First came love, then came a restaurant: Brunch destination Booker’s

For five years, Booker’s has anchored a thriving brunch and dinner scene on the 5000 block of Baltimore Avenue in Cedar Park. Owner Saba Tedla billed it as a “neighborhood restaurant” when she opened it in 2017, and menu hits like fried chicken and waffles, seafood mac and cheese, and blackened catfish drew in West Philadelphians. A pergola-covered streetery added in 2021 made it one of the city’s choicest outdoor dining spots.

All this made Booker’s a perfect date spot for Tracey and Cheri Syphax, the husband-and-wife team who — as fate would have it — bought the restaurant and its adjoining lounge, the Bayou, earlier this month. They’ve worked alongside Tedla and Booker’s staff since the fall to ensure a smooth transition, officially taking over on March 2. The Syphaxes plan to preserve everything that people have come to love about Booker’s, including its streetery.

“There’s something that made this place a cozy community go-to spot,” Cheri Syphax said. They’ve been asking regulars for suggestions and adding specials and new menu items accordingly, including lamb lollipops, bourbon-glazed pork chops, and barbecue shrimp. The Bayou will continue to feature live music, karaoke nights, and spoken-word performances five nights a week, but the Syphaxes also hope to use it as a gathering space and events venue.

“We’re going to try some things and see what works and what sticks and then go from there,” she said.

The sale was brokered through a mutual friend of Tedla’s and Cheri’s. Tedla, who previously owned Aksum Cafe as well, was looking for more flexibility and time to spend with her family. But she “wanted [Booker’s] in the hands of people that would continue her legacy, her tradition,” said Cheri, a West Coast transplant who has always gravitated to West Philly.

“Baltimore [Avenue] is like Telegraph Avenue and the neighboring area is very much like Berkeley,” she said. “It’s eclectic.”

This is the couple’s first foray into the restaurant business. Tracey Syphax is a Trenton-based entrepreneur who first found success in construction and real estate development, then went on to start Reentry Ventures, a program dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship to formerly incarcerated people. He briefly co-owned a restaurant in Laurens, S.C., in 2014.

Cheri Syphax (formerly Spigner) moved to Philadelphia from the San Francisco Bay Area around 2015 for her work in the medical device industry. She was immediately enthralled with the city’s food scene. “You can just get everything,” she said, citing the city’s vegan, seafood, and soul food offerings as highlights.

Though the couple now splits time between Trenton and Philly, it’s more of an accommodation than a preference, Cheri said. “The only thing that moved me to Trenton was getting married. Other than that, I am a Philadelphian through and through.”

The couple met during the pandemic and dated over Zoom for about two months before meeting in person. “We got married a year from the day we met,” Cheri said. Their wedding on May 22, 2021, was a full-blown Philadelphia affair, with a family dinner at Petite Féte (across the street from Booker’s) and the ceremony at the National Constitution Center.

During their months-long negotiations over buying the restaurant and lounge, Cheri flipped through old memories on her phone and spied a picture taken of them together at Booker’s before they were married. “I was like, ‘Look at this, who would have thought?’”

Booker’s at 5021 Baltimore Ave. is open Monday through Sunday for brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. The Bayou Lounge at 5025 Baltimore Ave. is open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 11 p.m.