Get your chocolate fix in a restaurant straight out of Willy Wonka
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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course. 2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.
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Who:
Me, my husband, and our children, Julia (8) and Evan (6).

What:
Dinner at the Philadelphia location of Max Brenner, the most Willy Wonka-esque chocolate dining experience ever.

Why:
Our weekend getaway to Philly was seriously in danger of imploding due to a combination of lousy weather and two way-too-whiny-for-their-own-good children who seemed to enter the “jaded and uninterested” stage of childhood precisely as we descended upon Philadelphia.

I literally threw myself on the mercy of our hotel desk clerk, imploring her to get our weekend back on track by recommending a dinner location which would impress the kids *and* the adults in our party.  It was a tall order, but she came through for us in a major way.

The High Points:
Chocolate burgers.  Chocolate pizza.  Chocolate everything.  For a chocoholic, this place is nothing short of heaven.

The Low Points:
Because it was a Saturday night and we didn’t have reservations, the wait for a table was loooong.  This was not made any easier by the fact that they seem to pipe eau de chocolate through the vents of the place.

The Kids’ Take:
I though both kids were going to combust with joy when they saw the menu, and their meals did not disappoint.  Evan’s chicken fingers came with a paint brush so that he could decorate them with honey mustard sauce.  Julia’s pizza came with a side of do-it-yourself toppings to jazz up her pie.  Clearly, this place ticked all the boxes in the “fun food” category.

The desserts were equally magical.  One of my children *did* complain that the Popping Candy Chocolate Lick could have been a tad larger. That child is an ungrateful wretch.

The Adults’ Take:
I am certainly not immune to the seductive allure of chocolate (and based on the number of adult-only parties I saw around us, I am not alone in this).  The fact that I actually had an excellent salad and a damn fine mojito before I started in on the dessert was a delightful added bonus.

The Bottom Line:
“Jaded and uninterested” went out the window when my kids stepped into Max Brenner, and the sugar high lasted for the rest of our visit to Philadelphia.  To our family, Philly will forever more be the city of Chocolate-y Love.

Need a family friendly hotel in Philadelphia?  Check out the Hotel Palomar Philadelphia.

April 22nd, 2010 | by Rebecca Tompkins 4 comments