What's for lunch on 18th Street

Restaurants want to be where the action is, and 18th Street from Market Street to Rittenhouse Square is one of the busiest restaurant corridors in Center City. Like the proverbial birds of a feather, a growing clutch of eateries, approaching two dozen, is catering to the lunch crowd. In the last week, a soup/salad/sandwich place called Brodo took a spot in the United Plaza building, just south of Market. Across the street, a Japanese soup restaurant called Nom Nom Ramen opened in March, and the vegan takeout HipCityVeg opened two weeks ago just north of the square, next to what may become a Crumbs Bake Shop. The week-old Rittenhouse Tavern, in the Art Alliance at the southeastern corner of the square, expects to join the lunch fray.