply, they're prepackaged snack cakes that are, in our opinion at least, immeasurably better than any others of that ilk. (And I use the word ilk advisedly, as in Iiiiillllk, that's grooooosssss.) Butterscotch Krimpets have always been a top seller, but my heart belongs to KandyKakes (which I could swear used to be called Tandy Kakes...and they were all even better back in the day when they came packed in waxed paper. I'm old.)

And they're available at the corner stores and many vendors' carts and in the supermarkets...and online, now. Enjoy!

Anything PHL EAGLES!! They are so PHL!!

Amy,
Wow! YOu brought back memories with the Tastykake jingle! YES....they were called Tandy Kakes. I never can decide if I like the chocolate or the paanut butter better.

You could always add those tooth-breaking Goldenberg's peanut chews. How about Franks' black cherry wishniak soda or some locally bottled spring water (maybe Wawa's new brand)? Anything with Wawa's name would be good -- people who have lived in Philadelphia really miss those great stores when they leave the area. You could also go out to Amish country and buy some items highlighting some of their unusual towns' names!

You've gotten some really good ideas here. I second the Jubilee Chocolates made by John and Kira. They made the cover of Gourmet a few years ago. I think it said,"We've Found Our Favorite Chocolates!"

Amy, I always thought that the Tandy Kakes were the peanut butter ones, and the Kandy Kakes were the chocolate with the cream. I could be totally wrong though.

CHEESE STEAK!!!

Wow! You guys are great. Thanks for all the ideas. It looks like everyone will go home fat and happy!

Fat and happy, oh yeah...we're all about the food. But there's some great places to walk it off, too; you can get some great walks for them at www.gophila.com if they're going to be here for more than just the wedding.
(Some pix for inspiration are here: http://community.webshots.com/user/missalg ) I love my city!

I would say scrapple (a sauasage patty made of porkscraps and corn meal)
and
Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer

Chocolate covered pretzels. You can get them at Reading Terminal Market.

Just curious: are chocolate-covered pretzels a uniquely Philadelphia thing? I never heard that before.