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  • Ooh la la: France’s unparalleled team of superstars will light up Philly in the World Cup

    Ooh la la: France’s unparalleled team of superstars will light up Philly in the World Cup

    There will be a lot of great teams and fun vibes in Philadelphia’s World Cup games this summer. But none will be able to match France’s array of superstar talent.

    In fact, almost no other team in the world can run with the team’s depth, except maybe Spain and England. Brazil, which also will play in Philadelphia, probably is fourth.

    It’s not just that France has all-everything forwards Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, the latter the current holder of the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best player. The team has astonishing depth at every position on the field and players at elite clubs around Europe.

    They span all ages, too, from 34-year-old midfield anchor N’Golo Kanté to 19-year-old playmaker Warren Zaïre-Emery. Manager Didier Deschamps, in his third and final World Cup at the helm, will have the task of trying to pick 26 players for his squad from a sea of talent.

    France’s Kylian Mbappe is hoping to pick up where he left off on what was a breakthrough performance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

    Not that there’s any pressure, either, after France won the 2018 World Cup — Mbappé’s breakout on the big stage — and made the 2022 final. Just three teams in soccer history have made three straight World Cup finals: West Germany’s men in 1982, ’86, and ’90; Brazil’s men in 1994, ’98, and 2002; and the U.S. women in 2011, ’15, and ’19.

    It won’t be surprising if France joins that club this summer, but it will be quite impressive. Les Bleus have tough group games against Senegal, the newly crowned African champion, and Norway, with its own stars in Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard.

    In the knockout rounds, Germany could await in a round of 16 game set for July 4 in Philadelphia. Getting to see France here twice would be quite a treat for local fans, especially that matchup.

    France’s World Cup schedule

    (all times Eastern)

    Tuesday, June 16: vs. Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J. (3 p.m., Fox29)

    Monday, June 22: vs. Bolivia, Suriname, or Iraq at Lincoln Financial Field (5 p.m., Fox29, tickets)

    Friday, June 26: vs. Norway in Foxborough, Mass. (3 p.m., Fox29)

    Fast facts

    France’s opponent in Philadelphia will be determined by a UEFA playoff in March. Bolivia will play Suriname on March 28, and the winner will play Iraq on March 31, with both games in Monterrey, Mexico. … France is one of only eight nations to have won a men’s World Cup. It became that club’s seventh member in 1998, with a team led by the legendary Zinedine Zidane. … The Paris region has been renowned for nearly a decade as having the biggest pool of young soccer prospects anywhere in the world. … Six candidates to make France’s team played in Philadelphia during the Club World Cup, though Mbappé did not because he was ill when Real Madrid visited. … Local estimates say just over 71,000 people in the region claim French ancestry.

    Three players to watch

    Kylian Mbappé: The star of stars, with a personality to match his prolific scoring and creativity. One of the biggest in this tournament too, with Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), and Lamine Yamal (Spain). Thousands of fans will flock to South Philly just to see him, no matter what jersey they’re wearing.

    Ousmane Dembélé: Before he led Paris Saint-Germain to last year’s Champions League title and the Club World Cup title, he was one of the most frustrating players in the sport. For all his skill, he had a track record of messing up some of the biggest scoring chances you could imagine. Something finally clicked last season, and now he’s almost unstoppable.

    William Saliba: France isn’t just stacked in its attack. Its defense also is terrific, and Deschamps cares about that a lot — he was the midfield anchor of France’s ’98 champions that won the European championship two years later. Saliba is a stalwart centerback for Les Bleus and English club Arsenal, and at 24 years old is only just starting to hit his peak.

    William Saliba (center) is a formidable force on the back line of France’s defense.

    France’s Philly connection

    There isn’t much, soccer-wise, but there have been connections outside sports for centuries. France was the first ally of the British colonies that declared independence in 1776. Benjamin Franklin led the diplomatic effort, and, in 1778, France signed the Treaty of Alliance to give its official backing.

    In the early 20th century, French architect Paul Philippe Cret designed the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, modeled on Paris’ famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Cret also designed the bridge named in Franklin’s honor and helped renovate Rittenhouse Square into what’s now Philly’s best-known city park.

    If you’re an art fan, Philly has two of the world’s largest collections of works by famed French artists: painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir at the Barnes Foundation, and the Rodin museum for sculptor Auguste Rodin. Fans walking from Center City to the World Cup fan fest on Lemon Hill will pass by both on the Parkway.

    Ale Ayiti: Philly’s Haitian Americans celebrate a rare World Cup bid | Sabrina Vourvoulias

    Make sure you check out …

    Philly and the surrounding area claims a cherished legacy of great French restaurants — Le Bec-Fin being chief among them — but food writer Beatrice Forman recommends Supérette, a new-school but extremely legit entry to the city’s Gallic scene.

    The interior of Supérette, a market and restaurant that will be all things France in Philly during the World Cup.

    This all-day French wine bar has perfected the art of the “sip-and-nibble” with a menu of compulsively snackable light bites that range from a sheet of tiny raviolis stuffed with comté to a sandwich on pinsa bread (focaccia’s thinner sister) layered with potato chips and customizable charcuterie boards.

    The space is divided down the middle into a casual yet effortlessly trendy bar and an épicerie that sells a curated mix of meat, cheeses, prepared goods, and imported French snacks. Who’s to say you can’t enjoy a baguette straight from the bread bag at a soccer game? 📍1538 E. Passyunk Ave., superettephl.com

    Check out the Inquirer’s curated list of the 76 best restaurants in the Philly area
    SEPTA’s Broad Street Line train is a direct path from the city to the stadium on game day.

    Navigating Philly

    The best way to navigate getting to the stadium area where the games will be held is via SEPTA, the city’s public transportation system. The network has its own app and is fully integrated into apps, including Google Maps, Apple Maps, Transit, and CityMapper.

    Whether you’re coming in by way of Philadelphia’s international airport or its main train hub, William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, it’s easy to get around Philly’s Center City district and other neighborhoods by bus, train, or trolley.

    Don’t feel like figuring out all the schedules? Taxis or ride shares via Uber or Lyft also are quick and convenient options.

  • A K-8 Jewish day school is proposed for Washington Square West

    A K-8 Jewish day school is proposed for Washington Square West

    A long vacant parking garage at 510-28 S. Eighth St. sits between some of Philadelphia’s most desirable neighborhoods, and Rabbi Yochonon Goldman hopes it could soon be the site of Center City’s only Jewish day school.

    It all depends on how the Zoning Board of Adjustment rules.

    The four-story, almost 36,000-square-foot plan for the building is the third iteration of the proposed K-8 school. Goldman, who is rabbi of B’nai Abraham Chabad, and developer Masada Custom Builders are seeking neighborhood support for the project.

    The proposal has stirred controversy for its height, size, and the inclusion of several apartments. The project needs seven variances from the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, largely because the garage is zoned for multifamily rowhouse development, just like most of the surrounding blocks.

    The plan is more likely to succeed at a zoning hearing if it has the support of local neighborhood groups, chiefly the Washington Square West Civic Association.

    “I truly believe that this educational institution will enhance our neighborhood,” Goldman said at a neighborhood meeting last week. “It will be a tremendous asset to all residents of the neighborhood, whether you’re Jewish or not.”

    Goldman’s synagogue runs a successful nearby pre-kindergarten program at the synagogue on 527 Lombard St., and many parents are frustrated by the lack of a Jewish elementary school in the area.

    But the Lombard Mews homeowners association, which borders the site to the west, has organized to negotiate with the development team and hired veteran zoning attorney Paul Boni.

    Immediate neighbors say they are most concerned with the proposed building’s size and height, which in early iterations was five stories. They are skeptical of plans to build three apartments on top of the school, saying the apartments would bulk up the structure.

    Speakers from Lombard Mews included Aren Platt, who served as one of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s top advisers during her election campaign and the first year of her administration. He reiterated that his neighbors’ chief concern was with height and size, not the idea of a school in this location.

    Two of the apartments above the school would be small studios for interns who join the faculty and will need affordable nearby residences. The largest would be for the rabbi’s family: a bi-level condo with a private elevator and roof deck.

    A rendering of the Jewish day school planned for the Washington Square West neighborhood.

    At the meeting, the design team noted that the current version of the building is 52½ feet, down from over 70 feet originally. The team reduced the ceiling height of each floor and eliminated one story from the plans.

    Still, critics argued against the apartments — especially given that the classrooms have shrunk to meet neighbor demands but the living units remained intact.

    “We’re puzzled as to why the proposal includes three luxury dwelling units on the top,” Boni said at the meeting. “Eliminating that square footage would seem to go a long way toward meeting our requested building envelope.”

    Goldman argues that the apartments atop the school are essential to the project’s success.

    “A rabbi’s home is not just a private residence; it’s a communal space which builds strong relationships among community members who become like an extended family, sharing meals with the rabbi’s family,” Goldman said in an email. “It’s all part of the educational model which we envision for the school.”

    Goldman also says that having a responsible and active presence on site 24/7 will be a positive for the school building. But most important to him, the close proximity will aid in the religious practice of his community.

    “This space is not just a home. It is a vehicle for hospitality and connection,“ he said. ”Beyond the academics offered in the classroom, the school is a place where the values of Judaism come to life.”

    Some opponents thought the school should be rejected entirely for its attempt to bypass the property’s zoning. The proposal provides only 12 parking spaces, while the zoning requires twice that, and a roof deck is not allowed under current land-use rules.

    Regarding parking and potential congestion from the plan — a fear expressed by some nearby small business owners — the development team said their traffic study showed that 50% to 60% of students would walk to school, as they already do to the pre-K program. Supporters noted that many Jewish families who do not drive on Shabbat and certain holidays would prefer to live within walking distance to school.

    “Right now, we have 75 kids, and at least 60 from those kids are walking,” said Isaac Ohayon of Masada Custom Builders. “They live in the neighborhood. … They’re all no more than 10 to 15 blocks away.”

    The Washington Square West Civic Association will vote Tuesday on whether to support or oppose the project when it goes before the zoning board March 4.

  • Ghana’s plan to emerge from a crowded group of strong soccer nations runs through Philly

    Ghana’s plan to emerge from a crowded group of strong soccer nations runs through Philly

    Ghana will take the field for its fifth World Cup this summer vying to match the success of its first two tournament appearances.

    Since making their World Cup debut in 2006, the Black Stars have qualified for every tournament since, except in 2018. But Ghana has yet to match its performances in its first two World Cup appearances, a round of 16 exit in 2006 and a knockout win over the United States that led to a quarterfinal appearance in 2010.

    Ghana is in a crowded Group L alongside England, Croatia, and Panama, but with the expansion of the knockout stage from 16 to 32 teams, the Ghanaians stand a chance of making their first trip out of the group stage since 2010.

    Ghana’s World Cup schedule

    (All times Eastern)

    June 17: vs. Panama in Toronto (7 p.m., FS1)

    June 23: vs. England in Foxborough, Mass. (4 p.m., Fox29)

    June 27: vs. Croatia at Lincoln Financial Field (5 p.m., FS1, tickets)

    Fast facts

    Ghana is ranked 72nd in FIFA’s latest world rankings. … Ghana’s team gets its Black Stars nickname from the Black Star of Africa, which is featured in the center of the country’s tricolor flag. … Ghana has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times, most recently in 1982. Ghana failed to qualify for the most recent Africa Cup. … Otto Addo is in his second stint as manager for Ghana. Addo departed after coaching the Black Stars in the 2022 World Cup but returned to the position in March 2024.

    Jordan Ayew (right) is expected to be one of Ghana’s go-to players as it looks to emerge from Group L.

    Players to watch

    Jordan Ayew, son of all-time Ghanaian great Abedi Ayew, has followed in his father’s footsteps by captaining the Black Stars. Ayew, who plays his club soccer for Leicester City in the English Championship, has the second-most appearances in Ghanaian history. His 115 caps only trail his older brother, André Ayew.

    Antoine Semenyo perhaps is the most exciting player expected to be in Ghana’s World Cup squad. The winger has been in excellent form, scoring in three of his first four appearances for English Premier League side Manchester City, which acquired him from EPL rival Bournemouth for approximately $84 million in January. Semenyo, 26, suited up for Ghana at the World Cup in 2022, but only played 19 minutes across two matches.

    Joining Ayew and Semenyo to make up a fierce Ghanaian attack is Mohammed Kudus. Kudus was an important player for a struggling Tottenham squad early in the Premier League season, but a leg injury he suffered in January is expected to keep him out of play until March. Kudus should be healthy enough to star for Ghana this summer as he did at the 2022 tournament. Kudus led Ghana with two goals in three group-stage games in Qatar.

    Philly meets Ghana moment

    Ghana last visited Philadelphia for an international friendly matchup with Chile in February 2012, with the two nations playing to a 1-1 draw at PPL Park (now Subaru Park). Richard Mpong opened the scoring for the Black Stars with a goal shortly before halftime. Most of the players who took the pitch for Ghana in Chester have since retired, but a young Jordan Ayew took in the game from the bench.

    You should check out …

    Inquirer critic Craig LaBan searched for a Ghanaian-owned spot in Philadelphia but came up short. Still, he’s got advice on a close counterpart:

    If you’re planning a watch party for Ghana in the World Cup, there appears to be no local restaurant owned specifically by Ghanaians at the moment. However, Southwest Philly’s thriving Africatown along Woodland Avenue is bustling with restaurants serving cuisines from the surrounding region, including Le Baobab (Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso) and Lè Mandingue, a multilocation institution whose Liberian and Guinean ownership caters to a wide array of Philadelphians from across the West African diaspora.

    Le Mandingue makes one of my favorite renditions of jollof rice, best topped with zesty chunks of grilled lamb dibi and a potent hot sauce that will light you up. Try the spicy peanut soup with fluffy balls of fufu on the side for dipping. But don’t miss what may be Lè Mandingue’s best dish: a takeout tub of stewed sweet potato leaf greens imbued with so much flavor from smoked turkey and spice, that I literally could not stop eating it. Lè Mandingue, 📍 6620 Woodland Ave., ☎️ 215-726-0543; 📍 7186 Marshall Rd., ☎️ 484-461-2981; or University Fair Food (online ordering only); lemandingue.com

    Check out the Inquirer’s curated list of the 76 best restaurants in the Philly area
    SEPTA’s Broad Street Line train is a direct path from the city to the stadium on game day.

    Navigating Philly

    The best way to navigate getting to the stadium area where the games will be held is via SEPTA, the city’s public transportation system. The network has its own app and is fully integrated into apps, including Google Maps, Apple Maps, Transit, and CityMapper.

    Whether you’re coming in by way of Philadelphia’s international airport or its main train hub, William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, it’s easy to get around Philly’s Center City district and other neighborhoods by bus, train, or trolley.

    Don’t feel like figuring out all the schedules? Taxis or ride shares via Uber or Lyft also are quick and convenient options.

  • Doing it for Luka: Croatia’s World Cup stop in Philly has major motivation behind it.

    Doing it for Luka: Croatia’s World Cup stop in Philly has major motivation behind it.

    After finishing as runner-up in 2018 and earning bronze in 2022, Croatia will return to the World Cup stage seeking its first-ever first-place finish.

    This summer’s tournament will be the seventh for the Vatreni, who boast three top-three finishes at the World Cup since winning bronze in their first appearance in 1998.

    Croatia should have a path out of Group L, though it will have to contend with England. Can Croatia match the success of its most recent tournament appearances in this year’s expanded 48-team field?

    Croatia’s World Cup schedule

    (All times Eastern)

    June 17: vs. England in Arlington, Texas (4 p.m., Fox29)

    June 23: vs. Panama in Toronto (7 p.m., Fox29)

    June 27: vs. Ghana, at Lincoln Financial Field (5 p.m., FS1, tickets)

    Fast facts

    Croatia is ranked 11th in FIFA’s latest world rankings. … Despite three top-three finishes at the World Cup, Croatia has not advanced past the quarterfinals of the UEFA European Championship. … The Vatreni have been managed by Zlatko Dalić since 2017. … Ivan Perišić, a likely inclusion in Dalić’s squad this summer, needs eight international goals to match all-time leading goal scorer Davor Šuker’s mark of 45 goals. … Croatia will match up against England in Group L, a rematch of their semifinal meeting in the 2018 tournament, which Croatia won, 2-1, in extra time. … Croatia is the second-smallest nation, both by population and by land mass, to appear in a World Cup final.

    Andrej Kramarić (center) will be looking to improve upon his two-goal outburst in the 2022 World Cup.

    Three players to watch

    Croatia’s biggest star and captain is Luka Modrić, the midfield engine behind the team’s success in recent tournaments. Modrić, 40, will appear in his fifth World Cup this summer, a feat that has only been accomplished by eight players in tournament history. The former Real Madrid captain moved to AC Milan in July 2025, where he likely will finish his club career, but he will get one more run to try and lead the Croatian team to victory at the World Cup.

    Joining Modrić in that effort should be Andrej Kramarić, a forward who currently plays for Hoffenheim in Germany’s Bundesliga. Kramarić, 34, scored twice at the World Cup in 2022, making him the only Croatian player to find the back of the net multiple times in the team’s run to the semifinals. Kramarić, who netted six goals in eight matches during Croatia’s World Cup qualifiers, should be an important attacking piece for the Vatreni.

    Despite having played in just one World Cup match, Josip Šutalo could be the most important player in the Croatian back line. Šutalo was a first-choice defender for Dalić’s team at the Euros in 2024, starting all three of the team’s group-stage matches. The centerback may become important for Croatia this summer, as Joško Gvardiol, another top defender at the Euros, suffered a tibia fracture while playing for Manchester City in January that could keep him out of Croatia’s squad for the World Cup. Šutalo will need to be more effective than he was at the Euros, where the Vatreni allowed six goals in three matches.

    Philly meets Croatia moment

    Modrić’s last competition with Real Madrid was last summer’s Club World Cup. The midfielder got a chance to play at Lincoln Financial Field at the Club World Cup, coming onto the pitch in the 67th minute to help see through Madrid’s 3-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg. Modrić played 13 seasons with Real Madrid before joining AC Milan in July 2025, where he plays alongside Hershey native and U.S. midfielder Christian Pulisic.

    You should check out …

    There are no Croatian restaurants in Philadelphia, but you can find some Balkan comfort food at South Philly’s Two Eagles Cafe, according to Inquirer writer Kiki Aranita:

    At first glance, you might think that Two Eagles is owned by a Philadelphia Eagles fanatic, and the Karaj family owners certainly lean into the cross-cultural overlap. But the two eagles actually refer to the flag of their homeland, Albania.

    Check out the Inquirer’s curated list of the 76 best restaurants in the Philly area

    The menu here is predominantly made up of American breakfast and lunch staples — cheesesteaks, breakfast burritos, and BLTs — but Balkan hints turn up in the Russian dressing smeared on their smash burger, the Polish omelet with sliced kielbasa and mushrooms, and their Fergese, a creamy feta-and-bell pepper stew served in a mini skillet, topped with an egg, and served with slices of white toast.

    The real star of the show is their Albanian qofte, consisting of big, oblong kebabs simmered in tomato-bell pepper sauce and served with tangy, herbaceous sour cream. One thing that Croatia and Albania have in common is burek, which is served by the slice at the Point Breeze cafe. Grab one on your way out, along with a piece of baklava. 📍 Two Eagles Cafe, 1401 S. 20th St., ☎️ 267-748-2257, twoeaglescafe.square.site

    SEPTA’s Broad Street Line train is a direct path from the city to the stadium on game day.

    Navigating Philly

    The best way to navigate getting to the stadium area where the games will be held is via SEPTA, the city’s public transportation system. The network has its own app and is fully integrated into apps, including Google Maps, Apple Maps, Transit, and CityMapper.

    Whether you’re coming in by way of Philadelphia’s international airport or its main train hub, William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, it’s easy to get around Philly’s Center City district and other neighborhoods by bus, train, or trolley.

    Don’t feel like figuring out all the schedules? Taxis or ride shares via Uber or Lyft also are quick and convenient options.

  • Philly is a stop on Brazil’s path to World Cup glory. Here’s what to know about the Seleçao

    Philly is a stop on Brazil’s path to World Cup glory. Here’s what to know about the Seleçao

    Casual soccer fans, and even those who know nothing about the sport itself, know that when it comes to soccer excellence on a global scale, Brazil’s track record is unparalleled.

    As five-time World Cup champions, with one of those titles coming the last time the tournament was held in the United States in 1994, the Seleçao holds the record for the nation with the most World Cup trophies, dating back to 1930, their first appearance in the tournament, and in 2002, the last time they won it all.

    Brazil’s lore largely is propped up by its legends, players past — and even a few still present, who have put the sport on the map. However, even with a crop of natural talent, the nation has struggled over the last few years to regain its former dominance.

    Brazil has struggled in every men’s World Cup tournament since its 2002 victory, crashing out in the quarterfinals four times and the semifinals once, though that might just be the tournament many won’t soon forget: a 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

    Now, the nation that has qualified for every World Cup since the first iteration in 1930 will return to the United States, with its tournament aspirations making a stop in Philly against Haiti in Brazil’s second game of Group C on June 19 (9 p.m., Fox29).

    Brazil’s World Cup schedule

    (All times Eastern)

    June 13: vs. Morocco in East Rutherford, N.J. (6 p.m., FS1)

    June 19: vs. Haiti at Lincoln Financial Field (9 p.m., Fox29, tickets)

    June 24: vs. Scotland in Miami Gardens, Fla. (6 p.m., Fox29)

    Lincoln Financial Field, which will be renamed to Philadelphia Stadium, will host six matches in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

    Fast facts

    Brazil is currently ranked fifth in FIFA’s latest world rankings. … Neymar, who has been a key figure in Brazil’s attacking corps for over a decade, isn’t a guarantee to make manager Carlo Ancelotti’s team. Despite playing well for Santos in the Brazilian league, he’s still coming back from a meniscus tear. … Croatia in Group L also will be coming to Lincoln Financial Field this summer. The Vatreni knocked Brazil out on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. … According to city data, Northeast Philadelphia has one of the largest Brazilian contingencies in the city, housing the bulk of what’s an estimated 20,000 people living within the city limits.

    Brazil’s Rodrygo (left) is expected to have a breakthrough performance in this World Cup.

    Three players to watch

    It’s hard to just name three on a roster that undoubtedly will feature players competing on the top club teams in world soccer. However, the biggest name at the moment is Vinícius Jr., the 25-year-old star forward for Spanish club giants Real Madrid. Vinicius led the team to the semifinals of last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup. He’s played in 45 matches for Brazil since debuting for the first team as a 19-year-old in 2019, with eight goals.

    He’ll most likely be joined by Rodrygo, his teammate at Real Madrid, who is a danger at either inside a four-man attacking front in Brazil’s iconic 4-2-4 formation but mainly outside on the right wing, where Rodrygo, 25, has scored nine goals for his country in just 37 matches.

    Finally, there’s a case to be made for Gabriel Magalhães, who, at 28, can be considered one of the most complete defenders in the world, starring in the back for Arsenal in the English Premier League.

    Philly meets Brazil moment

    One of the biggest arrived just last year, when Vini Jr. dazzled at Lincoln Financial Field during the FIFA Club World Cup, where he scored a remarkable goal in a win over Red Bull Salzburg, and then dished out the assist with a no-look back-heel pass on the game-winner just before halftime.

    Make sure you check out …

    If you’re rooting for Brazil, food writer Beatrice Forman has not one, but two great recommendations for you, covering sweet and savory:

    Brazilian-born pastry chef-owner Mallory Santos-Cepeda has a South Philly monopoly on the country’s traditional confections. Her bakery, Kouklet & Tanda, specializes in bolo de rolo (ultrathin cake rolls from northern Brazil), plus airy sourdough doughnuts called sonhos that are stuffed with a rotating fillings, from fig butter to white chocolate custard and poached pears. Kouklet & Tanda has two locations, both of which are takeout only, so grab empanadas to snack on in the stands of the Linc or fuel up with a big focaccia sandwich on the Broad Street Line. 📍 1647 E. Passyunk Ave. and 1429 Wolf St.; ☎️ 973-664-7076, kouklet.com

    Check out the Inquirer’s curated list of the 76 best restaurants in the Philly area

    Picanha Brazilian Steakhouse: For a savory (or celebratory) option, Northeast Philly’s Picanha steakhouse is open late daily, serving up charcoal-grilled cuts of rodizio (all-you-can eat meats) that theatrically turn on skewers in the back of the dining room. Picanha is BYOB with a salad bar that’s less upscale than those Brazilian steakhouse chains, so there’s nothing stopping you from celebrating a dub with mountains of pão de queijo (cheese bread) or Brazilian-style lasagna. 📍 6501 Castor Ave., ☎️ 215-743-4647, picanhasteakhouse.com

    Support a local Brazilian small business:

    By Brazil: It may look like your average convenience store on the outside, but inside the revamped shop, you can pick up authentic Brazilian wares, food items, and more. Soccer is a passion here, too, as By Brazil has a decent selection of jerseys on the club side along with the national team. 📍6400 Castor Avenue, ☎️ 215-533-9200.

    SEPTA’s Broad Street Line train is a direct path from the city to the stadium on game day.

    Navigating Philly

    The best way to get to the stadium area where the games will be held is via SEPTA, the city’s public transportation system. The network has its own app and is fully integrated into apps, including Google Maps, Apple Maps, Transit, and CityMapper.

    Whether you’re coming in by way of Philadelphia’s international airport or its main train hub, William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, it’s easy to get around Philly’s Center City district and other neighborhoods by bus, train, or trolley.

    Don’t feel like figuring out all the schedules? Taxis or ride shares via Uber or Lyft also are quick and convenient options.

  • Philly residents thought they had a winter parking system. Then the snow stuck around.

    Philly residents thought they had a winter parking system. Then the snow stuck around.

    By the time Taylor Schuler finally freed their car, they were exhausted. It had taken five hours across two days, hacking at the wall of ice encasing their Prius’ bumper, shoveling piles of frozen snow off the tires, to complete the job. As the sun set on their afternoon of labor, they were tempted to put a piece of furniture in their hard-earned spot, a practice sometimes known as “savesies” in Philadelphia.

    But they knew better. Having just moved to Philly from Houston, the 28-year-old academic librarian wasn’t all that familiar with cold-weather etiquette, so they took to the internet ahead of January’s snowstorm to figure out what exactly Philly’s rules are. They gathered that people weren’t all that fond of the “savesies” practice, so, tempted as they were to hold onto their spot, they let it go.

    Once the spot was cleared, they circled the block, a quick trip to make sure their car was still working. Their internet research had also led them to believe no one would just take their spot immediately. As they rounded the corner toward their house, though, they saw another driver lurch into the spot they just spent hours digging out.

    “Oh jeez,” Schuler thought to themselves. “It’s like the Wild West out here.”

    In some snow-burdened cities, saving a shoveled-out parking spot is a deeply ingrained winter habit. Boston even formally acknowledges the practice by allowing residents to mark a spot they dug out for up to 48 hours after a storm. In Chicago, protecting your precious dug-out parking space with a lawn chair is called “dibs,” and it’s been a beloved and widely accepted tradition since the great blizzard of 1967.

    But Philadelphia exists in a murkier middle ground. Until about two weeks ago, it snowed infrequently enough and melted fast enough that any theory about our collective approach to storm parking was never really put to the test. But the lingering snow has revealed a kind of civic chaos, with neighbors operating under wildly different assumptions and fights breaking out over who is entitled to snow-cleared parking spots.

    The divide is often generational. Older residents, who experienced harsher winters, are more likely to embrace savesies as another classic Philly tradition while younger residents and transplants see it as territorial nonsense, out of step with the values of densely populated city life.

    Schuler finds the entire debate exhausting. “I just want to be able to go to work and come home,” they said. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

    Connor Phan digs his car out after the recent snowstorm.

    Jeff Martin, 43, who lives in South Philly, describes himself as firmly “no savesies” but with caveats. He won’t put out a chair. He won’t defend one. But he also won’t move someone else’s. “I don’t believe in the chair,” Martin said. “But I’m going to obey the chair.” His reasons are entirely practical. “I don’t want to get keyed,” he said.

    Martin argues Philadelphia’s parking wars are a symptom of the changing climate. “The fact that over the last 20 years, we haven’t gotten as much snow as we did over the previous 20 years has made us forget how to deal with it,” he said, “and the city forget how to deal with it to the point where they don’t properly fund the removal of snow.”

    For the record, the city is firmly in the “#nosavesies” camp, and the police routinely remind Philadelphians that saving parking spots is illegal. Of course, that doesn’t stop people from doing it — and other people complaining about it.

    Lucas Tran didn’t see the cinderblock in the spot he parked in on Tuesday night. It wasn’t until another driver pulled up and told him that he was in her spot that he became aware of it. She said she had dug out the spot herself, saved it with the cinderblock, and that Tran had to move.

    Can I move the cones my neighbor places to save his parking spot?

    At first, he refused. But he backed down after she called him a liar and a “little b—.” He didn’t want things to escalate. The next day, she left a handwritten apology on his car. “Thank you for moving your car,” it read. “You are NOT a little b—.”

    Tran takes a “special exception” approach to the savesies debate. If the woman had been elderly or a first responder, or if it had been two or three days after the storm rather than a full week later, he might have been more understanding. “But the roads are drivable now, he said. “There are more options to park. You can’t keep claiming a spot that’s public property.”

    Back in West Philly, Schuler spent the week parking wherever they could. The spot they dug out remained occupied until one evening, when they pulled up, excited to reclaim what was once theirs — only to find a folding table balanced on two overturned pots in their way. Someone had “savesied” Schuler’s spot.

    Schuler snapped a photo and uploaded it to Reddit, where the response was nearly unanimous. As one Redditor put it, “that’s diabolical.”

    It was the one version of “savesies” Schuler had never seen defended. “If there’s anything people agree on,” they said, “it’s that you don’t do that.”

  • Letters to the Editor | Feb. 9, 2026

    Letters to the Editor | Feb. 9, 2026

    Kicking in doors

    MAGA Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, an attorney, practiced constitutional law before getting elected as a congressman from Louisiana. Constitutional law! And yet he doesn’t seem to give a flip about the U.S. Constitution.

    The Fourth Amendment says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Johnson says: “[I]f someone is, you know, they’re going to be apprehended, and they run behind a closed door and lock the door, I mean, what is Immigration and Customs Enforcement supposed to do at that point? ‘Oh, gee whiz, a locked door.’” Yes, exactly. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to say, ‘Oh, gee whiz, a locked door,’ not kick in the door, and get a signed judicial warrant for a legal search by describing the place to be searched and the person sought. It’s that simple. Please read the Constitution, people, and every day, after each new outrage, ask yourself: Is this constitutional?

    Ann Burruss, Newark, Del.

    . . .

    The Trump administration’s deportation policies are a disgrace. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that 70% of those detained have criminal records, ranging from speeding tickets to murder. The real figure, according to her own agency’s statistics, is about 47%. Legal immigrants, those going to court hearings about their status, those with Temporary Protected Status, and U.S. citizens who are Black or brown, are now targets for detention and deportation. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that racial profiling is acceptable in these cases. Rather than targeted efforts to identify the worst of the worst, Stephen Miller has given agents quotas of 3,000 a day to be met. The result is indiscriminate roundups. And these agents are using brutal force, not asking for ID, pushing people to the ground, brutalizing them, and — in the case of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — killing them because they dared to protest. If you protest, you may be detained, beaten, or shot, as well. Donald Trump’s claims that he is de-escalating are lies. Warehouses are now being bought to house detainees in poor conditions without legal representation, which will become incubators for the spread of disease. There has already been a measles outbreak at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas. Protesting against these un-American policies is one of the most effective ways of fighting for the soul of our nation.

    George Magakis Jr., Norristown

    . . .

    As a practicing attorney for more than 50 years, I have read with great trepidation the stories about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s crackdown on illegal immigration. It often appears to be an end run around the basic Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, which I presumed applied to all people. Agents drag people out of cars and homes without search warrants that traditionally require judicial review and approval. They are then often quickly deported to foreign countries, occasionally not even their country of origin. Apparently, ICE is permitted to operate outside the traditional constitutional guarantees the rest of us enjoy.

    Now, I am astonished to read a more clandestine effort to subvert our First Amendment protections of free speech via administrative subpoenas. Are we throwing away our Constitution in the insane quest to rid a country of immigrants — a group that includes myself — of recent immigrants from developing countries? As Ben Franklin said years ago, this is a republic, if we can keep it. It’s time to speak up and stop this madness.

    Angus Love, Narberth

    Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

  • Horoscopes: Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Today, you’ll gravitate toward people who nudge you forward, inspire you to work harder and catalyze your becoming. They might not be the nicest or easiest to be around, but that’s not what matters now because you’re in a phase of growth, not comfort.

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). It’s simple emotional math today: Positive emotions give you energy, and negative emotions drain energy. You can’t choose your feelings, but you can put yourself in the mindset and environment most conducive to feeling good.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’re thinking a lot about how to make your daily life work better, and one solution keeps coming to mind. In theory, it could work. The only way to tell is to apply it. Test your idea in tiny, low-risk ways first.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). Some challenges unravel slowly if you tease them apart, strand by strand. Today’s are better approached as the landscaper does, snipping, cutting and mowing right through. Keep moving until it’s beautiful.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There are seasons when it’s best to say yes to every invite, opportunity and offer, and there are times like now when more discretion is called for. You’ve paid your dues and can hold out for your specific preferences and vision.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Countless similar moments blur together, but when something brings up a feeling in you, a memory is born, too. Someone who is emotionally available can turn ordinary moments into a vivid experience. Their access to feeling invites your own.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Your social intuition will serve you well. You’ll sense when someone is telling the truth and when they aren’t. You can build on what’s real. It’s safe to leave the rest alone. Falsehoods tend to collapse under their own weight.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). It’s a strong balance: feeling liberated from the need to own more, yet still committed to tending what’s already yours. The care you put into your things today saves you time and money later. Bonus: Someone is watching with respect.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Someone has you guarding your heart. But how do you protect something as invisible and volatile as a feeling? Today, it may be impossible to stay ahead of it. But if you agree to feel whatever comes up, it’s you who will be ahead.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Everyone knows you’re responsible, but it would actually be irresponsible to carry everything at once. Know your limits. A pause strengthens the foundation you’ve built. Even small rests renew your energy and focus.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). People get in sync with your ideas, feelings and rhythms. It’s as though there’s a drum line following you around, adding power, excitement and a steady beat that you and everyone around you can move to.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). People don’t have to be “on” to be accepted by you. They sense it, and this unspoken permission to relax and be themselves somehow still inspires people to impress you. It’s funny how comfort rouses vitality and excitement.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 9). The theme of your year: love shows up. Consistently, yet sometimes surprisingly, in forms you recognize and new ones you learn, even some you invent in a beautiful co-creation. Whether familiar or friendly, passionate or sweet, giving yourself over to relationships will be a pleasure. More highlights: the freedom to plan further ahead than before and opportunities to teach, guide or profit from what comes easily to you. Cancer and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 3, 14, 26, 35 and 41.

  • Dear Abby | Husband gambles away retired couple’s nest egg

    DEAR ABBY: My husband developed an addiction to slot machines, but I didn’t realize it. He would leave the house in the early morning before I woke up. Abby, he gambled away every single asset we had accumulated during our 58 years of marriage — somewhere around $600,000! I found out after he asked his grown children for “grocery money.”

    We are now bankrupt and must rely on our son, who offered to bail us out if he could be the trustee of our land, home, everything. He takes our monthly pensions and gives us a tiny allowance when we beg for something, but we are so poor we can’t see a movie, eat out or go anywhere, including to visit our other kids.

    I’m extremely depressed that nothing can solve this problem for the rest of my life. I’d find another job teaching, but I’m in my 80s and have limited mobility. At least I’m still in my home. I realize this is a dead-end street, but it helps to vent. Can you comment?

    — LOST IT ALL IN TEXAS

    DEAR LOST IT: Is your son giving you such a tiny allowance because that is what your finances dictate, or is he trying to punish his father for getting into the predicament in which you find yourselves? Talk to your son and explain that the little money he doles out does not allow you to go anywhere, eat out or even see a movie, and see if you, his mother, can convince him to relent so you are not being punished for something you had no part in.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: I disagree with your response to “Dutiful Daughter in Alabama” (Nov. 10), who put a camera in her 80-year-old mom’s den in case of a fall and overheard Mom make negative comments about her. Installing a camera in someone’s home without their consent is disgusting and wrong, legally and morally. The elderly, in addition to the rest of the population, have a right to privacy in their own homes.

    If “Dutiful Daughter” was really concerned about her mother falling, she should have considered a medical alert device, which would have notified family and summoned medical help the moment she fell. This is the safer, legal and common-sense solution.

    It sounds like “Dutiful” had other undisclosed reasons for installing a camera. Why did she listen to a conversation that was clearly private? How would she know if her mother fell in another room of the house? If her mother was talking on the phone or visiting with her son, it should have been clear that she was OK and no additional spying was required.

    After reading this letter, if children think it is OK to invade their parents’ privacy without their consent, I’m happier than ever to be child-free.

    — ANNE P. IN MINNESOTA

    DEAR ANNE: To put it mildly, you are not the only reader who disagreed with my answer to that letter. I confess, I didn’t consider the privacy issues that were ignored. Mea culpa.

  • Bad Bunny’s ‘Benito Bowl’ was a celebration of Puerto Rican pride

    Bad Bunny’s ‘Benito Bowl’ was a celebration of Puerto Rican pride

    Bad Bunny has rescued the Super Bowl.

    The first half of the final game of the NFL season was a low-scoring, nearly lifeless affair, but once Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio appeared for his much ballyhooed and endlessly analyzed halftime show, Levi’s Stadium came brilliantly to life.

    The Latin trap rapper and charismatic entertainer promised that the Benito Bowl would be a proud celebration of his native Puerto Rico, and boy was it ever!

    Dressed in white with a football tucked under his arm, Bad Bunny — who became the first-ever Spanish-language Grammy album of the year winner last Sunday — kept up his February winning streak.

    His dazzlingly choreographed performance transformed the field into sugarcane fields (actual people dressed as sugarcane plants) with a casita at the center that Bad Bunny danced on top of, before dramatically falling through the roof. An allegedly real wedding was officiated, and Bad Bunny crowd-surfed, carried the Puerto Rican flag, stopped at coco frio and taco stands, said hello to a pair of sparring boxers, paid tribute to reggaeton stars Daddy Yankee and Don Omar, and packed in portions of 12 songs in just under 13 minutes.

    Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga perform during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

    The big-name guest performers — the source of much speculation and wagering beforehand — turned out to be Lady Gaga, who sang her hit “Die With a Smile” wearing a traditional Puerto Rican dress complete with a brooch that looked like the national flower, the flor de maga. Then followed a salsa version of “Monaco” and a surprise appearance by Ricky Martin, the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” Puerto Rican crossover star whose success preceded Bad Bunny’s by a generation.

    With Bad Bunny, Martin sang “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii,” a powerful protest anthem warning people of Puerto Rico so they don’t suffer the same fate as Hawaii.

    Fleeting cameo appearances were made by many others — Cardi B., Karol G., Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, Alix Earle, and Young Miko among them. Not to mention a cast of what seemed like hundreds of dancers and bit players.

    But the focus was on the artist and global cultural powerhouse who brought together the community in Levi’s Stadium, and the ones watching on TV and phone screens around the world.

    Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

    The NFL — and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which booked the show — was savvy to bring in the most widely streamed musician in the world to attract a youthful, international audience. That, while resisting pressure from the Trump administration and conservative critics who argued that Bad Bunny — an American citizen — was somehow an “un-American choice” to headline the most red, white, and blue sporting event of the year.

    As promised, Bad Bunny rapped only in Spanish, so viewers like me who don’t speak the language, were somewhat clueless. But it wasn’t so hard to get the gist of communal solidarity, though. To make it plain for the gringos, a giant video screen spelled out in English the words Bad Bunny used in his Grammy acceptance speech last week: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” underscoring the common humanity of immigrants fighting for freedom and respect.

    Bad Bunny, left, performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

    While remaining in constant motion, Bad Bunny addressed the crowd in words that translate as: “You’re listening to music from Puerto Rico, from the neighborhoods, from the slums.”

    “The reason I’m here,” the former grocery store bagger said, “is because I never stopped believing in myself.”

    To the bomba beat of “El Apagon,” Bad Bunny stood atop a utility pole that rose above the faux sugarcane and palm trees. He rapped about the power failures that have plagued the island and which he has insistently called attention to since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

    And in that same song — in Spanish — he put into words an ecstatic celebration of his people and Spanish-language culture that joyfully countered the criticism that his being named Super Bowl halftime headliner initiated.

    “Now,” he exulted, with scores of dancers aligned behind him, “everybody wants to be Latino.”

    Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

    He did, however, say three words in English: “God bless America” before listing the nations that make up the continent, starting with Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, and ending, of course, with Puerto Rico.

    The stadium-sized pop-punk band Green Day, led by Billie Joe Armstrong who hails from Berkeley, Calif., qualifies as a local band for the Super Bowl being played in Santa Clara, Calif. The band played a fast-paced four-song medley before the game.

    Green Day has a long history of speaking out against President Donald Trump. Trump, in return, said he is “anti-them” when asked about the Super Bowl entertainment by the New York Post in January.

    At the Super Bowl, however, Armstrong did not sing out in protest. With drummer Tre Cool and bassist Mike Dint, Armstrong banged out condensed versions of hits “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” “Holiday,” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” before getting to the finale of “American Idiot,” the title song to their 2004 album.

    Is protest music coming back? From Bad Bunny to Bruce Springsteen, Grammys to the Super Bowl, the answer seems to be yes

    Usually when the band gets to the song’s lyric “I’m not part of a redneck agenda,” Armstrong sings “I’m not part of a MAGA agenda,” and at times, he has tweaked it to target Elon Musk.

    On Sunday, however, that verse was left out of the song. Instead of a protest, it became a celebration of the big game, with several former Super Bowl MVP players, including Tom Brady, San Francisco 49er local heroes Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Steve Young, and the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, joining the band at the front of the stage.

    Following Green Day — and after actor Chris Pratt introduced the Seahawks and Jon Bon Jovi did the same for the Patriots — Brandi Carlile sang “America the Beautiful.”

    The Washington state native accompanied herself on acoustic guitar and was joined by Sista Strings, the sibling duo of Chauntee (violin) and Monique Ross (cello). It was an understated and effective version by the country and rock singer, who opens her “Human” tour in Philadelphia at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

    Brandi Carlile arrives at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

    Earlier in the week at Super Bowl press event, Carlile spoke about being chosen to sing the song. “This is a song about a country, a beautiful country, that ebbs and flows in terms of hope,” she said. “And it’s a work in progress. And the song believes we can get there, and I believe we can get there.”

    Central Jersey songwriter and pop star Charlie Puth followed Carlile with a blue-eyed soul version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” joined by a choir for vocal support. Puth’s approach was low-key and perfectly respectable, and not likely to be the subject of much Monday morning water cooler conversation on a night when Bad Bunny took center stage.

    Singer-songwriter Coco Jones got the pregame music started with a version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the song that’s come to be known as the “Black national anthem.” Written first as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1900, it was then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson. Jones delivered a powerful, emotionally direct version, joined by a string octet.