This is not an exhaustive list--actually about half of the eating establishments.

Nanee's kitchen--Indian and Pakistani--mediocre service, bland food, and my teeth grated on sand in the daal--twice (hey, I was giving them the benefit of doubt).

Chinese Places: There are three or four, and the only consistently good one is Golden Bowl. They do not use MSG in their food and will honor special requests and substitutions.

Delilah's: What can I say about the queen of soul food? Their mac and cheese (voted no. 1 by Oprah Winfrey), although made from five (I think) different cheeses, is not stringy. They use egg in their secret recipe, which breaks up the cheese. It's good if you like that kind of dish, but for me, my cheese should be cheeeeesy!

Termini Brothers Bakery: Brusque service, but excellent desserts at reasonable prices

Amish fare: From Wednesdays through Saturdays, the Amish bring in hearty, homemade, artery-clogging fare that tastes out-of-this-world. They have pot pies, various kinds of salads, roast meats, and desserts--the best is a whoopie pie made up of two large, soft chocolate cookies sandwiching a kind of soft, melt-in-your-mouth cream. Also, Fishers ice cream is really, really good.

Thai Singhania: Really tasty stuff, the only drawback being the layer of fat that sits on top of literally all their dishes.

Mezze (Mediterranean): Expensive and rather bland. Looks good though--large colorful portions!

Profi's Creperie: They offer very good breakfast, savory and sweet crepes--but the trick is knowing what to order when. Their breakfast crepes are offered the whole day and are great to-go. Their lunch and sweet crepes have dressings/sauces that tend to make the crepes soggy and drip all over within 10 to 15 minutes--so order them only if you are going to eat your crepe right away and have lots of napkins handy.

Salad Express Buffet: Regular standard fare, nothing special

Rick's Philly Steaks: A really good place for the perfect Philly cheesesteak. If you are picky, then you can 'build' your cheesesteak, starting with chicken or beef, adding onions, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, etc.

Franks A-Lot: One of the worst service I had, and don't even start me on the skinny, dry, pathetic sausage--I don't know how they were voted Philly's best something sometime.

Kamals Middle Eastern: Large portions, fresh and flavorful, but a little pricey

Olympic Gyro: Normal and regular... handy for a quick pickup during the height of lunch hour

Monday through Saturday, 8am to 6pm, closed Sunday

Get a map when you first walk in and if you're with a group, pick a common meeting spot (a good place is the big stone pig, Philbert, near center.

For fresh produce you have choices among Asian,Italian, Pennsylvania Dutch and several organic stands.Each one has a little something different to offer. For bread that tastes as good as that in New York, try Le Bus or Metropolitan Bakery...a little pricey but worth it. Don't leave without stopping at Termini's Italian Bakery stand (row 3) for some Sicilian cookies or fresh cannolis.

If you are interested in seafood,the selection is UNBELIEVABLE. I found prawns the size of small lobsters for a very reasonable price. Vendors are more than happy to answer questions and though I've tried many it seems to me the Asian seafood guys have the freshest fish.

Old City Coffee carries not only every conceivable flavor of coffee but an unbelievable selection of teas as well. If you're thirsty for something else there's Four Season's Juice Bar for fresh blended drinks and smoothies,and even a Beer Garden serving domestic and imported beers,wines and spirits.

There are several Amish stands clustered next to each other for fresh eggs, turkey products,REAL original hot pretzels- made on site. Then there's Glick's Salads for pickled chow-chow,apple butter and honey. Keep moving and you'll find several Pennsylvania Dutch butchers (with pork,veal,prime beef,sausage,lamb) and poultry vendors,(with home-raised duck,geese,turkey and game birds). Pick up some fresh Lebanon Bologna at any of the Amish butchers, take it home,spread it with Philly cream cheese and slice into rounds. Heaven! Move along and you'll find farm fresh dairy products(with ice cream, fresh-churned butter and local cheeses).

An interesting day stand is My Kid's Dairy where fresh goat's milk cheese and goat's milk fudge are sold... This is just a small sampling of the many quality items sold at Reading Terminal Market. You will have to come and see yourself the best that Philadelphia has to offer!

First row at left(12th St.side) includes The Rib Stand, a real down-home spot for ribs and roasted potatoes. Then there's Pearl's Oyster Bar, one of my favorite stops. It's always crowded as the oysters and seafood are fresh and delicious and give you a real taste of Philly. The next row finds another popular spot...the Dutch Eating Place, run by Amish and Mennonite workers who are the real McCoy...and so is the food! I took my brother and a friend and they chowed down on a breakfast of scrabble, fresh fried eggs, applebutter and schmierkase (a kind of cottage cheese). There's a great set of hoagie vendors in this row as well...Rocco's and Spataro's.

For more exotic fare try Sang Kee Peking Duck, right out of Chinatown(the ducks are hanging by their necks in front of stand) not for the squemish...but the Shanghai Gourmet Restaurant, also in this row, serves fresh, better than ordinary Cantonese, Mandarin and Szechuan meals. There is also a Tokyo Sushi Bar,located only a few feet away from Amish butchers and produce stands. There's a Mexican Cantina (so-so),a decent vegetarian snack bar and fresh-roasted turkey sandwiches and platters right next to each other in this aisle. For great Southern cuisine there's Delilah's, Down Home Diner and Fireworks!

For Greek and Middle Eastern try Olympic Gyro and Kamal's Middle Eastern Specialties. For seafood there are 4 great Asian seafood markets where you can get your meal cooked right there; Coastal Cave,Golden Fish Market,Johnny Yi Fish Market and Kim's Seafood . This is just a sampling of eating establishments I have personally visited and loved in this Philadelphia must-see!

The Market is closed Sunday.