Mubarak Shawarma now open at 225 S. 45th St. (Photo by Rana Fayez)

The 45th street block between Locust Ave and Walnut Ave has seen a couple of new restaurants as of late, the newest of which is Mubarak Shawarma, has opened in the space where Ethio Cafe used to be.

Helmed by Jemila Mohamed, the restaurant will be offering Ethiopian and Middle Eastern food – breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you’ve had injera bread at a restaurant in Philly, chances are good you have already tasted her cooking. She has been making the signature bread out of her home kitchen and supplying it to restaurants, grocery stores and bodegas.

“So far I’m the No. 1 injera maker in Philadelphia,” says Mohamed. “It’s always been my dream to cook, I’ve always been cooking.”

Mubarak Shawarma has been open for about two weeks, but does not plan on making any drastic changes to the interior of the restaurant and the menu, only make additions to the menu. Mohamed says she was friends with the previous owner and that was how she found out about the storefront vacancy.  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.

About 40 percent of food in the United States is never eaten, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. It’s tough to point fingers when there is no one to blame. We’ve all bought meat or produce that has gone bad before we have gotten around to preparing it. The EAT (Everyone At the Table) Café, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Center for Hunger-free Communities at Drexel University, aims to approach food resources a little differently to reduce waste and make access to healthy food more affordable with a pay-what-you-can price structure.

Donnell Jones-Craven, EAT Café’s general manager, stresses that the Café is not a soup kitchen, as there will be seating and table service. “We’re like Sabrina’s or Honey’s; we suggest that price. We believe that 80 percent of our customer base will pay the suggested amount or more; it will help the 20 percent that cannot pay the full suggested price… We just want to make sure people will do their very best, because we want to stay viable, open and serving our community as large.”  Continue Reading

A rendering of the proposed Trolley Car Station restaurant at 40th Street Trolley Portal.

Update (April 8, 2016) – The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the plan for the Trolley Car Restaurant following a March 29 hearing. Specifically, the ZBA approved a variance for the building as a sit-down restaurant. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

The public got a look at plans on Tuesday evening for the development of the 40th Street Trolley Portal, which includes a two-story, 125-seat restaurant with take-out beer and outdoor seating.

University City District officials and the owner of the Trolley Car Diner in Mount Airy presented the plans to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee and about a dozen members of the public.

Now an expanse of concrete criss-crossed with trolley tracks, the portal will be turned into a more navigable public space complete with moveable tables and chairs, enough racks to accommodate 48 bikes and “vegetation everywhere,” Nate Hommel, UCD’s director of planning and design, told the zoning committee. The trolleys will still run through it, but it will be more pedestrian friendly.  Continue Reading

Snacks at Lulu Cafe (photo from Lulu Cafe’s Facebook page)

It took a little longer than planned, but Lulu Cafe, an Asian cafe and restaurant serving coffee, tea, snacks, and sweets, has finally opened at 4508 Walnut Street (next door to Hunter Gatherer Tattoo). The final inspection was on Tuesday, according to the cafe’s Facebook post, and it’s now ready to serve its customers.

The opening was anticipated and the wait was worth it. We checked on the new establishment on Friday, its opening day, and saw a sizable crowd inside.

The cafe’s specialty is milk tea. As one happy customer put it, “No more long trips to Chinatown for milk tea now!” The snack food menu includes popular Chinese and Taiwanese street food items (all garlicky and spicy), such as popcorn chicken, squid balls, sweet potato fries, and green beans. And you can top everything off with some shaved ice with three toppings of your choice.

Lulu Cafe is open daily 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. For more information, visit: www.lulucafeusa.com.