Meet Me at the Broad Street Market
Founded in 1860, the Broad Street Market is the oldest continuously operating market in the country. In fact, the Market helped to feed the 300,000 Union soldiers that passed through nearby Camp Curtin during the Civil War. Today, the Broad Street Market continues to be a thriving market, a meeting place and showcase for some incredible local, seasonal and artisanal products from Central Pennsylvania.
The Market is home to over 40 vendors selling everything from fresh produce, seafood, bread, desserts and more. A few blocks from the Capitol Complex in Midtown Harrisburg, the Market is comprised of two historic buildings—the stone building in front, along 3rd Street and brick building in the back, along 6th Street.
There is so much diversity and variety of cultures and foods at the Broad Street Market. It’s a great place to meet and spend time connecting over food. Maybe certain sights, smells or flavors trigger memories of family, friends or events in your life that you want to share with others. I enjoy getting to know people through the food they love, trying new foods together or reminisce about the foods we ate years ago.
I’ve highlighted here some of my favorite things at the Market.
Bakers Gonna Bake
Upon entering the stone building from 3rd Street, is the Raising the Bar bakery where they bake bread, pastries, cookies and more. Everything is as beautiful as it is tasty. On a recent Saturday morning, I overheard a woman who had just taken a bite of her croissant say, “This is what a croissant should taste like.” Since I’ve been on a gluten-free diet since 2013, my favorite item at Raising the Bar is the flourless chocolate cake. It is dense, rich and more chocolatey than it is sweet. It is divine.
Hole Foods
There was no donut shop at the Market, so Eva from Evanilla decided to open one. Using a small donut machine, Evanilla turns out handmade, small batch cake donuts within its small space in the Market. Many donuts are made with seasonal ingredients and, therefore, certain flavors will be temporary. Evanilla does sell out, so get there early to get yours.
Go Dutch
The Mennonites have a big presence at the Market, operating a number of different stalls selling baked goods, fresh fruits and vegetables and pantry staples, among other things. The Shoo-fly pie they sell reminds me of my family’s annual day-trips to Lancaster County when I was growing up. The sour green tomatoes they sell are the ones my grandparents always had in the refrigerator. They are hand rolling soft pretzels, a version of which was a staple of our diets in Philadelphia. We would get pretzels at school on Wednesdays for $.10 a bag. Sometimes we would get them from the vendors standing in the middle of Roosevelt Boulevard while we sat in our car and waited for the light to turn green.
You Knead This
There are so many options at the Market for a meal—Jamaican food, wings, cheesesteaks, BBQ, pierogis, sandwiches and Mexican to name a few. Pizza, however, is one of my favorite things ever and I love the pizza at the Market. Knead HBG in the stone building makes one of the best pizzas I’ve had from their 1,000 degree hearth oven—both regular and gluten-free. At Radish and Rye in the Market’s brick building, you can buy Knead HBG pizza kits to make at home.
The crust of Knead’s gluten-free pizza crust is super light and crispy, yet sturdy enough to handle all the fresh toppings. We recently ordered the Choke Artie with artichokes, spinach, roasted garlic cream and shredded mozzarella. My gluten-free pizza was the Artie Badger. This pizza was a combination of the Choke Artie and Honey Badger. It didn’t have the soppressata that’s on the Honey Badger, but it had hot honey, tomato sauce, artichokes, spinach and shredded mozzarella (vegan cheese is also available). Meeting friends at the Market for this pizza is new favorite Saturday activity.
Radish and Rye
Radish and Rye in the brick building is a great spot in the Market. The owners of Radish and Rye, Julia and Dusty, are always smiling, always happy to see you and they sell amazing products from this area. They sell organic produce, meats, and dairy items from local farms, breads, jams, and local products like Calicutts spice blends and Torchbearer BBQ, Hot and Wing sauces.
When I was looking for Pennsylvania-made products to send to my college friend in Austin, Texas, I went to Radish and Rye (he loved everything, including the pickled okra). I used to buy chocolate milk in glass bottles there for my friend’s young son in Philadelphia. Each time I visited, an empty bottle would be there for me to take home to exchange for a new one. I don’t know what it is, but milk always tastes better when it comes out of a glass container.
Like other vendors in the Market—Urban Churn, Elementary Coffee and Knead HBG—Radish and Rye will soon be opening another location outside the Market on 3rd Street in Midtown Harrisburg.
Say Cheese
I stopped at Revittle to admire the cheeses, which it produces in its creamery with local milk. Revittle has won national awards for its cheese, which can be shipped all over the country. What drew me to Revittle was the raclette cheese. Raclette is a semi-hard cheese that I first saw on Instagram, as popularized in New York City restaurants. The half wheel of cheese sits under a heat lamp and when it’s time to use, a warm layer of cheese is scraped from the cut side onto a thick piece of sourdough bread. It’s topped with a second piece of bread and then placed on a hot grill. This is definitely not the grilled cheese sandwich of Wonderbread and individually wrapped American cheese slices I had as a kid. If you like good cheese and want to try something you haven’t had before, treat yourself at Revittle.
So Shellfish
I’ve written about my mild obsession with Maine seafood, especially since I learned only five years ago that I’m not allergic to shellfish. Thanks to JB Kelly Seafood Connection, I can get my fix of seafood from Maine. Kelly’s makes regular trips to Maine, buys seafood directly from the fisherman and sells it right here in Midtown Harrisburg. You can choose from what’s available or make a request for the following week if you’re looking for something specific. Order your Maine lobsters at Kelly’s and they’ll steam them for you for a quick, fresh and delicious meal. For another easy meal, Kelly’s often has really good gluten-free crab cakes ready to throw on the pan at home.
Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
There is no shortage of sweet treats at the Market. Urban Churn at the Market creates some really interesting flavors of ice cream. Made the old fashioned way—using ice and salt—Urban Churn sells traditional flavors like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. However, flavors change often and you’ll find things like creamy turmeric, coconut curry and basil lime ice creams (you can try before you buy). Urban Churn at the Market was closed the day I was there, so we stopped at their shop nearby on 3rd Street. I had a scoop of Japanese Whiskey Molasses and a scoop of Roasted Banana with rainbow jimmies. Both were delicious, flavorful and unique. Urban Churn also makes sorbet, vegan ice cream and sundaes.
A current obsession of mine these days is the Stuff Cups at Sweet 717. Stuff cups are filled with either peanut butter, caramel cashew, coconut lemon, marshmallow, cookies and cream and enrobed in a layer of chocolate. My favorites are the marshmallow with dark chocolate (aka the healthier chocolate) and the caramel cashew. I absolutely crave these things. Sweet 717 also sells a range of different flavors of fudge, candy and homemade marshmallows (aka “fluffs”).
Final Thoughts
Today, we have so many choices for anything we want, but it was much simpler when I was kid. Birthday cakes were always chocolate chip with white icing from Hesh’s Bakery on Castor Avenue. My grandparents always had cold cuts, lox and fresh pumpernickel from Famous Deli on Bustleton Avenue. If we ordered pizza, it was either from Gearo’s, New England Pizza or Giovanni’s. These were my comfort foods. I moved away from the old neighborhood years ago and many of the places I knew are closed. Thanks to the Broad Street Market, I have found new comfort foods while still reminded of the old ones.
The Broad Street Market reminds me of the way we shopped when I was little. Similar to the main Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia where I grew up, the Market is an important part of the community in which I live now. The places where we shopped along the Avenues were family-owned, specialized in certain things perfected over many years and owners took great pride in their contributions to the community. The same can be said for the vendors at the Broad Street Market. Vendors at the Market love to talk about what they make, what they grow and how they do it. Many times, it’s not just the raw ingredients that make food taste good, but it’s the passion, commitment and dedication behind it.
If you’re in Harrisburg on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, I recommend you stop by the Broad Street Market. Eat in, take out or just walk around and admire what’s around you. I found my favorites there and I know you will find yours.
