Late-night dining is back in Philly
A wave of post-9 p.m. options has opened up for the first time since the pandemic.
“Last week, I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed,” is the sardonic line by comedian W.C. Fields that my husband, chef Ari Miller, has frequently referenced through the years. He has brought it up when sitting down with me for a 6 p.m. dinner (eating early is a habit I picked up sometime during the pandemic, when I left the restaurant industry), or designing his own menus. But most recently, used when debuting his own late-night menu at Post Haste, to even his own surprise.
New late-night menus have been proliferating again in Philly. (Also, let’s define “late” as after 10 p.m.)
What’s on these menus? There are burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, loaded fries, and hot dogs, but designed and dressed up by chefs using the same premium ingredients that go onto their dinner menus.
Upstairs from Ogawa’s elegant, brightly lit omakase counter, you can let down your hair and ascend into Almanac’s semi-anonymous dark. Come January, the cocktail bar will extend its surprisingly voluminous late-night menu, featuring yuzu and miso glazed wings, an ethereally crispy karaage chicken sandwich, Wagyu hot dog, and barbecued eel donabe, among other refined Japanese comfort foods, until 12:30 a.m.
“Almanac’s food menu is crafted using the same high-quality ingredients chef Carlos Wills sources for Ogawa’s omakase counter, reimagined with a fun, casual twist. Designed for grazing and sharing, the dishes are snack-sized—perfect for enjoying alongside a drink,” said owner Vy To.
Rittenhouse’s dancerobot, a collaboration between chefs Jesse Ito and Justin Bacharach, just debuted a late-night menu last week, served Fridays and Saturdays from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., with hot dog-stuffed buns, and spicy fried chicken, and some quick-serve baos off the regular dinner menu.
The just-opened Pine Street Grill is serving its usually $22 burger for $20 between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m., paired with a 20-oz. beer.
At Messina Social Club, Eddie Konrad makes a roast pork sandwich ($12) that’s only available late night. It’s served on a Martin’s Big Marty seeded roll and served 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Make it a Messina Happy Meal, where you get a shot, a can of Coors Banquet beer or wine, and the sandwich for $18.
The pork is dry-cured overnight with salt and brown sugar, roasted low between 275 and 300 degrees for six to eight hours, then pulled apart with tongs.
It’s then chopped up and “its drippings are emulsified with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and MSG,” said Konrad. “This mixture coats the pork, then we adjust the seasoning and top it with a tablespoon of chopped giardiniera, horseradish, and roasted garlic aioli.”
The assembly then takes eight minutes, a crucial number, according to Konrad. “It has to be turned out by the front-of-house staff, and it has to be perfect. They’re busy.”
There have always been a few late-night options, of course. But many in post-pandemic years have dwindled. Nationwide data by reservation platform OpenTable, compiled at the end of November, also reflect the continued growth of early dinner trends and the waning of eating out late.
When I polled chefs and other restaurant workers for where they went post-dinner shift, everyone inevitably named gas stations, restaurants in Chinatown that have since shuttered, and Taqueria La Prima (a fine option but proffered by five different stumped chefs).
Among the restaurant industry crowd, workers have long descended upon Fountain Porter for its excellent cheeseburger, which tastes like someone’s dad grilled it in the backyard, served until 2 a.m. Through closing and reopenings, Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, open until 1 a.m. or midnight, depending on the day of the week, also courts a post-dinner shift crowd, with cracker-thin pies and buffalo chicken dip.
So why the turn to late night? At Post Haste, anyway, it just makes sense.
“The bar is already open those hours, until midnight Wednesday through Saturday. It made sense to have food available while the bar is serving drinks. Last call for food is now 11:45 p.m.,” said Miller. Post Haste’s late-night menu is served Wednesday through Saturday, but its regular dinner menu is pay-as-you-can on Sunday, an option designed with “our industry colleagues in mind. Industry people work all days of the week.”
The accompanying late-night drink specials are bait for industry folks, fueled by Negronis and fernet.
“We wanted to have an option for people to get off their shifts at those hours to get some decent food as opposed to a short-order sandwich,” said Miller.
The late-night menu is simpler than their dinner menu, which features a long list of delicate, handwrought pastas. “It’s crafted so that one person in the kitchen can execute it. We took the fussy dishes off.” It may be 11 p.m., but hey W.C. Fields, Philadelphia is still open.