When walking down South 40th Street over the weekend, we noticed a new sign in the window next door to The Green Line Cafe. A Taiwanese dessert shop is in the works for 32 S. 40th St., the storefront formerly occupied by Dr. Wyatt’s University Herbs. According to the Office of Licences and Inspections records, work is currently underway on the first floor of the three-story building, still owned by University Herbs, to re-fit the space for the new shop, which will include a non-commercial use kitchen and some seating (less than 20 seats).

The business owner, Xia Yang, lives in Chinatown, according to L & I records. We’ll post more information about this new shop when it becomes available.

And we hope that the store has a lot of this stuff when it opens.

The Green Tambourine is now open at 711 S. 50th St. (Photo from The Green Tambourine’s Facebook page)

The Green Tambourine director Ann Schwartz at the new studio near 50th and Baltimore (Photo West Philly Local)

The popular local music program, The Green Tambourine, which started four years ago at The Rotunda, has grown out of its space on 46th and Baltimore and has just moved a few blocks west to a new, bigger location.

“The old space [at 4614 Baltimore Ave.] was great to get us started in 2012 as a designated music space,” says the program founder and creative director Ann Schwartz. “I started looking for a bigger space at the beginning of this year since our schedule was getting tight. When the space came up in March I knew I wanted to make the move.”

The program, which moved to the former warehouse building at 711 S. 50th St., now has lots more space for current and new classes, and is hiring more teachers to expand the instruments that they offer.  Continue Reading

After a year-long hiatus, a popular local Mexican eatery, Guacamole Mex-Grill, has reopened its Woodland Avenue location. The restaurant, owned by the De Luna family, shut its doors last may for the summer with an intention to re-open in late August or September, but had to postpone its opening due to its manager Rony De Luna’s moving out of town. During this time, Guacamole opened a spot at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Despite being closed to customers, the kitchen at 4612 Woodland has been operational. The business also has a food truck, El Guaco Loco, that services Temple University and goes to events.

The restaurant is open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. and is currently closed on weekends (until mid-August).

For more information, go to: www.guacamolemexgrill.net

Montrose building at 47th and Baltimore (Photo West Philly Local)

Many people have been wondering what business is coming to the vacant storefront in the Montrose apartment building at the northeast corner of 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue. It was revealed last week (Michael Klein of Philly.com’s The Insider broke the news) that a Fishtown-based L.A.-style taco bar, Loco Pez, is branching out to West Philly and chose this location. No further details were revealed, including the timeline for the opening, and we couldn’t get more info from the restaurant folks either at this time.

One of our readers asked about vegetarian options at the restaurant, and there are quite a few at their Fishtown location, which offers brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour. What’s interesting is that they only accept cash. Check out their website for more info and the menu. And we’ll keep you posted on this new location.

And here’s a little bit of history of the old Montrose building, which has housed many businesses in its four ground-floor retail spaces over the years. The beloved Carrot Cake Man, Vernon Wilkins, used to have a store in the building for 17 years until 1996.

The University City District has announced the return of their signature and super popular summer events – the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, University City Dining Days, 40th Street Summer Concert Series, and Movies in Clark Park.

Only one Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll has been scheduled for this summer – Thursday, Sept. 8, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. As always, local businesses will present $1 bargains from 43rd to 52nd Street. And there will be some new businesses participating in the event this summer. Stay tuned for more information.

                              Photo courtesy UCD

University City Dining Days will run from Thursday, July 14 to Sunday, July 24. Now in its 12th year, Dining Days is a 3 courses, 3 prices promotion at some of University City’s most popular dining destinations, from exceptional craft beer bars to celebrity chef restaurants to cozy BYOBs. This event is also a great opportunity to explore the diverse international cuisine in the area, including Indian, Ethiopian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, and more. For more information, check out: www.ucdiningdays.com.  Continue Reading

Parklet outside of Fu-Wah Market at 47th and Baltimore.

Spring is finally here, and University City District has begun reinstalling Parklets, temporary outdoor seating platforms with tables, decorated with planters. Overall, six Parklets are being installed around Spruce Hill and Cedar Park, all of them next to popular businesses:

• 4040 Locust St. (hosted by Ramen Bar)
• 261 S. 44th St. (hosted by Honest Tom’s Tacos and Lil’ Pop Shop)
• 4239 Baltimore Ave. (hosted by Green Line Cafe)
• 801 S. 47th St. (hosted by Fu-Wah Market)
• 4903 Catharine St. (hosted by Little Baby’s Ice Cream)
• 125 S. 40th St. (hosted by Hai St. Kitchen, Jake’s Sandwich Board & Zesto Pizza)

The Parklets will stay until October or early November, depending on the weather.

Just a reminder that Parklets are public spaces open to everyone, and you don’t have to eat at the restaurant where the Parklet is located in order to use it.

Continue Reading