A man who allegedly was trying to break into houses and may have been armed with a knife was fatally shot by police Friday afternoon during a physical confrontation in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia, police said.
Just before 2:30 p.m., police received a 911 call reporting that a man on the 4100 block of Tyson Avenue was trying to enter houses, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said.
Officers responding to the call were flagged down by someone who pointed out the man on the 7000 block of Frankford Avenue, Vanore said.
The officers attempted to stop the man but he allegedly fled with the police in pursuit, Vanore said.
The chase ended in front of a store, where the man allegedly got into a physical confrontation with the officers before the video ends.
“At some point during that confrontation, both officers discharged a firearm,” Vanore said.
Medics pronounced the man dead at the scene. His identity was not released.
In a 12-second video obtained by The Inquirer, recorded by someone inside a car parked just feet away from the deadly shooting, one of the officers and the unidentified man can be seen struggling with each other.
The officer appears to be trying to hold the man’s hands or arms, then falls to the ground as the man breaks free.
A second officer then appears in the video. As the man steps away from that officer and into an open area of the building, the second officer fires multiple shots and the man falls.
The first officer is seen falling backward away from the man and a second gun can be heard firing before the video ends.
Vanore said the officers had their body cameras activated, and police were checking video from nearby cameras.
“We know there’s a knife on location here, right by the individual that’s shot,” Vanore said.
Under department policy, the shooting is under internal investigation and the officers who fired their weapons will be reassigned to administrative duty while the investigation is ongoing.
The Philadelphia School District is thousands of students under its enrollment projections this school year — and with an important funding deadline looming, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. is sending officials knocking on doors to drum up business.
Central office staff and school workers have been asked to fast-track “Enrollment Acceleration,” a new, district-specific programdirectly engaging families that have left the Philadelphia school system, The Inquirer has learned.
District staff — up to and including chiefs and assistant superintendents — are fanning out across the city, pounding the pavement to try to connect with reluctant families face-to-face. The door knocking began in the last two weeks.
The effort is driven by a shrinking student body in district schools and an Oct. 1 deadline to report enrollment — which drives district funding — to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
District schools were 4,236 students under their projected enrollment as of Sept. 17, according to internal documents obtained by The Inquirer. District-run alternative programs had 1,051 fewer students than planned.
The school system had projected 116,898 in district schools by Sept. 17, and 2,757 in alternative schools. Instead, its enrollment was 112,662 in district schools and 1,706 in alternative schools.
Asked to comment on the enrollment decline, a district spokesperson said it was too early to estimate annual enrollment because the state’s verification process does not conclude until Oct. 30. But, Monique Braxton said, it’s part of a nationwide trend of dwindling public school enrollment.
“The district’s goal is to get district operated schools as close as possible to that of last year’s number of approximately 116,898 students, such that we can grow our enrollment next school year,” Braxton said in a statement.
Enrollment is down virtually everywhere in the city.
Just two of 15 networks did not lose students, according to the Sept. 17 figures — Learning Network 9, a geographic network of elementary and middle schools in Kensington, Bridesburg, Port Richmond, and Frankford, and Learning Network 15, a network of magnet schools across the city.
Voting with their feet
Once the 2026-27 school year began Aug. 24, it became quickly clear that there were fewer district students in seats than expected.
Many factors likely play into the enrollment decline.
Though academics have generally been improving in the school system — Philadelphia was tops in the nation in its learning rate post-pandemic, according to research out of Harvard and Stanford — the district still struggles, with most students unable to read (33%) or do math (25%) at grade level.
(Philadelphia charter schools’ performance is slightly worse in reading, 31%, and slightly worse in math, 20%.)
Also a likely factor is the effect of the school board voting recently to close 17 schools in the next several years. Officials have said they are doing so to improve academic outcomes for all students, amid 70,000 empty seats citywide, a stock of aging buildings and decades of underfunding, and emphasized that in addition to the closings, they plan to spend billions on renovating 169 of the buildings they’re keeping open — though most of that plan is unfunded.
There are other reasons, too: Some staff say the current political climate has fears of ICE keeping some students out of school. And cyber charter enrollment is growing, with some Philadelphia families choosing the virtual option because of safety fears for their children as the city grapples with a gun violence epidemic.
“The district is a hard sell for some families,” said one central-office employee who was not authorized to speak about the enrollment decline. “You have a lot of families who have just unfortunately lost faith in a lot of the offerings that we have, and they’re voting with their feet.”
A full-court press
Since the surprise decline became apparent when school started, “we’ve been working hard to close the gap,” the employee said.
At first, schools were directed to reach out themselves via calls and emails to students they expected to enroll but who never showed up. Soon, almost-daily briefings on closing the enrollment gap began, and have continued.
Next, the administration moved to canvassing events, asking central office employees and school staff to volunteer to go out in pairs into neighborhoods to reach families. Canvassing also includes trips to neighborhood barbershops, laundromats, and corner stores “trying to convince students to return back to the district, rather than remain in whatever other option they decided on.”
About 75 employees volunteered for the effort, the employee said. It is still ongoing.
Some schools and departments pushed back against the call to directly appeal to students, with officials they didn’t feel comfortable sending staff into neighborhoods. Others are going out, the employee said.
The campaign is an extraordinary step, said the employee.
“I’ve never known an assistant superintendent or anyone going so far as this, being part of canvassing,” said the employee source.
Much is at stake.
“Our funding is based on numbers,” the employee said. (Both state and federal funding are tied to enrollment.)
And the district has generally been shrinking for decades.
In 1999, just after the first charter schools opened in Pennsylvania, the district enrolled 205,199 students in its schools. By 2025, that number was 113,735. (An additional 64,469 students were enrolled in charters.)
The district’s enrollment rose once in the last decade: in 2024-25, jumping by 1,841 students to 117,956. Watlington said he believed the next year’s drop happened because of large-scale SEPTA bus route changes at the start of the school year.
‘Warm conversations’
A second employee involved in the recent recruitment efforts said the call to canvass came with surprising urgency.
“They said, ‘It needs to be done in the next two weeks, because our numbers have to go to the state Oct. 1,’” said the employee, who also asked to not be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the enrollment push.
The second employee was paired with another volunteer. They received a several-page handout with instructions about how to conduct the visits, and a suggested script.
“We’re reaching out because we want to make sure your child has a clear plan for school and see how we can support you,”the second employee said.
Canvassers were told to ask if the family planned to return their children to the district, to begin a “warm conversation” and to help families with information about how to register for district schools. They were told to help address any barriers to registration.
Teams were told their safety is paramount, asked to not enter homes, and reminded to end a visit if either team member feels unsafe.
“Remember,” one handout said, “you are there to understand, inform, support and connect — not to convince.”
The second employee wasn’t especially enthusiastic about canvassing, but felt pressure to do so.
“What can I say on somebody’s doorstep to get them registered in the school district? Nothing,” the employee said.
The first employee said they were not having success with families.
“The houses I’ve been to haven’t been very responsive,” the employee said. “But I’ve been having very cool conversations with neighbors.”
Many families aren’t home or don’t answer the door, and the employee doesn’t blame them. They could be mistrustful of authorities or people they don’t know or worry about their safety.
Four people involved in the “come-back-to-the-district” effort said they were skeptical it would help the school system reach its projections.
“It’s going to yield something, but it’s not going to yield enough to cover up the fact that we’re several thousand away from meeting our projection of 116,000,” the employee said.
“There never really was a Fishtown, government-wise. It was a localism,” explains Kenneth Milano, a Kensington-born historian and cofounder of the Kensington History Project. Perhaps this is why it’s hard to know exactly where Fishtown’s boundaries are.
“No one [in the old days] would ever call above York Street ‘Fishtown.’ That would have been sacrilege,” Milano said. “With the new folks, they don’t know. The [real estate agent] told them.”
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Decades of gentrification in the River Wards have blurred the lines as developers tagged their properties with the coveted Fishtown brand, even as they ventured into what were generally defined as sections of Kensington. (And which Kensington? East Kensington? Olde Kensington? South Kensington? How about Norris Square? And Olde Richmond? And Port Richmond?)
The argument is about more than what to call a few blocks: A neighborhood name can shape a place’s identity, its perceived desirability, and even how it is marketed and valued.
Click anywhere on the map to start drawing your Fishtown boundary
Milano said parish boundaries originally helped reinforce neighborhood identity. Milano, 67, has lived on York Street since age 5 and described the conventional Fishtown as a triangle bounded by Norris, Frankford, and the Delaware River.
The Inquirer’s map of neighborhoods agrees with Milano — although it’s worth mentioning that this map, used internally to help our reporting stay consistent, was created in the 1980s. The Milano-Inquirer definition is definitely conservative when compared to more recent attempts to set boundaries.
By contrast, Zillow’s Fishtown is nearly twice the size. The real estate website includes not only Front Street to the west, but also goes as far north as Lehigh Avenue.
Zillow maintains its own set of neighborhood boundaries “by reviewing sources such as city maps, the Census Bureau, and neighborhood associations,” Zillow spokesperson Briahna Healy said.
There’s some overlap between Zillow’s boundaries and the 19125 zip code. While residents might feel a strong attachment to the last five digits of their address, zip codes exist solely to help route mail. This makes it hard to use 19125’s scraggly borders to define Fishtown — especially when sections that reach that far north are Kensington by any definition.
Somewhere in the middle is the Fishtown Neighbors Association border — sticking with Front Street to the west but extending only as far as York Street to the north. These boundaries “go back about 20 years when FNA was a community organization that needed boundaries to help dictate what projects to work on,” said John Scott, current president of the FNA.
Their boundaries are a single piece in a jigsaw puzzle with surrounding neighboring associations. It explains why some streets are included and others aren’t. For example, the area between Front Street and Frankford Avenue is included because “if we didn’t include them, they would probably be stateless,” Scott said.
This also means that a lot of boundaries are largely codified because the FNA can’t expand without encroaching on neighboring associations — unless, that is, new streets are built, like those in the Northbank development on the Delaware. Now the FNA is about to adjust its boundaries for the first time in a quarter-century to encompass streets south of Schirra Lane.
If we look at all of these definitions at the same time, there is a clear overlap that we can safely call Fishtown.
However, much of the fringe is up for debate. Does Fishtown stop at Front or Frankford, for example? Is York the border, or is it Norris, or even Lehigh?
It’s time for some good, old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground reporting.
A defining feature of Fishtown are the whimsical fish signs on house facades. Our theory: Surely a painted fish wouldn’t make sense in Kensington. We hit the streets and logged every house that had a fish sign.
Largely, the signs are contained to the FNA-defined borders. But we found a large pocket of signs east of York Street and even a few signs north of Frankford — although they are outnumbered by milk bottle signs to honor Kensington’s old Harbisons Dairy plant.
Fish signs are only one way to delineate Fishtown boundaries. We also looked at restaurants and what neighborhood they describe themselves as belonging to: Fishtown, Kensington, or unsure.
Fishtown has been known for its dining scene since Johnny Brenda’s established the beachhead in 2003. As development marched on, restaurateurs and dining guides followed the cue of developers and real estate agents: We’re in Fishtown.
Today, that’s not entirely the case, as even upscale restaurants are comfortable calling themselves Kensington, though they could claim Fishtown. At Fiore, chefs Ed Crochet and Justine MacNeil use East Kensington for their Italian restaurant north of the York Street roundabout. Directly across is Emilia, chef Greg Vernick’s popular new Italian spot, which doesn’t state its neighborhood in its marketing materials. Resy, its reservation booking platform, calls it Fishtown-East Kensington.
Seemingly everyone says Middle Child Clubhouse is in “Fishtown.” But by dint of its location on the west side of Front Street, it’s arguably in South/Olde Kensington. Yuhiro, a sushi restaurant on Susquehanna Avenue just west of Frankford, markets itself as Fishtown but it could be considered in Kensington.
Then there are the restaurants where it’s even more unclear because they list multiple neighborhoods, or none at all. For example, Picnic, on Martha Street, uses East Kensington in its Instagram bio but has used Fishtown in public relations campaigns. Where is Meetinghouse, a noted bar at Memphis and Cumberland Streets? Chef/co-owner Drew DiTomo thought for a moment: “Its parish is St. Anne’s and I quite like that.”
Finally, we decided to ask people in the gray areas a simple question: “Where are we?”
We found Matt Murphy and Kaitlin Dirkx at Hagert and Tulip Streets — south of Lehigh, north of York, still in 19125. “It’s kind of a curious pocket of the River Wards,” said Murphy, who emphatically called the area “Olde Richmond.” But, as Dirkx added, “they let me into the Fishtown Neighbors Facebook group. My address must have fallen in line.”
Mark Opdyke, who lives on a side street just west of Frankford Avenue near Norris, insisted that his side of Blair Street is in Fishtown. He pointed across the street toward the Blair Garden townhouses, built in 2018 and sold as “Fishtown,” chuckled, and called that side “Kensington.”
At Frankford and Dauphin, Nick Campione’s family has owned AC Auto Repairs for 70 years. Its facade boasts a mural proclaiming, “Welcome to the Neighborhood” with an inscription explicitly describing it as “Fishtown and East Kensington.” Campione won’t take sides: “This is the best of both worlds here.”
Finally, we caught up with Stephanie Goodman and Justin Frye on the west side of Frankford Avenue near Dauphin, in front of the Groove Hound, a doggie day care. Goodman called that stretch Fishtown, adding that it’s two blocks from the house she bought in 2018 across from Philadelphia Brewing Co., which proudly says it belongs to East Kensington. Though Goodman said the real estate agent advertised her block as Fishtown, Frye believes it’s in East Kensington. “Ten different people and 10 different answers,” he said.
So it’s now time for you to decide. Let us know where you think the boundaries of Fishtown are by drawing on the map.
Thanks for drawing your boundaries. Please reach out to interactives@inquirer.com and let us know why you believe these are the boundaries of Fishtown.
This is where the average reader submission currently lays.
Staff Contributors
Design, Development, and Reporting: Sam Morris
Reporting: Michael Klein
Sign Auditors: Sam Morris and Jasen Lo
Illustration: James Olstein
Editing: Charmaine Runes
Copy Editing: Brian Leighton
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Vigilante Jack Reacher's shadowy dealings spilled out across Philadelphia for the Reacher’s fourth season, which is now available in full on Amazon Prime. Starring actor Alan Ritchson as the hulking retired Army investigator, the series was spotted filming around town in 2025.
Based on Lee Child's 2009 novel Gone Tomorrow, the fourth season of Reacher has its titular character facing off against he CIA, federal agents, and international mercenaries following a woman's suicide. And while much of the on-screen action appears to have been filmed elsewhere — namely Toronto, which looks a lot like Philly, but with space — the City of Brotherly Love does show up quite a bit.
Here, we've rounded up all the Philly spots we could identify in season four. Check out the map below for where Reacher and his cohorts went in the city.
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Seen in episode 1
City Hall
Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer
Reacher's fourth season immediately sets the scene with a shot of the William Penn statue atop City Hall as a nightscape of Center City shines in the background.
Seen in episode 1
Uptown Beer Garden
Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer
We catch our first glimpse of our hero, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), as he exits Uptown Beer Garden, walking out of the establishment silently with a beer in hand.
Seen in episode 1
LOVE Park
Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer
Reacher speaks for the first time this season, ordering a "wiz wit" from a nondescript food truck in Love Park.
Seen in episode 1
Avenue of the Arts
Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Here, Reacher strolls down the sidewalk on the west side of Broad Street, chomping on his cheesesteak. Canonically, it is just after 2 a.m., and the street is deserted as he descends into the Walnut-Locust entrance of the B line, which runs along Broad Street.
Seen in episode 1
Walnut-Locust Station
Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
As he enjoys his cheesesteak, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) heads down into the Broad Street Line at this Center City station. Several interior shots of the station are shown, including one in which a rat munches on a hot dog.
Seen in episode 1
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Thomas Hengge / Staff Photographer
Philly is shown off in all its nocturnal glory in episodes one, and seven with a low-light shot of Center City from the Ben Franklin Bridge. Episode five features a skyline shot from the bridge, showing the One Water Street Apartments building.
Seen in episode 1
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
For the first time in the season's first episode, the sun rises on Philadelphia. And it does so in this stunning aerial shot showcasing many of the Ben Franklin Parkway's gems — Logan Circle, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the works.
Seen in episode 1
Parkway Central Library
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
We get a great glimpse of the exterior of the Parkway Central Library before heading inside, where Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) and Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) do research on Congressman John Sampson (Marc Blucas), a North Carolina representative who is launching a presidential bid.
Seen in episode 1
Parc
Courtesy of HughE Dillon
Parc briefly plays host to Reacher, Lila Hoth (Agnez Mo), and Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) as the trio settles in at an outdoor table to evade police.
Seen in episode 3
Walt Whitman Bridge
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Reacher and his cohorts travel back into Philly via this bridge after escaping Washington, D.C. In the background, the old Southwark Generating Station is clearly visible.
Seen in episode 3
Schuylkill Expressway
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
As Reacher and his crew traverse Philly at night, the action leads to a shot of the west end of Center City near 30th Street Station from the Schuylkill Expressway.
Seen in episode 3
Schuylkill Expressway
Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Here, we get another nightscape shot of Philly's skyline, again from I-76 near 30th Street Station looking east. In the foreground, Locust on the Park is lit up green and is featured prominently.
Seen in episode 4
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The Philly skline is again featured in a sprawling shot from the Parkway. In the lower left, the Parkway House is visible.
Seen in episode 4
City Branch tunnel
Ed Hille / Staff Photographer
Fresh off a victory over some goons following a battle in the subway, Reacher makes his way back above ground here as he evades police.
Seen in episode 5
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
Margo Reed / Staff Photographer
While on the run from the police, Reacher and Tamara take refuge here, only narrowly avoiding capture in the Gardens' maze-like interior.
Seen in episode 5
The Rail Park
Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Reacher and Tamara continue to evade capture, cutting through the Rail Park before dangling from its side to hide.
Seen in episode 6
12th and Market Streets
Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Reacher and Tamara's mugshots appear on a screen at the corner of 12th and Market, which they see after passing by the Hard Rock Cafe.
Seen in episode 6
Italian Market
Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Yet another Philly skyline shot, but this time from South Philly. If you look closely, you can see St. Paul Parish, as well as the seating area for the Di Bruno Bros. 9th Street Bottle Shop.
Seen in episode 7
56th and Market Streets
Kate McCann / Staff Photographer
This skyline shot looks east along the Market-Frankford El line, with one of Steve Powers' "A Love Letter For You" murals clearly visible.
Seen in episode 7
Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts
Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
The Mann becomes a plot point as a potential demonstration site for a toxin being sold on the dark web thanks to an orchestral concert of movie scores.
Seen in episode 8
Schuylkill Expressway
Tamara, Reacher, and Jacob travel along I-76 in South Philly, with a clear view of Kindy's Christmas Factory Outlet in the background. Reacher and his cohorts continue their journey on I-76, getting off at exit 349 and crossing over Packer Avenue. If you squint, you can just make out the Chickie's & Pete's sign in the background.
Seen in episode 8
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
We get another aerial shot of the Parkway zooming into City Hall, but this time the camera travels over the roof of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The building's bronze winged horses and griffins are the stars of the shot.
Seen in episode 8
45th and Market Streets
The season closes out on, you guessed it, an aerial shot of Center City. This one looks east from West Philadelphia as Reacher rides the subway to parts unknown, Drexel University's Vidas Field barely visible to the left.
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That was every location we could spot in this season of Reacher. Explore the map of all locations featured. Tap onHover overa pin to learn more.
Staff Contributors
Design and Development: Garland Fordice and Sam Morris
The vintage and collectible cars stacked behind glass at Fishtown’s new Cannonball club may be the obvious attraction, but founder Chris Allen thinks people need another reason to stick around — and, more important, to come back.
That’s where the focaccia sandwiches come in.
Cannonball, the new private club for car enthusiastsnear the Fillmore, has brought in Focaccia Affair — a fledgling business from Anthony Santucci and Gianluca Mazzarelli — to run its food operations. The club, housed in the sprawling former Morse Elevator Works at 1105 Frankford Ave., combines car storage with social and coworking space, a bar, and a public-facing cafe where you can gawk at classic cars through the window while sipping espresso.
Focaccia Affair’s cafe at Cannonball serves walk-ins.Michael Klein / Staff
The cafe, open to anyone, is where Santucci’s focaccia sandwiches take center stage. He’s offering two sandwiches, plus cookies and coffee, to start.
Santucci, whose family operates Santucci’s Original Square Pizza, developed the bread after moving to San Diego before the pandemic. He had initially considered expanding his family’s pizza business there but began experimenting with focaccia as table bread and as a possible addition to the pizza operation.
The experiment eventually became something else.
Santucci and Mazzarelli, a former VIP manager at Barstool on Sansom Street, were friends whose common bonds include hockey and Italian food. After Santucci returned from a 2024 trip to Italy raving about a focaccia sandwich he had eaten, the two made one using the recipe he had been developing.
Focaccia Affair’s Anthony Santucci (left) and Cannonball founder Christopher Allen in the mezzanine seating area.Michael Klein / Staff
Focaccia Affair grew from there, although quietly. Santucci and Mazzarelli started testing the sandwiches over the last year through small catering orders and by dropping off food for restaurant staffs around Philadelphia.
The business is now making its formal debut on two fronts: at Cannonball, where it’s open daily, and at Barstool Sansom Street in Washington Square West. The Barstool menu, which started Thursday, is more extensive than Cannonball’s: six focaccia sandwiches, crostini (on focaccia), burgers on brioche buns, salads, and appetizers.
Santucci said the bread — which took months of development — is baked after a 48-hour cold fermentation. The result is focaccia with a crispy crust and fruity olive oil flavor. Its sturdy interior holds up to substantial fillings without turning the sandwich into a sloppy mess.
Seating on the mezzanine at Cannonball, 1105 Frankford Ave.Michael Klein / Staff
Cannonball’s cafe will generally offer two or three focaccia sandwiches at a time, rotating them seasonally. Currently, the Muse combines mortadella and stracciatella, a pairing that puts the bread’s structure to good use. (It also survives a test that many sandwiches do not: refrigeration. Gently reheated in a toaster oven the next day, I found the bread just as good.) The Situationship layers sliced turkey, goat cheese, arugula, and fig jam between focaccia, the jam’s sweetness playing against the peppery greens and tangy cheese.
Santucci has begun developing breakfast versions; the first combines soft-scrambled eggs and bacon with house-made Calabrian chile-infused hot honey. Pastries are being developed, too, including a pumpkin cinnamon roll with brown-butter icing.
Cannonball’s members-only bar overlooks the car storage.Michael Klein / Staff
Focaccia Affair also oversees food for Cannonball members and their guests upstairs. Dinner starts at 4 p.m. daily with a six- to eight-item menu modeled on Italian aperitivo culture: smaller dishes designed for sharing rather than conventional entrées. Fresh pastas and additional desserts are expected to join the menu in October.
Allen said food was essential to his plan for Cannonball, because even a spectacular collection of automobiles has limits as a daily attraction.
“You can visit the most amazing car collection in the world, but after 15 or 20 minutes, you want to sit down, have a coffee, and eat a sandwich,” he said. “Most of all, you want a reason to come back tomorrow.”
Focaccia Affair, 1105 Frankford Ave., instagram.com/focaccia_affair. Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays; 8 a.m. until roughly 3:30 or 4 p.m. weekends.
People told me about a great street messiah, so I set out to find him.
The homeless men simply called him Zave, short for Xavier de la Huerta.
In the 1980s, he ran St. Joseph’s Shelter for homeless men where Front Street meets Kensington Avenue, beneath the rumble of the Market-Frankford El. He was a Franciscan friar assigned to nearby St. Francis Inn, the soup kitchen that survives on donations and still serves meals each day to homeless people, those who are unemployed, people battling substance use, struggling seniors, poor children, and anyone else with nowhere to turn.
The Franciscans have both priests and brothers, such as Zave, with the order saying it is dedicated to serving God where they are most needed. Guests don’t shuffle through a buffet line carrying plastic trays; instead, they sit at tables while volunteers deliver meals, restoring a measure of dignity of which they mayhave known very little.
The neighborhood itself foreshadowed what has made Kensington known today beyond its borders, through YouTube videos focused on exploiting images of poverty and the opioid crisis for clicks.
Once called “The Workshop of the World,” Kensington was one of America’s great manufacturing neighborhoods, home to textile mills, carpet factories, and the John B. Stetson Hat Co., which employed 5,000 people before it closed in 1971.
As factories evaporated, jobs vanished, families left. Investment in the neighborhood dried up and poverty settled over streets lined with crumbling rowhouses and inoperable, abandoned cars.
Before meeting Zave in 1989, I imagined him as a stern schoolmaster. The homeless men called him the “Mayor of Front Street,” and spoke of him with such reverence that I pictured a towering authority figure in a black cassock with half-glasses sliding to the edge of his nose.
I had been talking with the men on the corner when a crowd suddenly gathered around a little man about 5-foot-5wearing a bright red knit cap with a white pom-pom. The huddle of people trailed him like pigeons chasing breadcrumbs.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“That’s Zave,” they said.
Brother Xavier de la Huerta opens the entrance gate so that people in need can access St. Francis Inn, in Kensington, in November 2011.Octavio Duran
I crossed the street, finding someone who seemed half my size, barrel-chested with a gleeful, disarming smile. He unlocked the shelter, empty during the afternoon before residents returned for the evening.
The building that housed St. Joseph’s Shelter was a narrow rowhouse that had once been Joe’s Bar, its name still preserved on the tile floor. Eight army barracks beds lined one wall. A small sitting room served as the heart of the house, where the men argued, laughed, mourned, and tried to help one another survive substance use and life on the streets.
I asked Zave what inspired him to dedicate his life to homeless men. Surely this had been his calling. He laughed.
“This is my assignment,” he said. “It’s where the Franciscans sent me.”
Brother Xavier de la Huerta listens to a homeless woman explaining how she needs assistance, outside St. Francis Inn in November 2011.Octavio Duran
I latervisited his sister, who lived near my Maryland home. She described her brother asa gentleman with innate kindness. When he stayed overnight at her home the first time, he asked her to replace the bed in the guest room because it was too comfortable. He rarely watched television because he lived upstairs at the shelter among the men, so he enjoyed viewing the old shows on his sister’s box.
She also told me a childhood story about a faithful dog who waited for youngZave at the school bus stop every afternoon. Neighbors were amazed at the canine’s devotion, but eventually learned the source.
On the walk home, Zave stopped at the butcher shop to collect discarded bones and carried them home for the waiting pup.
One homeless man who had spent a decade on Philadelphia’s streets described Zave to me in the most glowing terms.
Brother Xavier de la Huerta (right) shares a laugh with Brother Fred Dilger at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., in June 2014.Octavio Duran
“Brother Xavier, he’s like a saint,” he said. “He’s good people. Very good people. He’d take the coat off his back to give it to somebody. I feel like it’s Christmas whenever I see him; that’s the glow he has. I don’t know how somebody so little can do so much.”
One of the men I met at the shelter eventually entered drug treatment, moved into a halfway house, found sobriety, and rented an apartment. Another quiet soul Zave saved.
When I visited Zave again, he looked exhausted.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I broke one of my own rules,” he said.
He had agreed to hold one resident’s money so the man wouldn’t spend it on drugs.
“At 2 o’clock this morning,” Zave said, “he came pounding on the door demanding it back.”
There was no complaint in his voice, just another day.
Last year, Zave, now 90, celebrated 60 years as a Franciscan brother and now lives quietly in his order’s retirement home, the St. Lawrence Friary in Beacon, N.Y. He retired in 2016 after suffering a stroke, completing 37 years of Front Street duty.
Thirty years of newspaper reporting for major newspapers has introduced me to presidents, governors, celebrities, athletes, and thousands of fascinating people. Few taught me more about the meaning of a life than the little friar in the red knit cap.
Muhammad Ali once said, “The service you do for others on this earth is the rent you pay for your room in heaven.”
This fall’s restaurant openings reflect an industry hedging its bets: established operators expanding into the suburbs and repurposing familiar spaces, and newcomers pursuing narrowly drawn concepts built around omakase, caviar, Korean barbecue, cocktails, and live-fire cooking.
I count about five dozen restaurants in the region’s pipeline, with Italian concepts (no surprise), all-day service, and experience-driven dining recurring throughout the list. In addition to 60 restaurants opening between now and late December, two other restaurants are expanding: Lovat Square in Chestnut Hill is adding dinners and Palm Vintage across from City Hall is adding nighttime sushi service.
By comparison, last year’s fall roundup covered 53 restaurants. All of those opened except for three that are now a full year behind schedule: Adda in Fishtown is shooting for October, Ayat near Rittenhouse Square is aiming for November, and Brunch Bulls in Point Breeze is targeted for December. (Although this year has seen its share of closings, especially among longstanding restaurants, each of last fall’s restaurants is still open.)
Brand new and notable
Aogami (4343 Main St.): Underground sushi is coming to Manayunk as chef Tom LoMonte joins chef Moon Krapukthong to offer a 16-course omakase in a 20-seat BYOB setting beneath Krapukthong’s Yanako and neighboring Chabaa Thai Bistro, starting Sept. 25. LoMonte — a veteran of Zama, Izakaya by Yanaga, Pod, and Yanaga Kappo Izakaya — will lead the omakases at 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; reserved sushi-bar seatings will run Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays alongside hand rolls and à la carte service. LoMonte describes the atmosphere as energetic and less formal than typical omakase counters. Upstairs, Yanako will continue serving rolls, sushi platters, udon, tempura, and yakitori.
The Buttery (1099 Germantown Ave.): Malvern-based bakery and cafe the Buttery is preparing a Philadelphia location at Piazza Alta in Northern Liberties, near Scusi and Terra Grill. It recently opened a Bryn Mawr location and expanded its original Malvern operation into dinner service with Neapolitan pizza and shareable plates. An opening date has not yet been shared.
Nick & Nora’s Oyster Dive (560 Stokes Rd., Medford): Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello (La Chinesca, Piccolina) are bringing a raw bar and American kitchen to a corner space with a large deck at Ironstone Village. The broader menu will include steak frites, burgers, fish, vegetables, and small plates, says Michael Pasquarello, who hopes to open in 60 to 90 days.
Chef Chaz Brown (left) is partnered with his brother Clifford Brown (center) and John Skeele in Rumblefish, 1700 N. Third St.Mike Prince
Rumblefish(1700 N. Third St.): Chef Chaz Brown is targeting November for this 900-square-foot, fast-casual Caribbean fish-fry restaurant at Third Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Brown — a Trinidadian American chef whose resumé includes Nobu, Le Bec-Fin, Fatty Crab, and television’s Top Chef — will focus on invasive species such as lionfish, snakehead, green crab, and Chesapeake Bay blue catfish when available. (The catfish turned heads at the recent Oxtail Exchange at Forman Arts Initiative.) Brown uses gluten-free corn flour with Trinidadian spice blends and serves the fish on po’boy-style rolls baked by Angelo’s Bakery in Conshohocken. The mostly takeout operation will have counter seating, a 25-seat covered patio, slaws, fries, sea-moss drinks, and Solo Kola Champagne.
Pennsylvania suburbs
Alessandro’s Enoteca (915 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr): Alex Fiorello’s third restaurant will bring a bar-focused Italian concept to the former Enoteca Tredici space in Bryn Mawr Village in mid-to-late October. Fiorello and culinary director Matt Arcomone, whose resumé includes Osteria, Vetri, and Palladino’s, are planning house-made pastas, wood-fired pizzas, live-fire cooking, and dry-aged meats. It’s intended to have a stronger evening and bar scene than Fiorello’s Wayne restaurants.
Bruzi (281 Montgomery Ave., Bala Cynwyd): Two couples with Calabrian roots plan to open this Southern Italian restaurant in the former Aldar Bistro in late fall. Expect house-made pastas and Calabrian dishes such as fusilli with slow-cooked meat sauce, baked lamb, and grilled tuna, plus cocktails and an opening list of about 100 Italian wines.
Capperini (137 S. Easton Rd., Glenside): Eastern Montco will get an upscale Italian-Mediterranean destination with a liquor license from Ilya Vorobey and partners including members of the team behind Capri in Queen Village. Vorobey is aiming for October or November.
Casa de Fehu, 482 Jacksonville Rd., Hatboro.Michael Klein / Staff
Casa de Fehu (482 Jacksonville Rd., Hatboro): Hatboro couple Anthony Shalamov and Anastasia De Roy are developing this polished restaurant with European-inspired cooking and an upscale atmosphere, possibly with a tie-in to a local brewery that would allow alcoholic drinks. Shalamov is targeting an October soft opening.
Cecilia (266 E. Fourth St., Bridgeport): The team behind Blue Bell Inn and the Copper Crow is just about ready to open this contemporary American bar-restaurant in the extensively renovated former Taphouse 23. The roomy property includes a large patio and a wood-burning oven. The menu emphasizes familiar American dishes, positioning this as an all-purpose neighborhood destination.
Donatelli’s (1 Washington Ave., Newtown): Restaurateur Habib Troudi, who owns Panache and Ristorante Castelloin Blue Bell, is behind a top-to-bottom overhaul of the former Rocco’s at the Brick in downtown Newtown. He said he is hoping to open the Italian steakhouse in October.
Rendering of the Garden by Pieri Winery, 127 E. Elm St., in Conshohocken.Courtesy of Christina Pieri
The Garden by Pieri Winery (127 E. Elm St., Conshohocken): Winery owner Christina Pieri and restaurateur Brian Pieri (StoneRose, Bar Lucca, Cerdo) are targeting a mid-October opening of their year-round indoor-outdoor restaurant beside the Schuylkill River Trail, an offshoot of Christina’s Coopersburg winery. A wood-fired kitchen will serve seasonal American food, including brick-oven pizzas, focaccia sandwiches, salads, steaks, and fish, at lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. The property will include a covered patio, fire tables, a turf area, and pickleball and bocce courts.
The Hungry Hub (11 S. Orange St., Media): Media native Cassidy Moretti and her mother, Glenda, are taking over the former Rivalry Cafe with a family-run breakfast and lunch operation. The Hungry Hub also plans later hours and a late-night menu, broadening its role beyond that of a conventional daytime cafe. An Oct. 1 opening has been announced.
The Iron Oven (58 S. York Rd., Hatboro): Alex Nalbandian’s Southampton bar-restaurant — known for an expansive American menu, cocktails, craft beer, brunch, and dishes ranging from wings and burgers to flatbreads and entrees — is adding a second location in eastern Montco: the former Ross & Co. He’s aiming at November.
Lazy Dog(160 N. Gulph Rd., King of Prussia): The California-based bar, known for Rocky Mountain lodge imagery and a broad American menu, is targeting late 2026 at the King of Prussia Mall.
Luna (129 E. Butler Ave., Ambler): FineLine Hospitality, which recently opened Academy Grill in Fort Washington, is behind a stylish revamp of Dettera in downtown Ambler. Chef Marie Lavizzo-Mourey will base her menu on the 20-plus countries bordering the Mediterranean. The project is on track for fall.
Martini & Roz(523 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne): Fearless Restaurants is turning Wayne’s former Bertucci’s into an ambitious, 300-seat Southern Italian restaurant named for founder Marty Grims’ parents, Martin and Roslyn. Menu will include crudo, oysters, steaks and chops, wood-fired pizzas, house-made pastas, and charcuterie. It will feature two open kitchens, a cheese cave, a tasting counter, and extensive outdoor seating.
Maru (2922 Conestoga Rd., Glenmoore): David Backhus and the team behind the former Oori restaurants are in the early days of a fast-casual Korean-inspired restaurant at their former Collective Coffee & Bakery. Think Korean fried chicken sandwiches, wings, and tenders, supplemented by mochi doughnuts and specialty Collective coffee.
Nudy’s Cafe (122 Park Ave., Willow Grove): Prolific suburban breakfast-and-lunch operator Ray Nudy hopes for late September for his latest diner, across from Marshalls in Willow Grove.
Old Friend (166 E. Lancaster Ave., Wayne): Childhood friends Larry Kagan and Chas McFeely are behind this contemporary American grill, with former Fork executive chef Sam Henzy leading the kitchen. The 86-seat restaurant will center on live-fire cooking in a Josper oven, with dry-aged fish, poultry, and larger proteins intended for sharing. Its compact wine list will be closely tied to the food. A late-fall opening is planned in the Apartments at Wayne Station.
Opus (201 Birch St., Kennett Square): Square Roots Collective will open this 125-seat New American restaurant Sept. 11 in the former temporary home of Hank’s Place, next to the Artelo hotel. Executive chef Matthew Anderson, formerly of Longwood Gardens and Winterthur, plans seasonal dishes, such as Kennett Square mushroom bisque, butternut squash agnolotti, herb gnocchi, and dayboat scallops. The two-story space includes a cocktail lounge, terraces, and work by local artists. Profits will support community projects and nonprofits.
Salt (840 W. Lancaster Ave., Devon): Rich Kim of North Wales’ acclaimed Salt predicts late December for his redevelopment of Devon’s former La Jonquille and Shiraz property into a second Korean barbecue concept, followed in 2027 by Yugo, a carousel sushi restaurant, upstairs.
The Still on State (18 W. State St., Doylestown): Only days open at the Doylestown Inn, this Irish pub-inspired bar/restaurant fills the former Hattery Stove & Still space; it’s paired with an on-site microdistillery called the Tilted Brim.
Taco Heart (120 Coulter Ave., Ardmore): Nano Wheedan is bringing his South Philadelphia breakfast-taco shop to the Ardmore Farmers Market, its first expansion beyond its East Passyunk-area home. Expect Austin-style flour tortillas and breakfast tacos built around eggs, potatoes, beans, bacon, brisket, and house salsas. Opening is set for Oct. 5.
Top Dog Cocktails (110 E. State St., Kennett Square, and 2012 Frankford Ave., Fishtown): Ken Smuckler’s cocktail company plans two vinyl listening rooms this fall inspired by Japanese jazz kissas. Kennett Square’s 750-square-foot space partners with local music venue Kennett Flash, while Fishtown’s 350-square-foot flagship — arguably the neighborhood’s smallest bar — will feature a 15-seat bar, two-turntable DJ station, and retail.
Tusk (50 N. Main St., Doylestown): Mike and Joy Grafenstine, owners of Roberts Block in Glenside and Bonnet Lane Family Restaurant in Abington, are taking over the former Water’s Edge wine bar, combining the martini-and-wine-bar airs of Roberts Block with approachable upscale American comfort food. Target is October.
Vintner’s Table (24 Cricket Ave., Ardmore): Andrea and Marco Folino, behind Kutztown’s Folino Estate Winery, are opening a third location of their Italian-inspired wine bar, salumeria, and lifestyle boutique in downtown Ardmore in October.
New Jersey suburbs
Akira 70 Omakase (249 Marlton Pike, Cherry Hill): Ming “Frank” Zheng is expanding his Japanese holdings — he owns Akira Sushi in Voorhees and Moorestown — with an omakase experience in a former fur salon.
Banjara Indian Bistro (687-689 Berlin-Cross Keys Rd., Sicklerville): Vaneet Chopra, whose family operates Cross Culture in Haddonfield and previously ran Banjara in Chestnut Hill, is bringing the Banjara name to Sicklerville; its dine-in starts Thursday.
Freckled Jawn Brewing(1003 N. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury): Woodbury residents John Wagner and Colleen Gibson are taking over the former Eight & Sand Beer Co., which closed in June after 10 years. Targeting the first week of October, the brewery will introduce new branding and a fresh lineup of approachable beers, emphasizing natural and locally sourced ingredients when possible.
Irishtown Steaks (155 S. Burlington St., Gloucester City): Donkey’s Placealumnus Dave Murphy is targeting Halloween for his steak shop, joining recent Gloucester City entries Lillo’s and Pudge’s Pub. Murphy will use rolls from Boaggio’s, which has a bakery in town.
Penny’s Bagels (212 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield): Chris Fetfatzes and the Happy Monday Hospitality Group (Wine Dive, Grace & Proper) are developing this long-delayed bagel shop in downtown Haddonfield, now with an October target.
Pizzeria Cusumano (872 Haddon Ave., Collingswood): Announced back in September 2021, this passion project from South Jersey’s Sal Cusumano is finally about to start offering his Roman-inspired squares and neo-New York rounds, but “I don’t want to box myself into a certain style.” Cusumano, a third-generation pizzaiolo, is planning a small shop with limited seating. This week, he said it will open in October for sure.
Philadelphia
Adda (1700 Frankford Ave.): New York’s Unapologetic Foods — behind Dhamaka, Semma, and the original Adda — is bringing its energetic Indian cooking to Fishtown, across from the 19125 post office. Expect regional dishes in an informal setting, continuing the restaurant group’s practice of pushing beyond familiar Indian American standards. Originally expected in fall 2025, the Philadelphia location is now targeting an October opening.
Ayat (2021 Sansom St.): Abdul Elenani’s New York-based Palestinian restaurant — first announced in spring 2024 — is looking at a November opening in the former Roxy Theater near Rittenhouse Square. Ayat is known for generous portions of mansaf, maklouba, mezze, grilled meats, and other homestyle Palestinian dishes.
The bar at Bar Caviar, 256 S. 16th St.Kenneth Schutz
Bar Caviar (256 S. 16th St.): Opening in early October in the Dwight D Hotel in Rittenhouse, this bar will pair caviar and seafood with 50 varieties of Champagne and a full wine program in a setting that’s more neighborhood than hushed luxury lounge. Executive chef Greg Vassos’ contemporary American menu, informed by classical French technique and Japanese precision, will feature raw-bar selections, caviar-focused dishes, and seasonal small plates. The restaurant also will operate Parallel, a caviar program emphasizing careful sourcing and extended maturation. In 2027, Vassos plans to follow with Fall Line, a Mid-Atlantic-focused tasting-menu restaurant.
Brunch Bulls (1638 W. Passyunk Ave.): Brothers Derrick “Dee” Long and Jarrick “Jakk” Long are behind this all-day brunch/dinner/dessert restaurant in Point Breeze. They say they’ll be open by December.
Call Your Mother (262 S. 19th St., 1500 Frankford Ave., 12th and Sansom Streets): The lively, Washington-based “Jew-ish” bagel chain is making a three-location push into Philadelphia, starting this week with its Fishtown debut. Menu includes bagel sandwiches, schmears, latkes, coffee, and deli-inspired specials.
Carolyn’s Modern Vietnamese (2015 Walnut St.): This week, chef Carolyn Nguyen opens her deeply personal successor to Revolution Taco, which she co-owned in the space for a decade. Her menu brings together her family’s Vietnamese cooking, the seafood boils and Southern food of her Louisiana childhood, French culinary technique, and the freewheeling flavor combinations that defined her earlier ventures. The 33-seat restaurant serves dinner, and alcohol, in a spare, contemporary dining room.
Corte (1175 Ludlow St.):Corio partners Ryan Mulholland, chef David Feola, and James Smith are taking over the former Mulherin’s Pizzeria at East Market, between Iron Hill Brewery and Mi Vida. Feola will lead a menu built around house-made pastas plus proteins, vegetables, and small plates cooked in the large Mugnaini wood-burning oven. Mulholland will oversee daily operations and oversee an Old World-leaning wine list and cocktails inspired partly by forgotten recipes from century-old books. The dark-wood, earth-toned restaurant is targeting a fall opening.
DiDi (3748 Lancaster Ave.): DanDan owners Kevin and Catherina “Cat” Huang say they are “within a month or two” of opening their fast-casual pan-Asian concept at the Triad apartment building in Powelton Village. DiDi will join Kabobeesh, Karak Cha House, Shibam Coffee, Two Locals Brewing, and other businesses in the growing complex at 38th and Lancaster.
Divers Club (733 S. Fourth St.): Queen Village is in line to get a neighborhood wine bar from Susan Freeman, Chris Fetfatzes, and Heather Annechiarico (Grace & Proper, Wine Dive) in a former hair salon that sits on the same stretch as Famous 4th Street, Southwark, Ambra, and Fitz on 4th. Fetfatzes describes the mood as “dark, scrappy, and European — somewhere between a Paris backstreet wine bar and a graffitied Berlin hangout.”
Eggcetera Haus (625 S. Sixth St.): Husband-and-wife team Rey Tamaka and Vina Kencana soon will turn the former Redcrest Kitchen into an all-day bar-restaurant. Tamaka, previously the chef at an Old City brunch restaurant, plans breakfast, lunch, and dinner, moving from specialty coffee and morning dishes into pastas, steaks, cocktails, and comfort food at night. The couple expects daily service, giving the Queen Village-Bella Vista border another full-day neighborhood option.
Field Day (923 N. Second St.): James Beard Award-winning bartender and author Danny Childs and his wife, Katie, have a fall opening targeted for their casual regional cocktail bar in Northern Liberties, next to Cescaphe Ballroom. Childs’ drinks will use locally farmed, foraged, and fermented ingredients. Executive chef Melissa McGrath, known for her work at the idled Sweet Amalia Market & Kitchen, will offer Pennsylvania Dutch-inspired snacks, sandwiches, and tomato pies. Highballs, house-made sodas, boozy gelati, and walk-in seating will help keep the mood informal.
Habibi Supper Club (1515 E. Passyunk Ave.): Miled Finianos is giving his itinerant Lebanese dinner series a permanent home on East Passyunk — possibly by the end of year — serving late breakfast and lunch before he offers ticketed, multicourse suppers.
HYO (1222 Walnut St.): Nightlife veteran Justin Jordan plans an October opening for this Korean tabletop barbecue restaurant behind Hearsay, his indoor-outdoor sidewalk bar and listening lounge. Guests will enter HYO through a phone booth inside Hearsay. The restaurant is part of Jordan’s multilevel entertainment complex, which also includes Celine and the forthcoming Chancellor Room event space and karaoke lounge.
Jean (161 W. Girard Ave.): Emmett chef Evan Snyder and partner Julian van der Tak are going upstairs with a 15-seat tasting menu restaurant opening this fall. Snyder and chef de cuisine Antonio Pizzo will prepare a 12-course menu centered on a 7-foot wood-burning hearth, drawing on Algeria, Tunisia, coastal Morocco, and the southern Mediterranean for culinary influences. A tagine will roast throughout dinner before being served family-style.
Kato (1832 Frankford Ave.): Mei Meichef-owner Jay Ho is taking over the former Izakaya Fishtown space for a restaurant inspired by his Taiwanese father and the food Ho grew up eating. Influences from Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese cooking will broaden the menu. Ho, who hopes to open in late fall, plans to retain the front bar while replacing the rear sushi counter with additional seating that can double as a private dining area.
Lovat Square(184 E. Evergreen Ave.): Former Four Seasons sommelier Damien Graef and journalist Robyn Semien opened this Chestnut Hill wine shop and tasting room in February, offering small-production bottles, wines by the glass, and light fare. The couple, who also own Brooklyn’s Bibber & Bell wine shop, will debut a full dinner menu by the end of September.
Macaluso’s (3101 S. 13th St.): Realtor Joel Gruenke and restaurateur Mark D’Andrea, long-ago roommates at Valley Forge Military Academy, are looking at an early October opening of this white-tablecloth Italian restaurant at 13th Street and Packer Avenue, near the sports complex. D’Andrea’s family owns RoadHouse in Staten Island, N.Y. Gruenke says the moderately priced menu will stick to traditional Italian cooking and offer a full bar. Parking will be available across the street.
Mylar Bar (1636-38 S. Ninth St.): Hospitality veterans Liv Arterbridge and Gina Piccari are turning the former Dino’s Party Center into a festive neighborhood bar inspired by the building’s history. They promise something nostalgic, playful, and deliberately unserious. Drinks will include martinis, punches, classics, and draft beer. Chef Colin White, formerly of Sally and Emmett, will oversee shareable “party snacks,” larger plates, and desserts available late.
Nippy’s on South (1312 South St.): Nurse and first-time restaurateur Nikia Peterson has purchased the former Ms. Tootsie’s building for an ambitious restaurant and bar. Peterson plans a polished setting with seafood towers, steaks, Asian and Caribbean influences, a substantial happy hour, and weekend brunch. The project will revive a prominent South Street property that had remained closed since restaurateur KeVen Parker’s death in 2021.
O’Morrey’s (1720 Sansom St.): Chefs Biff Gottehrer and Kenjiro Omori are developing a cocktail bar on the former site of Genji, the Japanese restaurant created by Omori’s father. The name is a cheeky rendering of the Omori family name. Plans call for a comfortable neighborhood bar in the spirit of the Ripplewood, where both chefs work, with cocktails and a serious food component. Their second joint project, Tako Taco, is months away at the former Bing Bing Dim Sum in South Philadelphia.
Palm Vintage (1414 S. Penn Square): Houston Yang and Mike Beja, who opened this day-to-night cafe and cocktail bar across from City Hall in the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, are close to expanding into a nighttime scene with cocktails, sushi, oysters, caviar, and light food in a lush, tropical-inspired room meant to offer an escape from Center City.
Panco (2300 S. Croskey St.): Chef Ryo Igarashi, whose background includes Tokio Global and Maru Global (noted for its takoyaki balls), is behind a corner shop in West Passyunk whose menu will focus on Japanese cutlets. He says it’s opening soon.
Philly Curio (2240 Frankford Ave.): Tattoo Arts Convention founder Troy Timpel is creating an intimate Kensington restaurant-bar around his private collection of curiosities (think tribal masks, skeletal displays, taxidermy, and glass-topped tables containing preserved animals). Inspired partly by Savannah’s Alligator Soul, Timpel has discussed a Cajun-Creole menu with small plates and unconventional proteins such as rattlesnake. Drinks are expected to include cocktails, wine, bottled beer, and limited drafts. Target is November.
Philly Po’Boy (102 W. Berks St.): Brothers Chris and Greg Lynch are bringing a taste of New Orleans to the storefront beneath the Berks station of the Market-Frankford Line. Chris spent years cooking in New Orleans, while Greg’s Philadelphia background includes Starr Restaurants and LMNO. Plans call for classic powdered-sugar-dusted beignets, gumbo, and a mix of classic and specialty po’boys like fried shrimp, oysters and roast beef “debris,” plus fries, Creole potato salad, and café au lait from coffee roasted by Applied Arts in New Orleans.
Santé Social(1546 E. Passyunk Ave.): Sommelier Daniel Solway is giving his roving dinner series a permanent home across from the Singing Fountain. The approximately 30-seat space will function less like a conventional restaurant than a flexible hospitality venue, hosting wine dinners, tastings, classes, collaborations, private events, and some walk-in service. Cocktails are being developed with Danny Childs of Slow Drinks and Field Day, while changing chefs and collaborators may shape the food programming.
Somedays Bakery (1601 Walnut St.): Hand-laminated croissants are the foundation of this Queens-rooted bakery, which deals in sandwiches, salads, soft serve, and coffee. It’s targeting the end of the month.
Thalassa (918 N. 28th St.): Matt Maltepes is looking at late October or early November for his Greek-inspired cafe in Fairmount that will serve baklava, croissants, and house-made ice cream in flavors that change weekly. Savory offerings will include small plates such as feta grilled cheese with honey, avocado toast, and bagels with cream cheese. The drinks menu will feature European-style coffee preparations, including frappes and Freddo espresso.
Looking ahead
Two major projects are now on the docket for January, as the owners don’t want to compete with the holiday-season madness:the Pelican Club, Stephen Starr’s flashy Greek-themed restaurant taking shape in the former Devon Seafood Grill on Rittenhouse Square, and the yet-to-be-named “punk French” restaurantthat chefs Justin Bogle and Arthur Cavaliere are creating at the former Winnie’s Manayunk.
The long-closed Mermaid Bar in Mount Airy will retain its name under the new ownership of pizzaiolo Dan Gutter and business partner Alex Carbonell of Circles & Squares and Pizza Plus. The project, announced earlier this year, is aiming at a summer 2027 rollout.
Broad Street, also designated State Route 611, has 31 speed cameras spread over 13 miles between Philadelphia’s northern and southern city limits. They began operating last September.
Since then, PPA has issued warnings or violations to nearly 800,000 speeders.
In October 2025, the Broad Street cameras issued 213,057 formal warnings to people who drove 11 or more miles per hour above the 25 mph limit.
Fines began the next month. In March, 70,498 fines were handed out based on speed-camera readings.
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“Fewer people are speeding, and that means fewer people seriously injured or killed on Philadelphia roadways,” Gabe Roberts, interim executive director of the PPA, said in an interview.
“That’s the goal and it’s how we measure the program’s success. We feel very good about where it stands today,“ Roberts said.
Drivers who travel more than 11 mph over the posted speed limit will eventually be ticketed, with fines starting at $100 and rising to $150 for those driving more than 30 mph over.
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When speed cameras were placed on Broad Street, some suburban commuters had concerns they were being targeted. PPA’s numbers found 59% of speeders lived in Philadelphia zip codes.
Speeding has dropped 95% on the roadway, based on the declining number of violations issued since the first month cameras were operating there, PPA said.
The Route 13 corridor — identified by the city as a particularly dangerous stretch of road — spans Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia, Hunting Park Avenue in North Philadelphia, and Roosevelt Boulevard in the Northeast before leaving the city by way of Frankford Avenue.
The first set of cameras along Route 13, in the Northeast, began issuing warnings in June, and there are not enough data to report from the corridor, officials said.
PPA also operates cameras to enforce school-zone speed limits at five elementary schools in the city. Those were installed in the spring and by law had to be shut down in the summer when school was not in session. Roberts said that the school zones will be assessed more fully in next year’s annual report.
After eight years, several production spaces, and many tons of cucumbers, Fishtown Pickle Project is putting down permanent roots.
But it’s still not in Fishtown.
Last month, Niki Toscani and Mike Sicinski, the husband-and-wife team behind the pickle company, bought a 6,200-square-foot building at 1911-13 N. Second St., just north of Berks Street near Norris Square in Kensington. There, they plan to triple production and, for the first time, invite customers into their briny world.
The move from Globe Dye Works in Frankford will allow them to combine production with a storefront.
The Richmond Shops IGA grocery store at Fishtown Crossing was an early customer of Fishtown Pickle Project.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer
The centerpiece will be a 500-square-foot pickle tasting room, where customers can sample varieties, buy pickles by the pound or jar, shop for pickle-themed merchandise, and eventually take classes and production tours. They are aiming for a summer 2027 opening.
A pickle tasting room? Think brewery, only with cucumbers. Toscani said customers will be able to sample the goods while watching production. She calls the concept a “brinery.”
Most of the building will be devoted to manufacturing, storage, offices, and events. Fishtown Pickle Project now processes about 3,500 pounds of cucumbers a week, a figure Toscani expects to triple by the end of 2028.
The couple said they remained at Globe Dye Works because of its affordable rent and highway access, but eventually ran out of room. Their search for a larger property with manufacturing and retail space, plus a driveway and loading area, led them to Norris Square. Finding that combination in Fishtown was difficult, Toscani said, “especially for a bootstrapped small business.”
A 2025 collaboration between Fishtown Pickle Project and Miller’s Twist in Reading Terminal Market resulted in Philly Dilly spears wrapped in a soft, sweet pretzel dough.Craig LaBan / Staff
The Second Street property should also make deliveries easier. “When we’re getting trailers delivered with glass jars, it helps to have a garage and a street for them to deliver at without tons of traffic,” Sicinski said.
Wholesale growth is driving much of the expansion. Toscani said revenue from buckets of pickles sold to restaurants, delis, and retailers increased 200% from 2024 to 2025. Some customers use them to stock pickle bars.
The company sells through about 30 ShopRite stores, 11 Wegmans locations, and the Kimberton Whole Foods and McCaffrey’s Market chains. Toscani and Sicinski make their products and handle distribution themselves.
“It allows us to grow responsibly without taking on more business than we can handle,” Toscani said.
The company has the equivalent of about six full-time employees, which Toscani expects to double to about 12 by the end of 2028.
As for the Fishtown in the name, that goes back to the company’s beginnings in 2018. Toscani and Sicinski lived in the neighborhood, and some of their first customers were Fishtown retailers, including Bottle Bar East (now closed), IGA, and Riverwards.
The pickles themselves have always been made elsewhere. Sicinski, a chef who was then a food-service director for a New Jersey school district, first made them in his work kitchen. The couple — Toscani is a dietitian — also made pickles as wedding favors, helping turn the hobby into a business. Production later moved to Bridesburg Commissary (now Culinary Collective) and then to Globe Dye Works, where the company eventually moved into a larger space within the complex.
The passion project became a livelihood after Sicinski was furloughed at the start of the pandemic. The lineup now includes the flagship Philly Dilly Deli, Sweet Onion, and Habanero varieties, and limited releases such as Bloody Mary and Ginger Lemonade pickle chips.
The Norris Square project is their largest investment yet. They paid $550,000 for the building Aug. 6 and said they expect to spend about $700,000 on construction and outfitting. A $1.6 million Small Business Administration loan is helping finance the project, and they are seeking about $250,000 in grants for equipment and hiring. Toscani puts the overall investment at close to $2 million.
The couple have no outside equity investors.
Toscani sees no contradiction in taking the Fishtown name with them to Norris Square.
“We still consider the neighboring neighborhoods our neighbors,” she said. “Despite the fact that we’re not in Fishtown proper, we feel like the opportunity to have roots in Norris Square actually fits our mission quite a bit.”
