🎶 Philly’s listening lounge scene | Morning Newsletter

Good morning. Grab an umbrella on your way out — Saturday’s forecast calls for showers throughout the day.

Today, I’m talking about bars swapping liquor displays for vinyl records.

Plus, there’s news on a convenience store chain officially encroaching into Wawa territory, a secret menu sandwich that’s making a Philly restaurant TikTok-famous, and our report card for this week in Philadelphia news.

— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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What you should know today

• A $11.5 million beautification and anti-graffiti project to clean up Philly is underway ahead of an event-packed summer.
• A longtime Philadelphia resident who was arrested by ICE at a routine immigration appointment was deported to Indonesia, his family said, leaving behind his wife and two children who are American citizens.
• Sheetz is set to open its first Philly-area store next month — across the street from an existing Wawa.
• A New Jersey school resource officer faces charges of misconduct and child endangerment after an altercation with a juvenile in 2024.
• 72-year-old Marie Scott started her new life in Philadelphia this week, months after her life sentence for a murder was commuted.
• A Renoir painting was removed from the Barnes’ walls last year. Now it’s coming back with brighter colors.
• For the first time in the tournament’s history, cities are charging World Cup fans to attend FIFA fan festivals. Philly will not be one of them.
• A Scranton neighborhood group put up a “hometown hero” banner for Joe Biden outside of his childhood home. They expected a bit of blowback, but what was initially political has turned into a veterans’ issue.
• Grad Hospital takeout shop Falafel Time has long had a secret menu, but now that crispy shawarma has gone viral, one of its if-you-know-you-know sandwiches has become a hit.
• Between barrel fires resurfacing on Ninth Street and an “Avoid Philadelphia” road sign going viral, catch up on the good, bad, and weird in the latest stories out of Philly.

Immersive music experiences

This week, food writer Kiki Aranita put the spotlight on vinyl, hi-fi sound, and cocktails fueling a growing wave of listening bars in Philadelphia.

Heralded as the “antidote to the loneliness,” these immersive, sonic experiences are popping off here and across the country. They are places where shelves are stacked with less liquor and more records, your DJ might also be your bartender, and you might discover music for the first time.

Spots like 48 Record Bar in Old City and Solar Myth on South Broad are just two examples of participants of the listening room boom in Philly. They integrate music into drinking experiences beyond a run-of-the-mill playlist humming in the background of a typical bar. These lounges spin curated collections through high-fidelity sound systems, and put people onto everything from small, avant-garde artists to local musicians.

And while Aranita notes that “thoughtful, elevated beverages still reign,” I imagine bars swapping alcohol for vinyl can be an added benefit if you’re sober-curious this Dry January.

Is 2026 the year of the listening bar in Philly? Read on to learn how they operate here, and why Japanese “jazz kissas” cafes play an influential role.

One viewpoint

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier wants to produce more affordable housing. But her policy may be doing the opposite, argues Inquirer columnist Daniel Pearson.

“When it comes to public policy, good intentions are not enough,” Pearson writes.

In this week’s Shackamaxon, Pearson tackles what happens when City Council members try to use a bad practice to serve the public good, and explores the kickoff of the race for Pennsylvania governor.

📍 Find the location

Think you know where this mural is located? Our weekly game puts your knowledge of Philly places to the test. Check your answer.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood

FALSE SALT

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Mary Liz Jones who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Petty’s Island. The 300-acre island in the Delaware River is now owned by Venezuela’s Citgo, but will soon likely belong to a major conservative donor’s firm.

We were there

Hundreds of fans attended the Flyers’ first-ever Phish Night at Stateside Live! on Thursday. Tribute band Rift performed a 90-minute pregame show as well as a postgame concert. Get a recap of the event from sports reporter Ariel Simpson and photographer Yong Kim.

Somewhere on the internet in Philly

Shoutout to Tricia for this adorable art of Snoopy in a Phillie Phanatic suit.

Over on Facebook, Taqueria Amor patrons expressed appreciation for the Main Street restaurant. “We’re really excited for 2026 as we have an exciting announcement over the next few weeks,” chef Tim Spinner wrote on the post. We’ll be on the lookout for developments. 👀

And a Redditor flagged something weird going on with our mobile app: “Why does the Inquirer need 12 GB?” Rest assured, our next app update should fix the space-hogging problem. Senior software engineer Joe Russell’s theory for the bug made me lol: “Because we digitally encoded Gritty and now he lives in your phone.”

👋🏽 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day, and I’ll catch up with you again tomorrow.

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