Two dozen new restaurants in the suburbs | Let’s Eat
A Wawa fan visits Buc-ee’s, Michelin makes a change, there’s a whiskey that keeps mosquitoes away, and we’re cooking with Shakespeare.
This has been a busy spring for restaurant openings in the suburbs. Read on to see what I mean.
Also in this edition:
Buc-ee’s: With 36 stalls in the women’s room alone, 120 fuel pumps, and 80 soda fountain dispensers — it’s a bit much.
Michelin news: Its green stars are going.
Low buzz: Here’s a flavored whiskey that also repels mosquitoes.
Restaurant scoop: Old City is getting a new Italian spot, and there’s a big mystery going down in Rittenhouse. Read on.
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Japanese tabletop cooking is coming to Ardmore next week as Ogyu joins a roster of two dozen restaurants that have just opened or will open soon in the suburbs.
🍻Iron Hill updates: Erin McCarthy runs down what’s next, post-bankruptcy, for all the brewery’s locations.
Could Buc-ee’s ever replace Wawa in Philly hearts? In a funny, skeptical, and ultimately overwhelmed road trip to Virginia, Stephanie Farr finds the South’s cult-favorite mega–convenience store to be equal parts wonder, excess, and roadside fever dream. If you’re headed out on the road this summer, I urge you to read this first.
📸 The Buc-ee’s assignment came with its own challenges, says photographer Tom Gralish, in his weekly “Scene Through the Lens” essay.
Beatrice Forman visited a preview of the $20 million renovation at Stateside Live! — opening this weekend with a two-story rooftop lounge, a 5,000-capacity concert venue, and a beer garden. She mentions a Dirty Luxe ’Tini, shaken tableside, whose blue-cheese-stuffed olives ooze caviar — hence the $25 price tag.
Kiki Aranita shares the story of Penn State Abington professor Marissa Nicosia’s new cookbook, Shakespeare in the Kitchen, which views the Bard’s works through a culinary lens. (This unleashed a series of puns here: The Taming of the Stew ... Julius Caesar Salad ... The Merchant of Venison ... Et tu, brûlée? ... Macbroth...) If food be the music of love, read on.
High proof, low buzz: Kiki tells us about the new Skeeter’s, a whiskey flavored with an ingredient that naturally repels mosquitoes and adds a citrus note to the spirit. Spritz it in your spritz — or on your ankles.
Our food team was on the move last week, munching on cabbage at a vegetable omakase, green beans at a heavy metal bar, and this hand pie at a Jewish-Cajun bakery.
Scoops
Habibi Supper Club has signed a lease for a permanent home on East Passyunk Avenue.
Trattoria Ponte Vecchio, from the owner of Osteria Ama, will bring casual and semi-fine Italian dining to 118 Market St. It’s joining a boomlet of new dining options in Old City.
Hummus Grill ended its 18-year run at 3931 Walnut St. in University City on May 14, as owners announced that the building has been sold. Taking its place, I hear, will be New York City-based 7th Street Burger — the third Philly lease signed by founder Kevin Rezvani, following soon-to-open spots at 1215 Frankford Ave. in Fishtown and 1518 Chestnut St. in Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse intrigue: The ink is barely dry on a liquor application filed for the first floor of the Belgravia at 1811 Chestnut St., formerly the sprawling, 9,000-square-foot home of clothier Nan Duskin. I see that the corporation is tied to FCM Hospitality, whose holdings include Lucy’s nearby, as well as Liberty Point, Morgan’s Pier, Harper’s Garden, Lola’s Garden, and Parks on Tap. Founder Avram Hornik declined to comment.
Restaurant report
The Michelin-recommended restaurant Roxanne in Queen Village is showing signs of reopening, following a shutdown by the city over permitting. Beatrice Forman reports that the restaurant, among The Inquirer’s 76, is taking reservations again.
Briefly noted
Huda Burger in Fishtown will mark National Burger Day on Thursday by giving away burgers to the first 50 people in line beginning at 11 a.m. Chef Yehuda Sichel’s creation features a smashed beef patty with caramelized onions, American cheese, Huda sauce, and pickled green tomatoes on a house-made milk bun. No purchase necessary.
Metro by T-Mobile will host a burger competition from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at 200 W. Oregon Ave. Participating restaurants include Smash Jawn, Village Whiskey, Philadium, El Sazon R.D., Somo Manayunk, Smash’d, IDK Philly, and South Flavors. Expect samples, prizes, and fan voting.
Cantina la Martina and Vientiane Bistro in Kensington will collab for Cantina la Vientiane, a one-day Lao x Thai x Mexican collaboration pop-up on June 2 from noon–8 p.m. (or until sell-out) at Vientiane Bistro, 2537 Kensington Ave. The menu will blend the flavors of both restaurants and marks a return to Kensington for the Cantina team. Walk-in only. Dine-in and takeout available. BYOB. Details/menu here.
Javelin in Fairmount will host Ranstead Room head bartender Margarito Munive for a one-night cocktail collaboration with Javelin’s Richie Tray from 5-11 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, at 1811 Fairmount Ave. The walk-in-only takeover will feature eight pay-as-you-go cocktails built around Japanese-meets-Latin flavors with tiki touches, including yuzu highballs, sushi-rice-washed white Negronis, mezcal, rum, shochu and sake drinks. Javelin’s regular menu also will be available.
“A Gathering of Goats” brings art, cocktails, snacks, and live goats to the Icebox Project Space at the Crane Arts Building (1400 N. American St.) for a June 10 fundraiser for Philly Goat Project and InLiquid. Featured: artist Claire Rosen’s goat-centered vignettes, as well as nine goats for photos, petting, and fruity snacks. Chef Lynn Buono and 12th Street Catering are planning a meat-free menu with goat-inspired bites, local cheeses and “Caprini-tinis.” VIP starts at 5:30 p.m.; general admission is 6:30-8:30 p.m. (goats leave at 7:30). Tickets start at $180 per person; details are here.
Michelin is retiring its green stars, awarded to restaurants for their commitment to sustainability. This means that Pietramala will be the first and only Philadelphia restaurant to get one.
❓Pop quiz
A Chester County start-up makes soy-free soy sauces made from what ingredient?
A) almonds
B) lima beans
C) mushrooms
D) licorice
Find out if you know the answer.
Ask Mike anything
Have you heard any buzz on the space where Mod Pizza was in Willow Grove? It looks like some activity going on lately and dumpsters are set up in the parking lot . — Michelle S
It’ll be a Just Salad location, per Sean Brown of Goodman Properties, who handles leasing at Willow Grove Pointe. This move matches the fast-casual brands’ trajectories. Mod, founded in Seattle in 2008, sold itself in mid-2024 to Elite Restaurant Group, which began closing some stores and converting some from company-owned to franchises. Just Salad, founded in New York in 2006, is now valued at $1 billion, having raised $200 million in new funding last year. Just Salad entered the Philly market in 2017 and has regional locations in Rittenhouse, University City, Ardmore, Cherry Hill, and Mount Laurel. Another new store is on the way in King of Prussia (between Cava and First Watch, in a strip center across from the mall). A company rep did not provide opening dates.
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