Italian Market Philadelphia

Conversational Italian On Your Own Terms

Learning Italian is fun, rewarding and very useful if you are planning on travel to Italy or speaking to Italians, or just for fun, it is a good idea to learn some conversational Italian. It really is a blast to try this! It is very rewarding to know something about foreign languages. Most people do little with their life. This is one of those things you can do at your own pace and impress everyone.

Reasons a person would want to speak Italian:

• Traveling to Italy or an Italian market


• To be able to speak to an Italian friend or business partner


• Looking for more resources to earning more money


• You're a big fan of Italian food, wine, & culture, and want to immerse yourself more fully in the language

I personally did it for the last reason as I grew up in an Italian neighborhood!!

Try this Italian language program for an easy way to learn quickly....I hand picked it as the most value for the money

Conversational Italian On Your Own Terms

The Italian market in Philadelphia is located on 9th St, between Wharton Street and Fitzwater Street. It is the oldest and largest working market in the United States. It is still mostly Italian, as the name implies, but there is an influence of Hispanic and Far Eastern cultures there as well. It is an ideal place for gourmet cooks and the cooking enthusiast. Outdoor and old markets like this offer foods you can't get elsewhere. The market seems little changed over the last 100 years. It is like taking a step back in time, with the only thing ruining it being the modern cars everywhere! Many of the stores seem to have been passed down from the early 1900's. There are over 100 merchants at the market. This is a neighborhood where people are proud of south Philly and proud of the Italian heritage, and you can tell!

As of 2008 the Philadelphia Italian market had four cheese stores, four fish merchants, four poultry stores, two pasta makers, two bread bakeries, 3 spice houses, 4 purveyors of coffee and tea and seven meat markets, as well as countless fruit and vegetable stands. Of course there are pharmacies, discount stores, lingerie shops, dry goods stores, a jewelry store, antique stores, t-shirt vendors, sporting goods and kitchen shops. I have found the people willing to bargain although quick talking and tempered. It is a safe place to walk and I never felt threatened there, although some cleanliness is lacking, but it is the city!

In reality the Italian market is considered to include the neighborhood that also surrounds the actual outdoor market area. This neighborhood is between South Street and Wharton Street. It is known as the Bella Vista area. You will notice at the Philadelphia Italian market many stores with a Hispanic influence. Increasingly, immigrants from Latin America have moved into this area and set up stores. This has expanded the culture in the market area.

Most businesses are closed Monday, but they are usually opened 9 to 5 otherwise. Many are closed Sunday as well. Many businesses sell very specific products, so you may walk into a sausage shop and only see a few types of sausage and little else in the store! It is a unique shopping experience. The food there is very authentic, unique and delicious. If you have a desire to cook better or be inspired, the Philadelphia Italian market is the place to go. Would you like to cook the foods you have eaten in some of the best restaurants? You can get the ingredients here. You will need the recipes that some of the best restaurants use also! Try these Click Here!

Check out the 9th Street festival held every year at the Italian Market, usually on a Saturday and Sunday in May. In 2008 it is May 17th and 18th. Many top chefs proclaim Philadelphia's Little Italy as the best Little Italy in the country. This block party will show you what they mean! It is also an Editor's Pick on Travelocity. There is a stage with performers and Italian food and pastries galore. This is 10 city blocks of excitement you won't find anywhere else. This is not an ad for the market, but an endorsement from someone who has been there. Just go early to find parking because the traffic is bad in that area and Philadelphia is NOT the easiest city to drive in!

Located on 9th and Passyunk ave. where it crosses Wharton. One of the most talked about subjects of the Philadelphia Italian Market is the battle between the two supposedly original cheesesteak makers. We are talking about Geno's and Pat's King of Steaks. They are actually almost right across from each other around 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue. If you do nothing else at the market you have to try a cheesesteak from each of these establishments, which means you may have to go back twice!

The cheesesteak sandwich was invented in Philadelphia (early 1930's) and the chopped steak sandwich on a long roll without cheese was also. Around the globe the sandwich is known as a Philly Cheesesteak, Philly or Philadelphia Cheesesteak. The original owners of Pat's (Pat and Harry Olivieri) used to serve chopped steak on a long roll at a vendors stand near the now-existing restaurant. This was a sandwich they had made up themselves after they got tired of selling the same old hot dogs. The new sandwich was a hit. Shortly after, they built a restaurant there. At some point in the 1930's cheese was requested on the sandwich. By that time, competitor Geno's restaurant (started by Joe Vento) was serving steak sandwiches as well. One of these restaurants was the first to add cheese to the sandwich. That is where the argument ensued. No one is sure which restaurant added cheese first!

In the 1950's Pat's was the first to add Cheese Whiz to the list of available cheese toppings. Many consider the chopped steak with Cheese Whiz to be the well known Philly cheesesteak. If you simply ask for a "Philly wit' cheese", that is what you will get. Some customers will only say "Whiz Wit" and the cooks know that is a cheesesteak with Cheese Whiz. A customer can say "give me a pepper whiz wit", which would be a cheesesteak with Cheese Whiz and peppers. Available cheeses usually are White American, Provolone or Cheese Whiz. Service is extremely fast (and may seem rude to outsiders) at these cheesesteak places, so have your money ready.

Check out Geno's Web site at Geno's
Check out Pats's Web site at Pat's

The Italian Market is located outside the original boundaries of the City of Philadelphia, as laid out by William Penn. At first the area was a place where immigrants happened to settle. Why they chose that area is unknown. Around 1884, Italian immigrants began moving into the market area at a rapid pace, due to Antonio Palumbo opening a boarding house on 9th street. Hundreds of Italian immigrants moved into this boarding house. Eventually a need was seen for shops to cater to the Italian immigrants and they began opening up on 9th street. This is now what is called the Italian Market. Some of the vendors trace their history back to the early 1900's.

Tallutos Pasta

In the heart on 9th street. No visit to the market is complete without going to Tallutos for fresh pasta. If you have ever eaten fresh pasta you know that it is different than dried in taste and how you cook it. Do not cook it too long or it will turn to mush!

Joe Talluto had been a chef by profession and always dreamed of having his own store to make his homemade fresh ravioli. He had a love for Italian cooking and the desire to do what he had to, to succeed. For years, the simple lack of finances prevented him from pursuing his dream.

Risking it all

In 1967 Joe decided to sell his house, even though he had a family, and buy a commercial ravioli machine with the proceeds. They lived on Wheeler Street in southwest Philadelphia at the time. That ravioli machine became the company's first one. Joe Talluto was 60 years old.

Soon after Joe opened his first store in Southwest Philadelphia at 61st and Elmwood, the family moved into an apartment above the store. The store staff consisted most of Joe and his wife. Soon word spread and the ravioli and pasta products were a hit and the business took off. The family never looked back.

In 1981 the company became incorporated as TAIF (Talluto's Authentic Italian Foods).

Fantes, located at the Philadelphia Italian Market, in the heart on 9th street, offers a wide range of kitchen wares and cutlery, with thousands of products in stock, many of which are unusual. It is not a big place but they do have anything and everything a top chef would need or any cooking hobbyist.

Domenico Fante, an Italian immigrant began Fante's in 1906, along with his son Luigi Fante. Domenico had been a stone mason in Italy. The Fantes were very vocal and proponents of human rights. Luigi Fante who inherited the business from his father passed away early and left the business to his wife and three sons Dominic, Frank and Louis. The three daughters Rose, Josephine and Theresa with their spouses also eventually got involved in the business.

With the help of all 6 children Fante's was able to survive at the Philadelphia Italian market. They did this by varying the services and products over the years to meet ever changing demand. They installed kitchens, made Venetian blinds, imported china and crystal and even sold household furnishings over the years. During World War II the bought furnishings from distressed businesses, repaired them and resold them. There was no lack of talent in this family.

Jeanne Fante who traveled to England, Australia and France became knowledgeable about pastry equipment and techniques and brought back equipment from France that was needed by pastry chefs. Fante's became well known as one of the few places, if not the only place, to get top pastry and cake baking and decorating equipment. Even courses in the art of cake decorating were offered.

In the 1960's Fante's had a mail order catalog which became very successful nation wide as they were known for carrying hard to find equipment. Top chefs eventually visited the store and it became nationally known.

The Fante family retired from the business in 1981 and passed it on the Mariella Giovannucci and family. The Fante's had known the Giovannucci's from the 1960's and had helped them settle and feel at home in Philadelphia. Mariella had worked in the store as a young girl.

Today Fante's is best known for carrying goods focused on food service and preparation, as well as having quality kitchen wares and having top quality service. You will see the store mentioned in magazines and on cooking shows. It is not unusual for famous TV chefs to talk about being there. If you are seeking that unusual kitchen gadget, this is the place to get it if you can get to the Philadelphia Italian Market. I personally bought a large and heavy bread making board there at an extremely good price years ago and we still use it today. I have yet to see anything as good anywhere else.

On 9th street in the heart of the market. No trip to the Italian Market in Philadelphia would be complete without a trip to the infamous DiBruno Brothers cheese store. If you like cheese and live in a 4 hour drive of Philadelphia or are visiting the area, you have got to see this place. Yes it may be a little stinky for some of you who don't care for cheese, but for the cheese lover it is heaven. This is my favorite store at the Italian market and I only personally like a few cheeses.

The atmosphere is a little crazy. You walk into a very thin, long store usually full of customers talking loudly, tasting cheeses and buying. As you enter, to your left will be long glass display cases full of whole cheese blocks. To your right will be shelves of Italian food complements like jarred olives, spices, oils, vinegars and canned goods. To tell you the truth, the cheese "excitement" is so overwhelming that I rarely have looked on the shelves where the canned goods are.

Behind the glass display cases are usually aggressive young Italian men hawking their cheese wares and creating excitement. They are friendly, quick, and will talk a lot. You can try any cheese you want as they will cut a small sample slice off of a block. I have no idea how many cheeses there are here on display but it is over 100. If anyone knows write in to tell us! They also carry cheese spreads and dips that they make in the back. You can buy large containers of this stuff. They will usually have samples out and you can also ask to taste what is not out. These dips are extremely popular. Your eyes will be wondering quickly, having trouble seeing it all. You will need more than one visit to this cheese shop, since you will be a little overwhelmed on your first visit.

It is shoulder to shoulder crowded many times and some people may not be able to take the noise and crowd, whereas others will relish the cheese-fueled adrenaline rush. It really is a skinny store! Being inside this cheese shop and the Italian Market in Philadelphia is like what I might think Italy is like (never been there myself).

If you want to taste real Italian Parmesan that will make your ears itch inside (yes it does, and if it doesn't it isn't the finest), then you need to go to DiBruno Brothers. If you want the best Romano cheese for your pasta dishes, this is where you go to get it. Famous chefs from all over have shopped here. Aside from the great cheeses presented you can also get fresh olive salads, vinegars and the finest olive oils here.

They have two stores in the Italian Market in Philadelphia, but only one of them is the famous cheese shop. I think the other is more of a café type shop with some products.

What is the history of this place?

In 1939, Danny, Joe and Thomas DiBruno traveled from Italy and ended up at 9th and Christian streets in Philadelphia, which is in the Italian Market. They only had 5th grade educations, as many immigrants did, but they had a drive to succeed and were talkative and aggressive enough to move forward in life. They had little or no money, but they decided to start a store anyway. Their store was at 930 South 9th Street, in the heart of the market.

Their idea was to have great customer service and offer gourmet items not found elsewhere. They were the first store in the market to offer a big line of imported and domestic cheeses. They also carried gourmet meats, olives, oils and vinegars, as they do today. The popularity of their store took off.

In 1990 Danny DiBruno's grandsons Billy, William and Emilio took over. Today they carry many products, have a catering business and ship all over the globe via their on-line store and catalog sales.

Go here for hours and some ideas of what they carry: http://www.dibruno.com/

Their cheese page is at: http://www.dibruno.com/searchfinecheeses.html
I don't know if they carry all of these in their store at the Italian Market or not, but I bet they carry a good many of them. The store at the Italian market is so small they may not have all their cheeses on display.

Not everything you will want to visit at the Italian market in Philadelphia is right there on one street. You will have to do some walking. One place you may want to visit for an excellent sandwich near the Italian Market is:

Chickie's Italian Deli
1014 Federal Street

I have no association with them but thought they needed mentioned. It is within walking distance and not too far from Pats King of Steaks. Chickie's has received a bunch of awards and I know people who rant and rave about it.

Henry George has owned it since 1993. Henry works as hands on manager and I have heard it is quite entertaining to watch him work as he is very kind to the customer but may turn around and order a worker like a dictator. In any case, apparently they have some of the best sandwiches in Philadelphia near the Italian market.

Chickie's uses some Calabrese recipes and I do know the Tuna is right from Italy. All sandwiches are hand sliced and fresh and so you will have to wait a little for them. This is not a fast food restaurant. They've even been on national television also.

How do you get there?

Walk south down 9th street (the main market street), past Washington Avenue, to Federal street and take a right. It is before you get to Pats King of Steaks on 9th so if you see them you have gone too far.

http://www.weblaunchsolutions.com/chickies/index.html