🎄I survived a holiday bar crawl | Let’s Eat

Are holiday bars magical, or maddening? We visited seven to find out. Also this week, we get you inside Philly’s newest dog bar and its first bacon-themed bar-restaurant, introduce you to a sweet guy who is a real-life gingerbread man, and run down new restaurants, including a secret newcomer in Chinatown.

🗳️ Nominate a local business for our Philly Favorites awards. Deadline is Thursday and online voting will start in January. Click here.

— Mike Klein

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No sooner had Jenn Ladd brushed the last bits of flour out of her hair from last week’s holiday cookie baking extravaganza, she set out on a new journalistic adventure. Are the holiday-bar crowds worth the hassle? See what she came up with after visiting four holiday bars, two ski lounges, and one all-pink pop-up.

🙅🏽If you’re staying away from alcohol, you’re in good company, writes Hira Qureshi. She rang up experts and hospitality folks to share tips on how to make it through the holidays alcohol-free.

A dog walks into a bar, and ... There’s no punchline. Dogs are welcome indoors and outdoors at the Boozy Mutt, opening at 27th and Poplar in Fairmount at 4 p.m. Wednesday with free cheese curds for humans and snacks for the dogs. In fact, this newcomer offers full menus for dogs and people, an outdoor dog park, and more dog puns than you can shake a stick at.

🐕 Dog bar Bark Social in Manayunk will host a holiday event from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday with such activities as sugar-cookie decorating, “snowball” toss, ornament calligraphy, and pictures with Santa Paws. Dogs must be registered.

Reading Terminal Market’s gingerbread village features more than 500 houses glued together with roughly 1,000 batches of royal icing. It’s all the work of Jon Lovitch, who did the work in his Queens basement. Let Jenn Ladd and videographers Lauren Schneiderman and Jenna Miller take you along for a sweet ride into a creative mind.

Sazón 2 Go’s empanadas are gluten-free, and critic Craig LaBan says they’re worth a trip to its farm stand, regardless of your dietary restrictions. It’s the latest chapter in the story of Judith Suzarra-Campbell and her husband, Robert, who closed Sazón, their Spring Garden Street Venezuelan restaurant, in 2021. Craig grooves on the empanadas (in six flavors) as well as Robert Campbell’s popular bean-to-cup sipping cocoa.

If food has you thinking about seeing a show, check out our latest “Two Critics, One Review” feature. With support from Visit Philadelphia, “Two Critics, One Review” is The Inquirer’s way of giving you two takes on the same show, so you can make the best decision about whether you want to go. This time, we sent Ania Loomba, a Penn English professor who studies race, gender, and decolonization in Shakespeare, with theater critic Rosa Cartagena to see Fat Ham at the Wilma Theater. It’s a hilarious Black queer reimagining of Hamlet by Philly’s own James Ijames, and its run has been extended through Dec. 30. Spoiler alert: Something is not rotten in the state of Pennsylvania. Fat Ham is the hottest show in town.

Restaurant ideas near the Wilma, at Broad and Spruce: Right across the street from the theater are the new Loch Bar (elegant seafood), Garces Trading Co. (casual fare inside the Kimmel Center), Volvér (fancy setting, also at the Kimmel), and the swellegant Steak 48. A short walk away: Little Nonna’s and Giorgio on Pine (both casual, South Philly-style Italian), Bud & Marilyn’s (American classics), and Jose Pistola’s (Mexican). In fact, check out Hira Qureshi’s guide to restaurants near various arts venues.

Big week in cheesesteak world. Danny DiGiampietro of Angelo’s Pizzeria in South Philly and crew did a two-day stint in New York City selling cheesesteaks on a truck with his pal, some actor named Bradley Cooper.

Cooper? Is the Montco-bred star of the new movie Maestro the namesake of Cooper Sharp cheese? Not quite, but that brand is the cheese of choice for many of the “better” shops.

I’m amazed that Cooper Sharp — and not some fancy-pants house-made concoction — is now the cheese on Barclay Prime’s fancy $140 cheesesteak.

Izakaya — Michael Schulson’s longest-running restaurant — will end its 15-year engagement at Atlantic City’s Borgata on New Year’s Eve. Schulson’s holdings, all in Philly since the pandemic-era closing of Monkitail in Hollywood, Fla., include Sampan, Double Knot, Harp & Crown, and the new Bar Lesieur. He’s planning a Mediterranean restaurant at the Laurel near Rittenhouse Square, and supposedly has a Double Knot on the way in Miami and another spot on the books for New York City.

Oori, the Korean BBQ BYOB outside of Pottstown from David Backhus and chef Michael Falcone, will wrap on New Year’s Eve after four years. The business just wasn’t there, said Backhus, who also owns Bloom and Stables in Chester Springs.

Fayette Street Oyster House in Conshohocken has closed after a year and a half. Among owner Peter Dissin’s reasons: cigar smoke from a nearby business drove away customers.

“When is that bacon bar ever gonna open?” was the leading question in my mailbag. Now that Justin Coleman unveiled Bake’n Bacon last week, the next-most-requested restaurant is Brooklyn Dumpling Shop (read on). At Bake’n Bacon, replacing Devil’s Den at 11th and Ellsworth in South Philly, bacon turns up everywhere on the menu — in appetizers (like the loaded fries, below), entrees, even drinks and desserts. The idea, which started in a Jersey Shore food truck, came to Coleman in a dream.

Opening soon (besides the Boozy Mutt):

Satay Bistro, with an Indonesian menu, is due this weekend at 1240 Spring Garden St., where Bufad was a few years ago.

Blue Sunday, serving Asian and American dishes in sleek environs, opens Thursday at 3340 Street Rd. in Bensalem, where Michael’s Diner was.

Ogawa Sushi & Omakase, whose specialty is a 23-course, 29-piece tasting menu (for a minimum of $200 a head), has set Saturday for its debut at 310 Market St.

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, the Automat-style dumpling shop out of New York, has set Dec. 20 for its debut at 308 South St., with others to follow at 3400 Lancaster Ave. and 1504 Sansom St.

Reunion Hall, the long-long-delayed indoor-outdoor restaurant beneath a retractable roof in Haddon Township, is looking at “late December.”

Ding Fen Tang is Philly’s new secret Chinese restaurant. I say “secret” because it just opened on the ground floor of the building housing Tango nightclub with no fanfare, no sign outside, and not even an Instagram.

The menu is a mix of Taiwanese food and Shanghai soup dumplings, with Beijing-style skewers, all reflecting the travels of the partners (Kenny Poon and David Taing of Chinatown Square and the new Miss Saigon; Jack Chen of Bai Wei and A La Mousse; and Annie Chi).

Walk in, hang a sharp right. Past the bar is a glassed-in room, where workers make dumplings all day. The dining room, with its large tables and projected screens of Chinese scenery, is in the rear. This is a great outing for groups; it’s open over lunch and dinner daily except for Tuesday.

Poon is particularly keen on the West Lake beef soup, a light egg-drop soup with ground beef. You can get your bao on — steamed chicken pork, and crabmeat and pork soup dumplings, panfried pork soup buns, Taiwanese-style shumai, and the chicken wonton in chili oil you see above. Entrees include stir-fried Chinese broccoli, fried rice and fried noodle dishes, “Grandma rolls” (a DIY wrap situation), shredded beef with chili pepper, and chicken inside a pineapple. Fruity cocktails, too, include a mule, lychee spritz, and a sweet-and-spicy chili mangorita. The restaurant name translates to “Chinese and Taiwanese food,” Taing told me.

Ding Feng Tang, inside Tango at 1021 Arch St. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. Closed Tuesday. ADA accessible.

Angelo’s Diner in Glassboro will survive the retirement of owners Joseph and Mary Ann Justice, reports the South Jersey site 42Freeway.

Caribou Cafe, on Walnut near 12th for three decades, has changed hands, and its new owner is keeping things as they are for now.

Atole, the Mexican chocolate drink, is getting new attention from chef Dionicio Jiménez of Cantina la Martina, who told Michelle Myers that his seven new flavors were inspired by an atoleria he came across in Oaxaca. (Check this article en español.)

Caribou Cafe in Washington Square West changed hands last week. What year did it open in its first location near Fitler Square?

A) 1980

B) 1988

C) 1993

D) 1996

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s this at Second Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue? — @mo_connor

That will be Say No More, Kensington’s latest bar, opening Dec. 27. Kristian Maestri and Alexander Asplundh-Smith, who live in the neighborhood, redid the building top to bottom, giving it a living room vibe, including a DJ booth and even a working organ upstairs. Andrei Vinter is overseeing the bar, while chef Colin White (formerly of Zahav) will do a fried chicken sandwich, fries, cheese board, prosciutto plate, salads, and of course a falafel plate.

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

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