Restaurants: Gianna's Grille, Philadelphia, PA

In my fledgling vegan years, I lived in Philadelphia and depended on cute boys to tell me where to find delicious animal-free delights in the City of Brotherly Love. My friend Wish turned me onto Gianna's Grille, which at the time was a legendary vegan pizza joint just off South Street. Gianna's claim to have originated that which we know all over the Eastern seaboard as "Vegan Treats," delightful cupcakes and cakes and other amazing dessert products that defy all explanation! And their pizza was delicious - until the great vegan scandal of 2003 (or so), when it came to light that the cheese they used on their pizza contained casein!

Re-veganized, Gianna's pressed on, and because their desserts were so delicious I never really gave up on them. They quit lying to me about what I was eating, and somehow I never stopped loving them. Lie to me, just keep me well fed - this sounds a lot like most of my romantic misadventures. Anyway, years passed, I moved away from Philadelphia, and Gianna's experienced a lot of changes over the years, including the delightful-but-failed Gianna's Jr. in Center City! Whenever I came back to Philly, I'd always make sure to stop there - so a few weeks ago, I swung by the old S 6th St location for a slice of delicious nostalgia.

And um...


Yeah, Gianna's is done. No selection, rude(r than usual) staff, and then there's this dry, unwelcoming-looking piece of unhappiness they call a Sicilain slice. You really let me down this time, guys.


Um, but I might still pop by for cannoli. Old habits die hard.