🕯️Why restaurants are dimming the lights | Let’s Eat

You may have noticed that upscale restaurants are getting darker and more sultry. I found out why.

🙏 Yo! Please help us find Philly’s gems for a special guide.

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— Mike Klein

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Have you noticed that many destination restaurants are turning down the lights, even in the restrooms? There are good reasons for that.

🔦If you remember your dimly lit Philly restaurants, read on for a brain teaser.

Philadelphia bartenders are getting into the spirit with soft-serve frozen margaritas — not quite dessert, not quite beverage. Beatrice Forman is intrigued.

Coming soon to Center City: An omakase room tucked behind a burger joint. As in, a secret door and everything.

Philly’s top omakase experiences: Our list, freshly updated.

If you need sushi delivery in Center City, Kiki Aranita offers these recommendations.

Beatrice Forman goes off the clock with restaurateurs Phila and Rachel Lorn of Mawn and Sao. What would they do with a day off? Restaurant hopping, thrifting, and a stop for ice cream with their 4-year-old, for starters.

😎 More of the Perfect Philly Day series.

Our staff was delighted last week by Mexican-style risotto in South Philly, stuffed squid in Graduate Hospital, afternoon tea in Wayne, and a first-ever Taco Bell feast.

Frame, No Name Hospitality’s Old City restaurant (222 Market), will open a second location, Frame Midtown, on the lower level of 1526 Sansom St., previously Chika Ramen Bar. Target is mid-June. Frame Midtown will be open daily for dinner and for brunch and dinner Friday to Sunday. No Name, which recently bought and renovated Revolution House at Second and Market in Old City, also is working on a Mexican restaurant called Luna Marre at the Piazza in Northern Liberties (1001 N. Second St.), where it will replace Añejo.

Manayunk’s Main Street is getting a location of Tiffany’s Bakery, the longtime Center City bake shop, in several weeks, says owner Frank Pantazopoulos. It’s taking 4254 Main St., which last was Winnie’s Market. Its menu will start in the morning with coffee/espresso, danish, croissants, sticky buns, breakfast sandwiches, and its baked doughnut, known as a DOYO.

“Emilia, Greg Vernick’s new Italian restaurant, is irresistible,” reads the headline on Craig LaBan’s latest review. Shown above is the capellini with pesto Genovese.

Parc on Rittenhouse Square got a rise out of the Atlantic, whose writer proclaimed that its bread basket is the best freebie out there in America. Pass the butter.

A Downingtown homebrewer and contractor is planning to open his own Irish pub, a project years in the making.

Pizzeria Vetri’s location at 1615 Chancellor St. in Rittenhouse will end its 11-year run after business Saturday. Urban Outfitters, which bought the brand from Marc Vetri and partners a decade ago, still has PVs in Devon, King of Prussia, and the Art Museum area.

Flavors on the Avenue turns East Passyunk Avenue, from Broad Street to Dickinson, into a food festival from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

Wetzel’s Pretzels will give away a free original pretzel from 3-7 p.m. Sunday at its stores, including the Fashion District in Center City. One per person.

Mr. Fries Man, a fries franchise, opens its Philadelphia shop at 11 a.m. Friday at 2313 Frankford Ave., side by side with Cloud Cups. Free fries for the first 150 customers at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Above is the bacon ranch.)

LesbiVeggies, which left Audubon, Camden County, in 2024, resurfaces tomorrow in a new setting, with a more refined vegan/gluten-free menu, at 39 Fourth St. in Camden. Above is chef-owner Brennah Lambert’s eggplant parm, a signature.

Speaking of sultry lighting: Here’s the dining room of a long-gone Philadelphia restaurant whose candlelit glow and strategic spotlights created a memorable vibe. Can you name it? Email your answer, and I’ll shout out the winner(s) next week.

What’s happening at Pop’s Bun Shop at Ninth and Fitzwater? They’re not doing walk-up ordering. — Ginger E.

Good news/bad news. The bad news for Italian Market neighbors is that John and Karen Blisard will close Pop’s Bun Shop, their corner bakery, on April 30 after outgrowing the 300-square-foot space, John Blisard told me. They’ll have the walk-up window open at 9 a.m. tomorrow and they’re taking preorders now for this Saturday. Next week, they’ll open the window for the finale on April 29 and 30.

They had lined up a larger location, but the deal fell through after they had already arranged for a new tenant to take over the shop, which they opened in September 2024. They’re searching the suburbs for their next location. “It’s all positive,” he explains. “I hate to leave Ninth Street because we love that spot. If there were any way we could hang on, we would. But demand has made this necessary.”

📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

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