Are menu prices coming down? | Let’s Eat

Inflation may be soaring but not every food establishment is raising prices.

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— Mike Klein

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Food prices keep going up and up. But we’ve found establishments that are dropping them. Hiroki has sliced $35 from its omakase tab, while Termini Bros. has sweetened the deal on some popular bakery items.

Tipsy Scoop, the national chain of boozy ice cream parlors (aka “barlours”), has opened in Philadelphia. “Why Philly?” you ask. Beatrice Forman dropped by the shop (for research purposes only), and explains.

➕ Hot cold news: Ice cream specialist Scoop DeVille and John’s Water Ice are headed to the Jersey Shore to twin up on a shop opening May 21 at 2022 Boardwalk in North Wildwood.

What the heck happened at New York Bagels in Overbrook Park? Two months after a gas explosion blew out the front windows, the shop was all fixed up and ready to reopen Sunday. But that morning, a second explosion rocked Haverford Avenue. Authorities don’t suspect foul play, and the investigation continues.

🔥Townsend on East Passyunk Avenue has been closed due to a fire in an adjacent building, Kiki Aranita reports.

Reservation scalping is illegal in New Jersey, and restaurateurs like Dominic Piperno of Collingswood’s Hearthside (above) are happy. “You’re selling somebody else’s product that’s not yours,” he told Aliya Schneider.

➕ FYI: Piperno is moving ahead with a new, larger, liquor-licensed Hearthside location down the street in Westmont; he tells me that he’s pushing for a late-2026 opening. This would set the stage for another chef to take over his current spot.

Chef Jet Tila is working with Live! Casino on new menu items for its Luk Fu restaurant (900 Packer Ave.). Tila is in town today from 5-7 p.m. to host a happy hour/meet-and-greet, with a photo for the first 50 guests, as well as 10 signed cookbook copies. From 7-10 p.m., he’ll host a dinner featuring the new dishes; it’s $69.88 per person plus tax and tip; reservations via OpenTable.

It was a week of snacks for our food team — oversize lumpia at Manong, fat-rolled sushi at Yanaga Kappo Izakaya, and this hot chicken sandwich from the cheekily named Mary’s Chicken Strip Club.

🔥That chicken sandwich, incidentally, is available at Ridge Hall, the food hall in Ambler. In time for the Ambler Auto Show this weekend, Ridge Hall vendor 2 Street Sammies will give way to a new concept called Double Down Kitchen. This will pair 2 Street’s Nate Baynes with Binoy Cherian, a partner with Steve Yau in nearby vendor Pho Mi. Double Down Kitchen’s evolving menu will feature international flavor mashups, such as Korean and Indian versions of cheesesteaks. The 2 Street Sammies truck remains.

Here’s an elevated experience: The Four Seasons Hotel at the Comcast Technology Center is opening the Match Room — a sports lounge timed to coincide with Philly’s milestone summer — for a run from June 11-July 19 in its 59th-floor event space. The plush pop-up will show live matches on large-format screens in two rooms, with skyline views and access through the 60th-floor Sky Lobby. Menu: soft pretzels with pimento cheese, Parmesan fries, croquettes, tequeños, guacamole, smash burgers, lobster rolls, Cubano sliders, fish tacos, fish and chips, fried chicken, plus cocktails, Champagne, and caviar service. Reservations via OpenTable, with walk-ins accepted.

Queen & Rook, the South Street game cafe, will apply a “retrofuturistic” theme to its new location, opening later this year on Fairmount Avenue.

A Chester County entrepreneur’s new wine bar is focused on one mission in particular: proximity. Brooke Schultz sat down with Corey Krejcik of Proximity Wine Bar, which will put the spotlight on Pennsylvania.

The former Iron Hill Brewing in downtown West Chester will become a MaGerk’s Pub, Erin McCarthy reports.

Zahav’s restaurant-recipe hummus — 10-ounce tubs ($7.99) and snack cups (four 2-ounce cups, $6.99) — has landed in 32 Giant stores across Pennsylvania. The CookNSolo hummus first hit local Whole Foods store shelves in January 2024, and expanded nationally later that year. (Click here to find out what makes it so luscious.)

Mini Mac Mart will officially debut its outdoor kiosk at 18th and Arch Streets from noon-3 p.m. Thursday. with free Marinucci’s Deli wraps, Sweetbox treats, and Mart’s Macs bowls priced at $1.

Free pop-tarts! Pastry chef Lila Colello moved her Flakely gluten-free operation from Manayunk to 1007 W. Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr in February. She’ll grand-open the joint Friday with free pop-tarts to the first 100 people at its 10 a.m. opening.

Wokworks, the bowl concept that cooks via robot, will open a kiosk-only/no-cash location on June 1 at 7114 Frankford Ave. in Mayfair.

Sabrina’s Cafe plans to open a brunch spot in what area?

A) Society Hill

B) Brewerytown

C) Queen Village

D) Gladwyne

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s going into the old Marco Polo in Elkins Park Square? — Sofia P.

If I had a dime for every email asking this question... The Cheltenham community truly seems to miss Marco Polo, the Italian restaurant that anchored Elkins Park Square for 27 years before its closing in 2023. A representative of the center’s new owners told me that the new occupant, expected to open in several months, will be J Pot, serving hot pot with a revolving sushi bar, and that its management has ties to John’s Sushi House in Fox Chase. Although alcoholic beverages will be offered, there’s no plan for a bar.

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