The dive bars we love | Let’s Eat

Our main feature this week is a roundup of Philly’s top dive bars — where we find cold beer, warm stories, and nothing curated. We’ve mapped them out for you.

Also in this edition:

— Mike Klein

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A good dive bar doesn’t try to impress — it just pours a drink, remembers your face, and lets the night take care of itself. We asked for ideas and got 400 responses. Here are 20 favorites in Philly.

To think that two years ago, culinary student RJ Smith was hosting four-seat dinners for friends. On Sunday, Smith begins a six-month chef’s residency at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Read on for the story — all the more remarkable when you realize that the creator of Ocho Supper Club is a 21-year-old college senior.

🧑‍🍳 Alex Fiorello, 28, is taking over the shuttered Il Fiore in Bryn Mawr for his third suburban restaurant. Like the others, it will carry the Alessandro’s name.

There’s a little bit of Philly in Tokyo: a bar called Nihonbashi Philly, where the cheesesteak is the go-to sandwich. Critic Craig LaBan happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped for a bite.

Our “Perfect Philly Day” series caught up with Emilio Mignucci of the Di Bruno Bros. family. His day revolves around cheese, but when lunchtime comes around, he heads to a stand that serves “the most succulent pork sandwich.”

Now that we’ve dug out our sidewalks, we’re digging dishes, like these chewy, hand-pulled lagman noodles that wowed Craig LaBan. Meanwhile, Beatrice Forman found a pizza in Queen Village that is the real MVP and Patricia Madej capped off her meal in Kensington with caramel toast.

Call Your Mother, a bagel shop and “Jew-ish” deli from D.C., is coming to Fishtown, and our Emily Bloch lox up the details: stuffed bagel sandwiches, babka muffins, and a special Philly menu item or two.

Fergus Carey and Jim McNamara of Fergie’s Pub, the Jim, and the Goat Rittenhouse, are headed to Old City for a yet-to-be-named pub at the former Mac’s Tavern.

Haraz Coffee House — the Yemeni coffee franchise that opened its third area location last week in a former Starbucks in Flourtown and will soon open in Marlton Crossing Shopping Center under a different ownership group — has a deal in Center City. It’s seeking zoning approval at 1822 Chestnut St., next door to Boyds.

In other Rittenhouse little-treat news, I hear that Somedays Bakery out of Queens, N.Y., has signed a lease at the former Republic Bank at 16th and Walnut, on the 16th Street side.

Greg Vernick is having a great week. He made the James Beard semifinals for Outstanding Restaurateur and he opened the cozy Emilia, an Italian restaurant in Kensington. (Shown above is the sea scallop crudo and burrata.) Walk-ins are welcome here; read on for the rundown.

Shiroi Hana, one of Center City’s oldest Japanese restaurants, closed Saturday after 41 years at 222 S. 15th St. Owner Robert Moon, who bought it in 1998, has decamped to his other restaurant, Doma (1822 Callowhill St.), which opened in 2010.

Thirteen chefs and restaurants are in the running for James Beard Awards. Mark your calendars for the announcement of the finalists on March 31.

Honeysuckle chefs Omar Tate and Cybille St.Aude-Tate (on the Beard semifinalist list for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic) will host an evening with culinary historian Jessica B. Harris, who will sign her latest cookbook, Braided Heritage, on Thursday from 6 p.m. Passed hors d’oeuvres, developed by Honeysuckle chef de cuisine Taylor Renée Threadgill, will be served, including beef boulettes with gravy aioli, wild rice-and-mustard green cakes, salt cod fritters with tomato sauce, calas fritters, cornbread dressing with marinated crab, fried catfish bites, and peanut brittle. Harris’ bestselling High on the Hog was turned into a four-part Netflix docuseries in 2021. Tickets are $135pp, bookable on OpenTable.

Front Street Café in Fishtown will host a vegan French dinner on Thursday, featuring a fully plant-based four-course menu (think brandade with nori-poached hearts of palm; salad Niçoise; grilled broccoli steak with turnip purée and black garlic molasses; and a pear crêpe dessert) and wine pairings with each course. It’s $65pp plus 20% gratuity and 2% service charge. Reservations (required) are up on OpenTable.

Milk Jawn will mark Ice Cream for Breakfast Day starting at 9 a.m. Feb. 7 at their East Passyunk and Northern Liberties locations with flights featuring four limited-edition, cereal-centric flavors for $12.50 apiece.

Northern Liberties Restaurant Week is on through Feb. 8 with two dozen restos offering two-course (or more) lunches for $10, $15 and/or $20 and three-course (or more) dinners for $25, $35 and/or $45. Details are here.

The Muhibbah Dinner series, founded by Ange Branca of Kampar, returns Feb. 16 from 6-9 p.m. at BLDG39 at the Arsenal, 5401 Tacony St. The family-style, multicourse charity dinner, benefiting Puentes de Salud, features Branca alongside chef Yun Fuentes (Bolo), Natalia Lepore Hagan (Midnight Pasta), Brizna Rojas and Aldo Obando (Mucho Peru), Enaas Sultan (Haraz Coffee House Fishtown), and David Suro (Tequilas and La Jefa). It’s BYOB. Tickets are $170pp and available here.

Uchi will partner its Philly chef de cuisine, Ford Sonnenberg, with chef Marc Vetri to host a one-night, nine-course dinner on Feb. 26 blending Vetri Cucina and Uchi sensibilities. Highlights include A5 wagyu cheesesteak corzetti, pesce marinato with squid, shrimp, and scallop, smoked duck breast riso al salto, kurodai sashimi, and turnip nerui. A few à la carte items, including Vetri’s rigatoni, will be available. It’s $175pp plus tax/tip, with staggered seatings from 4 p.m. bookable on Uchi’s website; a portion of proceeds benefits Vetri Community Partnership.

Cricket Club in Cape May will host a one-night, five-course pop-up dinner on March 1 honoring the cooking of the late local chef Joe Lotozo, with all proceeds benefiting the Cape May Food Bank. The menu ($188pp) revisits several of Lotozo’s specials from his time circa 1988 at the Bayberry Inn, the Congress Hall restaurant now known as the Blue Pig Tavern. Organized by his children, Eliza and Bo Lotozo — who, along with family and friends, will handle service — the dinner will be cooked by Lotozo’s former sous chef, Chris Shriver, a onetime Cape May restaurateur. The event is supported by the Cricket Club and its sister restaurant, the Mad Batter, where Lotozo, who died in 2018 at age 64, began his cooking career in the early 1970s and met his wife, Susan. Details are here.

A Southwest Philadelphia strip club is attracting attention for what?

A) the better-than-sex cake

B) naked fries

C) naughty topiaries

D) the strip-steak special

Find out if you know the answer.

Foodie living in Blue Bell here. I noted that you mentioned new places in Chestnut Hill and Fort Washington but I have not heard of any new or exciting places nearby. I don’t understand why in an affluent place like this there is such a boring array of restaurants. I frequent the old standards here and in Ambler, but nothing is really exciting, fresh, or new. Why? My theory is that Blue Bell is charming but has no real town center but rather two small shopping centers at Routes 202 and 73. — Bob

Several factors may be at work, including your theory. Blue Bell, a slice of Whitpain Township, isn’t as walkable or dense as towns such as Ambler, Conshohocken, and Ardmore. Also, real estate is tight and expensive for independents, with few second-generation restaurant spaces to recycle and landlords seeking high rent and long-term leases. Labor is tougher in much of the burbs, where restaurants compete with hospitals, schools, corporate jobs, and other retailers for the same workforce. Also, customer patterns skew toward “known quantities” — e.g. chains. (Hence, the new Wonder in Centre Square Commons.) That makes opening a new independent restaurant feel riskier.

Plus, much of the demand is already met — but spread out, as Blue Bellians already drive the 10 to 20 minutes to Conshy, Ambler, Skippack, Wayne, or King of Prussia, siphoning “destination dining” energy.

Though not new, my own favorites include Blue Bell Inn, Radice, Saath Indian Grill, Su20 Sushi, and El Serape. While we’re at it, my kids are addicted to the fried chicken at Lovebird. And keep an eye on Fort Washington, where Academy Grill is taking shape st Cantina Feliz’s former location, as well as Ambler, where Dettera will give way this spring to a Mediterranean concept.

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

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