Dining out at Jason Kelce’s other favorite restaurant: Havertown Grille

When beloved, now-retired Eagles center Jason Kelce was up on the Campbell’s corporate stage addressing employees earlier this month, he fielded a question a lot of celebrities get asked: What are your favorite restaurants?

From Philly’s vast dining tapestry, spanning white-linen restaurants to greasy spoons, Kelce called out just two. First, he cited Michael Solomonov’s Zahav, a restaurant that, like Kelce, hardly needs introduction — named best restaurant in the country by the James Beard Foundation in 2019. And then he called out a much humbler establishment: Havertown Grille, a 62-seat spot serving breakfast and lunch just off the intersection of Darby and Eagle Roads.

“It might not be a big-name restaurant, but it’s about the people,” Kelce said.

That’s how this intrepid Inquirer reporter found herself at Havertown Grille this week, sizing up a hefty veggie omelet, well-crisped home fries, and wheat toast on the side. I sat at the counter, as Kelce advised.

Havertown Grille is a few steps beyond a typical diner — you can order a brioche breakfast sandwich, avocado grilled cheese, or an apple-cheddar omelet — but it’s also not trying too hard to be anything more than a neighborhood go-to. The walls are nearly bare, save for a few chalkboards, a Liberty Bell poster, and a Pennsylvania-shaped wooden Eagles sign. Silverware comes in a paper envelope. And it’s only been open since 2012, so it doesn’t have an old-school feel or make a big aesthetic impression at first.

But its charms quickly become apparent.

There are retirees discussing their latest crocheting projects, school-age kids eating while on spring break, and more than a few folks concerned about their meter running out (”They’re relentless,” someone says of the Haverford Township Parking Authority). Everyone seems to know each other. One regular, after finishing her breakfast, busses her own table and steps behind the counter to refill her iced tea before hitting the road. A toddler in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt comes in with her grandmother and the cook, Yianni Akritidis, shouts out a greeting and steps out from the kitchen.

“Do you want pancakes? Do you want scrambled eggs?” he asks earnestly, bending down to talk to the little girl as she ducks behind her grandmother. Minutes later, he emerges with fluffy eggs and blueberry pancakes cooked in a familiar mouse-eared silhouette. “It’s Mickey, kind of,” Akritidis says.

This is classic Havertown Grille, says manager Ben Kurten, who has been working here 11 years. “We’re very attentive to the customers. Service is quick and it’s friendly. It’s not stuffy. It’s not industrial.” During breakfast and lunch rushes, the staff stays relaxed while maintaining high standards — like my expertly cooked omelet, seared on the outside, tender on the inside.

“There’s that threshold of cooked and then overcooked,” Kurten says. “There’s a sweet spot. If we don’t get it, it goes in the trash and we start over.”

Kurten works six days a week, arriving an hour before Havertown Grille opens at 8 a.m. He says he’s probably waited on Kelce pretty much every time the All-Pro star has been in. “He’s the kind of customer that anybody would ask for, down-to-earth, very approachable. You see other customers look over and they know it’s him,” Kurten says. ”He’s very receptive to that and more than willing to take pictures and sign things for fans. Just a normal guy.”

Kurten says that the Ohio native, now an adopted-hometown hero for Philly and Delco alike (Kelce lives in Haverford), hasn’t been in much since announcing his retirement. But he feels confident he’ll be serving Kelce more sausage-egg-and-cheeses on an English muffin or yogurt parfaits without the granola — especially after Kelce’s Campbell’s appearance.

“It was shocking to see [him mention us],” Kurten says. “It was of course great to have a shoutout. That we were on the forefront of his mind — that really speaks volumes.”

Kelce finished out his Eagles career on a one-year, $14.5 million contract and is likely teeing up a TV job; he can more than afford to eat at stellar Philly restaurants every night of the week. Still, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he champions a place like Havertown Grille. In previous interviews, he’s called out Stock’s pound cake, Dalessandro’s cheesesteaks, and Swiacki Meats kabonosyas sausage as key items in his hypothetical last meal.

Few high-profile Philadelphia transplants have signaled they really get us as well as Kelce does. “No one celebrates their own like the City of Philadelphia,” he said in his retirement speech. “They will love you in this city if you love it the way you love your brother. You will be loved by going above and beyond to show that you care, because they care.”

That’s true when it comes to football — and breakfast spots, too.

Havertown Grille at 2409 W. Darby Rd. is open daily from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 610-449-2500, havertowngrille.com, @havertowngrille