Build a snack stadium for your Super Bowl party | Let’s Eat

Fry, Eagles fans, fry. This week, we have Super Bowl party tips, as well a look inside the new Chicken or the Egg location in Marlton, Craig LaBan’s review of Autana in Ardmore, and an update on the reopening of Center City Soft Pretzels.

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Build a snack stadium for your Super Bowl party. A what? Hira Qureshi explains: Dips, chips, deli meats, sandwiches, and more, arranged to create an edible football stadium. You can make it as elaborate or as simple as you’d like.

Whose Eagles tailgate spread is the most epic? The mayor of Atlantic City, writes Jenn Ladd, who found Marty Small Sr. with chef Rasheed Ransome amid the smoke perfuming Lot M near Lincoln Financial Field.

After sampling the tequeños at Autana, a father- and daughter-run Venezuelan BYOB in Ardmore, critic Craig LaBan may be ruined for mozzarella sticks forever. Factor in the espresso poured over chocolate for breakfast, the hearty patacónes for lunch, and the dinners offered three nights a week, Craig is further heartened by a sense of family warmth everywhere. 🔑

But dinner at the Union League? No, thanks, Craig writes after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was honored there: “I wouldn’t want to eat at any public restaurant that flaunts anti-gay, anti-immigrant or racist views. So why would I support an exclusive private club that lifts up such a voice?”

Supplying firewood to homes and restaurants is labor- and equipment-intensive, as Jenn found out as she logged many miles for her article about the entrepreneurs behind these businesses. Why buy local firewood? She’s glad you axed.

Center City Soft Pretzel Co., closed by fire since late September, is said to be coming back.

City Tavern is being prepped for a revival. The National Park Service is seeking applicants to operate the colonial-theme restaurant in Old City, which closed in 2020 as tourism traffic dried up.

Chicken or the Egg, the Long Beach Island brunch destination, is branching out in a big way shortly in Marlton. This location will have a massive bar and an equally enormous outdoor area. One major feature will be the hours. As owner Rob LaScala told me last week: “Pancakes at midnight, wings at 7 in the morning.”

Marc Vetri is returning to the pizza biz with Pizzeria Salvy.

Chowder Crawl of 11 restaurants, hosted by Manayunk Development Corp. as part of the Founders Philly Freeze-Out this Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., seems fitting, given that the forecast high is 26 degrees. Check-in will be at the Richards Apex parking lot. It’s $17.55, including fee, per ticket.

Forsythia, chef Christopher Kearse’s Old City bistro, will return from flood damage on Feb. 8 with its monthly French AF dinner. Regular hours will resume Feb. 9.

Craftsman Row Saloon (112 S. Eighth St.) is switching to a full-on Mardi Gras pop-up experience starting Friday. It ends Fat Tuesday (Feb. 21).

The deal for Janine Bruno of Homemade by Bruno to open a second location at Front and Morris Streets has fallen through. Bruno said she is location-shopping again in Fishtown and South Philadelphia for Homemade by Bruno il Salotto.

The region’s last Houlihan’s restaurant, in Cherry Hill, closed abruptly last weekend, as did the nearby Crab Du Jour.

Candymaker Irv “Bob” Born of the Lehigh Valley company Just Born, whose signature marshmallow chicks come out every Easter season, has died at 98. Rest in Peeps.

When Jim’s Steaks reopens around Labor Day after its fire, what won’t it sell?

A) onion rings

B) tater tots

C) fries

D) all of the above

Feeling smart? Check your answer and get the details.

Bankroll Club, the sports bar with a Stephen Starr restaurant, last week received approval of its liquor license for the former Boyd Theatre at 1910 Chestnut St. At its hearing in October before a Liquor Control Board hearing examiner, the project received support from the Center City Residents’ Association and the 1920 Chestnut St. condos next door, but opposition from a half-dozen owners of condos at the William Penn House across the street. Opening is still TBD.

A Chester County reader asks: “Any intel on what’s going into the former Red Robin on Uwclan Avenue in Exton? There’s an orange [liquor application] sign on the door.”

Answer: The sign is now down because the license was approved this week, but I can tell you that the new restaurant will be a branch of O2 BBQ, whose specialty is Korean tabletop cooking. It’s now in Queens, N.Y., and Guttenberg, N.J. Opening date is TBD.

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