26 hot, new restaurants, all in the Philly burbs | Let’s Eat

Philadelphia’s suburbs are getting their share of new restaurant action, and we found 26 that opened in 2022 alone. (Stay tuned for more.) Also this week, there’s word of a slick, new app that could be a game-changer for food delivery; a review of one of the buzziest newcomers in Center City; and news about a cheesesteak landmark.

We all miss restaurants that have closed over the years. Check in Thursday at inquirer.com and in the print Food section for the first installment of The 86′d Project, a monthly look back at the places we’ve loved and lost. Zanzibar Blue, the great jazz destination, is first on the list. Have a suggestion for others? Email me.

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But first a quiz: Convenience-store giant Wawa, trying to put the “fun” in “non-fungible tokens,” has released its own NFTs as part of its annual Hoagiefest marketing campaign. How many people registered for the promotion in the first two days?

A) 10,500

B) 100,000 (oh, wait — now it’s 75,000 ... er, now it’s 64,000)

C) 55,000

D) 40,000

For the answer, and to read colleague Stephanie Farr’s nifty explainer on this whole NFT thing, click here.

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— Mike Klein

2022 has seen a boom of restaurants in Philly’s suburbs, on the Pennsylvania side, New Jersey, and Wilmington. If the pandemic taught local restaurateurs one thing, it’s the strength of the burbs as a place to do business. Marc Vetri slinging steaks at Fiore Rosso in Bryn Mawr is only part of the story. Former Vetri chef Brad Daniels has brought refined Italian dining to the Ambler area at the new Tresini, where beverage manager Pelagia Koutsouros-Nunez (shown above) mixes a drink. These are among 26 new and noteworthy restaurants to open so far this year.

And there are more restaurants on the way. Chef Art Cavaliere, who owns In Riva, Black Squirrel Pub, and Foghorn & Fletcher — all in Philly’s East Falls section — is about a month and a half from opening The Record Kitchen + Bar on the former site of the Coatesville Record newspaper in Chester County. So that’s news.

Some suburbs started closing their streets on weekends during the pandemic, and they might never stop. One Phoenixville restaurateur told my colleague Erin McCarthy: “If it wasn’t for the street closure, we would be out of business.”

Ordering takeout may seem like the easy way out of dinner, but it’s not without drawbacks: scrolling through delivery apps and menus, figuring out fees, waiting for food. My colleague Jenn Ladd tells you about Availyst, a Philly-based app startup that puts all the delivery options in one place.

Wilder is certainly one of the buzziest recent openings in Center City Philadelphia, a sprawling bar-restaurant with a similarly expansive menu — raw bar, wood-fired pizzas, house-extruded pastas, chilaquiles, dry-aged steaks, fresh-spun ice cream. Critic Craig LaBan isn’t wowed but he does see promise. 🔒

The original Tony Luke’s steak stand under I-95 in South Philadelphia is rebranding to Tony & Nick’s Steaks after 30 years. It’s part of the fallout from a family feud. A long-simmering beef, if you will. The other Tony Luke’s locations are unaffected.

Bridget Foy’s, the South Street mainstay, is newly open for lunch Wednesday-Friday, and husband-wife chef team Joe Ranakoski and Ilissa Shapiro have tucked in a dose of nostalgia to the menu. Take Ranakoski’s basil-topped tomato soup, which comes out with a grilled cheese dipper, and for dessert, Shapiro’s luscious bowl of chocolate pudding topped s’mores-style with graham cracker crumbs and a toasted marshmallow. On the vegetarian side, there’s a grain bowl with farro, brown rice, red lentil, chickpea, tomato, asparagus, spinach, sunflower seeds, avocado slices and a retro green goddess dressing. Indoor-outdoor dining.

Bridget Foy’s, 200 South St. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday (lunch Wednesday-Friday), 11 a.m.-3 p.m. weekend brunch.

Briefly noted

Want to open the new restaurant being built in the “flying saucer” building at LOVE Park? The city is looking for an operator, since the previous one quit the long-delayed project.

Need Saturday brunch in a most out-of-the-way location? Khoran Horn and Matt Gansert’s Guardhouse Cafe starts one this week (9 a.m.-3 p.m.) with dishes including a cured-salmon Benedict and shrimp cake and grits. Guardhouse is right by the entrance of Bridesburg’s Arsenal Business Center and just a scone’s throw from I-95.

Starbucks is closing its location at 10th and Chestnut Streets in Center City, one of 16 nationwide being shut down over security concerns.

Rice noodles, shrimp, fried wonton and tofu make for a sweet, sour, and spicy mix in the dish known as Yen Ta 4 at Pattaya Thai Cuisine in University City, recommended by reader @jgmules93. The hummus board at Glory Beer Bar in Old City made for an eye-pleasing snack for @moirainez. Chef Jorge “Coco” Sanzetenea, incidentally, also rocks dishes from his native Bolivia, including salteñas.

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