• About one year out is Amina Ocean at 41st & Market by superstar Philly restaurateur Felicia Wilson and her chef Darryl Harmon. This will be southern seafood with a raw bar. Okay, so a year is a long time to wait, so perhaps you want to check out Wilson’s restaurant opening this month—BlackHen—a fried chicken BYOB on the 100 block of Chestnut in Old City. Or her mainstay, Amina, on the same Old City bock. By the way, she is working on a fourth restaurant, Swahili—an American restaurant coming to Park Town Place on the Parkway this spring. My nostalgia connection here is that my grandmom lived at Park Town when I was a kid in the 70s and early 80s. Haven’t been in the complex since. I think this may be the time I revisit.
• Kilimandjaro was previously on the 4200 block of Chestnut but was demolished for a new building. Now it is in the new building. And the small sister restaurant Youma will remain open on the 4500 block of Baltimore. Delicious Senegalese food here. Do I have a connection here? Well, I just sold a beautiful five-unit building directly across the street just last month.
• Masala Kitchen is opening at 34th & Sansom in the Spring. Indian street food. I am in UCity all the time, so I see a Chicken Tawa Kati roll on my lunch horizon.
• Two Locals Brewing Co. coming this month to 3675 Market. With food handled by Liberty Kitchen!
• Urbanspace at 31st & Market will be a food court concept with 16 vendors. Timing and food are all TBD, but this sounds super cool.
• Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao—soup dumplings! Coming to UCity soon.
• West Philly’s Bart’s Bagels, one of the city’s best bagel places, is opening in Bella Vista at 10th & Catharine, right across the street from Dante & Luigi’s. And yes, I have a connection here as well. Back in high school in the 80s, my parents took me to dinner at Dante’s at least once or twice every week. Literally, that sounds crazy to me now, but it was delicious. And pretty much everything went in the 1980s.

Kilimandjaro is a place that is resurrecting in the exact same location.

Here are a few more…

• Jim’s Steaks. Yes, the OG at 4th & South. Victim of a fire and now back and expanded. I grew up two blocks from Jim’s, and it was my main cheesesteak place as a kid. I went there with my dad all the time. And I ate a lot more cheesesteaks as a kid than I do now (sadly). In fact, mostly before 1985, I ate more cheesesteaks at Jim’s than anywhere else. So, welcome back. Perhaps I will stop in once they reopen next month for a cheesesteak with whiz, sweet peppers, and ketchup—exactly like I ate it as a kid.
• Another fire victim was Tequila’s at 16th & Locust. It is set to reopen early this year. Just two blocks from my office, I love Tequila’s, and I look forward to their chicken mole soon.
• Another one of my favorite spots within two blocks of my office is Dizengoff, the awesome hummuseria on the 1600 block of Sansom. Dizengoff is expanding into the old Abe Fisher space and should open later this year.
• Man Full of Trouble Tavern—Okay, this one is reopening this spring 265 after it originally grand opening (and yes, it is under new ownership). On the 100 block of Spruce Street, drink in the exact same spot where an 18th century dock worker would have enjoyed his ale.

Since I mentioned, I grew up right by Jim’s; as a kid, I enjoyed my breakfast sandwiches right off the corner of 6th & South, next to the old Tower Records. Well, decades later, that place became the spectacular Serpico, which closed during the pandemic. Well, the 604 South location will be back soon as Shiso Noodle Bar, specializing in ramen, soba, and udon noodles.

And a block from Shiso is Kampar at 7th & Kater. A relocation of James Beard Award nominee Sate Kampar. Malaysian food at its best.

Several new theme concepts are coming—

• Barcade at 1326 Chestnut. Video games and a full bar. The original location remains open in Fishtown.
• Two blocks away on the 1400 block of Walnut is Flight Club, a dart-throwing bar.
• Puttshack is a new bar at 17th & Chestnut (in Liberty Place). Indoor golf and drinking.
• Beat the Bomb at 1218 Chestnut. An escape room/bar.

All of these places are within a few blocks of my office, which happens to be in the same building as SPiN, a ping-pong bar. I could see a team event at one of these new places in the future (we have already done SPiN, an escape room, axe throwing, etc).

A themed place where I will not be going for a team event is Get a Gato—a cat adoption café at 7th & Christian. Or maybe we will.

Bouqeria, a Spanish restaurant, is opening at 1608 Sansom later this year. It seems like almost every place is within two blocks of my office. Another example is Garage Rittenhouse, a sports bar in the Old Fox & Hound space at 15th & Spruce. Located in the same garage as my monthly spot! Opening later this year.

Breezy’s Deli & Market is opening at 23rd& Washington on the southern border of the Graduate neighborhood, from longtime Philly pastry chef Chad Durkin of Porco’s Porchetteria & Small Oven Pastry Shop (across the street).

OMG, there are so many more, including, one or two in the River Wards and along Passyunk Avenue. Or should I say 10 or 20? May have to hit this topic again soon. And maybe I will check out some of these early 2024 openers in the meantime.

Enjoy the snow.

Warm regards,

Jeff