September 11, 2015
Chef Jose Garces, whose well-known restaurant Distrito (40th and Chestnut) serves some delicious Mexican fare but could be damaging to your wallet, has recently revamped the restaurant’s first-floor area and opened a less expensive and “uber casual” eatery, Distrito Taqueria, downstairs. The grand opening of the taqueria was on Thursday.
Here are some items from the taqueria’s menu: tacos (you can choose from chicken, beef, pork, goat barbacoa or tofu) are $3.50 each, extras for additional price; burritos and quesadillas are $9.50. Super nacho is $12 ($9 without meat). An order of guacamole will cost you $8, and salsa is $5. Soups and salads are also served. And the place has a full bar. The full menu can be downloaded here.
Distrito Taqueria is open daily 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.
September 8, 2015
Annie Baum-Stein behind the counter at Milk and Honey Market (Photo West Philly Local).
Milk and Honey Market is celebrating its 6th anniversary this month with a “much needed spruce-up.” The popular corner store and cafe at 45th and Baltimore is currently closed for some “exciting improvements” and is expected to reopen with a “whole new look” on Thursday, Sept. 10.
“After 6 years (September 4th) we have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t with our original line and want to help our staff be more efficient and our customers more comfortable,” Milk & Honey co-owner Annie Baum-Stein wrote us in an email. “Look forward to shorter lines and waiting and double the seating!”
Milk & Honey owners have been tweeting about the progress with remodeling the space, so check out their Twitter account for updates.
September 4, 2015
Here’s an update on some local existing and upcoming restaurants.
• Work is at full steam to prepare Clarkville bar and restaurant for opening this Fall. The building at 43rd and Baltimore across from Clark Park, which used to house Best House Pizzeria, recently had some parts of the old facade stripped off to expose the red brick underneath. Check out these “before” and “after” photos:
And here’s what it looks like from 43rd Street. The building already has a large green “Clarkville” sign painted on it.
The opening date for the new bar and restaurant hasn’t been revealed yet. We’ll keep you posted. By the way, the owners, Leigh Maida, Brendan Kelly and Brendan Hartranft, who already own three restaurants in Philadelphia, including West Philly’s Local 44, are opening a Montreal-inspired bistro, called Coeur, on 8th and Christian on Sept. 15. More information about Clarkville is available here. Continue Reading
August 31, 2015
The New Tavern bar at the northwest corner of 45th and Locust Streets, which before last summer was known as the Watusi II, has recently reopened under a new name after being closed for renovations.
The new name, Dallol, is related to a place in Ethiopia with the world’s highest average temperature, and there is also a volcano with the same name in that area. As was reported earlier, the property at 232 S. 45th St., where the bar is located, was purchased last summer by Ethiopian American Temsgen Wolegzi.
Dallol is positioning itself as a sports bar, with six big flat-screen TV’s and a large beer selection, but it also has a dining room in the back. The bar offers both American and Ethiopian food menus (lunch and dinner). They also take reservations for parties. Finally, there may be outdoor seating coming soon, according to their Dallol Sports Bar site.
Dallol is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
August 10, 2015
A new cafe that will offer tea, coffee, snacks and desserts is opening soon on the 4500 block of Walnut Street. The new establishment, called Lulu Café (as we understand, named after the owners’ French bulldog) is expected to open this month at 4508 Walnut St., next door to Hunter Gatherer Tattoo and across the street from University City Chinese Christian Church.
The full menu hasn’t been posted yet, but it will include varieties of tea (caramel milk tea, sea salt green tea, plum tomato green tea), coffee (sea salt iced coffee), blended drinks (mocha, watermelon, pistachio), and snacks (popcorn chicken).
According to its website, the Chinese owned business is currently hiring part-time and full-time employees (speaking both English and Mandarin is a must; email: lulucafeusa@gmail.com for more info).
For more information and updates, visit Lulu Café website or Facebook page.
July 28, 2015
Here’s a round up of some of the latest news coming out of the area.
St. Francis de Sales School (Photo from greatphillyschools.org).
• Cool things are happening at St. Francis de Sales, the local Catholic school. The school recently received a $13,000 grant from the nonprofit faith-based Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia to help fund its Science and Arts Innovative Learning on the River (SAILOR) program. The program provides real-world, hands-on engineering experience to participating students who visit the Delaware river, build boats and learn how to operate them. The program has inspired many St. Francis de Sales students to pursue an education in engineering, according to The Philadelphia Tribune. By the way, the school’s highly-acclaimed after-school music program, Play On Philly!, has also been featured in the news many times.
• Have you checked out The Soapbox yet? Philadelphia City Paper has recently published a nice feature on the West Philly-based independent publishing center. Co-founders Mary Tasillo and Charlene Kwon opened the space at 741 S. 51st St in 2011 to be used as a community studio for book arts and zine-making. Now, in addition to the studio, which is free to use for their members, The Soapbox also hosts a variety of workshops and houses a vast collection of zines (about 1,500!), over 500 of which have been cataloged. In other independent publishing news, the annual Philly Zine Fest will take place at The Rotunda (40th and Walnut) on Aug. 30. Continue Reading
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