A new Ethiopian spot plus other essential eats in Ardmore | Inquirer Lower Merion
And, a historic Bryn Mawr home sparks a debate.
Hi, Lower Merion! 👋
This week, we’ll take you inside the newly opened Eshkol Ethiopian Cuisine and also dish out some other essential places to eat and drink in Ardmore, zoom into a preservation debate playing out in Bryn Mawr, and bring you the latest in a shooting case that unfolded inside a crowded Lower Merion bar last Memorial Day.
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You can now add an Ethiopian spot to your dining options in Ardmore.
Eshkol Ethiopian Cuisine opened last week at 36 E. Lancaster Ave., a revamp of the longtime Thai restaurant Siamese Princess. It’s believed to be the first Ethiopian restaurant on the Main Line.
Chaltu Merga, the home cook behind the 32-seat storefront across from Ardmore Music Hall and next door to Jack McShea’s Pub, has fulfilled her longtime dream of opening a restaurant now that her youngest son is a senior in high school, according to food and dining reporter Michael Klein. The business is a family affair, and serves up traditional Ethiopian dishes like doro wot (chicken stew with egg), siga wot (beef sautéed in spice butter), tikil gomen (cabbage), misir wot (lentils), injera, and much more.
You can read all about Eshkol Ethiopian Cuisine here.
😋 If you’re looking for even more options in Ardmore, check out food and dining reporter Jenn Ladd’s roundup of the essential places to eat and drink there.
💡 Community News
A home in Bryn Mawr, designed in 1900 by Philadelphia architect William Lightfoot Price, is sparking a debate over property rights, historic preservation, and the character of Lower Merion Township. The question at the center of the debate: Who gets to choose when buildings should be protected?
Andrew McCutchen, 45, of Delaware County, was sentenced to state prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and gun charges in connection with a shooting inside the crowded Leon Spencer Reid American Legion on Simpson Road in Ardmore last Memorial Day.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a Haverford College alum and the school’s largest donor, is privately not a fan of President Donald Trump’s tariffs strategy, according to a CNN report. Read our takeaways.
Among Philadelphia and its surrounding counties, only Montgomery County’s measles vaccination rate for kindergartners remained above the 95% “community immunity” threshold by the beginning the 2023-24 school year. Measles immunization rates in Philadelphia and its collar counties have been declining since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local anti-hunger programs are seeing a rise in food insecurity as economic pressures impact the region. In 2023, visits to Montgomery County food pantries rose 60%, according to MontCo Anti-Hunger Network data, with some of the highest demand coming from the Main Line. “They’re seeing people who have never been to a food pantry,” said Shannon Isaacs, executive director.
Pennsylvania isn’t building enough housing, and that’s hiking prices for both homebuyers and renters, according to new research from Pew. In Montco, the share of cost-burdened renters (anyone spending more than 30% of their income on rent) rose by about 6% from 2017 to 2023.
Villanova fired its men’s basketball coach Kyle Neptune after three consecutive missed NCAA Tournaments. So who should replace him? Here are some candidates to watch.
Welcome, pothole repair season. PennDot is working to patch up pavement on more than 65 state highways this week, including along Bryn Mawr Avenue.
A $1 million “log-cabin style home” along the 400 block of South Ithan Avenue in Bryn Mawr caught fire last week. Radnor and Bryn Mawr fire companies responded to the intense flames. (6ABC)
June Koch, of Ardmore, a former professor of English literature at Bryn Mawr College and Widener University who was also an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, died earlier this month of Lewy body dementia at her home. She was 92.
🏫 Schools Briefing
A recent lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has effectively halted discrimination investigations due to federal cutbacks and layoffs, and local parents like Lower Merion dad Eric Lowry are lamenting a safety net that’s “pretty well gone.” Lowry has previously filed complaints alleging that Lower Merion discriminated against his daughter based on her disability.
🍽️ On our Plate
Goodness Bowls, serving up healthy options like acai bowls, smoothies, salads, and wraps, is now open in Narberth.
Tired Hands Brewing Co.’s original BrewCafe in Ardmore has been reimagined as Ardmore Brewing Co., with a soft opening today and grand opening planned tomorrow, reports food and dining reporter Michael Klein in his weekly Let’s Eat newsletter.
Looking for your new favorite restaurant? Take our quiz and get some recommendations from The 76, our annual list of the most vital restaurants in the Philly area. In the quiz, you can choose whether to stick to the suburbs, or branch out elsewhere.
If you’re craving burgers, consider Cornerstone Bistro in Wayne. It just made our list of the 18 most supremely satisfying burgers in Philly.
🎳 Things to Do
🎥 Paris, Texas: Catch a screening of this 1984 drama starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, and Dean Stockwell. ⏰ Thursday, March 20, 7:15 p.m. 💵 $16.25 for adults📍Bryn Mawr Film Institute
🎤 Yonder Mountain String Band: Check out this modern jamgrass band that blends bluegrass with rock and a little funk. ⏰ Friday, March 21, 8 p.m. 💵 $32📍Ardmore Music Hall
🎥 The Lego Movie: Catch a screening of the 2014 film, where everything is awesome. ⏰ Saturday, March 22, 11 a.m. 💵 $7.75 for adults, $6.75 for kids📍Bryn Mawr Film Institute
🎤 Wheatus: Calling all teenage dirtbags to the band’s 25th anniversary tour. ⏰ Saturday, March 22, 8 p.m. 💵 $25📍Ardmore Music Hall
📖 Meet the Author Book Talk: Come hear from author Aaron Bracy all about his new book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks. Registration is required. ⏰ Tuesday, March 25, 7 p.m.📍Ludington Library
🏡 On the Market
This 4,702-square-foot, six-bedroom, four-bath home in Merion Station boasts plenty of natural light, an open-concept layout, custom built-ins, a finished basement, and in-ground pool — just in time for summer. The home, which is right by Merion Botanical Park, is listed for $1,350,000.
Have you seen an interesting listing in or around Lower Merion? Share it with us in an email to lowermerion@inquirer.com.
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