During an occasionally contentious Saturday meeting on the future of the Cecil B. Moore Library in North Philadelphia, City Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. told residents he wants to build a new library instead.
But, as with Young’s previous suggestion that the city move the library, residents held fast to their stance that the 64-year-old building should be preserved.
“This space is easily accessible to everyone who needs it, and that’s why it should be renovated, not relocated,” said Cierra Freeman of the Brewerytown Sharswood Neighborhood Coalition.
She criticized Young for proposing a plan without any “tangible written documents” — and for presenting a solution that she saidnobody had asked for.
Young said he wants to build a new library less than a half mile away, using city property on 19th Street. He argued that the community — and teens in particular — would be better served by a new facility.
“The systems in this library are old,” Young told the crowd of about 40 people gathered at the library on Cecil B. Moore Avenue near 24th Street. “They’re old. As we continue to use this space, things are just going to continue to fall apart.”
It was the second time this year Young proposed a plan for the library. In March, he suggested that the city demolish the building and replace it with a new library that has affordable housing units above it — an idea that also drew intense pushback from community members.
This time, Young suggested the current building be kept as a public space.
Like the street it is on, the Cecil B. Moore Library is named for the civil rights figure — a World War II veteran, lawyer, and politician who, while serving as the Philadelphia NAACP president, played a central role in the push to desegregate Girard College.
The building has issues with its aging HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems, all of which need to be upgraded, according to the Save the Cecil B. Moore Library Greater Coalition. The library was closed from January through March this year due to problems with the heating system.
Other renovation plans include building a new teen space, adding windows, an elevator to the basement, and ADA-accessible bathrooms, and other initiatives, the group said.
Due to the city’s long tradition of councilmanic prerogative, Council members have near-total control over whether projects in their districts move forward. Young has not yet filed a “notice to proceed,” a necessary step to release funding and begin renovation, according to the coalition.
Young said the needs of young people have changed significantly since the 1960s. He described a space with things like podcasting studios and e-gaming technology that he said would draw in young people.
Councilmember Jeffery Young speaks to community members at the Cecil B. Moore Library Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
“If you look at this community, there is nothing to attract teenagers,” Young said. “Our kids deserve better. Our kids deserve new things.”
But many of those present, including Cecil B. Moore library worker and AFSCME union member Kate Goodman, said that moving the library east toward Temple University would remove a prime resource from a neighborhood that needs spaces for people to congregate.
“It’s a half-mile, but it’s a whole world of difference,” said Jordan Holbert of the proposed move.
Event moderator Joel Northam said that if the funds are not released soon, costs of labor and supplies will keep going up, shrinking the amount of work that can be done.
“We literally can’t afford to have this put off,” Northam said.
He suggested that the next step would be to support a campaign to unseat Young in 2027.
Listed at $750,000 by the Raab Collection, the tape captures more than two hours of shocked radio conversations between Kennedy aides and military officials during the fateful flight home on Nov. 22, 1963.
An original recording of Air Force One radio traffic has been listed for sale in Philadelphia for $750,000.
Discovered at the bottom of a box of JFK memorabilia at a private auction in 2011, the tape represents the earliest and most complete recording of Air Force One radio traffic from the day of the assassination.
In staticky conversations, Kennedy aides, bearing the casket home to Washington, and White House officials awaiting them discuss grim logistics after a presidential killing — arranging the removal of the coffin; transportation for the blood-soaked first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the new president, Lyndon Johnson; and an autopsy for the slain leader.
Hours earlier, Kennedy, 46, had been fatally shot in a Dallas motorcade by Lee Harvey Oswald.
One of a pair of identical tapes, the finding had caused a stir of controversy in JFK assassination research. Snippets from a heavily edited version of the tape had previously been released by President Johnson. No other recordings were thought to exist.
At the time of their discovery, historian Douglas Brinkley described the tapes as a “serious find” and critical listening for all Kennedy researchers.
Raab recently donated the other remaining recording to the National Archives as part of a settlement that allowed the collection to keep one.
The tapes had long belonged to a senior military aide, Gen. Chester Clifton, who rode in the fateful motorcade and was aboard Air Force One. Raab had the tapes digitized from reel-to-reel form.
“This is a powerful moment in American history,” said Nathan Raab, president of Raab Collection, which has offices in Ardmore and Center City. “It is an incredible object, a unique discovery, and a reminder of our journey as a nation.”
To see the sale listing, visit www.raabcollection.com/presidential-autographs/jfk-original-tape-air-force-one
FILE – The limousine carrying mortally wounded President John F. Kennedy races toward the hospital seconds after he was shot, Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. The 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, marked on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, finds his family, and the country, at a moment many would not have imagined in JFK’s lifetime. (AP Photo/Justin Newman, File)
There’s been a bit of a shake-up to the Flyers’ defensive corps.
The top pairing of Travis Sanheim and Cam York is still intact, but the bottom four are looking a little different right now. During Thursday night’s win against the visiting St. Louis Blues, Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale were split up, as were Emil Andrae and Noah Juulsen.
After speaking with assistant Todd Reirden following the first period, and with the Flyers trailing by two, coach Rick Tocchet said, “Let’s make the switch here.”
So Andrae was moved into the top four alongside Drysdale, and Seeler was switched to play with Juulsen. It seemed to work as Andrae and Drysdale were on the ice for both of the Flyers’ goals in regulation before Travis Sanheim won the game in overtime.
Based on who stayed out late for the team’s optional morning skate at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday, before facing the New Jersey Devils, it looked like Juulsen will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season, and he was. Therefore, Egor Zamula slotted in alongside Seeler for his first game since Nov. 1.
It’s an interesting dynamic putting Drysdale and Andrae together. Both are puck-moving defensemen who are known for their offensive upside. “We don’t complicate it that much,” Andrae said on Saturday.
Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale skates with the puck against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 20.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Andrae and Drysdale played 54 minutes, 21 seconds together last season. They had a 54.26% Corsi For and were on the ice for 31 scoring chances for the Flyers compared to 25 by the opposition. But, while they were also on the ice together for four goals by the Flyers, five were scored against with a .762 save percentage.
Drysdale has changed his game, becoming better in the defensive zone. As noted by the stat site, when he is on the ice, Corsi For percentage has risen from 46.22% to 51.97%, expected goals against has drop (49.14% to 12.49%), and save percentage has risen from .876 to .893
He’ll now be skating with Andrae, and when the Swede is on the ice the Flyers have an expected goals against of 5.69 along with a .914 save percentage.
But, in a game dominated by big men with teams across the league hyper-focused on adding size, they are a smaller pairing; Drysdale is listed at 5-foot-11 and Andrae at 5-9.
But as the saying goes: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
“I think Emil, he’s shown ability to go in a corner, and he’s not afraid to squash a player or hit a guy,” Tocchet said Saturday morning. “He’s a small guy, but he’s built pretty good, so I don’t see that being a problem.”
Tocchet likes Andrae’s abrasiveness and his ability to use his brain, body positioning, and quickness to read plays and be smart on the puck in the defensive zone. When the bench boss was playing, it may have been taboo to let a guy get the puck first in the corner, but he’s OK with seeing a defenseman like Andrae let the heavier opponent get the puck and then defend after that.
Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae skates with the puck against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 30.
New to the organization, Tocchet’s seeing what the Flyers front office has noticed for a long time about Andrae: his competitiveness, grit, and determination.
“I’ve never been the biggest guy and I’ve always had to find a way to get around that and to play the style of game that I can with my size,” Andrae said. “I’m strong on the walls, strong on the puck. I think it comes with a lot of competitiveness, too. I like to use that to my advantage. Maybe it’s a little surprising for the guys out there that I play against.”
Forward Nikita Grebenkin stayed on late during the optional skate and was a healthy scratch again. “It’s tough because in our position right now, we’re looking for a fourth line identity, and he’s kind of stuck in the middle there,” Tocchet said. “We’re trying to find out what is Grebby, in a sense. But that’s a process, a 23-year-old. Eventually, we’ve got to make a decision; he’s got to play. Trust me, we’re talking about it all the time, Danny and management about it, the best way to handle him if he’s not going to play much. So we’ll figure that out as it goes.”
The 76ers said Saturday that Joel Embiid is still experiencing soreness in his right knee.
It was determined that he’ll need a little more time. But the team said the doctors feel he’s progressing well. The center, who has no structural damage to his right knee, has been listed as day-to-day.
“I think we’re trying to take the best care we can of him and get him out there,” said coach Nick Nurse. “He wants to play. He’s being very diligent. He’s all the stuff. He’s doing a lot to try to get back on the floor. And I think it will be soon.
“I know this has been a long [process]. I think it will be soon, but just keep doing the right things, keep listening to what the doctors tell us.”
The Sixers entertain the Miami Heat at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Embiid hasn’t played since the Sixers’ 130-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 8.
He missed the last five games due to right knee injury management. Embiid also missed the Sixers’ 111-108 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 9 because he doesn’t play on back-to-back nights to rest his left knee.
The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder has already missed nine of the Sixers’ 15 games because of his knee ailments. He is averaging 19.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 23.3 minutes.
Kelly Oubre Jr. (sprained left knee) and Adem Bona (sprained right ankle) did not participate in Saturday’s shootaround-type practice for Sunday’s contest.
Mama’s Pizzeria, which has served its signature cheesesteak with a three-cheese blend twisted throughout finely chopped sirloin on the Main Line since 1960, is closing its doors next week.
Second-generation owner Paul Castellucci Sr. said the last day will be either Nov. 28 or Nov. 29, depending on how much meat and bread remain.
Castellucci had planned to close up the Bala Cynwyd shop after his son, Paul Jr., earned his accountant’s license. He is slated to graduate from St. Joseph’s University in 2026.
But the timeline was moved up with the elder Castellucci’s recent health issues. The 65-year-old grill man is set to have triple bypass surgery in January, but will start preoperative assessments the first week of December.
Paul Castellucci Sr., who has two stents from previous heart issues, was complaining to his cardiologist about shortness of breath. The doctor asked if he had any shoulder pain.
“Do you know what? I do,” he responded. “I’ve had shoulder pain for 40 years.”
Over the years, the entire Castellucci family was put to work at Mama’s: kids, grandkids, spouses, cousins.
Paul Castellucci Sr. started working the grill in 1974 at age 14. Fast-forward to 2025, and “I’m the only one who stayed,” he said in March.
Paul Castellucci Jr. (right) takes an order from a customer while his dad, Paul Sr., runs the grill at their family restaurant, Mama’s Pizzeria.
Since word of the closing began to spread on social media, business has picked up.
Store hours are traditionally 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. But on Saturday morning, orders started rolling in around 10:30 a.m. By 12:30 p.m., the phone was ringing incessantly, orders were piling up, and there was an hour wait for walk-ins.
The restaurant was even concerned about running out of rolls.
“I’m feeling it,” Castellucci said.
Customers who ordered by phone or in person on Saturday took turns wishing him good luck with his surgery and good health in the new year.
On Friday morning, Kayla wore glittery makeup and a big smile as she stood inside the Convention Center. “I used to live in Philadelphia and I came to be with my siblings, and we all love board games, so it’s just a great time,” she said.
The Crestview, Fla., resident is a former Philadelphian who came back to the city to attend Pax Unplugged, the gaming convention she loves returning to.
On Friday, the massive main hall at the Convention Center was crammed to the brim with booths selling game accessories, memorabilia, and whimsical gifts like plushies and stickers.
On one side, gamers were engrossed in games of Magic or Dungeons & Dragons. Influencers sat in special areas to meet fans and sign autographs amid a constant hum of chatter and excited energy.
Guests attend Pax Unplugged, held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. The gaming convention, which is held in Philadelphia every year, has become a major event for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Magic: The Gathering, and other tabletop role-playing games.
While other conventions in the Pax family include video games, Philly’s Unplugged focuses on tabletop games. Anyone looking for the Valhalla of tabletop role-playing games, accessories, merch, and communities was in the right place.
Since November 2017, Pax Unplugged has become a major event for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Magic: The Gathering, and other tabletop role-playing games, and it’s held only in Philadelphia. Pax, “a celebration of gaming and gaming culture,” holds conventions in other cities, like Boston (for Pax East) and Seattle (for Pax West), but the Unplugged convention is exclusive to Philadelphia, drawing fans, vendors, and special guests from all over the country.
The 2025 edition of Pax Unplugged plays host to major Dungeons & Dragons stars and personalities — like Dropout TV standouts Ify Nwadiwe and Aabria Iyengar as well as Critical Role star Matthew Mercer, the last of whom also lent his voice to the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Guests attend Pax Unplugged, held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
Heidi Archer, who owns and operates MeloriaMaille — which sells handmade jewelry, trinkets, and stickers — travels from Derry, N.H., every year to run a vendor booth at Pax Unplugged. “I love gamers and I’m a nerd myself, and the fact that I can bring my handmade goods to the nerd populace … it makes it worth it,” said Archer, who has worked at Pax three times. “And I bring them stuff that represents queer pride in fandoms that people might not otherwise have access to.”
At Archer’s stall, there were stickers and other items that represented the LGBTQ+ and Dungeons & Dragons communities. A sticker on sale proclaimed “Naturally Genderfluid” with a 20-sided die as a reference to rolling a “natural 20.”
Guests attend Pax Unplugged, held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
This inclusivity is a big part of what brings fans and merch-makers back to Philadelphia every year.
Chris Vicari had traveled from New York City to attend his fourth Pax Unplugged. “[It] is a great representation of how inclusive the community is.” said Vicari, the author of Behind the Screen: A Dungeon Master’s Guide to Crafting Campaigns, who also runs a Substack about crafting Dungeons & Dragons games.
“This is the warmest tabletop show. It’s not the biggest, but it’s the warmest,” said Patrick Rami, the owner of Lethal Shadows, which makes “miniatures” — small figurines used for gameplay during Dungeons & Dragons. This was the fifth time he had traveled from Seattle to attend the convention.
“This is one of everybody’s favorite shows as a vendor,” said Quentin Weir, a managing partner of Elderwood Academy, which makes Dungeons & Dragons dice sets and other items.
“It’s a consumer show, so you’re talking directly to the community. It can be hard to make this work in other markets, but Philly has been great,” said Weir, a Ypsilanti, Mich., resident, who once had to deal with a dead car battery at a previous Pax Unplugged visit. Without hesitating, he said, Convention Center staffers gave the car a jump.
Guests at Pax Unplugged held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. The gaming convention that is held in Philadelphia every year, has become a major event for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Magic: The Gathering, and other tabletop role-playing games.
Weir and his team have been to Pax Unplugged seven times.
Across three days, Pax Unplugged offers panels, vendors selling all kinds of TTRPG-related goodies, and even massive table setups where people can hang out and play marathon rounds of whichever games they want.
There’s also quite a bit of cosplay action, as many attendees show up in elaborate costumes.
One fan, Emily, was dressed as her Dungeons & Dragons character Mara, carrying a staff and adorned in a mushroom-themed outfit complete with a cap. (For those in the know, Emily informed us that Mara is a “nature slash death cleric.”)
“I feel like there’s not much else locally that’s available for our community,” said Emily, who lives in Lancaster and has attended six Pax Unplugged conventions.
From stalls full of intricately carved miniature figurines to brand new independent tabletop role-playing games on display, Pax Unplugged is a feast for any TTRPG fan. In an increasingly divided world, it’s thrilling — whether you play board games or not — to spend time in a space where people feel free, happy, and literally playful.
Pax Unplugged runs through Sunday at the Convention Center, 1101 Arch St. unplugged.paxsite.com
After finishing last in Big 5 play the previous two seasons, Penn men’s basketball is set to compete for a Big 5 Classic Championship inside Xfinity Mobile Arena on Dec. 6, following the Quakers’ 84-68 victory over Drexel on Friday.
Penn (3-2) was led by Ethan Roberts (30 points and 8 rebounds) and TJ Power (18 points). While Drexel (2-4) countered with its bench mob, outscoring the Quakers 40 to 10 at the substitutions table — led by Josh Reed’s 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting, a career high.
“It’s just exciting,” Roberts said. “We are just excited about the team in general, but even more so, having Coach Fran McCaffery here.”
Next, Penn will host Merrimack on Nov. 28 (4:30 p.m./ESPN) and Drexel faces Old Dominion on Sunday at home (2 p.m.).
Roberts set the tone, notching his second straight 30-point performance. He had a 31-point outburst in Penn’s victory over St Joe’s on Monday.
Roberts scored 11 of Penn’s first 19 points and finished the half with 19, with an efficient 8 of 12 shooting.
Penn forward Ethan Roberts dribbles the basketball against Drexel on Friday.
“It’s just a natural fit in coach McCaffery’s system,” Roberts said in reference to his hot start this year. “I work really hard, so there is an expectation that I get a little bit better each season.”
Bought in
Penn dominated the second half. The Quakers made 13 of 25 attempts (52%) and contained the Dragons to 30 points, as they made 10 of 26 shots from the field.
Drexel guard Kevon Vanderhorst shoots the ball against Penn forward TJ Power on Friday.
“These guys want to be coached,” McCaffery said. “They’re listening and they’re making appropriate changes, both individually and collectively.”
The Dragons’ starters scored only 28 of the team’s 68 points, with Eli Beard, Kevon Vanderhorst, and Shane Blakeney scoring 24 combined.
Drexel coach Zach Spiker believes his team wasn’t aggressive enough in response to the Quakers’ run-and-gun offense, commenting on the free-throw disparity. The Quakers made 22 of 28 attempts at the free-throw line, while Drexel went 7-for-17.
“We’ve got to do a better job of defending without fouling and then find a way to put that pressure on the other end,” Spiker said.
The scene Friday at Drexel was one that wasn’t supposed to happen, at least for some people.
When the Big 5’s organizers rearranged the pods for this season, they knew they were taking a risk. Splitting St. Joseph’s and Villanova took away a guaranteed contest of the city’s most famous rivalry for the first time since the 1997-98 season, but opened the door for an even bigger matchup in the title game.
At the time the decision was made — and that time was before last season’s Big 5 Classic, when the word first got out — there were enough reasons to believe the title game clash would happen.
Sure, Villanova was down, but not far enough down to not be favored against Temple and La Salle. Steve Donahue wasn’t gone from Penn yet, Billy Lange was far from gone from St. Joe’s, TJ Power was still at Virginia, and Xzayvier Brown was still on Hawk Hill.
Shuffling the pods really felt like two things at the time. A St. Joe’s-Penn-Drexel pod made the Hawks clear favorites on paper, while a Villanova-Temple-La Salle pod guaranteed the schools with the two biggest fan bases would face off. As long as the Hawks made the final, a matchup with Villanova or Temple would be intriguing — and good for the box office, too.
By the time the season tipped off, the scene looked totally different. And when the Hawks walked out of the Palestra on Monday on the losing end, the dream final was halfway to going up in smoke.
St. Joe’s needed a Drexel win, which would have left all three teams at 1-1. The tiebreaker is the NCAA’s NET rating, the first edition of which lands on Dec. 1 — the day Villanova hosts Temple in the last pod game of the season — and the Hawks would presumably have taken it. At Friday’s tipoff, they were No. 151 in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings to Drexel’s 249 and Penn’s 265.
Now the die is officially cast. Led by Power and Ethan Roberts, Penn never trailed against Drexel and ended up rolling to an 84-68 win at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Roberts scored 30 points for his third 20-plus game of the year, and his second straight with 30; and Power continued to show his talents with 18.
Penn’s TJ Power shoots over Drexel’s Villiam Garcia Adsten during the first half.
The crowd on Market Street was lively and bipartisan, announced as 1,984 — a few hundred short of a full house, and not far from the lowly 2,384 crowd at St. Joe’s-Penn on Monday. Drexel’s student section turned out well, and at one point unfurled an old-fashioned rollout mocking Penn’s students for not showing up at the Palestra.
They had a point, and would have in many past years, too. But for this night, the atmosphere felt real.
“I think coming in as a transfer, you don’t completely understand the Big 5 hype until you play in those games,” said Power, whose former Duke teammate Jared McCain was in the stands with the Sixers off. “These past two games have been some of the most intense games I’ve played in, and for us to get to that championship [final] in coach’s first year, it’s a real feeling, I think. I’m looking forward to playing in that championship game.”
The action was not just intense, but good quality for two teams still getting to know themselves. Penn shot 50% from the floor and Drexel shot 42.2%. That doesn’t always happen in the City Series, a fact some long-timers might not want to admit while reminiscing about the old days.
(This writer, for example, has been scarred for 21 years by the 2004 Temple-Villanova game at the Palestra: a 53-52 Owls win where the teams missed a combined 80 of 120 shots.)
“Jared’s my best friend since my freshman year at Duke, and to have him in the city has been really cool,” Penn’s TJ Power (right) said of the Sixers’ Jared McCain (left).
The big picture
Does missing out on a St. Joe’s-Villanova final mean the risk wasn’t worth taking? The ticket sales for the Big 5 Classic on Dec. 6 will offer one verdict, and fans can decide if they want to offer another.
If there isn’t going to be a full round-robin, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with the principle of changing up the pods from time to time. This season was the first time that happened, and it’s expected that the new groups will run for two years as the first set did.
Was there a way to keep St. Joe’s and Villanova together in the first change? There weren’t many moves to make, since St. Joe’s and La Salle have to stay separate being in the same conference.
A St. Joe’s-Temple-Villanova pod obviously would not make sense. So the only other option besides the move they settled on — swapping Villanova and Drexel — would have put Villanova, St. Joe’s, and Drexel together. That would have sent the Wildcats to the city’s smallest gym in one of the two years, which felt unlikely this early in the pod system.
Drexel’s Ralph Akuta (right) dove for a loose ball in front of the Dragons’ student section as they held up a banner mocking Penn students for not showing up to their team’s games.
So it was understandable that the people in charge tried. A little uncertainty is no bad thing anyway, as it livens up the early-season slate. And though the Big 5 still feels stratified, the pod format also heightens the stakes of each game. One loss can tip the whole thing, as just happened to the Hawks.
It could happen again if Temple upsets Villanova on the Main Line. That would give us a ‘Nova-St. Joe’s game after all, just in the third-place game.
What the final will look like is a different question, but that’s not Penn’s problem for now. Coach Fran McCaffery, Power, and the rest can celebrate just getting there — and laying down a strong marker to start McCaffery’s tenure at his alma mater.
“When you come into a season, there are certain things that you hope to be able to accomplish collectively, and that clearly is one,” he said. “I think everybody knows the respect I have for the Big 5 and its history, and also for the level of talent and coaching in all the teams. We just beat two really good teams, two really well-coached teams, and then we’ll get to play another one.”
This time, it will be on the city’s biggest stage.
What Big 5 pods work? Reality limits the answer.
St. Joe's and La Salle can't be in the same pod since they're in the same conference.
It doesn't make sense to have Villanova, St. Joe's and Temple all on the same side.
Stephanie Maslanik was sitting on her couch Tuesday night when her phone dinged with a text message from a friend. But she was doing something with the kids and didn’t look at it right away.
“Then I opened it up and I was like, ‘Whaaaat?’ It took me a minute to put two and two together and I gave it to my husband,” she said. “I told him, ‘Does it say what I think it says?’”
Steve and Margie Kotridis (right) with their daughters, Stephanie Maslanik (left) and Christina Kotridis (middle), and grandchildren Charlotte, 1, and a very bashful Steven, 4, outside Dalessandro’s.
It was exactly what she thought it said: It was a video clip of that evening’s Michelin Guide Northeast Cities ceremony, where Dalessandro’s — the family’s cheesesteak shop in Roxborough — had been among the recipients of an award.
Their old-school corner shop was officially Bib Gourmand royalty — Michelin’s category for great food at a great value. Dalessandro’s was one of three cheesesteak shops that impressed arguably the world’s fussiest food critics.
Maslanik blew up the family group chat: her parents, Steve and Margie Kotridis, and her younger sister, Christina.
“I’ve been in the food business for 50 years, and this is a dream,” said Steve Kotridis, 63, who with his wife, 67, bought Dalessandro’s from the founding family in 2008. William Dalessandro opened in 1961 at Henry Avenue and Wendover Street, a year after its founding on nearby Ridge Avenue.
Michelin is living up to its reputation of international mystery. As of Saturday, the Kotridises said they had not heard from Michelin (though Dalessandro’s is listed on its website, accompanied by an unrelated photo). It is also not clear why the Kotridises apparently never received an invitation to the gala. The owners of the other Bib Gourmand cheesesteak shops, Nish Patel of Del Rossi’s and Danny DiGiampietro of Angelo’s, were seated in Marian Anderson Hall that night.
Steve Kotridis was doing paperwork and knocking around the house that night — Margie was in Florida for a niece’s shower — and he didn’t read his daughter’s text until the next day.
He had never realized that a cheesesteak place could even be eligible for a Michelin award, “but certainly if one would be, this would be the place,” he said. “It’s validation.”
Steve and Margie Kotridis at their Dalessandro’s Steaks in Philadelphia on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
The Dalessandro’s scene
On Friday afternoon, the line at the ordering window was just as long as on any other chilly Friday afternoon in late November. Inside, the spatulas slapped and the rib eye sizzled on the flattop. The crew cheered in unison at each tip left by a customer.
“I’ve been getting a lot of people telling us it’s their first time coming, but it’s mostly our really good customers who are saying, ‘Everybody knows now,’” Margie Kotridis said.
Steve and Margie Kotridis at their food cart on 17th Street in the early 1990s.
Steve and Margie come from food families. Her late father, George Tsihlas, owned Towne Pizza at 19th and Pine Streets from 1967 to 1994. Steve’s mother, Antigoni, now 92, still oversees a series of food carts in Center City — including the cart outside the United Engineers Building at 30 S. 17th St. that Steve ran for 30 years.
Soon after they were married in 1982, they bought a building in Lafayette Hill and opened a diner, Stefano’s Restaurant & Pizza. After two years, “we had to get rid of it,” Margie said. “We were throwing plates at each other.” They went back to vending but kept the building, now home to the Persian Grille.
Meanwhile, Steve had been a Dalessandro’s customer. “I sat down at that counter and I’d put two cheesesteaks down like it was nothing,” he said. “I’ve lost weight since then.” (His go-to is a cheesesteak with American cheese, fried onions, salt, black pepper, and long hots.)
In 2008, five years after William Dalessandro’s death, the Kotridises bought the shop and kept it much as it was.
They shut down for 10 weeks at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The setup, where takeout customers were smushed against people eating at the counter, could not continue in the new social-distancing world.
The Kotridises installed two windows — one for ordering, one for pickup — and locked the front door. (Regulars can ask to come inside to eat, especially when the patio is full or the weather is bad.) A friend set them up with an ordering system that displays wait times and names on a monitor outside and provides text alerts. There’s no yelling. An electronic voice calls out customers’ names and directs them to the correct window. It’s still cash-only.
This sketch of Dalessandro’s Steaks by John Donohue was part of a recent show called “The Art of Philly Dining” at Gleaner’s Cafe and Gallery.
The typical wait is 10 to 15 minutes during the week, but an hour Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as the line wends along the sidewalk and traffic snarls on Henry Avenue.
About the Dalessandro’s steak
Dalessandro’s serves an old-school sandwich: The rib eye is chopped fine — almost minced. The cheese is layered atop the beef, not mixed. The Amoroso’s roll is softer than the crispy-crusted, house-baked breads from such newer-generation shops as Del Rossi’s and Angelo’s. Dalessandro’s chops its fried onions in a huge, toothsome dice.
A cheesesteak from Dalessandro’s in Philadelphia, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
Dalessandro’s flatly resists the recent industry move to Cooper Sharp American cheese. “We brought it in like a year ago and we tasted it,” Margie said. “All Cooper Sharp is, is sharp American cheese. We already use sharp American cheese. We made [test] cheesesteaks. Nobody could tell the difference.”
Asked what made their steaks stand out to Michelin, Steve said: “I’m not sure. We just do it the right way and we make food the way we would like to eat it. We slice fresh rib eye all day long. Our rolls get here at 11. We fry our own peppers.”
Margie said she routinely drops an order slip, anonymously, into the queue and samples the sandwich.
“Consistency is very important,” she said. “I go out to eat somewhere and I find something I love and it’s so delicious. You go back the next time and it’s like a whole different sandwich or a different meal than what you ate last time.”
Former Sixers player Ben Simmons and Jimmy Fallon sampling a Dalessandro’s cheesesteak on the “Tonight” show.
“One of the four of us is always here,” Margie said.
This is why Steve said he has resisted offers to open additional locations. “At this age, I’m not interested. The problem today is you can’t be everywhere. To run a good place, you have to be on top of it, so you could wind up killing the name.”
“I think the people that pay attention to Michelin and … the foodies — it’s going to make a big difference,” Steve said. “They’re all going to come and try it, and they’ll all have their own opinions of what they like and what they don’t like, and hopefully everybody will love it and come back again.”
Margie said: “But then, everybody has a favorite, right? Some people like vanilla, some people like chocolate, and some people like strawberry ice cream. You can’t please everybody.”
In one kind of ideal world, Cavan Sullivan wouldn’t be with the Union right now.
He’d be with the U.S. under-17 national team, which took one of its strongest squads in program history to this month’s World Cup in Qatar.
The Americans won their group with a perfect record for the first time since 1991, with Sullivan in a starring role. He had two goals, both game- winners, and an assist in those three games.
However, their luck ran out after that. Morocco edged them in the round of 32 last Friday, scoring a late equalizer for a 1-1 draw and then winning a penalty kick shootout. Sullivan assisted on the U.S. goal and scored his penalty attempt, but he could do no more.
“It’s going to be an electric night,” Sullivan told The Inquirer. “It’s probably going to be a little chilly, but our fans don’t care and us players don’t care. We’re ready to battle, show up for the city, and on a personal level, I just want to be ready to come into the game and make a difference. Yeah, I’m excited.”
Union manager Bradley Carnell said it was “a real shame” that the U.S. went out of the tournament early, but that Sullivan “has incorporated well into the group again.”
The lessons that Sullivan learned at the World Cup were the kind that should pay off as the 16-year-old develops, whether with the Union, his future club home at England’s Manchester City, or with future U.S. national teams.
“You learn what a World Cup’s all about,” Sullivan said. “Got to understand the experience, the atmospheres, what it’s like representing your country at the highest level.”
“MVP,” Vassilev said, before offering the real answer: “Don’t play with your food, just finish it up.”
That indeed was the lesson from a game that the U.S. was on the cusp of winning. Had the Americans held on, they’d have advanced in an under-17 World Cup knockout round for just the third time in program history.
“ … Don’t play with your food,” Sullivan continued. “I wish we just did things differently and closed out that game, but that’s reality. And I’m back here now, and my focus is on the game Sunday.”
Coincidentally, the U.S. under-17s, last month’s under-20s (including Frankie Westfield), and last year’s under-23s at the Olympics (with many Union ties) all got knocked out of their championships by Morocco. That created some chatter back home, and Sullivan said his team talked about it too.
“Yeah, people were definitely talking about it, but [it was] not in my mind,” he said.
What was in his mind was getting to play with three close friends who are currently in the Union’s academy: forwards Kellan LeBlanc, Jamir Johnson, and defender Jordan Griffin.
“I’ve played with those guys for over five years now apiece — Jordan since I was, like, 7; Kellan since I was, like, 9; and Jamir since I was, like, 10,” Sullivan said. “So we know each other really well, and we definitely stick together. And I’m really proud of those guys.”
With the U.S. under-17 World Cup in the rearview, Cavan Sullivan says he’s focused on helping the Union anyway he can in the MLS playoffs.
The Union’s total of four players on the 23-man squad was the most of any club, another endorsement of its strength at developing American prospects.
Sullivan also knew well that while he was away, four more Union products were with the senior U.S. team at Subaru Park. And earlier this year, his oldest brother Quinn made his senior-squad debut.
“It’s definitely pretty special to have the Union produce players that are now abroad and getting called into the national team regularly,” he said. “For my own brother to make a few caps as well was pretty special for my family.”
Quinn Sullivan earned his senior U.S. men’s national team debut over the summer.
For all that went into the tournament buildup, does the sting of an early departure now motivate Sullivan to push harder with the Union?
“I wouldn’t say it’s anything to really dwell on too long or use it as — like, it’s not going to fuel me Sunday night,” he said. “But I definitely want to build off the performances I had, and continue to finish out this year on a good note. And what are we two games ‘til a final?”
Yes, that’s the number.
“Big games,” Sullivan said. “But no matter what it’s at home, so that’s a benefit.”
