The Eagles clinched the NFC East title last week, and now head into a heavyweight battle against reigning MVP Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills with an extra day of rest.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Eagles-Bills matchup…
How to watch
The game will kick off on Fox at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday in Highmark Stadium. Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady will be on the call, marking the former New England Patriots star’s fifth time covering the Birds this year, with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi as sideline reporters.
If you prefer to listen to the game, Merrill Reese and Mike Quick will call the game on 94.1 WIP.
Expected weather
The National Weather Service is forecasting steady rain throughout the late afternoon and into the evening in Buffalo. Warm weather will prevent snow, but 10-20 mph winds may impact the throwing and kicking game for both teams.
The Eagles have ruled out Lane Johnson (foot) and Nakobe Dean (hamstring) for Sunday’s game, with Jalen Carter finally being cleared to return to action after missing three games following procedures on both shoulders.
Tackle Cameron Williams is once again listed as questionable after being a full participant in practice throughout the week. The Eagles have one more week to decide to end his season or sign him to the active roster.
For the Bills, Allen is expected to play after suffering a foot injury at halftime last week against the Cleveland Browns. But Allen may be without two of his top targets, as tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid are both listed as questionable with knee injuries.
The Buffalo defense will also be without defensive tackles DaQuan Jones and Jordan Phillips, as well as former All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer and kicker Matt Prater.
The Eagles will be without starting linebacker Nakobe Dean on Sunday in Buffalo.
Eagles vs. Bills odds
As of Saturday morning, the Birds are 1.5-point underdogs at DraftKings and FanDuel, with each sportsbook setting the total at 44.5 points. For more betting props, check out our betting guide here.
Eagles Playoff Picture
The Eagles secured back-to-back NFC East titles for the first time since 2004 with their triumph over the Washington Commanders last week — guaranteeing a home playoff game come January. Now, the team will battle for seeding in the NFC.
The Birds are mathematically eliminated from competing for the No. 1 seed, and could only rise to the No. 2 seed with two straight wins coupled with two losses from the Chicago Bears (11-4). This leaves the Eagles squarely in control of the No. 3 seed with a two-game lead over the Carolina Panthers (8-7).
The San Francisco 49ers (11-4), the Los Angeles Rams (11-4), and the Green Bay Packers (9-4-1) are the Eagles’ likeliest first-round playoff opponents — with the 49ers and Rams still in the hunt for the No. 1 seed.
Storylines to Watch
Can the Eagles gain momentum heading into the playoffs?
The Birds haven’t beaten a team that currently has a winning record since their 10-7 victory over the Packers on Monday Night Football all the way back on November 10th.
On the flip side, the Bills have had a resurgence to end the year, winning four straight, including a barn burner versus the AFC’s No. 2-seedeed New England Patriots.
Saquon Barkley has a great matchup against a porous Buffalo run defense.
Facing two straight backup quarterbacks in the team’s recent wins over the Las Vegas Raiders (2-13) and the Commanders (4-12), the Birds have their work cut out for them against a Bills offense that is third in the league in total yards and scoring. Can Jalen Hurts and the offense keep up with Buffalo, or will the defense have to carry the day once again?
Here’s how our beat writers are predicting Sunday’s game:
Olivia Reiner: “While the Bills boast one of the best pass defenses in the league, their run defense is suspect, conceding 5.4 yards per attempt (the second-worst rate in the NFL). Buffalo is a tough place to play. The Bills are a good team with a great quarterback, who may or may not be limited by a foot injury on Sunday. I’m not fully convinced that the Bills are a great team, especially given their strength of schedule this season. Eagles 28, Bills 27
Jeff Neiburg: “The Eagles have struggled this year against quarterbacks who run, but they kept Marcus Mariota in check before he left the game in the second half. It’s a tough one to predict in what essentially is a coin-flip game. But I think the Eagles find a way to win. Eagles 27, Bills 23
National Media Predictions
Here’s a look at who the national media is picking for Sunday’s game …
ESPN: Only two of 11 panelists are picking the Birds straight up.
CBS Sports: Three of seven experts are leaning towards the Eagles.
Bleacher Report: Only two of seven analysts are choosing the Birds.
Sporting News: Bill Bender has the Eagles losing 27-20.
What we’re saying about the Eagles
Here’s a look at what our columnists are saying, starting with Mike Sileski’s eulogy of the Eagles’ world-famous Tush Push, followed by Marcus Hayes’ review of the team’s recent performance against the Commanders:
Mike Sileski: “But the demise of the Tush Push is real, and it has to be a worry as the Eagles look ahead to the postseason. Hurts has made it clear that he had grown tired of running it anyway, and the league officials had raised their level of scrutiny of it, calling more penalties against the Eagles this season. It has gone from an automatic first down to an unreliable chore. They will have to find a new way to remain aggressive, and to succeed, in fourth-and-short situations.”
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who grew up just outside of Philly and used to coach with the Eagles, knows the challenge the Birds present on both sides of the ball.
Marcus Hayes: “Glass half full: A good win — on the road, against a division opponent, with no offensive turnovers, but with a defensive turnover. Also, a win having lost linebacker Nakobe Dean, who left early with a hamstring injury. Also, a win with right tackle Lane Johnson and defensive tackle Jalen Carter likely to return for next Sunday’s game at Buffalo.
Glass half empty: Another ugly win — against a poor team, a win despite a skittish $5 million kicker who has missed five of his last 11 kicks; a win in which Hurts continued an inconsistent season; a win in which the coaching staff seemed unprepared with a game plan that seemed uninspired.”
What the Bills are saying about the Eagles
Allen, who has faced off against the Eagles only twice in his career, knows not to underestimate the reigning champs.
“Well, they got a lot of studs on that side,” Allen told reporters. “Their front, they get after the quarterback. They’ve got two of the best linebackers in the game. A shutdown corner. They rotate well. Got a safety from Wyoming that’s a stud. They got a lot of dogs on that side of the ball. We got to make sure we have a good week of game planning. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to who executes better on Sunday.”
Cornerback Tre’Davius White: “It’s going to take all 11 guys on deck this week,” White said. “We got to play the whole field. Be able to cover the whole field. These guys do a great job of exploding the ball each and every direction, through the air, on the run. So we’re going to have to be able to try to limit the big-time plays. This is an explosive offense. It’s going to be on us as a defense to communicate well and play well as a group.”
Head coach Sean McDermott: “Very talented roster,” McDermott, who grew up just outside of Philly, told reporters. “They’ve done a great job building it in particular with the key positions. Numbers are numbers. And numbers can indicate certain things. But they can also not tell the full story. We know who Saquon [Barkley] is. I mean, he’s a Hall of Fame player. Their offensive line, very talented as well. … It’s a tough unit to stop. And the run game in particular is real. I know what the numbers say, and I’m not buying the numbers.”
What we are reading (and watching)
🏈 Jordan Mailata’s journey, the Eagles clinch the division, and more ‘Hard Knocks’ highlights
🎁 A ‘New Heights’ gift guide for ‘dudes who can’t shop good:’ Where do scented candles and gift cards stand?
Tune in this Sunday at 2:55 p.m. as The Inquirer’s Olivia Reiner and Jeff McLane break down the Eagles’ matchup with the Buffalo Bills on Gameday Central.
A woman was killed in front of her three children reportedly by their father who then shot himself during a custody transfer early Friday afternoon in Upper Darby.
Shortly after 1 p.m., Upper Darby police posted on social media that a man and woman had been found shot. Just after 6 p.m., Upper Darby police posted an update that the double shooting at Copley Road and Locust Street was “another senseless act of domestic violence.”
Officers responded to a 911 call for a shooting at the location and found the woman seated in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound. Lifesaving measures were attempted but unsuccessful for the woman, police said.
The man was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition on life support, police said.
Police Superintendent Timothy M. Bernhardt told the Delaware County Daily Times that the woman was 34 and the man is 45. Their identities have not yet been made public.
Bernhardt told the Daily Times: “What we know through investigation so far is that the female was there picking up children. There’s a custody order in place. The male had the children for Christmas, he walked up to the car with the children, the children got into the vehicle, there was some type of an argument, exchange of words, he pulled out a handgun and shot her … got out of the vehicle and then shot himself.”
Three children inside the vehicle at the time of gunfire were not injured, Upper Darby police said.
“Yesterday’s incident was a brutal act of domestic violence,“ Bernhardt said in a statement to The Inquirer. ”A mother was killed in front of her children. Those children will live with this trauma for the rest of their lives. There is no excuse for this kind of violence, and the damage it causes is permanent.”
Staff writer Maggie Prosser contributed to this article.
The story behind New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s landslide victory last month can be understood by looking at her strong performance in the city of Camden.
The young, diverse,and working-class city exemplifies trends that played out across the state as Sherrill reversed rightward shifts among the voter groups Democrats desperately need to rebound with nationally.
An Inquirer analysis of municipal-level data shows that Sherrill outperformed both former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 andoutgoing Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021 across New Jersey’s 564 cities, boroughs, and townships, winning 300 — about 53% — of them as compared with Harris’ 252 last year and Murphy’s 210 four years ago.
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Camden’s population is more than 54% Hispanic and nearly 38% Black — Democratic-leaning voter groups that had shifted toward Trump nationally in 2024. Sherrill’s campaign had outreach operations geared toward both Black and Hispanic voters.
Every demographic group in the state swung toward Democrats this year, butSherrill’s most striking improvement over Murphy and Harris seemed to be among Hispanic people, who make up more than half of Camden’s population.
She similarly made gains in areas across the state that have high populations of young voters, lower-income voters, and voters without college degrees — like Camden.
Voters in Camden turned out for Sherrill resoundingly with 92% of the vote, more than 10 percentage points better than Harris performed in the city during her presidential run last year, and Sherrill outperformed the former vice president in every one of the city’s 40 precincts. The larger the Hispanic share of the voting district, the larger it shifted toward Sherrill.
This was reflected statewide, with the state’s 10 largest Hispanic-majority cities moving an average of 18 points to the left while other New Jersey municipalities moved just about four points toward the Democrat.
Latino outreach in Camden fueled Hispanic support
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Outreach to Hispanic voters was driven by a coordinated campaign between Sherrill’s campaign and the state Democratic Party, as well as independent expenditure groups. It seemed to pay off.
In Camden’s most heavily Hispanic precinct, for example, voters gave Sherrill 92% of the vote, 12 points more than they gave to Harris.
Sherrill’s campaign and its backers knew how important it was to win over these voters who had felt taken for granted by the Democratic Party.
UnidosUS Action PAC experienced that unfamiliarity with Sherrill when its canvassers first started knocking on doors in Camden in September, said Rafael Collazo, the executive director of the PAC.
“The question that Latino voters and voters that we spoke to had wasn’t if they were going to vote for Ciattarelli or not, because they were clearly against anyone associated with Trump,” Collazo said. “But they honestly weren’t sure if they were going to vote for Sherrill, because they didn’t feel like they knew her.”
Sherrill’s campaign and backers tapped local leaders like pastors, nonprofit executives, and elected officials, and held events specifically catered to Latinos, said Vereliz Santana, the coordinated campaign’s Latino base vote director, who grew up in Camden.
They spread the message through Spanish-speaking door knockers and Spanish-language ads, which Camden City Councilman Falio Leyba-Martinez, a Democrat, called “beyond impactful.”
“She made it normal for people to understand that you don’t speak English,” he said.
That was not always the case for New Jersey Democrats, according to Patricia Campos-Medina, a vice chair of Sherrill’s campaign and senior adviser for Sherrill’s Latino and progressive outreach. Democratic operatives in the statejustified saving money on bilingual messaging over the last decade since most Latinos speak English, she said.
“But the problem is that Latinos have to hear that you are talking to them … otherwise they feel like you’re just ignoring them,” she added.
And it’s not just speaking Spanish. Showing cultural competency — such as using Puerto Rican slang or phrases like “reproductive healthcare” instead of “abortion rights” — is also critical, she said.
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Latino organizers in Camden said that community members who supported Trump or did not vote in 2024 have become frustrated by the high cost of living, slashed federal funding, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s tactics. Even those for whom immigration was not a top priority or who supported Trump’s plan to deport people who committed crimes have been dismayed, they said.
Camden City Council President Angel Fuentes said videos circulating of immigrants being detained locally have been particularly resonant.
“You can see the tears of these individuals,” he said. “You know, it’s so inhumane. I mean, I really want to use the f-word, but it’s so inhumane how they’re treated. Latinos … we are all family. We should not be treated like this.”
Turnout increased compared to last race for governor
Turnout is typically lower in cities with large numbers of lower-income voters and voters without college degrees, like Camden. But Democratic investments in the city seemed to make a difference this year.
Camden saw a 63% increase in turnout compared with 2021. The jump in the city is more than double the 28% turnout increase statewide compared with the last race for governor.
The city still has relatively low turnout compared with the full state, however, with only 26% of voters casting ballots in Camden compared with 51% statewide.
Camden County as a whole was closer to the statewide turnout rate at 50%, butthe county’s increase of 32% from 2021 was smaller than the city’s growth.
Sherrill visited the city of Camden in July — early in her general election campaign — for a visit to CAMcare, a federally qualified health center that treats underserved communities, and went on to discuss it on a national podcast the next day.
She did not return until October, at which point she visited the city three times in the lead-up to Election Day. Her campaign also held a rally outside city lines at the Camden County Democratic Party headquarters in Cherry Hill that Santana said was planned to feel “authentically Latino.”
As part of their “scientific” strategy, Sherrill visited less-Democratic areas in the summer and early fall to try to win over swing voters before pivoting to bluer places like Camden, where they needed to motivate already-registered Democrats to cast their ballots, said Om Savargaonkar, the coordinated campaign director for Sherrill’s campaign and the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.
As Sherrill zigzagged the state, a massive coordinated effort was underway to draw a strong Democratic turnout, bolstered by national fundingfrom the Democratic National Committee.
Sherrill’s coordinated campaign — the state party operation that worked with the campaign — made at least19.5 million phone calls, door knocks, and text messages statewide, which was roughly 13 times more than the 1.5 million made for Murphy’s coordinated campaign in 2021, Savargaonkar said.
Out of a roughly $12 million statewide investment, about $2 million to $3 million went directly to county parties to supplement the statewide turnout efforts, Savargaonkar said of the coordinated campaign.
Sherrill did even better than previous Democrats in lower-income municipalities
Democrats routinely score landslide wins in New Jersey’s working-class municipalities.
Both Murphy and Harris posted double-digit margins in these communities, but Sherrill took that strong base and supercharged it. She won nearly two-thirds of the vote in the lowest-income municipalities and in places where fewer voters have college degrees — improving on Murphy’s and Harris’ performances by as much as eight percentage points.
In Camden, fewer than one in 10 adults have a college degree and the typical household has an annual income of $40,000. That’s in a state where nearly 45% of residents are college-educated and with a median income of about $100,000.
Sherrill’s campaign reached Latinos in Camden who voted for Trump last year because they believed he would make life more affordable but were having buyer’s remorse,organizers said.
Her campaign spoke with locals about the negative impacts of Trump’s tariffs, engaging with everyone from distributors and manufacturers to local business groups, Santana said. Local surrogates also discussed Trump’s cuts to benefits and programs that help the community, said Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen.
And Sherrill’s focus on affordability and Trump resonated more broadly.
She also won among voters in wealthier places, including the middle 50% of towns by median household income — places where Ciattarelli won four years ago and where Trump fought Harris to a near-draw last year. Like Harris before her, she managed to win the very wealthiest areas comfortably.
While the city of Camden saw Sherrill’s biggest improvement over Harris in the county, her second-largest improvement came in nearby Runnemede, a borough in Camden County, where the typical household’s income is virtually identical to that of the state.
Sherrill reversed losses among the youngest voters
Trump made gains last year among younger voters across the country, and New Jersey was no different. The president won about 37% of the vote in the state’s youngest 25% of municipalities, beating Ciattarelli’s 2021 performance with that group by more than three percentage points even as he lost the state by nearly double Ciattarelli’s 2021 margin.
This year, Sherrill reversed those inroads, improving on Harris’ performance by nearly eight points in places, including Camden, where the median age is 33. (New Jersey’s median age is 40.)
Sherrill’s campaign made partnering with social media influencers a key part of her strategy as more young people focus their attention online. She appeared on national podcasts and in TikTok videos, on Substack, Reddit, and Instagram — often with Democratic-friendly hosts. Her team provided special access to influencers and held briefings with them.
Sherrill appeared on 18 podcasts from January to October 2025, according to Edison Research, while Harris appeared on only eight during her campaign from July to November 2024.
Her coordinated campaign’s statewide Latino effort also had its own social media, spearheaded by Frank Santos, a 33-year-old Camden resident of Puerto Rican and Nicaraguan descent. Santos and other staffers on the Latino outreach team represented different sub-demographics of “the larger Latino monolith,”Santana said.
Organizers also catered their conversations to different sub-demographics through smaller and more “organic” events, she said, noting that younger voters were generally more progressive.
“If you’re trying to connect with a community, knowing that you yourself reflect and represent that community, I think it makes the world of a difference,” she said.
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
The Eagles travel to face the Buffalo Bills in a Week 17 matchup at Highmark Stadium on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. Here’s what you need to know about the game:
When the Eagles have the ball: The Eagles have a chance to build off their recent success on the ground by facing another poor run defense. The Bills are second-to-last in the NFL in yards allowed (5.4) and expected points added per rush (0.08). They’ve allowed 63 runs of 10-plus yards, which is second worst to only the New York Giants. Buffalo coach Sean McDermott doesn’t exactly stack boxes at a high rate (20.7%), but he’ll stay in his base 4-3 front vs. heavy personnel. The bigger issue has been how his defenders have — or haven’t — handled run fits. There have been a lot of big holes for running backs to run through. Tackling also has been a problem. The Bills are last in the league in rushing yards allowed after contact (4.1).
Say what you will about the last two opponents, but the Eagles have improved in the run game. “Turned the corner” would be too strong a phrase, but some wrinkles have contributed to the Eagles averaging 174.7 rushing yards in the last three games. Buffalo is depleted in the interior. Defensive tackles Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, and Jordan Phillips will be out. I think Saquon Barkley could also do some damage if he gets to the second level. The Bills have corners who don’t tackle well in space, and they’ll also be without veteran safety Jordan Poyer. The Eagles didn’t dial up as many runs from under center last week vs. the Washington Commanders as they did the week before. I could see Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo using Buffalo’s weak defense as a chance to reestablish that facet of their offense.
Joey Bosa (97) is expected back to help bolster the Buffalo pass rush this week.
The Bills have gotten behind in games because of their inability to stop the run. They’ve allowed an average of 13.9 points in the first half, but have been better after the break (9.1). Why the disparity? It could be McDermott’s ability to make adjustments, or the Bills have benefited from their offense getting ahead, which has forced quarterbacks to throw. Buffalo has a good pass defense. It has allowed just 52.8% of passes to be completed. A lot of the Bills’ success can be traced to their defensive ends getting pressure. Greg Rousseau (14.3%) and Joey Bosa (13.8%) have above-average rates on their rushes. Right tackle Fred Johnson, who is starting again for the injured Lane Johnson (foot), will have a stiff test in Bosa. Rousseau will bounce back and forth between each side.
McDermott doesn’t blitz — a 23rd-in-the-league 23.7% rate this season — as much as he once did. He’ll send any of his linebackers, but Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard are most effective in getting pressure. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith should have opportunities on the outside, though. Cornerbacks Tre’Davious White and Christian Benford are beatable, especially in man coverage. McDermott’s zone-man split is about 70-30. His safeties do a good job of rotating late. Cole Bishop is solid, but Poyer’s replacement — whether it’s rookie Jordan Hancock or veteran Darnell Savage — could be exploited.
When the Bills have the ball: Josh Allen makes the Bills offense go, but I’m going to focus first on running back James Cook. He’s been arguably the best running back in the league this season. He leads the NFL with 1,532 rushing yards and averages 5.3 yards a carry. He’s not especially big at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, but he’s fast and runs hard. Cook has great vision and can slip through creases. If he has a kryptonite this season, it’s ball security — he has lost three of six fumbles. Cook runs behind a reliable, if not spectacular, offensive line led by left tackle Dion Dawkins. The unit’s relative good health has contributed to its chemistry. The Bills also have good blocking tight ends, although Dalton Kincaid (knee) and Dawson Knox (knee) are questionable.
Josh Allen (17) remains dangerous, but the Eagles can’t sleep on the electric James Cook (4) either.
Allen, of course, is almost as dangerous on the ground. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady will dial up designed runs, but Allen scrambles as well as any quarterback. He often knows when running is applicable and can be hard to bring down. A foot injury limited him early in the week, but he’s cleared to go. The Eagles have to stay disciplined in their rushes. I’d imagine defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will devote a linebacker to spying Allen on obvious passing downs, especially against empty sets. The Bills have effectively used their version of the Tush Push with the 6-5, 237-pound quarterback converting 13 of 15 rushing attempts on third- or fourth-and-1.
Allen holds the ball longer than most — a sixth-longest 2.93 seconds — because he can make big plays out of structure. He doesn’t get sacked at a high rate (8.12% of attempts), but he can take big losses or turn the ball over when playing the hero. Allen doesn’t have a group of receivers that gets much separation downfield. He has cut down on interceptions by not forcing throws into tight windows — 11.3% of the time, which is 31st among qualifying quarterbacks — vs. last season (16.8%). Brady has helped by utilizing the under-center run game to set up play-action passes. He’ll also employ misdirection and motion at the snap.
The Bills don’t often keep their tight ends or backs in to help with the pass rush. They want to give Allen underneath options to offset what he lacks on the outside. Fangio blitzes at a low rate (19.4%), so Brady probably won’t alter the formula. Receiver Khalil Shakir leads the offense with 66 catches. Most of his yards (515 of his 684) come after contact off short passes. The Eagles will need to be stout in tackling after the catch. Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell could be neutralized simply by Allen staying away from him.
Extra point: The weather could change, but it looks like rain will be a factor late Sunday afternoon. Both teams have kicker woes. Jake Elliott’s struggles over the past five games have been documented. The Eagles are sticking with their guy — for now. The Bills will be without 41-year-old Matt Prater (quad) for a second straight game. His replacement, Michael Badgley, missed an extra point and the landing zone on a kickoff last week. Buffalo tried out some kickers as a result, but Badgley will get another chance.
The Eagles don’t have as much on the line as the Bills. I don’t think that should matter much. Sirianni’s squad wants to measure itself against one of the best. Two years ago, they outlasted Buffalo, despite an amazing performance by Allen. Elliott’s 59-yard field goal sent the game to overtime and Jalen Hurts walked it off. I just realized I didn’t mention the Eagles quarterback above. He has settled down since the Los Angeles Chargers debacle. I think he’ll hit some shots downfield as long as the offense takes advantage on the ground. The Eagles’ defense has been susceptible at times against the run, but it has tightened the hatches since the Chicago Bears game. Jalen Carter (shoulders) is back, although the front more than managed in his absence.
I don’t feel great about my pick. My gut says the opposite. But it’s hard to pick against Allen in the penultimate game at the Bills’ longtime home, Highmark Stadium.
The house: a 1,620-square-foot single-family residence in Germantown with four bedrooms and 1½ bathrooms built in 1900.
The price: listed for $170,000; purchased for $165,000
The agent: Shante Jenkins, Long & Foster Real Estate
The living room in Kia Wilson’s home in Germantown.
The ask: For years, homeownership was something that Kia Wilsonconsidered in the abstract — something she might get to one day. In 2020, she gave herself a timeline. Within five years, she told herself, she would buy a home. She would save. She would fix her credit. She would do it the “right” way.
Then everything changed.
In 2021, a relationship turned unsafe. Wilson’s then-partner threatened her family, including her children. “I was like, ‘I need to leave now,’” Wilson said. ‘Without the money saved up, without my credit being good. I just needed to move.’”
Wilson’s requirements were practical and shaped by urgency. She needed space for herself, her two children, and eventually her mother. She wanted her teenage daughter to have her own bathroom, and she needed a fenced-in backyard for her dogs. Above all, she needed a mortgage she could afford. She wanted it to be $700 a month — the same she paid in rent.
As for location, “I didn’t care,” she said. “Just not Kensington.” And not near her ex’s parents.
The dining area in Wilson’s home.
The search: Wilson began looking seriously in late 2022, working with a friend and coworker who had just gotten her real estate license. Together, they saw about 15 houses over a few months. Some were impractical. Some were strangely laid out. One was in a flood zone, so Wilson didn’t even bother going inside. Another, she is convinced, was haunted. During the showing, a radio suddenly began playing in the basement. “That radio was loud enough for us to hear it on the third floor,” Wilson said.
That house wasn’t the only one that lingered. Wilson and Jenkins returned to another three separate times just to switch off the lights they’d accidentally left on in the basement and on the porch. That hadn’t happened anywhere else. “I was like, ‘Why does this house keep calling me back?’” Wilson said.
Wilson wanted two bathrooms so that her teenage daughter could have her own.
The appeal: The house Wilson ultimately bought wasn’t perfect, but it checked her most important boxes. It had four nice-sized bedrooms, a small backyard with a full basement, and a semiattached layout that gave the house a little breathing room.
But the feature that sold Wilson was surprisingly specific. “At the very top of the steps is the bathroom,” she said. “If I come in the house from work and I have to pee really bad, I can run straight up the steps to the bathroom.”
The kitchen was a major upgrade from her previous place, where the kitchen had essentially been an unheated shed. This one was huge and had cabinets. That alone felt luxurious.
The deal: The house was listed at around $170,000. Wilson offered $160,000, expecting a counteroffer. The sellers came back at $165,000, which she accepted.
Wilson likes how big and open her kitchen is.
Since the sellers wouldn’t meet her lowest price, Wilson requested that they remove a large oil tank from the basement. They agreed. They also patched flooring gaps in the kitchen and near the front door and removed a mysterious electrical switch that carried power but didn’t control anything.
Flush with the concessions she’d already secured, Wilson made one more request. “I was like, wow, what else can I ask them to do?” she said, laughing. She asked for a sump pump in the basement, but the sellers said no.
The money: Wilson didn’t have savings for a down payment. “People think you have to have this ridiculous amount of money[to buy a house],” she said. “I had nothing.”
What she did have was persistence — and grants. She took first-time homebuyer classes and applied for multiple assistance programs, including funding through the Mount Airy CDC and her employer. In total, she received four grants and roughly $16,000. Her mortgage company told her they’d never seen someone with so many grants. Her mother also contributed $1,000, which served as Wilson’s down payment. All in, she spent $17,000 on her home.
The exterior of Wilson’s home in Germantown.
The move: Wilson closed on March 12, 2023, and moved in one month later. Moving was a “pain in the butt,” she said. “I was trying to do it myself because I didn’t have any money.” The friends who promised to help bailed, and the coworkers who stepped up broke her dresser and her refrigerator. “It was terrible,” Wilson said. “I didn’t have a refrigerator for two weeks.”
Any reservations? Some days, Wilson wishes she never bought the house. It’s old and needs extensive work. “Things are falling apart,” she said.
If she could do it again, she would prioritize a house where the cosmetic work was already done and pay closer attention to small details — like mismatched bathroom tiles. Still, the house has “great bones,” she said.
Life after close: Since moving in, Wilson has taken classes at the West Philly Tool Library, where she learned to patch drywall and tile. The bathroom is now all one color. She’s changed the locks, plans to replace the front door, and has begun slowly making the house her own. This year, she grew a watermelon in the yard.
“It’s really surreal,” Wilson said. “I’ve owned a house for two years. Only 28 more to go.”
When Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree was starring at Neumann Goretti, the forward drew interest from multiple high-level programs. Two schools rose to the front of his recruitment: Miami and Villanova.
Playing for the Wildcats would give him a chance to remain in Philadelphia, but the Hurricanes’ recruiting efforts were led by assistant coach Adam Fisher, with whom Cosby-Roundtree developed a close relationship.
In the end, the 6-foot-9 forward committed to Villanova, but he gave Fisher a call to let him know of his college decision, which stuck with the coach.
They remained in touch as they went their separate ways and reconnected at the NBA Summer League this year. Fisher, by then the Temple head coach, and Cosby-Roundtree, then a video assistant with the Brooklyn Nets, sat together and chatted for the entire half of a game.
Fisher was looking to fill the director of player development position on his staff. He knew Cosby-Roundtree wanted to move into college basketball. After bringing Cosby-Roundtree in for an interview, Fisher realized the former Villanova standout had exactly what he was looking for. So the coach hired him, and now, Cosby-Roundtree is back in the city where his basketball journey started.
“I’ve been enjoying it. I love it,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “I’m learning so much about college basketball coaching now, compared to what it was when I was playing. I think for me, the biggest learning curve is patience.”
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree says he started “naturally coaching” as a senior at Villanova.
When Cosby-Roundtree joined Villanova in the 2017-18 season, he walked into one of the top college basketball programs in the country. The Wildcats had won the national championship two years prior and were led by coach Jay Wright.
Cosby-Roundtree won a national championship in his freshman year and spent the following two seasons growing in his role as a reserve forward.
However, the end of his Villanova career was hampered by injuries.
Cosby-Roundtree had stress fractures in his shins, which he had dealt with since high school. He missed the entire 2020-21 season and played in six games in 2021-22, his final year of college basketball.
Despite not playing, Wright wanted Cosby-Roundtree to remain around the team and help players during practice. He also provided a veteran presence on the bench. Cosby-Roundtree initially wasn’t interested in coaching, but watching from the sideline at Villanova gave him a new perspective.
“I just found myself seeing a game from a different view,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “I was just overly talking, overly communicating. Like, ‘Hey, you should do this, or you should do X, Y, and Z, make sure you’re here.’ I was just naturally coaching.”
After graduating from Villanova, Cosby-Roundtree spent a year coaching at Cristo Rey before he moved into a video assistant role with the Nets.
At both stops, he learned the ins and outs of coaching. He had to learn how to be patient with high school kids and be prepared to help the professionals in the NBA.
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree spent four years on Villanova’s basketball team.
“It was more just the difference is the amount of patience doesn’t have to be as long, for better or worse,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “You can explain it to [NBA players], and they’ll catch onto it quicker. … I think during my time with the Nets, I learned a lot about how to be organized, how to prepare, and how to improve guys.”
Cosby-Roundtree believes his experience with the Nets helped shape a seamless transition to the college game, where Fisher was waiting for him.
Fisher had the same staff for his first two years at Temple, but a position opened on the coach’s support staff when former Owls guard Khalif Wyatt — who currently is facing an NCAA penalty for placing hundreds of bets while as an assistant at West Chester in 2022 — left for a job as a video coordinator with Nets G League team this offseason.
Fisher asked Wright, as well as some of Cosby-Roundtree’s coaches in Brooklyn, about the 27-year-old coach. He got rave reviews.
“[His] character was off the charts,” Fisher said. “So then we brought him in and we talked to him, and he just aligned with what I’m looking to do. He gets Philadelphia, gets the Big 5. He understands the history of Temple. He’s a worker. This guy’s in here early. He’s detail-oriented. I’ll say, ‘Hey, I want to come up with two new drills.’ By midnight, I get an email with a video in writing and things that match what I’m looking for. He has been a fantastic addition.”
Coming to Temple also offered Cosby-Roundtree a chance to return to the city where he fell in love with basketball.
“To be able to give back to the city that I came from, and where I grew up is something that I personally really wanted to do,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “Being able to impact young lives … I enjoyed it, and that’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree grew up in Philadelphia and played at Neumann Goretti.
Cosby-Roundtree knows he still has plenty to learn, and Temple is his chance to soak in more information. He hopes to have the opportunity to one day run his own program.
“I just want to keep learning,” Cosby-Roundtree said. “The more I can learn from this staff, where everybody’s been a head coach before and they’re long-tenured assistant coaches, just learning as much as I can from them.”
As a chef from Hawai’i who has lived in Philadelphia for well over a decade, I saw firsthand the connection between both places. For years, through Poi Dog, I fed homesick Hawai’i people and those who had celebrated weddings, honeymoons, and holidays in my home state, then came back to the mainland searching for a taste of the islands. These days, the question I get most often is simple: Where should I eat in Honolulu?
This is a special edition of our Field Trip series — not a typical three-day drive, but a culinary escape meant for when you’re bundled up at home, staring down winter, and dreaming of somewhere warmer. Think of it as planning your next trip while the heater’s on: balmy breezes, sun-warmed beaches, and unlimited fresh poke, all waiting when you’re ready to go.
What follows is a starting point for eating your way through Honolulu, whose excellent, deeply multicultural food scene is built on Native Hawaiian traditions and shaped by waves of immigrants who came to work the sugarcane and pineapple plantations — and now, the tourism industry. I urge you to explore far beyond this list, to leave Honolulu when you can, see the rest of Oʻahu, and visit its neighboring islands. But if you’re beginning with the city, this is where to start.
Honolulu is sprawling and encompasses a downtown business district, touristy Waikiki, Kaimuki with its many hip restaurants, Chinatown (which also has hip restaurants), and many suburbs. In the former three categories, we say they’re “in town,” though the limits of “town” are as heavily debated as the boundaries of Philly’s neighborhoods.
Chances are you’re staying in Waikiki, and all of the following are in the most touristed district or are a quick, cheap Uber ride from Waikiki (unless of course, it’s rush hour, in which case, I can’t help you).
Honolulu restaurants to check out
If you’re going to Honolulu, the first order of business is getting real Hawaiian food. This means poi, or pounded taro root, the staple starch of the Hawaiians before laborers on Hawai’i’s sugarcane plantations from East Asia shifted the dominant starch of the islands to rice; smoky, tender kalua pig (preferably cooked in an imu, or underground oven); lu’au (a stew made from taro leaves, coconut milk, and usually with chicken or squid); and delicacies like ‘opihi, small limpets that are somewhat similar in taste to abalone, and are notoriously challenging to collect, requiring one to pry the barnacles from slippery rocks while being pounded by surf.
Hawaiian food is a distinctly different cuisine from Hawaiian BBQ, which falls under the category of “local food” in Hawai’i – a confusing term for outsiders because “local food” encompasses food that was introduced to Hawai’i by its waves of immigrants. Native Hawaiian food does have immigrant influences and does incorporate ingredients not native to Hawai’i, but in ways that predated its sugar plantation era.
Helena’s Hawaiian Food in Honolulu.
Helena’s Hawaiian Food
Helena’s is the reigning queen of Hawaiian food and this is the ideal place for you to try all of the above Hawaiian specialties, including ‘opihi. Their pipikaula, or Hawaiian-style beef jerky, is less jerky and more of a soy-marinated and dried short rib that manages to retain remarkable tenderness, concentrating sublime beefiness into tiny squares of meat. Cleanse your palate with a square of their haupia and a nibble on fresh, raw sweet onion dipped into red alaea salt, fixings that come with every set meal. Be mindful that Helena’s is only open 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and it is closed on weekends.
If you can’t make it past the throngs of people trying to get into Helena’s, Highway Inn also serves great Hawaiian food in town. (Its original location is in Waipahu. They also just opened an outpost at the Bishop Museum.) It’s open every day and in addition to Hawaiian stalwarts like kalua pig, chicken long rice, and squid lu’au, they also serve a large menu of riffs on these, like kalua pig nachos, with sides of lomi lomi salmon, a dish that is made entirely of introduced ingredients, but has been around so long that it has been accepted into the canon of Hawaiian food.
📍 680 Ala Moana Blvd. #105, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, 📞 808-954-4955, 🌐 myhighwayinn.com
Sashimi and meat jun at Kyung’s Seafood in Honolulu.
Kyung’s Seafood
Some of Honolulu’s best Hawaiian BBQ intersects with Korean BBQ, and there are Korean dishes in Hawai’i that are found nowhere else, not even Korea. Kyung’s Seafoodmakes one of the very best versions of meat jun, one such Korean dish that exists in isolation, which consists of thinly sliced meat battered in scrambled eggs and served with a light soy dipping sauce. Marry their meat jun with rice and mac salad, and some of Kyung’s excellent banchans or precisely arranged sashimi platters.
📍 1269 S. King St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, 📞 808-589-1144, 📷 @kyungsseafood
Monaka filled with ahi tartare and caviar from Miro Kaimuki.
Miro Kaimuki
If you’re celebrating something special, whether it’s an anniversary or a Tuesday, Miro in Kaimuki is the finest of dining on this list. It’s a special occasion restaurant that doesn’t feel the least bit stuffy, with beautifully balanced cocktails and wine pairings. Meals are prix fixe, with many possibilities of add-ons like flank washugyu, toasted brioche topped with curls of uni, and vanilla macarons filled with caviar. Miro also happens to be the self-declared Philadelphia Embassy in Hawai’i, as many of its current and former staffers either hail from Philly or have spent time in the city (Zahav pops up on numerous Miro cooks’ resumés).
Speaking of sashimi, Hawai’i is really close to Japan, so not only do we get a wealth of fish pulled from surrounding waters, but we have an abundance of Japanese seafood flown in regularly. This makes for fantastic (and countless) omakase options, most of which hew to classic Japanese experiences. For a relaxed, island-style omakase or a la carte sushi and izakaya dinner, head to Sushi Izakaya Gaku. Gaku has the softest, silkiest, and lightest tamago, the homemade sweet egg omelet, and all the standard izakaya fare, but also some wild, more unusual specials, like seared sting ray, raw octopus, and thinly sliced beef tongue served over shaved onion with a big squeeze of lemon.
📍 1329 S. King St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, 📞 808-589-1329
Sashimi platter from Mitch’s Seafood in Honolulu.
Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar
Located right on the pier, where fishing boats dock and unload their ahi for the Honolulu Fish Auction, Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar is an unbelievable option for generous cuts of sashimi, hefty chirashi bowls piled with shrimp, ahi, yellowtail, and tamago. It’s small (make a reservation), casual, and perpetually proud of their most famous patron, President Barack Obama.
Tempura Kiki set meal, inside the Stix Asian Food Hall.
Stix Asia Food Hall
In addition to ready access to Japanese ingredients, we have practically all the hot Japanese chain restaurants. like Marugame Udon, Han No Daidokoro (which specializes in fresh wagyu — usually, when wagyu is exported, it’s frozen), and many others packed into Stix Asia, a Japanese food hall. Two of my favorites inside Stix Asia are Tempura Kikifor its avocado tempura and bowls of udon (no relation but they did offer me a discount because of my name), and Nanamusubi, which churns out omusubi made with specialty, heritage Japanese grains, and stuffed with an array of fish salads and pickled seaweeds.
New York transplant and Top Chef competitor Lee Anne Wong pretty much single-handedly made brunch a craze in Honolulu a decade ago. Her Koko Head Cafe has since become a classic for eggs scrambled with local ingredients and enormous, indulgent bowls of congee topped with croutons. Hawai’i and Japan also seem to have a restaurant exchange system; the cafe has also opened locations in Japan. Don’t miss their poke omelets, and my favorite breakfast item, rusk spread with yogurt and fresh local fruit.
The Pig and the Lady is one of those chef-driven destination restaurants that appear on many a national list. It has gone through a couple iterations, and just opened a new location in Kaimuki that will more than scratch your itch for excellent Vietnamese food, if you can’t live without your Gabriella’s Vietnam fix. But there are unmistakable Hawaiian touches like chile pepper water-doused oysters, country ham served with persimmons, and banh xeo made with pa’i’ai or pounded taro. Vietnamese food like this exists nowhere else on the planet.
Spring rolls from the Kapiolani Community College Farmers’ Market.
Kapiolani Community College Farmers Market
The Pig and the Lady also sets up a stand at theKapiolani Community College Farmers Marketon Saturdays from 7:30 to 11 a.m., serving pho French dips, lemongrass chicken banh mis, bun bowls with a vermicelli base, and curry rice plates. The rest of KCC Farmers Marketwill knock your socks off with its array of prepared foods, fresh fruit juices, coffee stands, vendors hacking into fresh coconuts with machetes, and abundance of tropical produce, from papayas to ‘ulu or breadfruit. If you’re walking up to the Diamond Head trail from Waikiki, you’ll pass it near the trailhead, but build in time to stop for a siphon coffee at Ars Cafefor a cup that rivals one from Ray’s Cafe and Tea House in Philly.
📍 Parking Lot B, 4303 Diamond Head Rd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96816, 🌐 hfbf.org/farmers-markets/kcc
The array of musubi at Musubi Iyasume in Waikiki.
Musubi Iyasume
Many of Waikiki’s 24-hour diner grand dames have closed at this point, but thankfully, my favorite breakfast in Waikiki doesn’t involve sitting down. Musubi Iyasume has multiple locations, serving classic Spam musubis, as well as ones that pair avocado, eel, and tamago with Spam and rice. They have seven locations, but I love the one at Waikiki Beach Walk the most because it has the longest opening hours and can scratch your musubi cravings from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
Wash down your breakfast musubi with one of the best deals in Waikiki: a sugarcane juice from the stationary food truck Aloha Sugarcane Juices,which you can get spiked with juicy, local calamansi, or blended with mangoes and papayas.
📍 138 Uluniu Ave., Honolulu, Hawaii 96815
Zippy’s chili, teri burger, fries, and mini fried chicken plate.
Zippy’s
Head over to one of many locations of Zippy’s(a fast food diner chain that we love as dearly as Philadelphians love Wawa) to get some of the best of the island’s fried chicken or to pick up a bento box to bring on one of Oahu’s legendary hikes. Zippy’s is also famous for their chili, which will require you to pick a stance when you order: pro-kidney beans or no-kidney beans. While Zippy’s locations are scattered throughout Oahu (and also Las Vegas, considered Hawai’i’s ninth island), I implore you to go to the one in Kapahulu, so you will be within walking distance of the legendary Leonard’s Malasadas.
Delis in Hawai’i don’t resemble anything that might be called a deli in Philadelphia. Cold cases are filled with vats of fresh fish poke as opposed to deli meats, and Alicia’s Market mixes up some of Hawai’i’s best pokes (though honestly, unless you’re going to one of those newfangled build-a-bear style poke joints, it’s hard to go wrong).
If you’re committed to staying near Waikiki, Ala Moana Shopping Center is a short walk and pretty unavoidable if you’re a tourist. Thankfully, Foodland Farms opened adjacent to the mall eight years ago, and it has only gotten better over the years. It’s far more than just a grocery store, but a one-stop shop for great poke, edible island souvenirs (there’s a huge selection of Hawaiian chocolate, sweets, and coffee), and bento boxes to take with you on hikes. There’s also a wine bar.
📍 1450 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, 📞 808-949-5044, 🌐 shop.foodland.com
Inside the Honolulu Fish Auction
Hawai’i has a serious sweet tooth
If you think Philly’s water ice is good, wait till you taste shave ice. Forget about tiny little paper cups of flavored ice, in Hawai’i, our shave ice (no “d” in “shave”) is a fluffy, lightly compacted pile of snow that will be quite a bit larger than your head.
Shimazu Shave Ice
Shimazu has been shaving ice for over 70 years and decorating the globes with stripes of tamarind, strawberry, passionfruit, mango, li hing mui (salty preserved plum), and many other syrups. Most shave ice shops will insist upon you consuming their shave ice outside.
For something more akin to water ice, Asato Family Shop painstakingly makes small batches of sherbet inspired by the nostalgic flavors of crack seed stores, Hawai’i’s throwback snack shops filled with jars of pickled mango, dried seeds, and raisin-like apricots.
Need a doughnut? Malasadas, which are yeasty, pillowy Portuguese doughnuts without holes and tossed in sugar, are far superior to any doughnut. Don’t be fooled by “bakery” being in Leonard’s name. These malasadas are fried. Go get one at Leonard’s original location (they also have trucks scattered throughout Oahu), and start with their original malasada, with no filling and a sugar coating, then move on to ones stuffed with haupia, or coconut pudding.
Now that you’ve made it to this point in the guide, you’ve likely consumed a lot of rice and hopefully, poi. If you need your fresh baked bread fix, Local General Store has been garnering a lot of recent attention. It’s on par with Philly’s Lost Bread and Mighty Bread, but is a combination bakery and butcher shop, so you can stop by for a pastry and a porchetta, and perhaps, a slice of their housemade Spam.
Blowfish lamps at La Mariana Sailing Club in Honolulu.
At some point, you’re going to want to unwind with a cocktail
La Mariana Sailing Club
Yes, it’s hard to get around Honolulu without encountering a mai tai, but if you’re a fan of kitsch and want to visit one of Oahu’s last remaining old school tiki bars, La Mariana Sailing Club leans hard into the theme. They have the vintage tiki mugs, the glass buoys hanging from the ceiling, the dangerously strong drinks. La Mariana is also near the airport if you need one last hurrah before passing out on the plane home.
📍 50 Sand Island Access Rd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96819, 📞 808-848-2800, 🌐 la-mariana-sailing.club
A martini from Podmore in Honolulu.
Podmore
But if you’re looking for refined fancy cocktails, you’ll find them at Podmore in Chinatown, which is fond of touches like yogurt-washed gin, heady spices, and a very good dry martini shaken with yuzu kosho.
For artful, Asian-inflected cocktails and vegan bar snacks, head to the Wild Orange speakeasy, hidden inside Hawaiian Brian’s and accessed by opening up the door to an Aloha Maid juice vending machine.
Restaurants for which you need a car and which are worth the drive
If you want to get out of Waikiki, you need to rent a car. The restaurants in this portion of the list are technically outside of Honolulu, but easily accessible with a car if you’re staying in Honolulu. For context, Haleiwa is the farthest point from Waikiki and is 33 miles across Oahu, which is basically like driving to Bucks County from Center City.
Squid lu’au and handrolls from Masa and Joyce.
Masa and Joyce Okazuya
Masa and Joyce in Kaneohe is an old school okazuya, or casual Japanese lunch counter, that makes one of Oahu’s best versions of squid lu’au as well as spectacular hand rolls. It is usually my first stop after getting off the plane, their squid lu’au is so savory and mesmerizing.
Waiahole Poi Factory is also in Kaneohe, but on your way to the North Shore if you’re taking the scenic route around the eastern side of the island. In this factory that has been operating over a century, you can pick up poi that’s both scaled up for larger production (steamed taro root passed through a grinder until it reaches a smooth consistency) and hand-pounded, but more importantly, dig into some of Oahu’s best Hawaiian food, like lau lau (ti leaf wrapped bundles of pork and butter fish) and a gingery beef lu’au.
Ramen is great and all (and you’ll find a wealth of ramen shops in Honolulu) but in Hawai’i, the classic noodle soup dish is saimin, with a lighter broth than most ramens, developed by both Chinese and Japanese laborers over the years. Shiro’s Saimin Haven is a classic saimin spot that serves vast bowls of fresh noodles sunk into a mild, lightly salted dashi that you can dress up with dozens of options for sides, from Filipino-style pork adobo to lau lau to Spam to roast duck. Everything here is good. There are two locations, in Aiea and Ewa Beach, but the Aiea one is the one that I’ve been going to for years.
But if you’re heading in the direction of Ewa Beach, stop in Waipahu and pick up poke, a pupu or sashimi platter, and or a mochiko chicken bento from longtime neighborhood seafood spot Tanioka’s. This is a go-to takeout spot if you need to feed a lot of people at parties or if you want to grab a bento to eat after surfing.
The closest food rivalry in Hawai’i, akin to that between Pat’s and Geno’s, is between the shrimp trucks up at North Shore, which are parked close to the shrimp farms they source from. Giovanni’s, a white truck covered in the signatures of many happy visitors, even has a connection to our parts, as its owner Troy Nitsche is a Pennsylvania native. Don’t leave Oahu without digging into a plate of Giovanni’s super garlicky and buttery shrimp scampi, sucking the shells dry, along the essential sides of rice and macaroni salad. Near Giovanni’s, in Haleiwa, stop in to Matsumoto Shave Ice to complete your North Shore experience.
The Wall Street Journal crowns Philly the best place to visit in 2026: A
Congratulations to Philadelphia, which has officially been named the world’s best place to visit in 2026 — a sentence that still feels fake even after you say it out loud.
The Wall Street Journal says it’s because of America’s 250th birthday, the World Cup, March Madness, the MLB All-Star Game, and a stretch of months where Philly will be hosting basically every major event short of the Olympics.
But let’s be clear: Big events don’t make a city great. They just expose whether it already is.
Philly works as a destination because it can handle the chaos. This is a city that treats historic milestones and sports meltdowns with the same emotional intensity. Where strangers will give you directions, opinions, and a life story within 30 seconds. Where the best part of your trip will almost certainly be something you didn’t plan: a bar you ducked into, a neighborhood you wandered through, a crowd you got absorbed into without realizing it.
So why not an A+? Because Philly being crowned “best place to visit” comes with consequences we know all too well. Inflated hotel prices, SEPTA stress tests, streets that were never designed for this many people, and locals being asked, again, to carry the weight of a global party while still getting to work on time.
And because, frankly, Philly doesn’t need outside validation. This city didn’t suddenly get interesting because the Wall Street Journal noticed. We’ve been loud about this for years, from barstools, stoops, and comment sections, and now the rest of the world is finally catching up (and booking flights).
Still, credit where it’s due. This is a huge moment, and a deserved one. Philly is about to have the kind of year cities dream about, even if we’ll spend most of it grumbling, redirecting tourists, and muttering “we told you so.”
We’ll host the world. We’ll complain the entire time. And somehow, we’ll still prove them right.
Primo’s founder Rich Neigre and Audrey Neigre, his daughter, hold a whole Italian hoagie in 2011.
Primo Hoagies covering big-dog adoption fees: A+
This is what “using your powers for good” looks like.
As PhillyVoice reported, Primo Hoagies quietly covering adoption fees for large dogs at a South Jersey shelter is the kind of move that cuts straight through the holiday noise. No brand stunt. No overexplaining. Just: These dogs keep getting passed over, that’s not right, let’s fix one part of it.
Big dogs are the last ones out the door. Everyone wants the tiny, apartment-friendly, Instagram-ready pup. Meanwhile, the 70-pound sweethearts sit there, year after year, wondering what they did wrong (answer: nothing). Removing the fee doesn’t solve everything, but it removes one very real excuse, and sometimes that’s all it takes.
Also, this is extremely on-brand Philly energy. Feed people. Love dogs. Don’t make a big deal about it. Just do the thing.
City skyline with people present for the unveiling of the new logo for Xfinity Mobile Arena the former Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.
Philly making Zillow’s hottest housing markets list: B (with side-eye)
Zillow’s takeaway is that Philly is “affordable,” centrally located, and culturally desirable. Which is true. It’s also the most polite way possible to say: People are moving here because they’ve been priced out of everywhere else. Welcome! Please enjoy our rowhouses, strong opinions, and streets that were absolutely not designed for this many buyers.
The median home value sitting around $230,000 looks great on a national list. On the ground, it translates to open houses packed like an Eagles tailgate and starter homes disappearing in 48 hours with cash offers that make lifelong renters quietly spiral. Philly didn’t suddenly become hot. It became relatively attainable, which in 2025 is the real flex.
But let’s acknowledge that there is tension baked into this moment. Being desirable is good. Being affordable is better. Staying both at the same time? That’s the hard part.
Jason Kelce with the Hank Suace cofounders (from left): Matt Pittaluga, Brian “Hank” Ruxton, and Josh Jaspan. Hank Sauce was founded in 2011 and is based in Sea Isle City. Kelce announced a partnership with the local brand and his family’s Winnie Capital.
Jason Kelce investing in Hank Sauce: A+ (this was inevitable)
There are celebrity investments, and then there are ones so perfectly aligned they feel less like a business move and more like destiny. Jason Kelce backing Hank Sauce, a Sea Isle City staple sold in surf shops, Shore houses, and Philly-area grocery stores, is very much the latter.
Sea Isle is so Jason Kelce. He’s there constantly. He bartends there. He fundraises there. He rips his shirt off there. He eats there. At this point, investing in a Sea Isle brand feels less like branching out and more like protecting his natural habitat.
And Hank Sauce? Also a perfect match. It’s not about pain tolerance or macho heat levels. It’s a hot sauce for people who want flavor without suffering, which somehow mirrors Kelce’s whole deal: loud, intense energy paired with surprising warmth and accessibility.
This doesn’t feel like a celebrity slapping his name on a product he just met. Kelce was already a customer. Already a fan. Already drinking beers with the founders in the back room years ago. Philly and the Shore can smell authenticity a mile away, and this one passes immediately.
Will this help Hank Sauce grow further nationally? Almost certainly. But more importantly, it feels earned. It’s a local guy with local roots putting money behind something that already belonged to the place — and to him.
SEPTA buses travel along Market Street on Dec. 8, 2025, in Philadelphia.
Philly’s ever-lengthening commute: C-
Nothing bonds Philadelphians quite like the shared understanding that getting to work will take longer than it should, feel more chaotic than advertised, and somehow still be your fault for not “leaving earlier.”
A new report confirms what everyone stuck on the Schuylkill, the El, or a delayed Regional Rail train already knows: Philly’s average commute is longer than most big cities — and it got worse last year. Thirty-three minutes doesn’t sound brutal until you remember that’s a one-way trip, on a good day, assuming nothing’s on fire (which, this year, was not a safe assumption).
Yes, return-to-office mandates are part of it. Yes, traffic is bad everywhere. But Philly commuters have been playing on hard mode: SEPTA funding drama, service cuts that almost happened, service cuts that did happen, train inspections, near-strikes, and the ever-present question of whether your bus is late or just gone.
The most Philly part is that it’s still technically better than 2019. Which feels less like a victory and more like saying, “Hey, at least it’s not the worst version of this misery.”
New York’s commute is longer. Congrats to them. But Philly’s special talent is making 33 minutes feel like an emotional journey. You leave your house hopeful. You arrive at work already needing a break.
An Eagles fan holds up a sign supporting the Tush Push as the Eagles faced the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field last month.
The Tush Push is officially losing its magic: C
Let us be honest with each other, because denial is unbecoming. The Tush Push is no longer a cheat code. It’s a memory. A beautiful, violent, once-automatic memory.
Three tries. Three failures. False starts, no gain, another flag, and then Nick Sirianni punting like a man quietly admitting something he didn’t want to say out loud. When the Eagles chose not to run it on fourth-and-1, that was the tell. Not the stats. Not the penalties. The vibes. Coaches don’t abandon unstoppable plays. They abandon plays that might get them booed.
For a while, the Tush Push was everything Philly loves: blunt, physical, a little rude, and wildly effective. It turned short-yardage into theater. It broke opponents’ spirits. It sent NFL discourse into absolute hysterics. It won games. It won a Super Bowl. It made grown men scream about “nonfootball plays” like the Eagles had discovered witchcraft.
And now? Teams figured it out. Officials started staring at it like it personally offended them. Hurts clearly got tired of being a human battering ram. What was once inevitable is now… work. And unreliable work at that.
This grade isn’t a condemnation. It’s grief. The Tush Push didn’t die because it failed once. It died because it stopped being feared. It went from “automatic” to “ugh, here we go,” and that’s not good enough in January.
The Eagles will be fine. They have Saquon Barkley, creativity, and other ways to move the ball. But the era of lining up and daring the defense to stop you, knowing they couldn’t, is over.
Raise a glass. Pour one out. Say something nice. Then move on.
In a global survey that asked residents of 65 large cities how satisfied they were with where they lived, Philadelphia came in almost dead last, according to the Gensler Research Institute. Only about 59% of Philly respondents said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” about living here.
And among U.S. cities, Philly ranked 26th out of 27, with peers like New York City at nearly 70% satisfaction andDetroit and Columbus, Ohio, at 66%.
But satisfaction is subjective, and surveys are not gospel. As a tumultuous year comes to a close, here is what a handful of neighborhood leaders across the city had to say about living in Philly today, the issues that matter most to their communities, and what still makes them excited to be Philadelphians.
Life feels harder and more expensive
“Things just feel a lot harder and a little bit more expensive,” said Jamila Harris-Morrison, the executive director of ACHIEVEability, a West Philly anti-poverty nonprofit focusing on single-parent and homeless families.
This year, ACHIEVEability has received more requests for assistance than ever before, she said. Inflation has created financial pressure. “We’re talking about people who are working full-time jobs or maybe two jobs and feeling like they can’t make ends meet,” she said.
That pressure has led West Philly’s young people to pick up any side hustle they can, like photography and sneaker cleaning. Some dismiss the idea of going to college or trade school, Harris-Morrison said, because they need money and resources now, not years down the line.
Latisha White gathers at a balloon Release in memory of her nephew Maurice White, 19, at Level Up, in Philadelphia, July 10, 2024. White was killed in a drive-by shooting that injured eight others at a July 4th gathering in Southwest Philadelphia.
Harris-Morrison hears them talk about aspirations to get out of their neighborhoods one day, but not necessarily out of Philly. And their adult counterparts still hold some optimism, despite recent struggles.
She said that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s H.O.M.E. initiative especially has people energized and looking forward to how it might ease their housing burdens.
“There’s still a level of hope,” she said.
Community problem-solving
Affordability is a major issue in West Mount Airy, too, according to Josephine Gasiewski Winter, executive director of the West Mount Airy Neighbors nonprofit. She said it has become more difficult for people who have lived in the area to stay, and for younger families to buy homes.
But in general, people are pretty happy to be living in the neighborhood and the city, she said. Her organization was founded in 1959 to make the area one of the first intentionally integrated neighborhoods, and she said people today still value its diversity, plus its access to green spaces and the rest of the city.
“It is a very magical little corner of Philadelphia,” she said.
A strong sense of community is a key component of making people feel more satisfied, according to Winter. Recently, neighbors have come together for anti-immigration-raid trainings, and for mutual aid activations when SNAP benefits were paused.
Local resident Carol Bates (far left) aims a speed gun at passing motorists as members of the West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN), East Mt. Airy Neighbors (EMAN) and other community members hold a Protest Traffic Violence rally at Emlen Circle on Lincoln Drive Lincoln Drive in Phila., Pa. on Sept. 11, 2022.
“So when it feels like there’s not much you can do, there are people around that are doing things, and they’re united toward that common goal. That is a reason I think why people love living here,” Winter said.
In South Philly, trash and litter are always top of mind for residents, according to Jimmy Gastner, board vice president of the Passyunk Square Civic Association.
The problem persists even going into year two of the Parker administration’s twice-weekly trash pickup program in South Philly, so Gastner’s block has a contract with Glitter, a popular sidewalk and street-cleaning business. Gastner said litter in the area is a multifaceted problem that requires improvements to infrastructure but also personal responsibility.
Attendees pass vendors at the 2025 Flavors of the Avenue Festival, hosted by the East Passyunk Business Corporation, on East Passyunk Avenue.
He said residents have also shared concerns about maintaining safe, accessible options for transit.
Gastner still sees people positive and optimistic about their slice of South Philly, boosted particularly by neighborhood schools, parks, and resident groups. People value the restaurants and small businesses, and together it makes residents feel connected to where they live.
“Particularly coming out of COVID, I think we’re all looking to get that sense of community,” he said
Uncertainty moving forward
While Kensington may have a certain reputation to those living outside the neighborhood, lately residents have shared mostly mixed feelings about living there, said New Kensington Community Development Corp. executive director Bill McKinney.
Their ambivalence is driven strongly by uncertainty. McKinney said people feel unsure about what is coming next from the federal government.
Theo Caraway of Philadelphia walking his dog Cooper, 6 months, Shitzu/Poodle wearing his Eagles jersey along Kensington at Ontario Street on Philadelphia, Friday, September 5, 2025.
What the city’s latest plan is for the neighborhood’s unhoused population, its open-air drug market, and those suffering from substance abuse is also unclear to residents.
“There’s constant movement but not a lot of clarity,” McKinney said. “You’re kind of just waiting for the other shoe to drop because you know the larger thing wasn’t solved.”
Yet McKinney said there is plenty of positivity around, and it often goes overlooked. Whether or not that adds up to people being satisfied with living there, McKinney said he clearly sees the ways community members are invested in their neighborhood, like reclaiming open spaces to create Kensington’s thriving community gardens.
His agency hosted a workshop series on housing over the last few months, with hundreds of people coming to learn about housing policies work and how coming plans may affect them.
At a packedyouth town hall cohostedwith the nonprofit FAB Youth Philly, many questioned whether Philly was a place where they could see a future for themselves, McKinney said. He hopes that changes — for young people to envision a home here, a family, a job, and a community that they love. It will take major changes and investment, but McKinney thinks it’s possible.
“I’m here because I love Kensington. I can live anywhere … I believe in it. I believe in the people here,” he said.
Musician, writer, journalist, DJ, and tastemaker Joey Sweeney has been having a conversation about Philadelphia with Philadelphians for more than 25 years.
The native Fishtowner broke into the Philly music scene in the ’90s, eventually fronting bands like the Barnabys, the Trouble with Sweeney, and Joey Sweeney & The Neon Grease, as well as recording and performing solo.
Founding and publishing Philly’s first cityblog, the now dormant Philebrity, in 2004, Sweeney wrote about Philly daily for a decade with signature snark. Before that, he wrote about music and culture for Philadelphia Weekly, City Paper, and national outlets.
Joey Sweeney waits for his lunch at Pho75 on Washington Avenue.
In August, Sweeney, 53, joined WXPN as new Saturday morning host of Sleepy Hollow, one of the station’s longest running weekend programs, which has played an intimate, ambient blend of folk, jazz, New Age, and indie since 1973.
A definite change of pace for the longtime nighthawk — “I’ve only recently discovered mornings,” Sweeney said with a laugh — joining the iconic show has been a “dream,” he said.
“The biggest wallop of it is experiencing that WXPN community from the other side,” he said. “The staff is amazing. The listeners are really passionate about loving the station. They really give their love to it. Especially with Sleepy Hollow. It’s this legacy program, and you really want to honor that. The audience and the longevity and all the people who made it happen all those years. It’s a powerful thing.”
Sweeney, who lives in Society Hill with his wife, Elizabeth Scanlon, poet and editor in chief of the American Poetry Review, and stepson, Sully, 20, says his perfect Philly day would revolve around a diverse culinary excursion through the Italian Market, record store shopping, a corner bar pit stop, and some late-night guitar in his attic.
Joey Sweeney is greeted by server Kevin Trinh as he stops for lunch at Pho75 on Washington Avenue.
8:30 a.m.
I’m going to Loretta’s on Second Street. It’s the coffee shop closest to my house, and they do wonderful things. Generally for me, it’s coffee and pastry, usually a chocolate croissant. If I’m feeling extravagant, I’ll go for their Betty sandwich. It’s their breakfast sandwich, which is a really amazing riff on the classic bacon, egg, and cheese.
10 a.m.
Then I’ll head over to South Philly to Pho 75. I am a big pho-for-breakfast or pho-for-mid-morning-meal guy. I love Pho 75. Get the brisket with extra noodles.
11 a.m.
Then, I hunt and gather my way back to my house. I walk down Ninth Street and get all the food we need for the week. All of the things that we need and eat on the regular, that are good, come from a six-block area around Ninth Street. My whole palate lives on that street or thereabouts.
I’m going to the Hung Vuong Supermarket, at 11th and Washington. Hung Vuong has all the noodles and dumplings and the chili crisp and fish sauce — all that stuff you need.
At Ninth Street, it will be any combination of the following: Anastasi Seafood, where I will probably get a half dozen already cooked crabs, and whatever fish we need for the week. Cod. Maybe, Branzino. Anastasi always does me right. They are our household’s Seven Fishes place. God forbid they ever went away. I don’t know what happens to the fish order.
Joey Sweeney at Cappuccio’s Meats. He especially likes their chevalatta gourmet pork sausage with provolone and parsley.
Then, it’s Cappuccio’s Meats for their chevalatta. It’s this very thin sausage with greens and cheese. It’s a very Philly Catholic thing. And Esposito’s Meats. Because Esposito’s will grind meatball mix for you while you wait. The veal, beef, ground pork mix. They don’t put it out with the rest of the stuff. You have to ask for it, and they go in the back and grind it up for you. It’s the best way to make meatballs, by the way. My whole life, I’ve been searching for how to get my Grandma’s meatballs. She left us a long time ago, and I don’t have the recipe. I finally figured it out. You gotta get it ground right there, and not use the crushed tomatoes. Use the canned tomatoes you squeeze with your hands.
1 p.m.
Somewhere in the middle there, I will pop across the street to Molly’s Books & Records. Pound for pound, Molly’s has the best used record selection in the city, and the inventory changes over frequently. They don’t gouge you on the prices. I’ve been going to Molly’s for as long as I can remember. I love giving Molly any shine.
I would also go to Tortilleria San Roman at Ninth and Carpenter. They have these tortillas that they make right there. If I am doing meatballs, I am going to Talluto’s, because they have cavatelli pasta, our house favorite.
Joey Sweeney looks through bins at Molly’s Books & Records.
2 p.m.
I’ve gotten my giant bag of food and records. At this point, I would like to go to Grace & Proper, over on Eighth. It’s a corner bar right off the market. They’re open Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It’s got this cafe kind of vibe and there’s something about it in the daytime. It depends how perishable the food is in my bag. But I might go there, have a drink, have a snack, before I come home and listen to whatever records I got.
6 p.m.
I cook. But my wife, Elizabeth, is the better cook. If we’re not cooking, I like an early bird dinner. Since I’m back in the neighborhood at this point, I’m going to either Cry Baby or Bloomsday.
Cry Baby, especially, is like a second home. Bridget Foy, who owns the place, was kind enough to let me shadow at Cry Baby before 48 Record Bar opened, because I had never had a proper hospitality job. She put me on every station in the place just about. It feels so casual and friendly, like a family spot. But you pop the hood on that place, and it runs like a machine. Her team is so amazing that by the end of it, I was like, oh, man, I would work here.
9 p.m.
Creative times usually come after dinner. Maybe I’ll put on a record or play some guitar. Or I will get on my computer in my attic office and start working on tunes. My wife and I had this really funny moment, like six months ago, where we were hanging out up in the office, and I started playing some of the songs that I’ve been recording up there after dinner. And she’s like, “You never played this for me. This is an album you’ve got. This might be one of the better things you’ve ever done. When are you doing this?” I’m like, “I do it after dinner.”
