Here’s a great way to escape this dreadful weather. Kevin Macdonald’s Marley, a 2012 documentary on the life, music, and legacy of Bob Marley, is playing at Dock Street tonight, beginning at 8 p.m. The film is filled with beautiful sites and sounds of Jamaica and includes some rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.

Dock Street hosts movie nights every Tuesday at 8 p.m. offering beer and pizza specials during films. Next week Dock Street invites folks to the Philadelphia premiere of Superheroes of Stoke, with some intense music and ski scenes and a chance to win ski giveaways. For more information visit this page.

If you are planning to spend the rest of the week here in the ‘hood, check out the Thanksgiving weekend hours at some local stores/cafes/restaurants. We’ll be updating this list as more businesses send us their schedules. If you want your business to be included in the list, please email us at: editor@westphillylocal.com or post your hours in the comments.

Aksum Cafe (4630 Baltimore Ave)

Thursday: Closed
Friday-Sunday: Regular hours (Brunch: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Dinner: 5 – 11 p.m.)

CVS Pharmacy (43rd & Locust)

Thursday: Store: open 24 hours, Pharmacy: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dock Street Brewery (50th & Baltimore)

Thursday: Closed
Friday & Saturday: 12 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Earth Cup (45th & Pine)

Thursday & Friday: 7 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Elena’s Soul (4912 Baltimore Ave)

Thursday: Closed

Four Worlds Bakery (4634 Woodland Ave)

Thursday: 8 a.m. – noon.

Fu-Wah (47th & Baltimore)

Thursday: 9 a.m. – between 3-5 p.m.

Green Line Cafe

Wednesday: Baltimore Ave, Locust Street and Powelton Village close at 4 p.m.; Green Line at PennVet open normal hours (till 3 p.m.)
Thursday and Friday: – All shops are closed
Saturday: Baltimore Avenue 8 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.; Locust Street 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Powelton Village 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Sunday: Baltimore Avenue and Locust Street 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Powelton Village 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Mariposa Food Co-op (4824 Baltimore Ave)

Thursday: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Milk & Honey Market (45th & Baltimore)

Wednesday: 7 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Thursday: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

The Fresh Grocer (40th & Walnut)

Thursday: open 24 hours

The Gold Standard Cafe (48th & Baltimore)

Thursday: Closed
Friday & Saturday: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sunday: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Serving brunch all three days (including black Friday) from 9:30 a.m. til 2 p.m.

VIX Emporium (5009 Baltimore Ave)

Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Thursday: Closed
Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (open 1 hour earlier)
Sunday: 12 – 4 p.m.

The new Ramen Bar (Facebook page) on the 4000 block of Locust Street makes pretty good ramen, but I’m not convinced the awesomeness of the broth is enough to overcome my disappointment with the experience of dining there. Certainly the place is attractive: it’s packed with young people and the wooden tables, classy utensils and open kitchen give the feel of an authentic Japanese noodle bar. The hard, clean, high-ceilinged environment (and two TVs and a loud sound system) also means you have to shout a lot, which can be invigorating. And of course the place is new, so the service is bound to improve. However, the food and the prices will probably stay the same.

My friends and our daughters went as a group of six and were seated quickly at about 6:15 on Sunday night. The bar isn’t serving yet, but we weren’t drinking. We ordered several kinds of ramen and a couple of appetizers. The seaweed salad ($5) was bright green but barely seasoned and the shrimp shumai ($6) was almost as good as Trader Joe’s frozen shumai, but not quite. I was underwhelmed by the Takoyaki ($6), fragments of octopus balled up in fried dough and served with what tasted like fast food barbeque sauce. We would have been better off skipping all three.

We chose from a variety of ramen, plus optional, separately priced toppings including Ajitma ($1 marinated boiled egg – perfectly cooked) and Chashu ($3 marinated pork – just OK, not so easy to chew). Both the vegan and non-vegan versions of Veggie Miso Ramen ($8) featured rich, deliciously flavored broth. The noodles were bouncy and filling, and the vegetables mostly great, but we thought the corn niblets were weird. The signature Tonkotsu (pork bone) Ramen ($10) and its spicy cousin Kara Kara Tonkotsu Ramen ($12) were very satisfying, and will seem even more so on a snowy winter night. I was definitely happy with the ramen, and really happy about that yummy marinated egg.

For dessert, the kids ordered ice cream; they found the green tea ice cream ($5) too bitter (though I liked it). The red bean ice cream ($5) was sweeter. In the end, five bowls of ramen, one unremarkable fried rice entree, three appetizers, and three dishes of ice cream set us back $117.76. If the food and service had been impeccable, I would feel better about the prices. But the sad, meager appetizers, random service, and especially the automatic 20% gratuity (for a table of six) made me feel like I was missing something. And I realized that what I was missing was Tampopo (269 S. 44th Street), which is less fancy but more accessible if you are looking for ramen, seaweed salad, and green tea ice cream.

Ramen Bar is currently cash-only. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m.

– Jen

Don’t miss the final 2012 Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll this Thursday, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. As always, there will be tons of $1 deals from local businesses and live entertainment. Check out the map below for details.

Click to enlarge.

Related Posts:

• Photos of the Dollar Stroll
• Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll returns this Thursday
• Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll dates released

Ramen Bar is softly opening today at 4040 Locust Street and will serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Stay tuned for our review.

The second of three Dollar Strolls this summer is hitting Baltimore Avenue this Thursday (5:30-8:30 p.m.), bringing $1 deals from restaurants, shops and other local businesses. Check out what’s cooking (and brewing) on Baltimore during the August stroll. Also, don’t forget about live music and street performances along the Avenue, from 42nd to 50th Streets.