36 restaurants opening soon in Philly

November and December are traditionally high season for restaurant openings as owners seek to capture the lucrative fourth-quarter business.

Thursday saw two openings in South Philadelphia’s Bella Vista neighborhood alone: the return of Royal Tavern after its pandemic-long shutdown, and the debut of Rosy’s East, a second location of the Center City taqueria, at the former Beau Monde at Sixth and Bainbridge Streets.

This week is shaping up to be even busier, as final touches are being applied to SIN, a steak house/scene in Northern Liberties; Bake’n Bacon, the bacon-theme bar-restaurant at the former Devil’s Den in South Philadelphia; and Hi-Lo Taco Co., a taqueria in Washington Square West. Bar Lesieur, the Schulson Collective’s French offering near Rittenhouse Square,has set Nov. 15 for the first night. Nov. 18 is etched into stone for the public debut of the upscale Monterey Prime American Grill in Mount Laurel’s Aloft Hotel. Also planning to open officially this month is the relocated Fiore Fine Foods, in a smaller location in Kensington.

After a brief lull just before Thanksgiving, the openings are expected to pick up again with Miss Saigon, a Vietnamese bar-restaurant in Washington Square West; BlackHen, a fried-chicken shop in Old City; Pho Skyline, a new noodle shop in the Italian Market; Soko Bag, a Korean-inspired bar in Phoenixville; and 48 Record Bar, above Sassafras, a bar in Old City.

“December” is penciled in for the Boozy Mutt, a dog-friendly bar in Brewerytown; a second location of Our Town Brewery; the return of Jim’s Steaks in a larger South Street space; the comeback of Dizengoff in a larger Rittenhouse-area space; Almyra, a stylish Greek restaurant in Rittenhouse; the first Philadelphia location of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop (on South Street); the second Philadelphia location of Barcade, the arcade bar (in Center City); the third location of Little Susie’s Pie Shop (in South Philadelphia); Joe & Kay, a Northern Liberties izakaya; the cat-friendly Get A Gato in Bella Vista; and Satay Bistro, an Indonesian BYOB, in the Loft District.

“By the end of the year” is the target for Two Locals, the city’s first Black-owned brewpub, with the second location of Liberty Kitchen, side by side in University City.

January could see the doors open to the new location of Queen & Rook Game Cafe, moving around the corner to South Street; as well as the plush 9 Prime steak house in West Chester; a Rival Bros. cafe in Brewerytown; Bucatini Caffe, an Italian restaurant in Passyunk Crossing; Kismet Bagels Luncheonette, an offshoot of Kismet Bagels in Penn Valley; and the return of Tequila’s in Center City. Essen North, the second location of Essen Bakery, is aiming for “this winter” in Kensington.

» READ MORE: Get the latest dish every week with the "Let's Eat" newsletter

Many restaurant projects seem to be mired in a state of TBD, generally caused by delays in equipment. There’s no defined timeline, for example, for Radin’s, the Jewish-style deli from Famous 4th Street’s Russ Cowan in Cherry Hill’s Short Hills Shopping Center; Baby’s Kusina + Market, the Filipino eatery in Brewerytown; Kampar, Ange Branca’s kitchen in Bella Vista; Paffuto, an Italian specialty shop, and Seaforest Bakeshop, a Korean-inspired cafe, both in South Philadelphia. The Mulherin’s restaurant at East Market, announced in summer 2021, has been pushed till early 2024.

Here are the openings, at a glance. Keep in mind that all dates are subject to change.

Royal Tavern (937 E. Passyunk Ave.): Stephen Simons and Dave Frank, with chef Nic Macri at the stove, will soft-open their South Philly pub on Nov. 9 with a full opening Dec. 1. Ten beers on tap. Macri has kept vegan options.

Rosy’s East (Sixth and Bainbridge Streets): Avram Hornik opens a branch of his popular taqueria in the former Beau Monde.

SIN (1102 Germantown Ave.): This fancy Italian steak house in The Beverly, across from the Piazza in Northern Liberties, is billed as “vibe dining.”

Bake’n Bacon (1148 S. 11th St.): Food trucker Justin Coleman’s top-to-bottom redo of Devil’s Den will theme drinks, foods, and desserts around bacon. The idea came to him in a dream.

Bar Lesieur (1523 Sansom St.): The Schulson Collective goes with French in the former Samuel’s, above Giuseppe & Sons.

Hi-Lo Taco Co. (1109 Walnut St.): This bar-restaurant in Washington Square West is chef Jeff Newman’s interpretation of “high/low,” as he incorporates high-end ingredients (house-made flour tortillas and pit-smoked meats and vegetables) in a casual concept.

Monterey Prime American Grill (Aloft Hotel, 558 Fellowship Rd., Mount Laurel): Dave Magrogan, who owns a chain of Harvest Seasonal Grill restaurants, is notching upscale with this grill, opening Nov. 18 at the Aloft in Mount Laurel.

Fiore Fine Foods (2413 Frankford Ave.): Justine MacNeil and Ed Crochet are bringing their Italian pastries and savory items to Kensington after a spell in South Philadelphia.

Miss Saigon (1316 Walnut St.): “Vietnamese drinking food” will be on the menu at this colorful newcomer in Washington Square West, whose ownership team includes Chinatown Square operators Kenny Poon and David Taing. They’ve partnered with chef Tommy Tran, Tran’s cousin Chuong Nguyen (overseeing the cocktails), and Kevin Kaing, who designed with artist Will Morales.

BlackHen (120 Chestnut St.): Felicia Wilson of Old City’s Amina sees the homestretch in site for her chicken restaurant down the street.

Pho Skyline (910 Christian St.): Vincent Tran and family are opening a pho shop next to Roxanne in the Italian Market.

Soko Bag (95 Nutt Rd., Phoenixville): Alice Chang and Shea Roggio are turning the former Sal’s Pizza Box into a spot featuring the Korean-rooted combo of boneless fried chicken and beer.

48 Record Bar (above Sassafras, 48 S. Second St.): Donal McCoy and creative director Joey Sweeney, with an ultra-high-fidelity vinyl sound system, are taking cues from Japan and London’s audiophile bars and record-collecting culture for this Old City hangout. They’ll do special-guest selectors, album/cocktail pairings, record release parties, a Hi-Fi Tea, and live performances. The bar will offer 16 signature cocktails, plus bottled beer and wines. Menu will include small plates from executive chef Max Stewart.

The Boozy Mutt (2639 Poplar St.): Sam and Allison Mattiola’s pooch-friendly pub takes over the former North Star Bar in Fairmount. Raise the woof.

Our Town Brewery (1519 Ridge Ave.): The Lancaster brewery plans to open a tasting room in Francisville.

Jim’s South Street Steaks (400-402 South St.): Ken Silver has expanded his family’s steak landmark to include the former Eyes Gallery next door, after a summer 2022 fire.

Dizengoff (1625-27 Sansom St.): Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook’s popular Israeli eatery expands into their former Abe Fisher for an elevated sit-down experience.

Almyra (17th and Chancellor Streets): The Pashalis family is going with modern Greek fare on the former site of Little Pete’s, now the Hyatt Centric Hotel.) They’re aiming for a light and breezy open-concept dining room, 45-seat marble-top bar, 200-seat dining room, open kitchen, and 30-seat semiprivate dining space, and late-night bar scene.

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop (308 South St.): This New York-based dumpling chain, which sends out its orders in an Automat-like system of windows, has several locations teed up, including

Barcade (1326 Chestnut St.): This bar-arcade funhouse that was mired in permitting hell is getting closer.

Little Susie’s (1754 S. Chadwick St.): Daniel Martino’s hand-pie shop will open a third location on a South Philadelphia corner.

Joe & Kay (702 N. Second St.): Owen Kamihira of Northern Liberties’ El Camino Real and his sons are headed down the street with an izakaya.

Get A Gato (638 Christian St.): Colombian-style snacks and cats to adopt are the features behind Jackie Starker’s cafe. No kitten. She owns Amelie’s Bark Shop, a pet boutique on East Passyunk Avenue.

Satay Bistro (1240 Spring Garden St.): An Indonesian BYOB comes to 13th and Spring Garden Streets, the former Bufad.

Two Locals Brewing Co. and Liberty Kitchen (37th and Market Streets): The city’s first Black-owned brewpub and the Fishtown deli will share a space at uCity Square.

Queen & Rook Game Cafe (123 South St.): This game cafe is moving from Second and South Streets to larger quarters nearby in the former Pietro’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria.

Baby’s Kusina & Market (2816 W. Girard Ave.): Tam and Raquel Dang’s Filipino food pop-up goes brick-and-mortar in Brewerytown with an all-day menu and a market.

Kampar (611 S. Seventh St.): Chef Ange Branca, whose Sate Kampar closed during the pandemic, is modeling her new two-level restaurant (in the former Nomad Pizza) on the idea of the Malaysian kopitiam — a sort of food court, whose chefs will represent cuisines that are underrepresented in Philadelphia.

Paffuto (1009 S. Eighth St.): Chefs Jake Loeffler, Sam Kalkut, and Dan Griffiths are setting up the former Bibou for their casual Italian setup.

Radin’s (486 Evesham Rd. Cherry Hill): Cherry Hillers are plotzing as they await this deli from Famous’ Russ Cowan.

Seaforest Bakeshop (16th and Bainbridge Streets): Sue Lee, a self-taught baker from Seoul, heads to the corner of 16th and Bainbridge Streets with a cafe/bake shop offering specialty coffees and Korean-inspired treats.

9 Prime (9 N. High St., West Chester): Chef Fabio Viviani of Top Chef fame is lending his name and management team to an enormous high-end steak/seafood house and cocktail bar on two levels (plus a retractable roof) in the former First National Bank of West Chester.

Rival Bros. (3145 W. Jefferson St.): New Brewerytown location for the cafe.

Bucatini Caffe (1824 S. 13th St.): Chef Chris Miller and Dejvi Furxhi (Burrata) are opening an Italian BYOB at 13th and Sigel Streets, just off Passyunk.

Kismet Bagels Luncheonette (801 Montgomery Ave., Penn Valley): Jacob and Alexandra Cohen are adding to their holdings with an expanded luncheonette concept.

Tequila’s (1602 Locust St.): David Suro and family revive their popular white-tablecloth Mexican restaurant, which was damaged by fire earlier this year.

Essen North (110 W. Berks St.): A bakery/cafe from James Beard Award-nominated baker Tova du Plessis of Essen in South Philadelphia.