Vegan Cheesesteaks at Algorithm in Philly | Delishtory

Bart Everits knows a thing or two about plant-based eating and he says he's got the best place for vegan Nashville hot chicken. For a casual meal that will delight the taste buds, he heads to Algorithm Vegan Grill. My name is Matt Rafferty and I'm the owner of Algorithm Vegan Grill. Algorithm Vegan Grill, to somebody that's never been here before, is Philly's own vegan grill. We're a fast casual restaurant that focuses on local purveyors and then we do our chef take on everything. What we really strive for is we source locally for everything. Our coffee is local from Cafe Roasters, breads come from Baker Street and Merzbacher's, our proteins are from Blackbird to Soy Boy in Rochester, and all of our fruit and produce comes from Giordano's. A few things that we strive to do on a regular basis, we are a recovery-friendly workplace. We're certified through ReUnity Recovery out in Manningham. We try to support as many local farmed animal sanctuaries and small animal rescues as we can. We are intentionally peanut and tree nut free, so we don't have any peanuts or tree nuts anywhere on the truck or in here. We do have a few soy-free options and we do have a handful of gluten-free options as well. We really care about the allergies and they're listed all over our menu as well. So yeah, we just want to take better care of people and do it through like a carefully curated vegan menu. Bart, Algorithm kind of burst out onto the scene. Started out as a food truck, now has a brick-and-mortar location. Why did you pick it? Algorithm is one of those places where, yes, it's a vegan restaurant, but it also just has really familiar food. Even back when I was just starting to be vegan, it was nice to have a place where you could go and sort of get food truck, kind of bar food, sandwiches, burgers, chicken sandwiches, tacos, those sorts of things that was just really accessible and, moreover, really delicious. You kicked off your meal with the Calabrian Chili Cheese Fries. How were they? They were great. It's one of the things I had never ordered there. My friend suggested it. They're a little bit spicy, just the cheese is kind of just drenched on top. The way, you know, you remember like on a ballpark, cheese fries. They were delicious. They were just enough spice. The sausage, my friend who's not vegan, he thought they were great. He was like, if I could have this every day, perhaps I could be vegan. So I thought they were great. Bart, the Reuben is one of your go-to dishes and something that you enjoyed before going vegan. Yes. So prior to being vegan, a Reuben was one of my favorite sandwiches. It's kind of my go-to sandwiches. So I've tried a lot of vegan versions and I think Algorithm does one of the best. The nice thing is I've sort of watched it evolve when they first opened as a food truck that was Clark Park on the weekends. Basically was an imitative of a meat version. They had the seitan, they put some sauerkraut on top and then sort of a vegan version of the Russian dressing. It's evolved to have this carrot based sauerkraut that he makes in-house. It's a little bit pickly. He has a lot of beat forward things. So this kind of beat based thousand island dressing, which is just great. One of the things I really enjoy he does, and I think the best vegan places do this, is he's not, it's not completely pretending to mimic exactly what the meat version is. It's his own thing. Sort of exploring flavors, very plant forward flavors. And I feel that that's what makes this Reuben really special. And Tony, what did you start your meal off with? We had ordered the regular fries and the Calabrian chili fries. And again, vegan foods evolved so much you couldn't tell the cheese sauce wasn't cheese. It was delicious. And they served a beet ketchup with the regular fries. That was so good. My wife asked the guy, you should sell this. He goes, oh we do. So I have a bottle of their beet ketchup in my refrigerator right now because it was delicious. And it's just a great start to a meal. I didn't expect that to be that good from a vegan place. I'm not vegan, I'm not opposed to it, just didn't expect that level of quality. It was, they were just so tasty. Gwen, did you start off your meal with anything or did you dive straight into that Nashville hot chicken? No, I ordered the fries too. Regular fries with the regular ketchup because I was a little bit afraid of the beet ketchup. I was just like, and then the sandwich I had. And what did you think of the Nashville hot chicken sandwich? I thought that it would kind of taste like meat maybe, but it just didn't. I really liked the slaw and the pickles that came on the sandwich. The bread was really good. What did you think of the seitan? It wasn't chicken, but it was very tasty and it was hot. It was definitely hot. I was trying to balance things. It was a good level of heat, but the pickles and the slaw kind of balanced that out a little bit with the acid. And I thought it was, it was delicious. The amount of spice that comes that's encrusted on that seitan is like very intimidating. Yeah, it's very spicy. Yeah, you can smell it. Yeah, there was a lot of heat in that chicken. It was, it was, my daughter who doesn't like things quite as hot got that and she had trouble finishing it because it was spicy. Did some of the slaw at least kind of cool down the fire? Exactly. And the pickles too. Having the acid in the slaw definitely helped a bit. But if you like hot food, it was hot. It was a good hot. Bart, how are the Korean tacos? They are probably my, after the Reuben, probably my favorite thing there. And what I would suggest for anyone going there for the first time, I feel they're probably the most accessible. Um, you know, not, they're a little bit spicy. Um, they just have that great kind of savory flavor, um, to them. They have this, um, pickled cabbage over top too, which is, was great. So I, there would be my first suggestion for anyone. And is it tofu or is it seitan in your tacos? Uh, they're tofu. Yeah, they're tofu. And I think going back to the earlier tofu conversation, um, he does the tofu really well. It's a little bit crispy on the outside, but just enough. So it also absorbs the, uh, the flavors. Now they have a whole menu of milkshakes too. And vegan milkshakes, different than a regular, you know, milk milkshake. Uh, but you've gotten the milkshakes before. What do you think? Yeah, I really enjoyed the chocolate one. I'm not sure. I think he uses almond milk. One of the things with vegan milkshakes is initially they were all soy based, which I feel there's a little bit of a strange aftertaste to that, which his didn't have. The chocolate one I really enjoyed. But you did try this last time around was a Samoa brownie. Yes. So, um, full disclosure, the day I went, that was the only dessert, um, available. I'm not a big coconut person, so it wasn't my favorite. Although the brownie part was great. It was, it was moist and fresh the way a brownie should be, but I'm not real big on coconut. Gwen, you had a really delightful experience with your server, or the person who took your order. Yeah, Cody, he was really nice. I had a million questions as I always do. And he answered every single one. He never got tired of me asking questions. Um, I even had a question about the logo with all those animals. I'm like, do you like sell all those animals? Are you trying to, cause they had like a rabbit and a bear and all this stuff that was on a logo. And I'm like, We thought the same thing. We were like, why are all the animals here? So he told me that like the owner had certain pets or something that he included on there. So I was like, Oh, like a rabbit or something like that. So, Tony, what were your thoughts on the service? Matt was just fantastic. He was behind the counter. When we were there, we asked him a million questions. He was friendly. He just, how's this? What can we do for you? It was just a great experience. We see the guides so courteous and so attentive to where we were. It's a small place, so he has a little more options to be able to talk to people. But he was just a great guy to discuss things with. Oh, and also too, I wanted to mention I had the ginger limeade. That was really good. Oh, yeah. Okay. What was in the ginger limeade? Uh, it just seemed like lime juice and then some kind of ginger syrup or maybe actually might have been ginger juice. They told me they made it homemade, and then they, like, put it together, I guess, with some sort of carbonated something. And it was really good. Tony, what did you think of the neighborhood? I've been there a million times going to the South Street or the South Philly Ninth Street. So I've been around there a lot of times. Never spent any time. They're probably driven by algorithm a couple times recently go and did nose nose. It's a great little neighborhood. When what did you think of the prices? Well, mine came out to about $30. So I guess I mean, to me, that's a little high for a sandwich and fries and a drink. But it's okay. I mean, you know, inflation, things are going up. So it was all right. And Tony, what did you think of the price? Fine. You think restaurant price? I'll go to the supermarket. I was that what does that cost? Right? That's that's expensive. So going to go down and having somebody make me food. I'm okay paying with that. It didn't seem like it was crazy. And especially with vegan food. There is a amount of preparation that goes into making sure that yeah, the textures are on point. The flavors are there. Yeah. Yeah. And they're not just offering a beyond burger. I mean, he's doing everything in house of his own recipes and his own. So I feel like you're you're paying a little bit for that, too. It's just the effort put into it. Bart algorithm is your pick. Tell us your final thought. I think it's really great vegan comfort food, or I'd even just say great comfort food. Gwen, what are your final thoughts? It's a good place for an alternative Nashville chicken. And Tony, what are your final for a non vegan? It's a great way to experience vegan food and really enjoy it. Try the plant based tacos and sandwiches for yourself at Algorithm Vegan, located at 705 East Passyunk Avenue 2678272022. Reservations are not accepted. And the average tab per person without drinks is $15.