UNSUNG HEROES

It’s human nature to chase the hot new thing. But sometimes, excellence is right where we left it. I’m singling out 12 restaurants in the Philadelphia area that have been around for ages and still deliver quality. The newest here opened in 2012. The oldest, in 1951. They’re still around for several reasons. All are family run. All but two have a single location. Most own their buildings and so don’t pay ever-steeper rent. Further and significantly, they’re all thriving — they’re truly among the region’s unsung restaurants.

1/10

• est. 2012

  African Small Pot

  6133 Woodland Ave

  

  There’s an undeniable warmth radiating through this humble storefront on Southwest Philadelphia’s Woodland Avenue. The sunny yellow walls trimmed in red and green honor the flag of Mauritania, the homeland of owner Abdarahmane Diop and his son, Bocar. The restaurant’s hours run from early morning until late night, and the menu spans West Africa, from Nigeria to Senegal. Cable news plays on the TV. Settle into a padded chair at the wooden communal table or a low side table, and you’ll get a complimentary cup of hot, sweet ataya tea as you discuss your meal choice with the server. Perhaps it will be a bowl of fiery egusi served with a ball of fufu for dipping, or Jollof rice with goat, or yassa fish, or...

  Actually, “meal” is a misnomer. You’ll have enough to take home for lunch the next day.

  • Phone(267) 713-7603

• est. 1995

  Arpeggio BYOB

  1101 N Bethlehem Pike, Spring House

  

  The brick oven at Mary Cullom and Hamdy Khalil’s roomy Mediterranean BYOB on the edge of a shopping center near Ambler puts out crispy, thin-crust pizzas, but the calling card is the pillowy pita that everyone seems to order with bowls of creamy hummus dotted by a single black olive. Khalil’s Egyptian heritage shows up in his wide-ranging menu (falafel, whole fish, pastas, lamb dishes, calamari).

  The stylish, high-ceilinged room and enclosed three-season patio make it a favorite for larger parties and extended families. Though lunch is generally easier for walk-ins, a text-based wait list manages expectations during peak times. (Trivia: Cullom took the name from her previous career as a concert violist.)

  • Websitearpeggiobyob.com
  • Instagram@arpeggiobyob
  • Phone(215) 646-5055

• est. 1988

  BIstro Romano

  120 Lombard St

  

  How many engagements have been accepted in the stonewalled grotto of Michael Granato’s candlelit, classic Italian bistro in Society Hill? Countless. (Table 1, a table tucked behind the staircase, is particularly private.) I propose that you can make a meal out of chef Andrew Kedziora’s pastas — at least nine selections, including vegan and gluten-free varieties — though the seasonal variations on rack of lamb and veal saltimbocca are worth a look.

  The pandemic ceased the tableside Caesar but set the stage for a small wine shop near the entrance as well as takeout dinners (a nightly $39 salad-pasta-dessert special). There’s live piano Friday and Saturday nights in the street-level bar, where seating can be reserved as well.

  • Websitebistroromano.com
  • Instagram@bistro.romano
  • Phone(215) 925-8880

• est. 2002

  Bluefin

  2820 Dekalb Pike, East Norriton

  

  Self-taught Sushi chef Yong Kim has been at it for a nearly a quarter-century, having built a following at a modest storefront in Plymouth Meeting before opening his sleek BYOB in much more spacious quarters five minutes away in East Norriton’s Northtowne Plaza. (A branch in Exton opened in 2018 and the takeout counter Umi opened in 2019 at Reading Terminal Market.)

  Some of Kim’s earlier dishes have withstood time, including the spicy tuna sundae and wasabi shumai that his suburban audience craves. Count on fresh fish and a comedy show among the sushi chefs working the 10-seat counter (you’ll spot Kim in a white paper hat while his mates will be in ball caps). Reservations on weekends are a must.

  • Websiterestaurantbluefin.com
  • Instagram@chefyongkim
  • Phone(610) 277-3917

• est. 2005

  Blueplate

  47 S Main St, Mullica Hill, NJ

  

  Culinary Institute of America-trained Jim Malaby did the Philly chef thing at such spots as Jake’s and Brasserie Perrier before decamping to small-town South Jersey with a farmhouse-chic eatery. Crowd is a mix of locals dropping in as well as tourists shopping in Mullica Hill’s collection of antiques shops. There’s plenty of people watching from the porch, too.

  The day starts with hearty breakfasts (notably pancakes and a flaky breakfast tart with oven-dried tomatoes, poached eggs, and Hollandaise) and lunches (the turkey Waldorf sandwiches) before the dining room converts to an elegant, sophisticated BYOB whose seasonal menu reflects the crops from surrounding farms. Malaby is particularly enamored of Jersey tomatoes, which he plans dinners around every summer.

  • Website​​blueplatenj.com
  • Instagram@blueplatenj
  • Phone(856) 478-2112
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• est. 2004

  Caribbean Feast

  1338 Rising Sun Ave

  It’s one thing for a restaurant to come back from a fire.

  But from two fires, with no insurance? Jamaican-born Howard Foreman credits the Temple University Hospital community for helping him and his family stick around for nearly

  two decades. He gives back, hosting events and sending out his food truck. Walk in, scan the Caribbean dishes staying hot in their steam-table pans behind Plexiglass, and order on a touchscreen. Your food (and a smile) will appear moments later through a window. Platters overflow their paper boxes.

  Cooking Channel personality G. Garvin stopped by for the oxtail and gravy, while Wyclef Jean has grooved on jerk chicken. Most of Foreman’s business is takeout and delivery, but there are two small tables inside and three more on a porch outside beneath wooden palm trees. In a hurry? Pull into the 30-minute loading zone behind the restaurant on Rising Sun Avenue.

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  • Website​​caribbeanfeastrestaurant.com
  • Instagram@caribbeanfeastcuisine
  • Phone(215) 223-2665

• est. 1979

  Ho Sai Gai

  1000 Race St

  

  A human-sized red lacquer Buddha greets you at the door at this quiet Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, whose traditional hanging lanterns, wood carvings, vases behind the counter, and octagonal windows remind you that it’s been around since Jimmy Carter was in office (minus a stretch from 1999 till 2008 while the building underwent repairs).

  There is nothing wrong with being a throwback amid the neighborhood’s constant turnover. Kathy Lo and Andy Wu’s menu advertises “all time popular favorites”: egg rolls in thick wrappers, shrimp toast, chicken fried rice, wonton soup, hot and sour soup, chow mein, lo mein, lazy dragon rolls. Like David’s Mai Lah Wah across the street, the scene gets more lively as last call approaches (it’s open most nights till 3 a.m.).

  • Website​​ho-sai-gai-restaurant.com
  • Phone(215) 922-4930

• est. 1958

  Kelly’s Seafood

  9362 Old Bustletown Ave

  

  Twin brothers Brett and Brian Kelly went to work for their dad, Ron, who as a young man had gone to work for his dad, Bill. All nine of Bill’s grandchildren have waited tables, breaded flounder, washed dishes, and tended bar at what is now Kelly’s Seafood in Bustleton. The staff have been there forever, too. The restaurant has been upgraded through the years, with a notable expansion in 1983 that subsumed the drugstore next door.

  The current look, accented by strings of lights and shells, has a pleasant, contemporary fish-house vibe. Fried platters, broiled platters — you already know most of the menu. Half-price appetizers and $3 Miller Lite drafts are the happy hour specials in the lounge (4 to 7 p.m.).

  • Website​kellys-seafood.com
  • Instagram@kellysseafood
  • Phone(215) 969-5950

• est. 2005

  La Peña Mexicana

  609 W. Cypress St., Kennett Square

  

  The building on the edge of Kennett Square’s downtown will surely catch your eye — it’s a shed, resembling an old gas station, painted in yellow and brown vertical stripes with the red, white, and green of the Mexican flag framing the roof line.

  This started as Julian Peña’s homey taqueria, which followed his brief stint owning a food truck until it crashed. Soon after, Peña (from Iguala in Guerrero, near a hamlet called Filadelfia on Mexico’s southwest coast) broadened the menu to include seafood (e.g. the highly spicy deviled shrimp, “drowned” in red chipotle sauce and served with rice and beans). Portions

  are large, especially for the platters. Order at the counter and settle in at a table for some Mexican TV, or do takeout (there is no delivery).

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  • Website​​lapenamexicanapa.com
  • Instagram@lapenamex
  • Phone(610) 925-2651
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• est. 1951

  The Pub

  7600 Kaighn Ave., Pennsauken, NJ

  Even the foodiest of your food-obsessed friends secretly would love the retro experience at this South Jersey landmark owned since 1999 by Marc Gelman — a cavernous 500-seater done up like a medieval banquet room with war flags and swords. (Imagine Tolkien’s bar mitzvah.) Six roaring open hearths lining the back wall turn out steaks and chops (remember these?) and customers line up at the well-stocked and oft-replenished salad bar, where you could make a meal of the zucchini bread and prepared salads alone. You can even slice your own cheese for the DIY Caesar salad. Top sellers include snapper soup, ribs, all the steaks, and a combo called the Carpetbagger — a jumbo-lump crab cake atop a 9-ounce filet mignon.

  Truly a place where you can make it a knight.

  • Website​​thepubnj.com
  • Phone(856) 665-6440

• est. 1989

  Tierra Colombiana

  4535 N 5th St

  

  Ecuadorian-born Jorge Mosquera had owned a Colombian restaurant in North Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood when he bought a nearby Cuban restaurant housed in the Spanish Mission-style building. At first, he combined the cuisines but later expanded the menu to include inspiration from all of Latin America, including mofongo and arañitas from Puerto Rico, churrasco from Argentina, and chaulafan from Ecuador. Gallo pinto, a Central American favorite, joins Colombian calentado and huevos pericos on the breakfast menu that starts at 8 a.m. in the handsome dining rooms framed by curved brick doorways, while the bar is an all-day drop-in for cocktails and snacks.

  The upstairs dance club, Tierra, is expected to reopen this fall after repairs from a fire in July. Mixto, Tierra Colombiana’s Center City branch, opened in 2000.

  • Website​​tierracolombianarestaurant.com
  • Instagram@tierracolombianarestaurant
  • Phone(215) 324-6086

• est. 2003

  Winnie’s Manayunk

  4266 Main St.

  

  Restaurant lifer Winnie Clowry started working at what was Le Bus Manayunk in 1994, later buying the restaurant in a restored mill with her husband, Bob, and putting her own name on it. A rower and caterer for the Dad Vail Regatta, she also brought in a racing scull and hung it upside-down over the bar. (Talk about kicking it old scull.) That and the steel and wooden beams give a boathouse feel to the skylit main room, putting a sunny-side-up look on one of Manayunk’s most popular brunch scenes (it also opens at 8 a.m. daily for breakfast).

  The lunch/dinner menu’s highlights include lobster mac and cheese, salmon burger with pickled ginger and hot sauce, and an all-veggie pasta Madeliene.

  On nice days, the patio is a front-row seat to the Main Street people parade.

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  • Website​​winniesmanayunk.com
  • Instagram@winniesmanayunk
  • Phone(215) 487-2663