Two great new moves by Tara Finder at the Biscuit Lady’s Plymouth Meeting location: later hours on weekends (till 8 p.m. for dine in or takeout) and a chicken biscuit sandwich that’s only available after 2:30 p.m. The Maddie J is five ounces of crispy fried chicken juiciness, a slice of American cheese, and a swipe of house Buffalo sauce. There’s a huge crunch and a zingy kick, but keep your plate handy because the light, flaky biscuit can barely contain all that goodness. It’s the perfect late-day counterpoint to morning specialties such as the smash burger with bacon, fried egg, and jalapeño pimento cheese (Don’t Go Bacon My Heart) and the cheesesteak riff with ribeye, Cooper sharp, egg, and onion (the Stella). The Biscuit Lady, 115 Plymouth Rd., Plymouth Meeting, 484-243-6957, visitthebiscuitlady.com

— Michael Klein

If you grew up in a hot dog culture like I did, devouring every Coney I could find in Metro Detroit, the snap of the natural casing on Royal Tavern’s bespoke wieners is a flashback revelation. The Bella Vista bar’s third annual Dog Days of Summer event is in full throttle through the end of July, and they’re not serving skinless franks — the industrial norm — here. The taught-yet-delicate resistance on these artisanal links unleashes a savory rush of meaty juice, the pureed pork-beef blend harboring a balanced soupçon of coriander, garlic, and applewood smoke.

Royal Tavern chef Nic Macri — whose butchery chops are still intact from his charcuterie run with La Divisa at the Reading Terminal Market — began Dog Days two years ago as a labor of love to boost the bar’s typical summer doldrums. He ended-up selling over 5,000 dogs that first July, then 7,000 in 2025, limiting it once again to the month due to the logistical challenge of transforming his small kitchen into a temporary frankfurter factory. This year, they aim to hit 10,000. To do so, Macri has turned to Happy Valley Meats to co-pack their proprietary recipe with responsibly-raised meats.

The creative challenge is still considerable: four new and different preparations are unveiled every Monday for five weeks, pairing different techniques (steamed, char-grilled, fried, griddled) with an array of flavor toppings. No modifications allowed. I was charmed by the Baltimore-themed picnic of a dog last week topped with Old Bay macaroni salad and a scoop of fresh crab. But the purist in me kept returning to the Bronx-inspired steamer topped with saucy onions and brown mustard that still allowed that quality link to shine. There will be new cast of dogs next week themed to the World Cup, then a final quad dog bracket to bring it home, culminating in all 24 returning July 31 to celebrate a month of memorable wiener studies. The chef insists it will then be time to return to the fall programming of burgers, smoked beef and fish sandwiches, no matter how much I plead our case: If Macri hasn’t turned Philly into a true hot dog town by then, no one can.

Royal Tavern, 937 Passyunk Ave., 215-389-6694, royaltavern.com

— Craig LaBan

El Sazón R.D. in Northern Liberties only serves three things: smash burgers, empanadas, and fries — all with a Dominican twist. Luckily, it does them extremely well. The smash burgers have a crisp, lacy edge and come topped with queso de freir, a fried slab of slightly salty white cheese that elevates the sandwich from just a burger into something I’d wait in line for.

The limited menu’s true hero, however, are the loaded fries. The dish is a decadent play on salchipapas — a street food ubiquitous across Latin America that combines fries with cut-up hot dog links — that comes with more cubes of queso de freir and two hefty drizzles of tangy mayo-ketchup. The franks are juicy enough that they pop in your mouth, while cubing and frying the white cheese basically renders them into delectable cheese curds. Beware, though: these fries are very heavy, a meal in and of themselves that I often have to follow up with a nap. El Sazón R.D., 1030 N. Second St., 917-920-1316, elsazon-rd.com

— Beatrice Forman

When Shikoku native Shiho Utsunomiya first came to Philadelphia in 2000 and tried a Philly cheesesteak, she exclaimed, “This is a gyu-don! Well, the meat is anyway.” Eighteen years later, she began serving a chipsteak-based gyu-don at her food truck, Haha’s Kitchen (“Haha” means “mother” in Japanese), which typically parks in Spring Garden. The $10 bowl has tremendously tender beef, laced through with sweet, slow-cooked onions, and comes decorated with a neon pink crown of pickled ginger. Served over steamed kokuho rice, it’s decadent and filling, and perhaps one of the best lunch deals in town.

It’s also a marvel to watch Utsunomiya do absolutely everything in the cart, from taking orders to preparing a large menu that encompasses American lunch standards like Italian sausage and hot dogs to chicken karaage, onigiri, and of course, this magnificent gyu-don. The best part of lunch may be witnessing her cheerful but fierce independence comes to bear in the small kitchen. Utsunomiya worked at the now-closed Hikaru between bearing and raising children, “but it’s very difficult to have kids and work in a restaurant kitchen,” she said. You should also grab one of the $3.50 tuna mayo onigiri for later. Generously sized and lovingly made, it tastes like a Japanese mother tucked it into your lunchbox. Haha’s Kitchen, 471 N. Seventh St., instagram.com/hahas_kitchen

— Kiki Aranita