Year in Review: Top Posts of 2011

It's recap time! 2011 was a huge year for 22nd & Philly, with our readership increasing as well as our Twitter/Facebook following. Thank you to all our visitors, commenters and fellow foodie pals for keeping this blog on its toes. We cherished the opportunity to get to know you better, both in person and online. Looking forward to more foodie adventures in 2012!

Here are our top seven posts for 2011 based on pageviews:

Guapos Tacos Truck

Guapos Tacos Food Truck: Bringing Jose Garces to the People: Garces' traveling tacos exemplified the burgeoning popularity of food trucks in Philly. Chasing down Guapos Tacos in its opening nights was one of our most exciting food adventures of the year.

Review of Pamcakes, a Philly cupcakery: One mention of Pamcakes in an earlier post and the crowd went wild. When we had to the chance to give it a try, Pam's delightful desserts did not disappoint.

2011 Philly Beer Week Cheat Sheet: There are hundreds of events scheduled for Philadelphia's annual Beer Week. We wanted to help readers by picking out a handful to attend. From the Philadelphia Cheese Experiment to hot dog pairings at Doobie's, this year's Beer Week was chock full of fun. Can't wait for June 1-10, 2012 when Beer Week returns.

Manakeesh: Best Baklava in Philly? Wow. Who knew Philadelphians took their baklava so seriously? Check out the comments section for the all-out war that ensued over who serves the best baklava, the treat's cultural origins and more.

2nd Annual Best of Philly To-Do List: Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly" list each August provides a great starting point for new foodie outings. So far we've checked off Monsu, Pizzeria Stella, Beck's Cajun Cafe, Blackfish and Khyber Pass Pub. Reviews to come and more to try in the next six months.

Taconelli's Signature Pizza

Ten Things You Need to Know about Tacconelli's Pizzeria: Also an instigator for quite the discussion on who serves the best pizza in town, our advice on how to approach the non-traditional ways of Tacconelli's struck a chord with many readers. We welcome all suggestions on other pizza to try, but we still love our Tacconelli's :-).

Stephen Starr Goes Gastro: Dandelion: 2011 was another big year for the venerable Stephen Starr with Frankford Hall, Il Pittore, Talula's Garden, Route 6 and of course, Dandelion. Like most Starr openings, Dandelion generated a ton of buzz and lived up to the hype, though we still favor Pub & Kitchen as our go-to gastropub.

Wishing you a happy and healthy new year!

Review of Pamcakes, a Philly Cupcakery

Who knew that a little piece of heaven was sitting just a few blocks away? 22nd & Philly readers spoke up recently in ravishing support for Pamcakes, a new-ish cupcake boutique on 20th Street between Pine and Lombard. I visited right away and the sugar high had me typing at lightning speed to get my thoughts documented on screen.

Pamcakes fittingly opened on Valentine's Day 2011 in the old Darling's Cheesecake location. It is proprietor Pam Kingsland's first formal venture into the cupcake world. She started in Northern Liberties selling cupcakes at farmer's markets to get her name out, but when demand for her treats got too high, she opened up shop.