Beard Papa's, the cult Japanese cream puff brand, is opening a store in Philly's Chinatown

Beard Papa’s, the Japanese cream puff brand with an enormous following, is opening its 578th store in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, adjacent to the Chinatown Friendship Gate. Its grand opening will span March 28 and 29, and will be the brand’s first Philadelphia location.

Beard Papa’s cream puffs are singular in that they have a hybrid crust: a thin, flaky, intentionally rough choux pastry shell with a pie crust bottom. The crust is both crunchy and airy. Its custard fillings have just a hint of sweetness, and use fresh vanilla beans scraped from pods instead of extract.

Founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1999 by Yuji Hirota, whose fluffy white beard inspired its branding, Beard Papa’s is now operated by Muginoho Co., Ltd. (or its subsidiary, Muginoho International Inc.). In the early 2000s, the brand started to aggressively license and franchise, first in Japan and then according to region, beginning in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.

The brand most recently opened a store in Leipzig, Germany, and is also looking to expand in Canada and South America, according to Mark Nathan, Beard Papa’s marketing director in North America. And why Philly’s Chinatown? “Because Chinatown is a destination, and though there are many dessert options, we stand out because we’re only known for one thing,” said Nathan.

Beard Papa’s first entered the U.S. market with a store on New York’s Upper West Side in 2004. The majority of Beard Papa’s stores are franchises, with some corporate stores in California.

A Philly outpost of Beard Papa’s has been bantered about the company’s corporate leadership and American franchisees for years, especially as customers, who grew accustomed to getting cream puffs in New York’s three locations, moved away from the city. Many of them moved to Philadelphia, creating a demand for the cream puffs here.

“Customers have been saying, ‘Open one in Philly, I’m sick of going to New York!’” said Nathan.

A local Philly franchisee secured a location seven weeks ago at 104 N. 10th St., previously the home of MBL & Q Burger. Before that, it housed the straightforwardly named Chinese Restaurant, known for its wontons and peanut noodles.

It was a turnkey space, especially for an operation as simple as Beard Papa’s, whose main equipment needs revolve around a single combi oven (or combination steam oven), which can be precisely set to simultaneously bake and steam Beard Papa’s unique puffs.

The dough is distributed to frozen franchises in hockey puck form, then baked and filled with custard mixed fresh in-store. “The custard is always made fresh on site and never held more than 24 hours,” said Nathan. “We’re a Japanese company and quality always comes first.”

The store is currently in soft open mode. Flavors available when they open officially will be original, matcha, and Oreo and chocolate, though eventually they will put up to twelve items on the menu, ranging from eclair-topped cream puffs to mini fondant lava cakes in chocolate, matcha, and perhaps, ube and pandan.

Expect other limited-time offerings in April, as they continue to determine Philly’s tastes. An original puff will be $4.75 and matcha and chocolate puffs will each be $5.

Hours are currently expected to be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, though these may change depending on foot traffic.