Reading Terminal is one of America's largest and oldest public markets

ByWendy Daughenbaugh WPVI logo
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Reading Terminal is one of America's largest and oldest public markets
At Reading Terminal Market, you'll find 75 local shops selling everything from meat, seafood and produce to jewelry and art.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- At Reading Terminal Market, you'll find 75 local, family-owned shops selling everything from meat, seafood and produce to jewelry, art, and a smorgasbord of ethnic food options.

Kamal's has been serving Mediterranean at the market since 1981.

Specialties include the spinach pie, shawarmas, hummus, baba ghanoush but the homemade falafel is the top seller.

They also make smoothies, fresh juices and desserts, including baklava.

Their newest addition is scratch-made Dubai chocolate bars, with pistachio and shredded wheat inside.

Reading Terminal Market first opened its door in 1893 inside what is now a National Historic Landmark building. The market itself has been named one of the 10 Great Public Spaces in the entire country, with 100 thousand visitors in any given week.

Mickey Straff of Washington Square says his father started taking him to Bassett's Ice Cream when he was just 4 years old. He's now 85 and says he's been coming ever since.

Bassett's is one of the market's original merchants while LUVH Food is one of the newer tenants. It is the market's first fully vegan stand and, with it's new expanded concept, it is the first vegan deli on the East Coast. There are vegan mayos, spices, meats and soups, and a new line of frozen meals designed for people on the strictest of diets.

And if it's meat you seek, Martin's is right across the aisle. They sell everything from filet mignon to bacon But it's the sausages they're known for. The hot and mild Italian is a Philadelphia staple but they also make South African Boerewors, made with red wine and coriander, British bangers and a host of other sausages. They also offer old school items like skin on slab bacon, ham hocks, necks and pig's feet, the kinds of things you won't likely find in a supermarket anymore.

When Reading Terminal Market opened 131 years ago, it became known for its free home delivery. Now they're on a mission to feed Philadelphia's heart and soul-serving food but also creating human connections.

Reading Terminal Market | Website | Facebook | Instagram

51 N. 12th St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

Kamal's

LUHV Vegan Deli

Martin's

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Scrapple and Apple Fest | Website
October 12th, 10am-4p

Oyster Fest | Website
Nov. 7th, 7-9pm

Party for the Market | Website
Feb. 22, 2025, 7:30-11:30pm

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