Fishtownresidents and business owners Shannon Leocata Figueras and Justice Figueras will sell no wine before its time. This much is clear because LeoFigs, their winery and restaurant, has been “coming soon” for months at Frankford and Susquehanna Avenues.
Recently, the LeoFigs signs came down and a new one appeared in the window, showing a drawing of a cat wearing a space helmet while watching a rocket circling the moon.
Justice and Shannon Figueras at LeoFigs, their future winery, restaurant, and cocktail bar at 2201 Frankford Ave. on Jan. 2, 2025.
Nope. The sign was a ruse, Justice Figueras said. When anything opens in Fishtown, “everybody’s like, ‘Is it going to be another Rocket Cat?’ So we thought it was a little bit cheeky — maybe get us some awareness before we posted some jobs.”
LeoFigs — whose opening is sorta-kinda-definitely set for mid-December, probably — is now hiring for all positions in the front and back of the house, including executive chef.
The Rocket Cat sign, coming down soon, will also serve as LeoFigs’ first real post on its newly scrubbed Instagram account. “I basically erased all of our old [posts] because we went through a rebrand,” he said. “It was good timing for the Rocket Cat situation.” The original logo, designed by their children, has been subbed, as well.
The original LeoFigs logo, designed by the owners’ children.LeoFigs’ new logo.
“We definitely put the neighborhood in a tizzy,” said Shannon Figueras, an executive with Bacardi. “We didn’t realize everybody would get so excited, but we feel like we probably should say something.”
The tactic worked perhaps too well.
“We really can’t walk out on the sidewalk without somebody being like, ‘What’s going on?’” said Justice Figueras, a Jersey Shore-bred wine-business lifer, adding: “We didn’t think we could really offend anybody.”
Since the spring, months after it was first mentioned, LeoFigs’ concept has evolved substantially. The couple expanded their winemaking operation, including a recent trip to the Finger Lakes, where they purchased about three tons of grapes.
Up front, the design has shifted from a simple host counter to a full working counter that will become a showpiece for making fresh pasta. They said they’re doubling down on scratch pastas, breads, and even some pastries.
Despite the café buzz the Rocket Cat ruse generated, LeoFigs will not be a morning destination. “I don’t think there’s a crowd for lunch — there are a million cafés and coffee shops over here,” Justice Figueras said.
Instead, the plan is to open in the late afternoon and focus on dinner service, with “medium” plates inspired by a trip from Barcelona to Sicily. “We almost want to be more of a food hall for wine,” he said.
With Thanksgiving so close you can almost smell the stuffing, we are in prime pie time. Bakers and pastry chefs across the region are crimping cold, buttery crusts and cooking down aromatic fruit fillings and spiced custards for the coming wave of preorders. But pie need not be reserved for the holidays, as a number of spots on this list know. After the rounds of pumpkin and apple are put away, there’s space for crusty-creamy slices of salted honey, peach, key lime, strawberry rhubarb, ricotta, and carrot cake(!) pie all year long. Read on for The Inquirer food desk’s favorite pie purveyors. — Jenn Ladd
The Bread Room
High Street, Ellen Yin’s long-running bread and pastry powerhouse, always delivers on the baked goods front. Its expertly made pies are only offered once a year, and this holiday season, Yin’s recently opened bakery, the Bread Room, is taking over. The lineup includes two pies that could be straight out of the New York Times Cooking repertoire: a chai-chocolate pie with an airy mousse filling in a thin and crunchy chocolate crust, and a gorgeous lattice-topped thick-cut apple pie with a miso caramel-glazed crust. Preorder pies online by Sunday, Nov. 23, for pickup on Wednesday, Nov. 26. — Beatrice Forman
Denise’s Delicacies
This 33-year-old North Philly institution is best known for its fresh-made doughnuts and ultra-rich pound cake, but, boy, do they know how to make a pie. The bakery’s bestseller this time of year is the sweet potato pie, filled with a creamy, bronzed custard with a just-right level of sweetness in a buttery, crumbly crust. A close runner-up is Denise’s apple pie, which hits all the right notes: Its gooey, perfectly spiced interior is suffused with the slightest tang and pairs perfectly with a double-crust pastry shell that’s dense and almost fudgy. It’s a simple pie, expertly made — like if your mom baked it, but even better (love you, mom!). The family-owned bakery also makes peach, pecan, coconut custard, blueberry, and cherry pies. Call ahead or walk in and buy from the display case; 6- and 10-inch pies will be availableup to the day before Thanksgiving (and year-round otherwise). — Jenn Ladd
Downtime Bakery
You can reliably score a slice of pie year-round at this year-old Mount Airy bakery, because owner Dayna Evans is a pie devotee: She and her team regularly whip up different variants each week, channeling whatever seasonal produce (and whims) inspire them, be it sour cherry, coconut custard, chocolate chess, or a pear-hazelnut number with a cornmeal crumb topping. What stays consistent is Evans’ signature spelt flour crusts, which give these pies nutty character and a little more bite than most — a theme that runs throughout Downtime’s offerings. Its preordered Thanksgiving pies are all sold out, but keep an eye on the bakery’s Instagram to see if one of the offerings (torched meringue-topped sweet potato, a quince-suffused gateau Basque, or a double-crust apple pie my 4-year old termed “a little spicy”) resurfaces. Pie slices roll out at 1 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. — Jenn Ladd
Flakely
Unlike its trademark gluten-free croissants and bagels, Flakely’s holiday pies can’t be found frozen in a pastry ATM. They only come fresh from behind the pink door at 220 Krams Ave. in Manayunk, where baker Lila Colello conjures a limited run of pies for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. This season’s offerings start off strong with a pumpkin-maple tart piped with a ribbon of bruleed marshmallow fluff and a gooey bourbon-pecan version garnished with leaf-shaped shortbread cookies. Both are almost too pretty to eat. Preordering has been extended to Thursday, Nov. 20, for pickups between Nov. 24 and Nov. 26. If you miss this year’s go-round, you’ll have to wait for next year to get a bite of this apple (tarte tatin). — Beatrice Forman
Flying Monkey
This Reading Terminal Market stand is renowned for its whoopie pies and butter cake, but Flying Monkey’s apple crumb pie represents the platonic ideal of the holiday treat: warm and buttery, with a crumbly oat topping so delectable, I wish the bakery sold it separately. The pies here are relatively no-frills compared with some others on this map, but you can get them anytime of year, making them just as solid a treat for joyful do-nothing days as for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Customers can preorder Thanksgiving-specific apple crumb and pumpkin pies for Nov. 26 pickup from Flying Monkey’s new location in Chadds Ford, or call the Reading Terminal stand to schedule a pie pickup any day of the year (for key lime, s’mores, chocolate cream, and more) with 48 hours’ notice. — Beatrice Forman
The Frosted Fox
The deep-dish pies from this Germantown Avenue gem are so good, you’ll want a second slice moments after you finish the first one. The pies from this bakery, from a couple of Culinary Institute of America grads, look as good as they taste: Leaf-shaped pastry cutouts adorn the pumpkin pie, while their Thanksgiving fruit pies (apple crumble, pear-ginger) are finished with a heaping mound of crispy-crunchy-buttery crumble topping. Toasted pecan and sweet potato round out the holiday pie selection, all of which come in flaky, beautifully crimped all-butter crusts. Place an order by Friday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m. for holiday pickups the following Tuesday and Wednesday. Owners Jennifer Low and Sean Williams try to keep extra pies (and cake and cookies) on hand for walk-ins, and they’ll be around in December, too. Frosted Fox offers pie year-round on weekends (preordering is recommended), with flavors changing seasonally; look for strawberry rhubarb, mixed berry, and key lime with meringue as the calendar turns. — Jenn Ladd
Little Coco
When Valentina Fortuna closed her beloved scratch bakery/cafe, Constellation Collective, in Collingswood in 2021, she figured she’d still make a few pies here and there for loyal customers. Fortuna’s pies were in such demand — particularly the salted honey — that her garage turned into a veritable black market bakery. In 2023, Fortuna opened Little Coco, a cozy cafe in a more low-key setting down the road from the original location, in Barrington, Camden County. Her fans followed. Fortuna serves a rotation of sliced pies weekly, with brown butter brownie and classic apple crumb among the favorites. Holiday preorders have begun, with pies including pecan, pumpkin squash, and the famed salted honey. — Jason Nark
Night Kitchen Bakery
Kids will clamor for the myriad beautiful cookies on display at this 44-year-old Chestnut Hill staple, but don’t let them distract you from the pie. Night Kitchen’s pumpkin pie, sporting sugared pie-crust leaves, is the bakery’s bestseller this time of year, but hot on its heels is apple crumb, packing a whopping five Granny Smiths per pie. There’s also pecan, chocolate pecan, sweet potato, double-crust apple, key lime, and sour cherry crumb (my favorite, which you can also order as an equally delicious tart, along with other year-round tarts like chocolate chess and blueberry almond). Pie is not just a Thanksgiving thing here; owner Amy Edelman says Night Kitchen packs its pastry shells with seasonal fillings — think strawberry rhubarb and mixed berry — throughout the year. — Jenn Ladd
Penza’s Pies at the Red Barn
Evelyn Penza, South Jersey’s pie queen, turned a family horse barn into a pie destination in Hammonton, aka the “blueberry capital of the world.” Blueberry pie is on the menu at the Red Barn Farm, Cafe, & Pie Shop, of course, but Hammonton also has a rich Italian heritage, so there’s plenty of ricotta pies on the menu, too. The 85-year-old Penza said pumpkin ricotta is among her best, along with the massive five-fruit pie, which looks like a work of art and must weigh close to 10 pounds. She said her pies are “cloaked in goodness.” The pie rush is already here, Penza said. To order ahead, call the shop. Penza’s doesn’t take credit cards, so bring lots of cash or use Venmo and, while you’re there, sit down for breakfast. — Jason Nark
Ponzio’s Diner Bakery Bar
What’s a diner without a slice of pie and hot cup of coffee? This Cherry Hill legend serves up hefty, crumbly slices of house-made pie for dessert all year long. (The diner’s chicken pot pie, served on Thursdays, is also a staple.) When Thanksgiving rolls around, whole pies are available for preorder. This year, choose between classic apple, Hammonton blueberry, sweet cherry, fresh pumpkin, coconut custard, and lemon meringue. For the fruit pies, you’ll have to make a tough call: double crust or cinnamon-butter crumb topping? Call before Monday, Nov. 24, to reserve. If there are any leftover pies (unlikely), Ponzio’s bakery stays open for takeout on Thanksgiving Day. — Hira Qureshi
Second Daughter
On the fourth floor of the Bok building, whiffs of freshly baked brown butter chocolate chip cookies and cosmic brownies lure customers to Second Daughter’s walk-up counter. You’ll likely glimpse chef-owner Rhonda Saltzman baking savory and sweet treats, including her stellar pies, which are available year-round. Saltzman uses Pennsylvania-sourced fruit and changes up her offerings with the seasons. This year’s Thanksgiving selection includes sour cherry pie topped with almond praline; apple pie with bourbon-spiced tart apples and an oatmeal crumb topping; a spiced pumpkin pie (or tart, with maple-brown sugar whipped cream); plus brownie tarts, salted caramel apple galettes, and apple and cherry-almond hand pies — all nestled in flaky pate brisee crusts. Order by Friday, Nov. 21, for pickup the following Wednesday and Thursday. Don’t have patience to wait for Thanksgiving? Saltzman has petite pies at the counter to indulge in beforehand. — Hira Qureshi
Tartes
Step up to the takeout window at Tartes in Old City and you’ll find a scene fit for a still life: ornately arranged miniature fruit tarts stacked atop cake stands, waiting to be bagged and boxed. Though this 25-year-old bakery also makes cookies and bite-size cakes, it’s best known for its namesake sweet, with a selection that rotates throughout the year. Thanksgiving brings an apple-raspberry variety dusted with cinnamon, plus bourbon pecan, pumpkin, and a pistachio frangipane topped with poached pears — all available in 9-inch pies as well as 2½- and 4-inch tarts. Orders are open until Nov. 24. My recommendation is to use the minis as a dessert appetizer of sorts for Friendsgivings and holiday parties. Guests will think you’re extra fancy. — Beatrice Forman
Vernick Coffee
For many Philadelphians, a visually stunning seasonal pie from this soaring second-floor breakfast/lunch/coffee oasis has become a holiday tradition. This year, Vernick’s pastry team is baking a gluten-free dirty chai pumpkin pie topped with quenelles of chocolate-coffee whipped cream; a dark chocolate-sea salt pecan pie with a fudgelike maple custard; a dulce de leche caramel apple pie made with local Pink Lady apples; and its classic carrot cake pie, with a salted ginger graham crust and perfectly piped kisses of cream cheese frosting (indeed this is a carrot cake stuffed into a dense and lovely pie crust). The carrot cake pie is available year-round; for one of the Thanksgiving pies, preorder via Vernick Coffee’s Tock page by Friday, Nov. 21, for pickup between Nov. 24 and 26. — Kiki Aranita
Sure, you could pick up hot dogs, falafel, or shawarma from a street vendor while watching the Philadelphia Marathon. But here are 10 options for a family-friendly sit-down experience.
Menu style: Greek street-food café with gyros, souvlaki, salads, loukoumades, pita platters.
Kid-friendly notes: Counter-service; quick and easy food; typically calm; just off the Parkway near the start/finish corrals; there’s also a Center City location with counter service at 120 S. 15th St.
Kid-friendly notes: Pizza is an easy win; quick service; plenty of room inside the dining rooms; outside along the Parkway for stroller parking and snacking while watching runners.
📍 1701 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, 📞 215-801-5198
Pedestrians fill the 12th Street sidewalk outside Reading Terminal Market.
Menu style: American comfort food, featuring burgers, chicken fingers, mac & cheese, salads, brunch dishes.
Kid-friendly notes: One of the most reliably family-friendly restaurants in the city, with a kids’ menu; plenty of room for strollers; drinks for adults; outdoor seating when weather allows.
Menu style: Food hall with an interesting mix of Peruvian, Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Indian food, sandwiches, burgers, salads, coffee, pastries, and a Federal Donuts location.
Kid-friendly notes: High-ceilinged, spacious, good bathrooms; fast service — extremely easy for families and large groups; steps from the Walnut Street bridge spectator zone and across from 30th Street Station. There’s a bar, too.
📍 3025 Market St. (Bulletin Building at Drexel), Philadelphia
Menu style: Neapolitan-style pizza, pastas, shareable antipasti, wood-fired dishes.
Kid-friendly notes: Pizza and pasta are always kid wins; roomy layout; easy access relative to Center City; its East Falls location is right next to the Kelly/Ridge spectator stretch.
Menu style: Pizzas, salads, sandwiches; upstairs bistro has more plated entrées.
Kid-friendly notes: One of the most kid-friendly restaurants in Manayunk — booster seats and high chairs; pizza by the slice; lots of families on weekends; right on the marathon’s Manayunk out-and-back.
📍 102 Rector St., Philadelphia, 📞 215-483-2233
The Landing Kitchen is an all-day cafe at the riverside redevelopment of the Pencoyd Ironworks.
Kid-friendly notes: Huge outdoor space in Bala Cynwyd overlooking the river (across from Manayunk); very stroller-friendly; plenty of room for kids to move around; great for families who want a calmer scene than Main Street.
One of the keys to the sandwiches at Huda — chef Yehuda Sichel’s acclaimed shop in Rittenhouse — is the cloudlike, house-baked milk bread.
At Huda Burger — opening Nov. 19 near Suraya and Palmer Park in Fishtown — Sichel is also building his burgers and chicken sandwiches on the luxurious, mildly sweet buns inspired by Japanese shokupan.
In fact, he built the entire place around them. “This kitchen is like half bakery, half prep kitchen just for the buns,” Sichel said. The buns at Huda Burger will be seeded, unlike those at the original shop, which serves one of The Inquirer’s favorite smash burgers — the Mott, topped with buttermilk ranch, pickled peppers, pepper Jack brie, and hot honey.
Huda Burger’s setup at 1602 Frankford Ave.
Sichel is banking on the buns to separate him from the other burger makers. (New York’s 7th Street Burger has a location opening this winter down the street, further adding to the pressure.)
“Being in a saturated market really forces you to get better, and there’s nothing I like more than some competition,” said Sichel. Besides the bread, everything else is being made in-house, including pickles and sauces, and every item is prepared to order — even the chicken is butchered in the back.
Besides three kinds of crispy chicken sandwiches (coated in rice flour, cornstarch, Wondra flour, and what Sichel describes as “a whole bunch of spices”), Huda Burger’s menu includes a rotating line of five or six smash burgers. There’s a classic cheeseburger, a create-your-own option, a vegetarian burger, a pastrami fried onion burger (a cross between a pastrami burger and an Oklahoma-style smash burger), and a bread-free cheeseburger salad. The menu also includes curly fries, pickles, and shakes made with soft serve from 1-900-Ice-Cream.
Crispy chicken sandwich at Huda Burger, 1603 Frankford Ave.
His partner is Dan Berkowitz, the chief executive and co-founder of 100x Hospitality, an event production company specializing in immersive and travel experiences.
The space, designed by Lance Saunders, includes a half dozen indoor counter seats and a few outdoor tables in season.
Sichel, who grew up in Elkins Park, started in the restaurant business at age 15, making sandwiches at a kosher deli in Baltimore. After culinary school in Israel, he moved home to work for chefs Georges Perrier at Brasserie Perrier and Daniel Stern at Rae, followed by a stint with chef Neal Fraser at Grace in Los Angeles.
Cheeseburger salad at Huda Burger, 1603 Frankford Ave.
In 2010, he joined Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov at Zahav. He rose through the ranks — from line cook to pastry to sous chef — and played a major role in the opening of Citron & Rose (2012) in Lower Merion and Abe Fisher (2014) in Rittenhouse. Abe Fisher was named a Best New Restaurant by Travel & Leisure, and Sichel was named to Zagat’s 30 Under 30 Rock Stars Redefining the Industry. He left CookNSolo in 2020, opening Huda at 32 S. 18th St., that summer amid the pandemic.
Huda Burger, 1603 Frankford Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. till 9 p.m. daily, but there are plans to extend.
The transition became official Thursday when the restaurant revealed a new (and cheaper) menu on Instagram that includes a 12-item all-day menu of revamped diner classics served from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., plus pared-down lists of breakfast and dinner-only options.
The change embraces Percy’s “true identity,” Kligerman said, and comes after a spate of mixed reviews that called out how the restaurant’s brunch program outshone a dinner menu of $30-plus entrees that included a Thai curry, a lamb shank, and a Cooper Sharp-topped burger.
Percy opened under the El at 1700 N. Front St. in May as the ground-floor anchor to Urby, a 200-unit luxury apartment complex. The restaurant earned fans and haters fast: Percy’s¾-pound ricotta pancakes and babka French toast found an immediate following in Fishtown’s crowded brunch scene. And yet, Philly Mag food critic Jason Sheehan bestowed the title of “Philly’s most disappointing new restaurant” upon Percy in September, arguing the restaurant was “all vibe, with little else worth saying.”
The reviews came with a silver lining, according to Kligerman. Percy was able to raise $4,000 for the Fishtown Community Library through a limited-run sale of shirts screen-printed with Sheehan’s headline.
Plus, a bit of constructive criticism didn’t hurt.
“I’m really grateful that we were able to spin something negative into something so positive,” Kligerman said. “We don’t have the runway that [larger restaurateurs] have, where they can collect a lot of data and open with a perfect concept … Now that we have the data from reviews, from the public, from our sales reports, we get to hit our stride.”
Percy’s all-day menu leans heavily on what worked from its brunch. The cinnamon-crusted ricotta pancakes are still there, but customers can now order them until 9 p.m. along with other favorites such as the espresso-dulce de leche beignets, a roast pork croque monsieur, and a new mortadella club sandwich smeared with burrata and pistachio pesto.
The biggest changes came for the breakfast and dinner menus, which will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. respectively. Breakfast’s star is the $11 Philly Grand Slam, a play on the standard diner breakfast with two eggs and home fries plus bacon, duck sausage, and a ricotta pancake for an additional charge.
The $11 Philly Grand Slam from Percy has two eggs, toast, and homefries, with bacon, duck sausage, or a ricotta pancake for an additional charge.
Dinner, too, got a makeover, swapping the Thai curry and lamb shank for a fried chicken Reuben and an elevated meatloaf served with a red wine jus, whipped potatoes, and purple cauliflower.
The new menu nods to Tuckerton, N.J’s Dynasty Diner, where South Jersey-bred Kligerman grew up splitting disco fries and pancakes with his friends until their parents chastised them for running up against curfew. It also fills a hole in Philly’s breakfast-for-dinner scene, as the city’s diners continue to dwindle, with owners putting them up for sale or preparing for demolition.
“When I think about Dynasty, I get that warm family feeling,” said Kligerman, 37, who now lives in Fishtown. “I want Percy to offer that.”
The $26 pork cheek bourguignon at Percy, now served TV-dinner style on three compartment trays as part of the restaurant’s diner rebrand.
Percy’s revamp also comes with a significant decrease in prices.
Initially, all but the burger on Percy’s dinner menu cost between $30 and $40 per entree. Now the entire menu — save for the $31 half chicken with polenta — clocks in below $28. Most dishes had $4 to $6 shaved off, Kligerman said. The croque monsieur, for example, dropped from $24 to $17, while the burger had $3 knocked off, to now sit at $18.
“We wanted to make sure the pricing allowed people to come back multiple times a week. And I think our opening pricing … definitely positioned us to be that one-day-a-week or special occasion-type restaurant,” said Kligerman. “Good diners are for everyone.”
The plate-sized ricotta pancakes from Percy, which will now be available from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. as the restaurant transitions to an all-day diner.
Good diners also have a look, he said: hard plastic cups that get constant refills, salt and pepper shakers on the table, and stacks of paper napkins. All of those elements have now been wrapped into Percy’s mid-century modern decor.
Percy’s plating also reflects the change. All five dishes on the dinner menu will be served TV-dinner style, in compartmentalized trays with spaces for the protein, side, and a single bread roll.
“It’s kind of playful,” Kligerman said. ”Everything is.”
Percy, 1700 N. Front St., 215-975-0020, percyphl.com. Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday; 9 a.m. to midnight Thursday to Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Max’s Seafood Cafe, which brought lofty dining ambitions to down-to-earth Gloucester City, has changed hands after a quarter-century.
The new owners — Mike and Barb Williams, who previously ran the three Pudge’s sandwich shops still operating in the Pennsylvania suburbs, and entrepreneur Chris Widell — plan to open Tuesday as Pudge’s Pub. It will sport a far more accessible menu of steaks, hoagies, and bar food, as well as some of Max’s bestsellers, such as steamed clams, clams casino, and mussels in three sauces. A former Max’s chef is on board, as is the former bar manager.
Pudge’s Pub’s Facebook page.
But while change is inevitable, especially in the restaurant world, last week’s announcement failed to impress the Facebook crowd. No sooner had the partners swapped out Max’s logo for a jaunty sketch of a mustachioed Pudge on the profile page than the comments flew on the page of the news site 42 Freeway, based on its article about the transaction:
“Oh, my God! They’re not using ‘Max’s’ anymore!” “I’m guessing a joke?” “Change an iconic name?” “Such a classy-looking restaurant for a cartoon character logo and basically takeout food menu.” “Is this AI pulling [a] prank?”
The partners expressed frustration as moderator Mark Matthews tried to reason with the commenters. Marilyn Johnson, moderator of the South Jersey Food Scene page, did the same on her post.
“Give us a chance,” an exasperated Mike Williams told The Inquirer on Friday. Economic reality drove the decision to rebrand as Pudge’s. Max’s hasn’t made a profit in at least three years and foot traffic was low, Williams said.
Many commenters conceded that they hadn’t visited Max’s in a long time. “I don’t want to say we’re saving it, but we want to resurrect a place where all walks of life can come and have fun,” Williams said.
Pudge’s Pub co-owners Mike and Barbara Williams and their son Preston in the bar, formerly Max’s Seafood Cafe in Gloucester City.
They are keeping the neon Max’s Cafe sign, which has cast a glow over the intersection of Hudson and Burlington Streets for decades. They applied a fresh coat of paint to the classic barroom, and are keeping the ornate wood-and-mirror bar, circa 1912, as it was.
The draft-beer list, which included high-brow specialties like Chimay, has been simplified to more standard offerings like Miller Lite, Stella, and Yards. (The fancier beers will be available in bottles.) Williams said they plan to host special events in the parking lot and are adding four TVs inside.
Mike Williams said he had a butcher prepare a custom cut of beef for the cheesesteaks. They’ll use rolls from Liscio’s, also a South Jersey business, since their previous supplier, Conshohocken Italian Bakery, closed last year.
Facebook comments opposed to the changeover at Max’s Seafood Cafe in Gloucester City.
Even the bar’s new focus on cheesesteaks sparked outrage from commenters who lamented that greater Gloucester was on the brink of Whiz overload. Two other shops are due to open soon just down the street: a barroom from Lillo’s (of Hainesport fame) at the former Thomas Murphy’s Pub, and Irishtown Steaks, from a former head cook at the well-regarded Donkey’s Place a few minutes away in Camden. In nearby West Collingswood Heights, Danny DiGiampietro of Angelo’s Pizzeria is planning to open a new eatery.
Pudge’s and Max’s histories
It’s not as if the Williamses are new to the game. The Pudge’s project is a return to their family’s roots. Pudge’s traces its history to Frank’s, the hoagie shop that a 21-year-old Frank Carbone opened at Wister Street and Chew Avenue in Germantown, near what was then La Salle College, after he got out of the service in the late 1950s.
Carbone renamed it Pudge’s — his childhood nickname — when he moved it to Whitpain Shopping Center in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, in 1972. His daughter, Barbara, and her husband, Mike Williams, took over Pudge’s after Carbone’s death in 2000. The Williamses opened locations in the Lansdale and Pottstown areas before selling their last location in October 2024; all three operate under the new owners, and Williams said he has rights to the name.
The Gloucester City bar opened in 1890 as a shoe store and became Leisinger’s Saloon in 1912, when German immigrant Joseph Fred Leisinger installed the bar. After Leisinger’s death in 1937, another German immigrant, Max Waterstradt, bought the business and named it Max’s Cafe, also a neighborhood taproom. By the late 1970s, Max’s had evolved into Max’s Seafood Cafe, known for simply prepared seafood. Time and deferred maintenance caught up with the building, and Max’s went dark in 1998.
In 2001, Tom Monahan — a partner in the nearby Chubby’s restaurant — bought Max’s, restored it, and reopened it with a premium menu whose entrees in its later years were priced in the high $30s. Monahan, who operated Max’s until last week’s sale, did not reply to a message seeking clarity on his restaurant’s gift certificates. Mike Williams and Widell said they would not honor them at Pudge’s.
By the weekend, as the Facebook crowd had moved on to a new tempest (was a new bank planned for Washington Township really necessary?), the partners were applying their final touches to the pub.
Asked how Pudge’s would set itself apart from other local hangouts, Mike Williams replied that an owner — he, his wife, or son Preston — would be on premises from opening till closing daily: “That’s the only way for quality control, and just being friendly — that is an art that is lost these days.”
Pudge’s Pub, 34 N. Burlington St., Gloucester City, N.J. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Hours will be extended on select game days.
Friday Saturday Sunday, Mawn, Kalaya – let us know who you think deserves a prestigious Michelin star
Tomorrow night during a ceremony at the Kimmel Center, Michelin will award its first ever stars to restaurants in Philadelphia. The wait is nearly over but until we finally find out we want to know which ones you think deserve a star.
Now that you know more about Michelin stars, let us know which of these restaurants you think deserves one — swipe right for Yes or left for No. Yes, just like Tinder. Finding it hard to decide? We'll also show you how other Inquirer readers have voted so far.
Mawn
Cuisine
Cambodian
Neighborhood
South Philadelphia
Crowd says
Friday Saturday Sunday
Cuisine
Modern American
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says
Her Place
Cuisine
Modern American
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says
Provenance
Cuisine
French, Korean
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says
Honeysuckle
Cuisine
American, Brunch
Neighborhood
Spring Garden
Crowd says
Zahav
Cuisine
Israeli
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says
Kalaya
Cuisine
Thai
Neighborhood
Fishtown/Kensington
Crowd says
Pietramala
Cuisine
Vegan
Neighborhood
Northern Liberties
Crowd says
Royal Sushi & Izakaya
Cuisine
Japanese
Neighborhood
South Philadelphia
Crowd says
My Loup
Cuisine
French, Seafood, Modern American
Neighborhood
Rittenhouse
Crowd says
Parc
Cuisine
French
Neighborhood
Rittenhouse
Crowd says
Vernick
Cuisine
Seafood, Modern American
Neighborhood
Rittenhouse
Crowd says
Vetri Cucina
Cuisine
Italian
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says
Andiario
Cuisine
Italian, American
Neighborhood
West Chester
Crowd says
All rated!
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Staff Contributors
Design, Development, Reporting, and Data: Aileen Clarke
Editing: Sam Morris
Photography: Jose F. Moreno, Monica Herndon, Yong Kim, Tom Gralish, Charles Fox, Tyger Williams, and Tim Tai
Illustration: Steve Madden and Sam Morris
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It’s our goal to create a snapshot of what the dining scene looks like year after year. To do that, we sent 17 scouts out across the city to try hundreds of restaurants, and came up with a list that we think represents Philly in 2025.
Of course, that means a lot of great places didn’t make the list, and there is no shortage of dissent about our final picks.
You’ve heard what we think. Now we want to hear from you. On Friday, November 21, our food team will be in the comment section below, answering all of your questions about how we made the 76, what we think about the final list, and what we hope to change for next year. Ask away, and we’ll give our honest opinion.
It’s been a year of extraordinary new burgers in Philadelphia, from the McDonald’s Money, the over-the-top double stack of luxury flourishes at Honeysuckle inspired by an Eddie Murphy stand-up routine, to the dessert cheeseburger with raw onions and blue cheese served alongside a chocolate sundae at Roxanne, to Ian Graye’s next-level vegan bean and smoked mushroom burger at Pietramala. Now seafood lovers can rejoice because the Lil’ Kahuna has made the scene at Tesiny, Lauren Biederman’s stylish new oyster bar in the Dickinson Narrows neighborhood of South Philly.
Perhaps you’ve had a tuna burger before. This is not one of those typically fishy hockey pucks. That’s because executive chef Michael Valent blends the richness of high-quality bluefin tuna belly with hand-minced Iberico pork shoulder, which lends both a fatty savor to the mix, as well as a meaty crumble that lets the patty take on the caramelized sear of a backyard burger over the restaurant’s charcoal grill. Set in a pillowy soft sweet potato bun from Mighty Bread with shredded lettuce, melted American cheese, and a special mayo blended with apricots and serrano chilies, the burger is so meaty, you’d be hard-pressed to guess that it wasn’t beef.
It is absolutely that savory, but also a touch lighter on the palate, with an almost fruity character from the tuna that swims up to make itself known, in the best way possible, on the finish of each bite. It’s a smart use of trim from two standard items on Tesiny’s menu — a bluefin crudo and a fantastic pork chop — which explains why it’s a nightly special limited to 8 to 12 burgers a night. I predict it’s going to become so popular, though, that Lil’ Kahuna fans may rally for it to become a fixture on its own. Tesiny, 719 Dickinson St., 267-467-4343, tesiny.com
— Craig LaBan
The chicken cutlet at Wine Dive, 1534 Sansom St.
Chicken cutlet at Wine Dive
If you call your bar a “dive bar,” is it really a dive bar? Especially if the beers, wines, and cocktails are playfully irreverent and unpretentiously sophisticated? Probably not. But the new Wine Dive, in a former nail salon off 16th and Sansom in Rittenhouse, is a fun, boisterous hangout nonetheless, with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a killer menu that’s many, many levels above the dirty-water hot dog/reheated pizza level at a typical dive.
Chef Scotty Jesberger goes for hearty comfort with his shrimp Lejon, roast beef sandwich, loaded baked potato, but my go-to is an almost impossibly crispy chicken cutlet for the low, low price of $10, served with what they call antipást. It’s a punchy, old-country mix of whole cherry peppers in hot oil, sliced banana peppers, capers, fresh sliced garlic and granulated garlic, slivers of roasted red peppers, whole green olives, specks of cauliflower and artichoke heart, all bound together with olive oil and cherry pepper brine and artichoke water. Everything is designed for late-night eating; the kitchen stays open until 1 a.m.
Chef Shadee Simmons’ Olive Oil cake is drizzled with delectably sweet raspberry and blueberry compote with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Olive oil cake from chef Shadee Simmons
While fashioning a ceramic vessel at Duafe Natural Hair Salon’s “A Lump of Clay,” event on a recent Friday evening, I snacked on mini crab cakes, oxtail sliders, and a bit of beet salad courtesy of Chef Shadee Simmons, the man behind Khyber Pass Pub’s New Orleans-style menu. (You can try his food on the regular at the Old City bar.)
As I prayed the walls of what I hoped would be a sage burner didn’t collapse, dessert was served. All of a sudden, my poor clay-making skills stopped mattering. The culinary highlight of the evening was upon me: The olive oil cake reminded me of fluffy, not-too-sweet cornbread. The sweet blueberry-raspberry compote drizzle was the perfect consistency. And the cake was covered with a flurry’s worth of powdered sugar — a taste of fall and winter in one bite. Chef Shadee Simmons, Foodheadz Philly, foodheadz20@gmail.com, instagram.com/chefshadee. Dessert available on request.
Dining rooms in Philly are abuzz with talk of Michelin’s impending arrival in Philadelphia —whose stars (or lack thereof) are set to be announced on Tuesday.
On a recent night, while celebrating my wedding anniversary at the elegant Friday Saturday Sunday, diners at tables on either side of mine discussed the potential of the restaurant winning a star. That same week, at the hushed, luxe soapstone counter at Provenance, where spotlights shine precisely upon the parade of twenty-some courses (which costs $300 inclusive of tax and service charge, but not beverages) placed in front of diners, Michelin was brought up by every single guest to chef Nich Bazik as he made his rounds. “I’ve been to a lot of Michelin-starred places and they’ve been mediocre. But I think you’re going to get one,” I overheard one diner telling Bazik.
Anticipation is high. But what would getting Michelin recognition actually mean to Philadelphia restaurants? In at least one case, it might translate to survival. For the rest of the city, the guide’s arrival is both foreboding and exciting.
The experience that Bazik concocts at Provenance is Michelin bait: As I was being seated, my purse is given its own stool. Each time I get up to go to the restroom, my napkin has been replaced with a fresh, clean, starched, and folded one on a wooden tray. I count as many staff members as diners seated around the counter. My grenache noir is served in an impossibly delicate German Spiegelau glass. A single glass can cost $40, far more than the $15 wine it contains. These are the touches Michelin inspectors — or at least, diners who dine frequently at Michelin-starred restaurants — pay attention to.
“A lot of folks dining here liken us to Michelin-starred restaurants in New York and around the world,” said Bazik in a phone conversation after my meal.
“There’s a lot of weight for me in that outcome. We’re confident in the products that we bring in and our execution, but my anxiety lies with people’s expectations,” he said.
For Bazik, the expectation that his restaurant will attain a star is high, and more than any of the other Philly restaurants speculated about in recent Michelin banter, Provenance needs a star to keep operating. Unlike its fellow contenders — Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Friday Saturday Sunday, Kalaya, and Vetri Cucina, to name some likely star recipients — the year-old restaurant hasn’t received international attention nor garnered any major awards.
Royal, Kalaya, and Friday Saturday Sunday made appearances on the inaugural North America 50 Best list, an institution often considered a bellwether of future Michelin recognition, much the way Hollywood insiders consider the Screen Actors Guild Awards a tip as to who might ultimately take home an Oscar. Provenance’s recent appearance on Bon Appétit’s 20 best restaurants of 2025 list was exciting for Bazik, but didn’t contribute to any discernible increase in reservations.
Provenance chef-owner Nicholas Bazik greets guest in the Headhouse Square restaurant on Oct. 17, 2024.
On Nov. 18, Michelin will release its 2025 Northeast Cities edition, covering dining in Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., and for the first time, Boston and Philadelphia. Over the last two years, the Michelin Guide has expanded rapidly in the United States, growing to include a new region of the South (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) and the states of Texas and Colorado. Atlanta’s guide was introduced in 2023, but has since been rolled into the South’s edition. The Florida guide, introduced in 2022, has expanded to include a greater Miami area, Orlando, and Tampa. Internationally, the guide arrived in Qatar, New Zealand, and the Philippines in the last year.
Anonymous inspectors were dispatched to Philly’s restaurants many months ago. About a month ago, those selected for either stars, a Bib Gourmand designation (for restaurants that have a “simpler style of cooking” and “leave you with a sense of satisfaction, at having eaten so well as such a reasonable price”), or to be listed in the guide without either recognitionreceived a short survey from Michelin via email to confirm details like how they take reservations and their address.
Invites to the ceremony went out last week to chefs and restaurateurs, some who will appear in this new guide and some who won’t. Intentionally or not, Michelin seems to toy with the hopes and expectations of chefs, inviting a number of attendees who will walk away empty-handed or, in some cases, having lost a star.
The communication between Michelin and restaurants is famously terse and, for some included the guide’s newer editions, highly unexpected. When the Philippines’ first-ever Michelin stars were announced on Oct. 30, one restaurateur did not appear to receive his plaque because he had believed the emails to be spam.
The Michelin Guide’s arrival has also been rejected, as is case in Australia, where Michelin reportedly asked for $17.33 million over five years from Tourism Australia. The bid was rejected and Australia’s restaurants were passed over while the guide landed in New Zealand, to varying fanfare.
The interior of Friday Saturday Sunday.
Michelin math
As deserving as the Philly food scene is on the international stage, the reality is that Michelin attention is coming because the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau invested inexpanding the guide’s coverage here.If Provenance were located in Pittsburgh, Bazik would have to wait until the city’s tourism board was willing to pay for its restaurants to be considered by inspectors.
Restaurants may stand to benefit financially from Michelin recognition. In the documentary Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars, produced by Gordon Ramsay and heavily promoted by Michelin itself, host Jesse Burgess says, “They say with one Michelin star you get 20% more business. With two Michelin stars, you’re going to see about 40% more, three Michelin stars, double — 100% more business.” These numbers were corroborated by Eater in 2010.
But some restaurants have also reported having a Michelin star can cost them money. An initial bump can be followed by a slump, according to a study in the Strategic Management Journal: “Consequences of Michelin stars were not all necessarily favorable. Restaurateurs also emphasized how relationships with employees, landlords, and suppliers became more strained as these exchange partners sought to bargain for more value.”
The downsides
Michelin-starred restaurants may struggle to maintain diners’ expectations, which have been compounded by shows like The Bear and examples set forth by empire-building restaurateurs like Will Guidara, also the author of Unreasonable Hospitality.
“Traditional gestures of hospitality will not cut it. Sending an extra appetizer to a table seems quaint, and just forget about the ubiquitous candle in the dessert,” wrote restaurateur John Winterman, the owner of one-starred Francie in Brooklyn, in a recent article in Food & Wine. Michelin-caliber restaurants, in addition to everything else they’re trying to keep up with, are now dealing with diners used to extraordinary gestures.
Guests fill the dining room at Kalaya in Fishtown as restaurant staff weave through service on Aug. 22, 2024.
“Someone complained once because we didn’t have purse stools. And why not? We have a Michelin star, so we should have purse stools,” Winterman told me in a phone conversation.
Michelin expectations can also have a downside for diners: Who wants to travel thousands of miles to eat the same food?
More and more has been written about the creeping sameness that haunts Michelin-caliber restaurants around the globe. As they strive for stars, restaurants start to resemble one another in both hospitality and food. In his 2024 review of New York City’s one-starred Noksu, the New York Times’ former critic Pete Wells pondered, “There are restaurants like this in almost every major city now, imitation pearls on a string that circles the world. Once the door closes, you could be anywhere, or nowhere. How did chefs who prize both originality and a sense of place decide that the most appropriate backdrop for their food would be copycat rooms done in a blank-faced global style?”
Even as Philly gears up for more international visitors and attention for the World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary, it’s likely that a (much-desired) influx of food tourists will all try to go to the same places thanks to Michelin. Many already are.
“We’ve booked Friday Saturday Sunday and Kalaya, where else should we go?” a Canadian friend texted me last week. He was looking for the usual suspects, the must-eats, notches on his belt. A rising tide may not lift all ships, but rather concentrate the money and attention on a select few.
Morale boost
“Awards are always superspecial. Obviously we love getting recognized,” said Marc Vetri in a phone interview. “But in the end, we are not here to win awards. We’re here to do what we love. Awards are never the end goal.”
Open for over a quarter of a century, Vetri doesn’t need a Michelin star the way Provenance does. Vetri Cucina already attracts well-heeled international visitors, happy to open their wallets for the extraordinary pastas and meats that the kitchen turns out. “If you’re around that long, folks are going to hear about you. Everyone knows about us. Our dining room every night has a variety of area codes from local to the West Coast, to European numbers, phone numbers from all over the world,” said Vetri.
Getting a Michelin star won’t change how he operates either. “This is my life, maybe a lot of chefs are thinking about this differently — sticking things on their menu specifically for Michelin. But once you stray from who you are, you’ve lost who you are. We’re always evolving. We’re a new restaurant every year. We evolve with my life experiences,” he said. “And we won’t raise our prices, like in a war.”
Marc Vetri makes pasta at Vetri Cucina.
Vetri is excited for Philly to have more recognition on the world culinary stage. “It’ll bring more Europeans and worldly folks to Philly,” he said.
Nich Bazik has wanted his own restaurant since the age of 20 and has never worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant. If Provenance attains a star, his own will be the first that he has cooked in. This is a rarity. Chefs at his level typically train at Michelin-starred restaurants in many cities, gaining experience from global kitchens and hobnobbing with other chefs with Michelin stars in their eyes. Bazik’s cooking is entirely homegrown, nurtured by experiences working at James with Jim Burke and at Russett with Andrew Wood.
“I am from Philadelphia. This is my home,” Bazik said. “My entire paid tenure of being a cook has been in Philadelphia and by design. I didn’t see the benefit of going elsewhere.”
Despite Bazik’s anxiety, “Michelin isn’t going to change how we operate. I work from 9:30 a.m. to midnight every day. I’d be doing that whether Michelin was coming or not.”
More business?
The reservation system OpenTable regularly posts its top 10 most-booked restaurants in cities. In their latest Philadelphia update, on Nov. 5, that list included Borromini, Parc, the Love, Talula’s Garden, the Dandelion, and El Vez, and none of the other restaurants mentioned in this article. (Resy, which Kalaya and Royal Sushi use, does not put out a comparable, data-driven list).
This is a reminder that the restaurants contending for a Michelin star exist in a rarefied space. As much as the guide’s representatives try to downplay their focus on fine dining, the vast majority of Michelin hopefuls do charge a lot of money. On a purely economic basis, they aren’t for everyone.
Conversely, OpenTable’s top 10 is a reflection of where people are really going out to eat in Philadelphia and, of course, the restaurants large enough to accommodate them — six of 10 of those places are owned by Stephen Starr (an altogether different star than what we’re talking about). At the end of the day, actual diners mean more to the bottom line and longevity of a restaurant than stars. But they probably can’t hurt.
You decide 
