West Philly’s latest, greatest cafe serves lamb scrapple breakfast sandwiches, vegan hoagies, and inspiration

West Philly’s newest cafe, Out West, has only been open for a couple weeks, but the neighborhood has reached a verdict: “It’s already so much better than it needs to be,” declared one new regular after polishing off a crispy lamb scrapple breakfast sandwich on her second visit of the week.

On a recent Friday afternoon, Out West’s two-story building was buzzing with customers quietly pecking at their laptops between bites of avocado toast or tomato chutney-laced grilled cheese; groups of co-workers meeting over house-baked sweet potato biscuits and vegan cinnamon rolls; and brave souls lounging on the patio, cooling down with sips of strawberry-basil matcha latte and cherry mint tonic.

Out West is the next act from Down North Pizza owner Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, who grew up two blocks from the new cafe’s digs at 5127 Walnut St. Abdul-Hadi said the property’s owners approached him not long after he opened the acclaimed North Philly pizza shop.

“They saw what I did with Down North and was like, ‘Bring that same energy out west,’” he said. Since opening in 2021, Down North has earned national praise not only for its chewy-crispy Detroit-style square pies, but also for its mission-driven ethos: Down North exclusively employs formerly incarcerated individuals, a practice near and dear to Abdul-Hadi and Down North executive chef Mike Carter.

When Abdul-Hadi considered opening something in West Philly, not far from where his mom and sister still live, “it [made] all the sense in the world,” he said.

It took three years and a full gut job to convert the former hair-braiding studio into Out West, which has 46 seats between two floors and a spacious backyard. A colorful upstairs library, sectioned off from the main dining area, is outfitted with cozy sofas, lounge chairs, desks, and a collection of art books; it’s open to all for now, but Abdul-Hadi said it will eventually be used as a coworking space that groups can reserve.

Abdul-Hadi had a vision for Out West early on. “I wanted you to walk around but feel like you’re in a different place every time you go upstairs or go into a different part of the restaurant,” he said. Walls upstairs and down are adorned with Philly-centric photos taken by creative director Amurri Lauren (who did the photography for We the Pizza, Down North’s cookbook).

In addition to designing the space, Abdul-Hadi also took charge of the coffee menu. “I always liked coffee — the aroma, taste, bitterness. So when I wanted to open up a coffee shop, I knew it was my duty to go and study as much as I can about everything, so I’ll be able to educate the customers and have a quality product, be able to explain that,” he said. He traveled to Bogotá, Colombia, to train as a barista.

That experience informs Out West’s coffee program, which uses beans from Poem Roasting, run by the owners of Thank You Thank You in Old City. There are excellent renditions of the usual suspects — pour-over, cold brew, cortado, etc. — as well as custom drinks like the ube latte, avocado lemonade, and salted blueberry chai.

The food menu, also from Down North’s Carter, is equally wide-ranging. Every breakfast sandwich has flair, like the raspberry chutney jam in the build-your-own, the horseradish aioli in the eight-hour braised brisket, and the kimchi pickles and chili crisp in the Korean fried chicken sausage option. “I like sour-sweet, spicy-sweet — if you just touch on all those notes, can’t lose," he said.

Carter hasn’t eaten pork since he was a teenager (Out West’s menu is halal), but he wanted a scrapple-based breakfast sammy on the menu, so he set to work experimenting. “Beef scrapple’s really not that tasty to me. I feel like it needs a little bit more to it. Turkey anything, it’s not enough fat. So we definitely wanted to pull from the lamb situation,” he said. He incorporates a North African-inspired spice blend into the scrapple, which gets crisped and sandwiched in a potato bun with an over-medium egg, cheese, and strawberry harissa jam.

For now, breakfast is served all day, but don’t let it overshadow Carter’s lunch menu, which includes vegan cheesesteaks and hoagies (Carter is a V Street alum), as well as a traditional cheesesteak. There’s also a house-ground burger, made from top round, lamb, and brisket trim, and topped with caramelized onions, American cheese, and horseradish aioli. Carter predicts the burger will be a sleeper hit, along with his rendition of ful medames — a traditional North African fava bean stew he serves with boiled egg, tomato chutney, feta, heirloom tomatoes, and sourdough.

Carter, also a West Philly native, said the creativity evident on Out West’s menu is motivated by competitiveness — “I’ll see y’all at the Eater Awards,” he jokes — and the desire to excite the neighborhood.

“That was important, being able to bring something with a little more bite to West Philly,” Carter said. “So often, restaurants, when they come to West Philly, they try to say they’re in University City and stuff. It’s like, ‘No, we right off the strip.’”

Like Down North, Out West will provide opportunities for previously incarcerated people. (The cafe is still hiring cooks and baristas to round out its seven-person team.) “I think it’s important to create these spaces for individuals to thrive in and also for them to get inspired, too,” Abdul-Hadi said. “I feel like we inspire a lot of people who are either behind the walls or outside, who just need to see what can be done.”

Out West is open daily at 5127 Walnut St, Philadelphia 19139. Hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Outwestphilly.com