Before heading over to Reading Terminal Market to get some hot donuts, we stopped at Cake and the Beanstalk for a few coffees and bites. It’s an adorable, colorful, and whimsical bakery and cafe on Locust. The owner was a pastry chef at several leading restaurants in Philadelphia before opening up his own place. There’s all kinds of baked goods that change daily. They also have coffee and tea happy hours.
We got a slice of the strawberry pound cake. Ooh… this thing was unbelievably dense and moist, sweet and delicious. I could have eaten the whole damn cake!
Here’s what I would say is the best darn iced latte in the entire city. I’m not sure what kind of magical milk they use, but this is the creamiest and dreamiest, yet strong latte I’ve had all summer. I challenge you to find a better one! And two people can’t be wrong, right?
Although it’s a small space, there’s plenty of seating in this extremely colorful Dr. Seuss inspired room. There’s also a teeny little outdoor area. Or you could chill in the big window seat by the bakery counter! I can’t wait to try more of their sweets!

We didn’t even know if Adsum served brunch when we were walking around looking for a place to brunch. Even the people at Adsum weren’t that sure. Apparently, they do, starting at 11AM. But there were absolutely no signs of life there at all, and it was slightly after 11. There were some other people milling around outside too, probably wandering the same thing. When we finally asked somebody, they said oh, yeah, we are now. There were only two tables the entire time we were there, and we were the first ones to be seated. We weren’t the first ones to get menus or coffee or food.
Eventually, we got menus, and even more eventually, they brought over coffee. The coffee was good and we all enjoyed it. Yay for free refills! And it’s a good thing too, as we had to wait a hell of a long time for our food. I actually timed it, and we didn’t get fed until 45 minutes after being seated. This does not seem normal. I don’t know about you, but if there are two tables total, does it take 45 minutes to make three dishes for one of the tables? We were all so, so, so, so hungry. Luckily, we were enjoying each other’s company.
Here’s the omelette of the day, which happened to be a veggie one. When I ordered, he asked for a side of home fries. Guess what? The omelette already comes with home fries. You’d think the server would have let him know that, but no, he just took the order anyway. He did get the extra side of the home fries and they were quite good, I was lucky enough to eat most of them.
Here’s the croque madame with black forest ham, smoked gouda, béchamel, brioche, and an egg. Pretty good stuff! This also comes with home fries.
Here’s my mascarpone and strawberry stuffed french toast. This was pretty damn good and decadent, however, it came with frozen strawberries. That disappointed me to no end. It’s summer. This isn’t IHOP. Would it have killed you to get some fresh strawberries? If you’re going to charge me $12 for basically just two thick pieces of bread, at least do me the decency of using fresh strawberries. I know there’s been a lot of drama here with chefs changing and what not, but I was pretty disappointed with this brunch, especially the service. Waiting 45 minutes for frozen strawberries irked me, something fierce!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Philadelphia is apparently the new hot spot for coffee. There are lots of indie shops popping up, and instead of brewing local la colombe, they go for counter culture or stumptown. Amongst one of these newest spots is the gorgeous Shot Tower Coffee. It’s even cool and inviting from the outside. You can enter from this beautiful entrance on the corner or a nicely hidden door on the 6th st side.
This place is surprisingly huge and unbelievably sunny. It’s not one of those teeny shops crowded with lots of tables. It’s really roomy and really only has one giant communal table with individually attached and swivelling benches, and some bar space along the windows. I love how uncluttered it is. They were playing strangely old throwback tunes. We couldn’t possibly believe that the young baristas would have known any of these songs, which probably came out when they were still in the womb.
It’s been sweltering out, so the thought of a hot coffee is quite frightening. Here’s a delicious iced americano.
And here’s an almond croissant that B proclaimed as the best croissant he’s ever had. Or maybe it really was the best almond croissant he’s ever had. Regardless, it’s a great one! Flaky, filled with almond paste, topped with toasted almond sliced, and dusted with powdered sugar, it was rather great. Shot Tower is bright, roomy, friendly, rather peaceful, and serves good coffee and food. What more do you need?