Philly’s first bacon-themed bar opens in the former Devil’s Den

Justin Coleman, who grew up in Cape May, was planning to open a food business in 2016. But what kind of food business, he did not know.

His younger brother Derek died, and two months later, “he visited me in a dream,” Coleman said. “He gave me the idea for bacon. I could smell it in my dream. I remember waking up and writing it down, ‘bacon, bacon, bacon,’ but I only got one good ‘bacon’ in and the rest was scribble. I called my sister the next day and told her about it. I said, ‘I don’t know what this means, but I’ve got to something with bacon.’”

Coleman and his friend Kelvin Alexander launched Bake’n Bacon at Cape May’s strawberry festival by selling chocolate-covered strawberries with bacon shavings out of a tent festooned with photos of bacon. The reaction was positive. Coleman and Alexander parlayed the word of mouth into a food truck, then a second truck, and then a third, calling it Bake’n Bacon, after Coleman’s preferred method of cooking bacon. (Baking controls the crispiness better than frying.)

And on Thursday, Coleman’s 39th birthday, he soft-opens a bar-restaurant version of Bake’n Bacon in South Philadelphia. It is at 11th and Ellsworth Streets, the former site of Devil’s Den, which closed last year after 14 years. Coleman said he is expecting the liquor license any day; at the outset, the restaurant is BYOB. It has a roomy 20-seat bar and total seating for about 50 on the first floor.

Coleman, as you may gather, is spiritual. “My faith in God has always helped me look at things from a different perspective,” he said. “I’m never like ‘woe is me.’ I’m like, ‘Let me use this as an opportunity to grow or to be better.’”

As the mobile catering grew to three trucks — selling 500 pounds of bacon in high season — the pandemic hit. With catering and events idled, he drove into neighborhoods to take orders. People loved their takes on bacon — sandwiches, bacon caramel sauce, bacon bourbon sauce, and bacon-infused barbecue sauce.

Coleman decided to take the next step by opening a restaurant. “I love bringing people together, and I feel like food is one of those things that always brings people together,” he said.

Coleman wanted to trade the Jersey Shore for Philadelphia, and the Devil’s Den’s vast second floor sold him on the location. He also bought his building; though Alexander is involved with the business, he is not a partner in the restaurant.

“I’m an event planner by heart, and upstairs has a beautiful space,“ Coleman said. He envisioned a bar-restaurant on the street level with a members-only brunch club featuring live music on the second floor, and a lounge serving high-end bourbons and tequilas on the third floor.

Coleman made the rounds of banks to arrange small-business financing, finally landing it through WSFS Bank. He signed an agreement of sale in fall 2022, expecting to open the next spring after minor renovations. He put together a design, whitewashing the brick and calling for floral wallpaper, Instagrammable neon signs, a light-up bar, circular lighting, and black-and-white wallpaper bearing inspirational messages.

Reality set in.

Buckets of water caught rainwater on the third floor, and it became clear that the rest of the building needed help. He decided to redo the building from top (its five roofs) to bottom (the basement prep rooms). “The only thing that we kept was the floor,” Coleman said, tapping the bar floor. “This is Brazilian cherry wood.” His first contractor didn’t work out. His second brought it to the finish.

The brunch club and bourbon lounge will wait till 2024.

The menu includes some of the favorites from the food trucks, namely the sandwiches. A second selection includes sandwiches not on the truck menu, such as a lobster roll and a wagyu burger topped with bacon, Gouda, and bacon caramel sauce. Sandwiches are $13 to $23.

There are a few non-bacon dishes, including vegan “veatballs” (served as an appetizer as well as with spaghetti), blackened salmon, baby-back ribs, bowtie chicken, and salads. Most entrees are in the $20s.

The cocktails ($16 to $19) are named after influential people and events. The Butterfly, made with vapor-influenced gin, is named after his great-grandmother Martha, who used to pick milkweed in Cape May Point and bring it home to him. One day, he watched a Monarch butterfly hatch from its cocoon on the underside of a leaf. “It was the most beautiful thing,” he said. “That was something that bonded us together forever.”

The Sparrow, made with rye, is named after brother Derek. “After he passed away, I kept seeing a sparrow everywhere,” Coleman said. The Owl, based on spiced rum, was inspired by his other great-grandmother, Sylvia, whose house was filled with owl trinkets. Then there is the 22-23, a silver rum drink, named after the delay in opening. There’s Tast’e Bacon, a bacon beer brewed by Evil Genius that is served with a chocolate-covered strawberry.

Coleman said he was opening Bake’n Bacon “for people like myself and Kelvin. We both want to show people of color that we can do it. For anyone, there are a lot of obstacles out there. There will be a hundred ‘nos’ but all you need is that one ‘yes.’”

Bake’n Bacon, 1148 S. 11th St. Soft-opening hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Until Resy is set up for reservations, they are being taken at 267-222-0084.