Philly’s hottest food neighborhood | Let’s Eat

Fishtown, Kensington, and Rittenhouse all have busy restaurant scenes. But do you know what’s going on these days in Queen Village?

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📰 Thursday’s print copies of The Inquirer will include a slick magazine version of The 76, our guide to the Philadelphia area’s essential restaurants. Want extras or the magazine by itself? They’re available here. Meanwhile, read it online here.

— Mike Klein

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Queen Village has 30 new or upcoming restaurants and food options, and the choices are vast: ramen specialists, Mexican restaurants, a chocolatier, BYOBs — including Peruvian, Tunisian, Korean, Venezuelan, and Kazakh spots — and one of Philly’s fanciest new restaurants. Read on for the rundown.

It’s called gamtae, and — as Kiki Aranita reports — chefs around here are using it for the blast of umami it imparts to everything it touches.

Can’t (or won’t) cook for Thanksgiving? There’s always takeout. Check out our growing list of options, and let us know what we should add.

Philadelphia International Airport will seem more like Philly with the planned openings of two popular Philly food brands in the B/C Connector: Federal Donuts & Chicken, the fried chicken/doughnut/coffee chain, and Oyster House, the nearly 50-year-old Center City seafood destination. Kiki Aranita lands the story, adding lots of context.

(FedNuts fans: The Willow Grove location is expected to open on the second week of December; Marlton is up for early 2025; and Conshohocken is due in March or so.)

Hey, theater fans. A twofer:

The touring Hamilton is at the Academy of Music through Nov. 23, and The Inquirer’s Rosa Cartagena enjoyed seeing the historical musical pushed even further by new talent. Need a restaurant idea within a few blocks? Amma’s South Indian Cuisine and Oyster House are straight out of The 76, as well as Good Dog (pub), Giorgio on Pine (Italian BYOB), and Grandma’s Philly (Thai).

Rosa also stopped at Arden Theatre to see Lynn Nottage’s historical drama Intimate Apparel, on stage through Dec. 8. Her review is here. Nearby pre-theater dinner ideas: Olea (BYOB), Tuna Bar (Japanese), and mainstays Fork and Ristorante Panorama.

Pig & Khao from New York will fill the just-closed Martha space in Kensington. Based on my stop the other night at P&K’s original Lower East Side location, expect downtown energy and a Filipino-Thai menu yielding, for example, the khao soi noodles shown below. Read on for the backstory, photos, etc.

The Olde Bar, which chef Jose Garces opened 10 years ago on the former site of Old Original Bookbinder’s, has stopped its à la carte service, and will stick to events only.

Cake & Joe’s Pennsport location (1401 E. Moyamensing Ave.) reopened Wednesday after a renovation. Sarah Qi and Trista Tang, who have another location at 2012 Frankford Ave., are opening a third this spring at 1735 Market St.

Mona, a Mediterranean restaurant/nightspot, is inching closer to a December opening at 1308 Chestnut St. It’s from Teddy Sourias, who owns BRU Craft & Wurst, Tradesman’s, U-Ban, and Kontrol at the other end of the block. (Remember: This is the guy who started around the corner 25 years ago with a bar called Finn McCool’s.) Shown above is the 24-seat bar, as seen last weekend; see more on my Instagram.

Almanac. Old City’s new-ish Ogawa Sushi & Kappo (which boasts a LaBan-approved omakase) goes upstairs starting Friday with a Japanese American bar called Almanac. Owners Vy To, Victor Ng, and Albert Zhen are offering food and drink menus of what they call “reimagined American classics with Japanese twists.”

Danny Childs, who won a 2024 Beard award with his cocktail book Slow Drinks, set up the beverage program, which is based on seasonal ingredients. There will be a “bartender’s choice” cocktail option, and a two-tiered pricing system (standard and “reserve”). Chef Carlos Wills’ food: miso-glazed chicken wings, wasabi fries, karaage chicken sandwiches (that’s one shown above), karaage octopus, and a wagyu hot dog. Five seats at the bar will be available for walk-ins, and a long banquette with several tables (15 total seats) will be up for grabs on Resy.

(Almanac will serve Thursday-Saturday, while Ogawa is open Wednesday-Sunday.)

Almanac, above Ogawa, 310 Market St. Hours: 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday. No wheelchair access to the second floor.

Rooster’s. Glenside gets a new family-friendly pub Friday from the people behind suburban spots Stove & Tap, Al Pastor, and Joey Chops (Justin Weathers, Matt Moyer, and chef Joe Monnich) as well as Jasper’s Backyard (Chris Magarity).

A top-to-bottom remake of Keswick Tavern, Rooster’s is poignant for Moyer, who grew up — and still lives — near Keswick Village and the Keswick Theater. Rooster was the nickname of his father, Danny Moyer, a community fixture who died in April. The 90-seater (including an enormous 40-seat horseshoe-shape bar and back room) is decorated with local lore, such as photos from Weldon Fire Co., La Salle College High School, and Bishop McDevitt High School.

Monnich has set up expansive menus for lunch and dinner, including wings, sandwiches (like the smoked turkey and Brie melt with green apple slaw and bacon jam shown below), and a few entrees including shrimp & grits and fried chicken. For the kids’ tray, there’s a main dish (burger, tenders, mac and cheese, or pasta), plus fries, carrots, celery, apples, and a chocolate chip cookie for $10. Menus are here. Fourteen beers are on tap on the full bar.

Rooster’s, 294 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside. Initial hours: 4-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 4-midnight Thursday-Saturday, 4-9 p.m. Sunday. Lunch and brunch will follow.

Red Ribbon Bakeshop, the internationally syndicated Filipino bakery, notified the state Department of Labor & Industry that it will close its only area location, on Cottman Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, effective Nov. 30. It opened two years ago just a hundred yards from a Jollibee. Bad time for closing announcements: Chart House will be 86ed Thanksgiving weekend, and Devon Seafood Grill will go dark New Year’s.

In happier bakery news, Majdal Bakery will soft open (as bakeries are wont to do) on Friday at 618 S. Fifth St. in Queen Village. The Levantine shop, which offers sweet and savory goods, is from Kenan Rabah, who emigrated from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights and spent nearly five years at Lost Bread Co. Initial hours will be 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. (The location was previously Cuzzy’s, the short-lived ice cream hotspot whose owner, Cuzzy Angiolillo, is laying low.) Baking is on the rise in South Philly: Witness the huge lines at the new Pop’s Bun Shop at Ninth and Catharine.

Lost Time Brewing Co.’s tasting room will open Thursday, in time for the Eagles game, at 2147 N. Front St. in Kensington (near the York-Dauphin El stop), in the triangle building that served as Mighty Mick’s Gym in the Rocky movies. It will open with six beers, plus seltzers, ginger beer, and a draft margarita. Rowhome Coffee is doing the food.

The book-release party for You Gotta Eat — Inquirer deputy food editor Margaret Eby’s guide for getting something on your plate when you have too much on your plate, as the blurb goes — will be 6-9 p.m. Nov. 19 at Bloomsday on Headhouse Square. The $45 ticket includes a welcome drink (non-alcoholic available), a buffet, and conversation; add $20 for the book. Reserve via Resy.

Taste of Fairmount, showcasing the Art Museum District’s bars and restaurants, is 6-9 p.m. Nov. 21 at Girard College’s Founder’s Hall. Proceeds benefit Fairmount CDC. Details are here.

Wine writer Marnie Old touts a California zinfandel, on sale in Pennsylvania, that’s “dry-farmed.” No drought about it.

On Election Day, how did Champagne buyers react in Pennsylvania, according to delivery service Gopuff?

A) Orders up 20%

B) Orders up 60%

C) Orders down 50%

D) it was flat (ba-dum-bump)

Find out if you know the answer.

What’s happening with Tomo, the gem of a sushi/ramen spot on Arch Street in Old City? They keep teasing a new restaurant. — Nikki P.

The Instagram is indeed showing a new spot under construction. After six years, Andy Kho and Steven Lin are expanding next door into what previously was ICI, the croissant and macarons specialist, which moved to Third Street near Market. They hope to open in early December.

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