Why so many out-of-town restaurants are opening in Philly

Roni Mazumdar and his business partner, chef Chintan Pandya, were planning to expand their restaurant company Unapologetic Foods outside of New York.

“I couldn’t have thought of a better food city than Philadelphia,” Mazumdar said. There’s the proximity, an hour or so by train, but he also cited the city’s “really exciting dining scene, with people who are taking chances.” Unapologetic, whose flagship restaurant is the Michelin-starred Semma, has not determined a name or concept for its Philadelphia restaurant, due to open next year in Fishtown.

The Philadelphia area, which has always been a magnet for out-of-town restaurateurs, has an impressive slate of outside operators expecting to open here in 2025.

Like Unapologetic, most of them hail from New York, which has a storied history of culinary cultural exchanges with Philly. “My understanding from the folks I talk with is they can get the right size spaces for better prices, and the cost of living for their employees is lower,” said Veronica Blum of MPN, a real estate firm.

Earlier this month, Manhattan jazz/billiard bar Cellar Dog replaced Howl at the Moon in Center City. The Newsroom, an offshoot of a Queens nightspot that hides its entrance behind a vending machine, plans to open soon at the Beverly building in Northern Liberties. Nearby, Brooklyn’s Gertie (a “Jew-ish” diner) and chef Laurent Tourondel’s new concept Terra Grill will open side by side in new construction at the Piazza Alta. Brooklyn-rooted Palestinian restaurant Ayat is under construction at the former Roxy Theater in Rittenhouse. Manhattan’s Pig & Khao, a pork-centric restaurant with Thai and Filipino influences, is coming to the former Martha in Kensington. Flight Club, a darts parlor created in NoHo, is targeting an early 2025 opening in Center City. Wonder, a New York-area potential game-changer in restaurant delivery (it recently swallowed GrubHub), is planning to set up dozens of locations in Philadelphia and South Jersey; the company has only confirmed a spot in Fishtown.

Three operators from Washington, D.C., are on the way: Medium Rare, a steak frites restaurant from Cherry Hill native Mark Bucher, will take space in Fishtown. Little Gay Pub, a popular political hangout, is coming to Washington Square West. KNEAD Hospitality + Design is bringing Mi Vida, a high-end Mexican restaurant, to Center City, and plans to open at least one more of its brands in the city.

Philadelphia’s location between New York and Washington plays into the city’s appeal, said Jacob Cooper of MSC, also a real estate company. For “operators who have presence in those cities, or even Baltimore or Boston up and down the I-95 corridor, adding a location or two or three here is not such a heavy lift,” he said.

The chain presence will be felt heavily at King of Prussia Mall, preparing for the 2025 debuts of Eataly (the Italian food emporium, first announced in August 2023), Netflix House (an immersive concept from the streamer), Lazy Dog Cafe out of Costa Mesa, Calif., and Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar, a restaurant tied to the Seattle-based retailer.

Elsewhere in the Pennsylvania suburbs, Napa Kitchen & Wine (from Midlothian, Va., of all places) is prepping a location at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square, while Burtons Grill & Bar (Andover, Mass.) will take a former Chili’s in Wayne.

On the fast-food side, recent entrants have been chicken specialists Raising Cane’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken, with Zaxbys due next summer. On the flip side in the poultry realm, Philadelphia-bred Federal Donuts & Chicken is expanding and has an eye first on a regional and then a national footprint.