Bites Nearby: Fill Up the Gas Tank and Your Belly at Lilly Orlando

As a food writer for Patch.com I've been fortunate enough to eat at many great restaurants throughout the Main Line and Delaware County areas. There were many places I had never heard of, places that I had seen but never visited and places that I had not only visited but counted among my favorites in the area.  

Outside of the area, I have eaten from food trucks, roadside stands, subway station vendors, and of course soft pretzel vendors on the side of the highway. However, when my editor e-mailed me about I was dubious and confused--it's literally in the at the corner of Route 252 and State Street. I expressed concern about food safety, sanitation and the legality of selling homemade food at a gas station. My editor assured me that she had enjoyed the food personally.

I went in reluctantly but came out surprised and amazed. There is an immaculate and compressed but highly efficient kitchen area where the chef (Darren Orlando) and owner (Russ Tanner) do all the prep and cooking. Tanner informed me that the past two times the health inspector came, they received a score of 100 percent.

The Lilly of Lilly Orlando was the mother of the chef and mother-in-law of the owner. His wife, Diane, spruced up her mother's original recipes. These improved recipes and her brother's culinary skills come together to produce the food that is made daily on the premises.

Tanner prides himself on selling real food instead of unhealthy candy and junk food at the gas station he also owns. In addition, he has numerous stories of grateful patrons who don't have the time to make dinner for their families but can come to Lilly Orlando after work and pick up a meal for that evening or for the whole month.

The eggplant parmigiana ($8) with ravioli was delicious. There was no bitterness to the eggplant and it was flavorful and tender. The tomato sauce was bright and the ravioli were extra large.

The chicken cordon bleu ($8) was surprisingly good. It was prepared in the traditional way: stuffed with ham and cheese (cooper sharp) and breaded on the outside. This came with mashed potatoes and carrots. The chicken was moist and the cheese oozed out. The carrots were aggressively seasoned with black pepper, which I really liked.

Other menu standouts include pork scallopini (sauteed with mushrooms, peppers and homemade sauce, served over pasta, $8), chicken marsala (sauteed with fresh mushrooms & garlic in a marsala wine with choice of linguine or ravioli, $8), chicken lilly (lightly breaded and baked, served over onions and spinach, topped with mozzarella cheese, served with mashed potato and carrots or green beans, $8) and spaghetti and meatballs (homemade sauce, $8).

A la carte items include meatballs (10 meatballs in homemade sauce, $8), ravioli (served with homemade sauce, $8.50), lasagne three-cheese (served with homemade sauce, $8.50) and homemade chicken nuggets ($7/lb)

The priciest of all the items is the veal parmigiana (lightly breaded & topped with mozzarella cheese and homemade sauce with choice of linguine or ravioli, $15.95). Keep in mind that most of, if not all, the dinners are large enough to be eaten as two distinct meals. The portions do not seem that big at first but the containers are deceptively deep.

So next time you stop for gas at the BP station, take a peek inside the fridge across from the cashier's window and grab some real food to go. I promise you'll be as pleased or at the very least, pleasantly surprised, as I was that day.