Bomb Bomb Bar revives a classic South Philly Italian seafood spot with panache and care

You won’t find chef Joey Baldino flexing tweezers with microgreens or dotting plates with fluid gels at the Bomb Bomb Bar & Grill.

That’s because Baldino, who also owns the popular Palizzi Social Club near 12th and Reed and Collingswood’s Zeppoli, occupies a unique place in Philadelphia’s pantheon of chefs as the preservationist-in-chief for the classic-but-fading flavors of Italian South Philly.

Baldino has managed one of the trickiest tasks possible — to retain the essential character of a down-to-earth neighborhood bar while also making it his own, giving more depth to the seafood and drinks, and infusing it with sustainable new appeal for newcomers and longstanding regulars alike.

At the Bomb Bomb, where the tiny back dining room is draped with red-checked tablecloths, a plastic marlin hangs on the wall, and Louis Prima tunes fill the air (along with Nina Simone, the Ramones, and vintage Herb Alpert brass), this humble son of East Passyunk is at his best in summoning his ancestors with, among other things, one of the best “mussels red” I’ve ever had. A shot of Calabrian chili paste and white wine give his fra diavolo sauce an irresistibly zesty ba-da-boom. His reinterpration of a venerable standby like lobster francese is even more proof of his golden old-soul touch: He infuses the meat with the zing of “Goodfellas-style thin-shaved garlic” before crisping it inside a delicate egg-wash crust, then floating it atop a lemony puddle of butter sauce laced with the briny crunch of caper leaves beneath the bright orange lid of its shell.

“It’s time to bib up now!’” says longtime Bomb Bomb server Linda DeCero, sidling up behind us to tie on the disposable plastic bibs for our seafood feast to come, a plump and meaty steamed Dungeness crab for two scented with juniper, orange, and bay beside a votive-warmed basin of drawn butter.

As one of several options for the prix-fixe menu here, it’s a different kind of crustacean indulgence than the homey spaghetti with crab gravy the Bomb Bomb was originally known for. That was when it was owned by the Barbato family, which not only gave this storied corner taproom its name (a nod to a pair of 1936 firebombings allegedly committed by a jealous competitor), but also kept it rolling with baked ribs and “That’s Amore!” kitsch for 73 years until it was sold to Baldino in early 2025.

Baldino, who took nine months to open his lightly renovated version of the bar, has managed the transition with aplomb. Just ask the two cheerful sisters at the table beside us, who came from South Jersey to toast their late father’s birthday with a celebratory dinner and sundae at his longtime favorite tavern: “He’d love what they’ve done to place!” one told me as we waited outside in the rain for our rides after the meal.

Baldino, 47, is uniquely suited for the task, having grown up eating steamed crabs out of a wooden bowl at his grandfather Al Mazza’s very similar bar at 12th and Reed — part of a generation of Italian bars like Strolli’s and South Philly Bar & Grill that have almost all now disappeared. He’s kept the Bomb Bomb’s classic format of the neighborhood corner tappie intact, with room for 16 walk-ins in the small barroom up front, where you can nibble on sublimely juicy roast pork sandwiches and sip Vespers spiked with peperoncini brine while the Flyers skate across TVs behind the bar.

Meanwhile, the intimate 26-seat rear dining room, accessed through the onetime “Ladies Entrance,” is a boisterous reservation-only hideaway for three seatings nightly of a prix-fixe seafood menu meant to evoke the Christmas Eve dinners of Baldino’s youth.

At $62 a person — with a choice of five sharing dishes for two people or six items for four people plus a pasta and a side — the price is fair considering the quality and quantity of the cooking. There are plenty of options for add-ons, specials, and drinks to turn dinner here into a splurge.

The antipasto for $18 is one add-on you probably shouldn’t miss for its bounty of house-pickled veggies, salumi, and cheese. And if the bagna cauda special is on offer, that’s another worthy vegetable-centric starter culled from Baldino’s daily shopping rounds through the Italian Market — grilled eggplants and zucchini, blanched cabbage rolls and imported chicory shoots. They are perfect for dipping in a warm crock of buttery anchovy-garlic cream while your table sips through its first round of cocktail classics with Italian twists.

There’s a Bloody Mary sparked with Calabrian chilies and shredded provolone, a frozen Roman Coke spiked with amaro, a prickly pear riff on a margarita, and a crispy house pilsner made for the Bomb Bomb by Human Robot. I lean more into the affordable Italian wines when it comes to the heart of the prix-fixe menu; a fizzy dry Lambrusco, the peachy almond notes of a Grechetto, and some light-hearted reds (a juicy Nebbiolo for $14) won’t overwhelm the seafood.

As for the food itself, you almost can’t lose — unless you have an aversion to an occasional excessive use of breadcrumbs on standbys like the shrimp oreganata or bacony clams casino. I preferred the cockles in brothier “clams white” form, steamed in Carlo Rossi Chablis (the official jug wine of South Philly) over a bowl of toast to finish last, having soaked in all that garlicky juice. The Bomb Bomb’s shrimp cocktail is also exceptionally flavorful from a gentle poach in a white wine court bouillon perfumed with orange and thyme.

The fried calamari (also available on the limited tavern menu, like the shrimp cocktail) are the epitome of a bar classic done right, tenderized in cream before they’re crisped in seasoned semolina and tossed in a spicy confetti of red and green cherry peppers. But if you want to taste a deep cut from the Baldino family’s Seven Fishes repertoire, Mom’s stuffed calamari — the toothpick-sealed squid tubes stuffed with ground tentacles and Parmesan breadcrumbs that become incredibly tender after a two-hour simmer in tomato sauce — will absolutely take you there.

The stuffed squid is something of an homage to the Barbatos, who made a different version of the recipe. Similarly, Baldino’s baked St. Louis-cut spare ribs, exclusive to the bar menu, are a slightly cheffier, orange-scented riff on a popular mainstay during the family’s tenure. I appreciated both menu items for the continuity they offered between the two owners.

Two other luxurious seafood dishes shouldn’t be ignored. The baked crab cakes created by chef Max Hachey (last at Friday Saturday Sunday) were a celebration of sweet meat bound up with onion cream, roasted garlic aioli, and crushed crackers — easily one of my new favorites in the city. And the lobster-and-shells genre has also been taken to a clever new level here, inspired by the flavors of a stromboli: Al dente pasta cradles butter-poached lobster in a blush sauce enriched with melted mozz and zingy ground pepperoni.

As a testament to Baldino’s confident grasp of the South Philly Italian canon, he feels no need to resort to any red-gravy meatball clichés on the pasta side of the menu. His carbonara is the stuff of creamy noodle dreams, its egg-and-bacon glaze still frothy even though it’s blended with three kinds of cheese, including an alpine twinge of toma. The black ink spaghetti is a dark-horse noodle champ — quite literally, because its simple, garlicky shine of aglio-e-olio sauce is turned jet black with sepia ink. And Baldino’s Italian tuna pasta might be the most overlooked gem of them all, a comforting yet elegant deconstruction of tuna noodle casserole.

There are always other off-menu treats lingering in back to keep the dinner intriguing, like grilled langostini glistening with bottarga butter in a fragrant nod to the Siclian flavors of Zeppoli. The frequent special of garlicky T-bone steak basted with olive oil-soaked rosemary branches is so good, I wonder if there’s a retro Italian chophouse lingering in Baldino’s future, too.

Keeping the Bomb Bomb’s distinctive red-neon sign glowing bright over the corner of Warnock and Wolf Streets, now beckoning to an enthusiastic new generation, is more than enough of an achievement. So order yourself a vanilla ice cream sundae drizzled with house chocolate sauce, brown-butter caramel, and a fried banana — a sweet tribute to a long gone shake shop that Baldino also loved — and lift a toast to the ancestors. Italian South Philly’s culinary preservationist-in-chief has scored once again.

1026 Wolf St., no phone (the restaurant monitors contact through Resy app and Instagram); bombbombbar.com

Dinner seatings in rear dining room by reservation only Thursday through Monday, at 5, 7, and 9 p.m. Bar is open to walk-ins only Thursday through Monday, 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Lunch served Saturday and Sunday, noon-3 p.m.

Not wheelchair accessible. There are two steps at the front entrance and bathrooms are not accessible.

Gluten-free pasta is available and much of the menu can be modified to be gluten-free, including the anitpasto, lobster francese, streamed seafood and ribs.

Menu highlights: clams casino; crab cake, lobster francese; shrimp oreganata; mussels fra diavolo; fried calamari; lobster and shells, Dungeness crab; spaghetti alla carbonara; herbed tomatoes; porterhouse special. Bar menu: porchetta sandwich; shrimp agrodolce; vanilla sundae.

Drinks: The full bar showcases simple but booze-forward cocktails with a zesty Italian twist, like the Vesper spiked with pepperoncini brine and a Bloody Mary sparked with Calabrese chili, frozen drinks such as the bubbly limoncello Scroppino.