South Philly’s Galdo’s Catering, a hub for politics, has been sold to SEPTA

For the last 25 years, Galdo’s Catering & Entertainment has been a South Philadelphia institution, a hub for neighborhood events and a popular event hall for politicians rallying supporters and raising funds.

But at the end of 2024, Galdo’s closed its doors for good. The property was sold to SEPTA for $3.34 million, as the transit authority expands its southern depot.

“Most of the political events in Philly were held at my place,” said Louis Galdo, who retired in December. “Just about every politician and judge has walked through there. But we did everything: funerals, seminars, weddings, fundraisers for people in need.”

Galdo’s was located at 20th Street and Moyamensing Avenue on a spit of land just north of the tangle of roadways and the looming Schuylkill Expressway that divides Packer Park from the rest of South Philadelphia. Its only direct neighbor is the vast SEPTA southern district compound just to the north.

Long ago, the property was owned by the Philadelphia Transportation Co. — one of the private-sector antecedents to SEPTA — but before Galdo bought the land, it hosted a series of now defunct fast-food chains like Gino’s Hamburgers and Roy Rogers.

“It was on an island all by itself, where it wouldn’t affect neighbors, and it had all the parking it needed,” said Galdo, who bought the property in 1996 for $150,000, city records show. (That’s more than $300,000 today.)

The Inquirer’s archives are full of passing mentions of Galdo’s as the backdrop for a political gala or a neighborhood dustup. The catering hall hosted then-Mayor John F. Street during a debate over a casino in the Navy Yard and was adorned with holographic images of then electricians’ union chief John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty at his election night party in 2008, when he lost his lone attempt to run for political office.

“A lot of the candidates, myself included, had events there,” said Bob Brady, head of the Philadelphia Democratic Party and a former congressman. (He especially praised the food, citing Galdo’s chicken marsala as one of his favorites.) “Lou is just a good guy … and he had great parking, which is really an advantage when you have a place to have political affairs.”

In 2015, then-Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky held his 25th and final Candidates’ Comedy Night at Galdo’s, giving politicians one last chance to embarrass themselves attempting stand-up at the annual charity event. More recently, Doug Mastriano and Mehmet “Dr.” Oz rallied supporters at the catering hall in 2022.

Soon afterward, Galdo approached SEPTA about selling his one-acre site in 2023, after deciding he was ready to spend more time with his six grandchildren and at his Shore house in Margate.

For the fiscally challenged transit agency, the offer looked prudent. Previously, SEPTA had to rent space from Kindy’s Christmas Factory Outlet for additional vehicle storage. And a new roundabout just below Galdo’s meant bus drivers were spending more fuel and paid time circling the depot before parking.

“It’s a nice cost savings for us,” said Jody Holton, SEPTA’s chief planning and strategy officer. “We are hyper-focused on our fiscal constraints and our funding shortage, so this project helps us reduce operating expenses from circling the block and allows us to terminate [the Kindy’s] lease.”

SEPTA staff will tour the site next week. They don’t plan to demolish the Galdo’s event space but will preserve it as a training site for operators. The expansive parking lot will allow them to store SEPTA buses and personal vehicles off the street.

“At one point it was a bus layover, so we’re just restoring it to its roots,” said Kelly Edwards, SEPTA’s manager of real estate operations. “We’re returning it to its natural habitat.”