Christian Food Market

Great food market! Usually buy eggs and OJ from here. It’s definitely a much-​needed staple in the neighborhood. Prices are right — less than South St Market.
Place looks a little shady from the outside, but don’t hesitate. Place is great.

I live in a bit of a food desert in Grad Hospital, what with Pathmark closing up soon and the only close options being Green Aisle and South Square.
This neighborhood grocery has the usual scattered supply of fruits, veggies, and snacks (aka I buy birthday cake Oreos when I walked in with no desire to do so).
What I usually go here for and really love, though, is the grill. Decent enough cheesesteak for 3.50? Buffalo chicken wrap for 5? Fries for a dollar or two? It’s hot and freshly made and a great value, and it tides me over when I feel guilty hitting Thai Square for the third time in a week.

This place is a God-​send! I’ve been buying milk, cereal, snacks, and necessities here for four years.
I only recently tried their cheesesteaks (only 6.50 for a 12-​inch) and cheese fries (with the orange cheese – fyi), and they are now a hit in my household.
I also noticed for the first time that they sell hot coffee in the morning.

Now that I’ve been here a few times I’m ready to give a review a shot. This market has most everything… from standard milk eggs oj and bread to serious cereal and canned sections. Most kitchen cleaners and even dog food! Their breakfast sandwiches are bomb and I just got the cheesesteak with onions and mushrooms (which seriously motivated me to write this.) I’m pretty stoaked that I only live a block away because it’s become a staple in my grocery shopping. The only thing they don’t have are shower products to wash yourself. But who cares, showering is overrated anyway!

The perfect corner-​store. Very affordable. Descent food off the grill as well.

This store is great: convenient, organized, pretty clean, and affordable.
Basically this place is a hybrid corner store and small supermarket combination that has great service, personality and good prices.
Also, in the last year, the store has an area near the door where they offer fresh vegetables and fruit. It is more expensive, because it is a corner store after all, but great in a fix.

Thank god for Papi’s.
The prices are so unbelievably low. Dump a bunch of stuff on the counter — sodas, chips, paper towels, gallon of milk, crackers, cat food, windex — 10 bucks.
Sure there are going to be some things missing — fresh things, healthy items, etc. but you will get what you need when you are in a pinch.
Poppi was open during hurricane Sandy with flashlights and batteries at a reasonable price; that’s the kind of guy he is.
One of these days I’m going to try the $ 1 empandas.

YES.
This is just an awesome place. When I go in, grab my Dr. Pepper, bag of chips and pack of Parliaments I feel like I’m a kid in a candy store again.
They have everything you could need for your house — and it’s dirt cheap.
There have been weeks where I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store and ate Tuna and Chicken Finger Hoagies from here Monday through Thursday night– and was more than content.
Papi is a good guy — he puts up with a lot of people but always keeps a smile on his face. He’s also willing to talk in spanish with you if you know a little — always good to get some more practice.
If you live anywhere near here, consider yourself lucky.

I challenge you to not be able to find what you are looking for here. They have absolutely everything and for cheaper than most grocery stores.

While I’m definitely more skeptical than my fellow Unilocalers when it comes to trying the prepared foods at this market, I will agree that the place is stocked to the brim with absolutely everything. I’ve never made it all the way down the aisles; the couple of visits I’ve made have been for milk or OJ. But it’s clear that this place probably covers every household need.
Maybe I’ll give the breakfast sandwiches a shot sometime. Maybe.

This place is the corner store to end all corner stores. You can get EVERYTHING here for dirt cheap. I’ve gotten their prepared food and it’s always been great. I also do a decent amount of food shopping here. You can get a months worth of food for under $ 50, my hand to god. The man even has blank cd’s for $ 1! I never worry about not having something I need at my apartment, with Christian street food market a few doors down they have everything!

Today was my second time at Christian Food Market. I came in strictly based on the rave reviews.
The first time was just for butter and Orange Juice, both of which were obtained in a quick and painless process.
Today I came in hungry, not knowing what I wanted. I ordered a salad with chicken on top and 2 Beef Patties. The salad exceeded my expectations of what I would expect from here although it did take 10 – 15 minutes to make everything.
Every nook and cranny is filled with things one might need in an emergency or on the regular. The grocery area is not the cleanest area, but I did make a mental note of how clean the cooking area was and how meticulous the cooks were to wash every utensil before using it (although it was «clean» already).
A nod in the 1 star guys direction… I scoped out the deli meats and they appeared to be a little «off». I’m not sure what their policy is on that.
CFM is 100% convenience and has what your looking for.
For my grand finale I will total my bill for you:
1 Large Salad with Chicken
2 Beef Patties
1 Bottle of Ranch Dressing
1 Tall Can of Arizona Iced Tea
1 Small bag of Chips
$ 11.57
Yes…$ 11.57.
WIN!

This place is amazing. My husband and I just moved here, and we live a few blocks away. They have fantastic sandwiches, none of which are over $ 5. Their products are cheap, and I couldn’t believe how much we got for less than $ 27. I’m so glad to finally have a corner market nearby!

The best convenience store in Philadelphia. Friendly service and incredibly cheap prices. I live just a few blocks away so I’ve ordered plenty of hoagies from them, and they are always good and much cheaper and better than hoagies from Wawa and some other corner stores. They have a very random assortment of goods to sell, but they have most of the essentials covered. I went in the other day and bought a pastrami hoagie, vitamin water, and Dunkaroos for only 4 dollars… need I say more?

POPPI!
I am pretty sure he makes up the prices sometimes. I went in there one morning looking to fix a mild saturday hangover. Scrapple egg and cheese, diet soda, huge water, two bananas. $ 4.50. Huh? Don’t question poppi, just pay up.

Of all the thousands of essential life lessons that I’ve learned from Michael Douglas in Falling Down, two of the most important are without a doubt that men with bats set convenience store pricing and there are no V’s in Korea.
After the first time I walked into the Christian Food Market, met the eternally-​affable proprietor, Poppi, and saw the insanely low prices, I spent the next two months with my head on a swivel on perpetual look-​out for some rabid, bat-​wielding, price-​slashing, Puerto Rican gang-​hassling maniac with a crew cut. I was convinced there was no rational economic explanation for Poppi’s pricing strategy. It just HAD to be the result of aggressive vigilante intimidation.
Turns out I just suffer from a mild case of paranoia and an extremely overactive imagination. Poppi’s is just cheap. Flat out cheap. I’ve never seen anything like it. Couple this simple feature with his incredibly creative and diverse inventory, and you’ve got yourself a winning corner store.
In fact, I’d go so far as to argue that Poppi’s Christian Food Market isn’t just a winner — it’s the KING of Philadelphia Convenience Stores.
While I love everything about my little market, my absolute favorite aspect of the Poppi shopping experience is that it’s almost as if there are no set prices and he sort of just decides what’s fair when you step up to the register with an armload of goods.
«Ok, ok what do you have there? A bag of chips, a Phillies hat, a half-​pound of Roast Beef, an extension cord, 3 big white tees, a dozen eggs, garden shears, jar of hogs feet, Jesus candle, and a hair weave? — Hmmmmm, that’ll be $ 6.00?» (He always ends his price with a question mark as if it were open to debate or he feels guilty about it being too high!)
And, it’s always a flat price. It’s never $ 6.37 or $ 6.83, only $ 6.00. Should there somehow be a decimal, he’ll just round down. Round down??? In 2K9? That never happens! I challenge you to not be completely F-​ing shocked when you get your Poppi price, no matter what it is you buy.
Should you ever find yourself on the corner of 23^rd and Christian, I strongly recommend a Poppi Pop-​In. You won’t be disappointed and, unlike the greedy Mr. Lee, you certainly won’t find him charging 85 cents for a stinking soda!

The Christian Food Market is the only deli within city limits where I can buy a hoagie for $ 2.50 and a cheesesteak (with extras) for $ 3.00 that will make greaseball Pat or Gino’s look like a bloated fat sack of meat for double the price. Family owned and operated, you’ll run into a different member of the clan on any given day, and each one is always ready with a smile and a «hey mami». Not only do they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the dime, but you’ll find all kinds of goodies for sale. Hair extensions? Obama tees? Single cigarettes? They got what you need. Lucky for me, I only live a block away!