With Thanksgiving so close you can almost smell the stuffing, we are in prime pie time. Bakers and pastry chefs across the region are crimping cold, buttery crusts and cooking down aromatic fruit fillings and spiced custards for the coming wave of preorders. But pie need not be reserved for the holidays, as a number of spots on this list know. After the rounds of pumpkin and apple are put away, there’s space for crusty-creamy slices of salted honey, peach, key lime, strawberry rhubarb, ricotta, and carrot cake(!) pie all year long. Read on for The Inquirer food desk’s favorite pie purveyors. — Jenn Ladd
The Bread Room
High Street, Ellen Yin’s long-running bread and pastry powerhouse, always delivers on the baked goods front. Its expertly made pies are only offered once a year, and this holiday season, Yin’s recently opened bakery, the Bread Room, is taking over. The lineup includes two pies that could be straight out of the New York Times Cooking repertoire: a chai-chocolate pie with an airy mousse filling in a thin and crunchy chocolate crust, and a gorgeous lattice-topped thick-cut apple pie with a miso caramel-glazed crust. Preorder pies online by Sunday, Nov. 23, for pickup on Wednesday, Nov. 26. — Beatrice Forman
Denise’s Delicacies
This 33-year-old North Philly institution is best known for its fresh-made doughnuts and ultra-rich pound cake, but, boy, do they know how to make a pie. The bakery’s bestseller this time of year is the sweet potato pie, filled with a creamy, bronzed custard with a just-right level of sweetness in a buttery, crumbly crust. A close runner-up is Denise’s apple pie, which hits all the right notes: Its gooey, perfectly spiced interior is suffused with the slightest tang and pairs perfectly with a double-crust pastry shell that’s dense and almost fudgy. It’s a simple pie, expertly made — like if your mom baked it, but even better (love you, mom!). The family-owned bakery also makes peach, pecan, coconut custard, blueberry, and cherry pies. Call ahead or walk in and buy from the display case; 6- and 10-inch pies will be availableup to the day before Thanksgiving (and year-round otherwise). — Jenn Ladd
Downtime Bakery
You can reliably score a slice of pie year-round at this year-old Mount Airy bakery, because owner Dayna Evans is a pie devotee: She and her team regularly whip up different variants each week, channeling whatever seasonal produce (and whims) inspire them, be it sour cherry, coconut custard, chocolate chess, or a pear-hazelnut number with a cornmeal crumb topping. What stays consistent is Evans’ signature spelt flour crusts, which give these pies nutty character and a little more bite than most — a theme that runs throughout Downtime’s offerings. Its preordered Thanksgiving pies are all sold out, but keep an eye on the bakery’s Instagram to see if one of the offerings (torched meringue-topped sweet potato, a quince-suffused gateau Basque, or a double-crust apple pie my 4-year old termed “a little spicy”) resurfaces. Pie slices roll out at 1 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. — Jenn Ladd
Flakely
Unlike its trademark gluten-free croissants and bagels, Flakely’s holiday pies can’t be found frozen in a pastry ATM. They only come fresh from behind the pink door at 220 Krams Ave. in Manayunk, where baker Lila Colello conjures a limited run of pies for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. This season’s offerings start off strong with a pumpkin-maple tart piped with a ribbon of bruleed marshmallow fluff and a gooey bourbon-pecan version garnished with leaf-shaped shortbread cookies. Both are almost too pretty to eat. Preordering has been extended to Thursday, Nov. 20, for pickups between Nov. 24 and Nov. 26. If you miss this year’s go-round, you’ll have to wait for next year to get a bite of this apple (tarte tatin). — Beatrice Forman
Flying Monkey
This Reading Terminal Market stand is renowned for its whoopie pies and butter cake, but Flying Monkey’s apple crumb pie represents the platonic ideal of the holiday treat: warm and buttery, with a crumbly oat topping so delectable, I wish the bakery sold it separately. The pies here are relatively no-frills compared with some others on this map, but you can get them anytime of year, making them just as solid a treat for joyful do-nothing days as for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Customers can preorder Thanksgiving-specific apple crumb and pumpkin pies for Nov. 26 pickup from Flying Monkey’s new location in Chadds Ford, or call the Reading Terminal stand to schedule a pie pickup any day of the year (for key lime, s’mores, chocolate cream, and more) with 48 hours’ notice. — Beatrice Forman
The Frosted Fox
The deep-dish pies from this Germantown Avenue gem are so good, you’ll want a second slice moments after you finish the first one. The pies from this bakery, from a couple of Culinary Institute of America grads, look as good as they taste: Leaf-shaped pastry cutouts adorn the pumpkin pie, while their Thanksgiving fruit pies (apple crumble, pear-ginger) are finished with a heaping mound of crispy-crunchy-buttery crumble topping. Toasted pecan and sweet potato round out the holiday pie selection, all of which come in flaky, beautifully crimped all-butter crusts. Place an order by Friday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m. for holiday pickups the following Tuesday and Wednesday. Owners Jennifer Low and Sean Williams try to keep extra pies (and cake and cookies) on hand for walk-ins, and they’ll be around in December, too. Frosted Fox offers pie year-round on weekends (preordering is recommended), with flavors changing seasonally; look for strawberry rhubarb, mixed berry, and key lime with meringue as the calendar turns. — Jenn Ladd
Little Coco
When Valentina Fortuna closed her beloved scratch bakery/cafe, Constellation Collective, in Collingswood in 2021, she figured she’d still make a few pies here and there for loyal customers. Fortuna’s pies were in such demand — particularly the salted honey — that her garage turned into a veritable black market bakery. In 2023, Fortuna opened Little Coco, a cozy cafe in a more low-key setting down the road from the original location, in Barrington, Camden County. Her fans followed. Fortuna serves a rotation of sliced pies weekly, with brown butter brownie and classic apple crumb among the favorites. Holiday preorders have begun, with pies including pecan, pumpkin squash, and the famed salted honey. — Jason Nark
Night Kitchen Bakery
Kids will clamor for the myriad beautiful cookies on display at this 44-year-old Chestnut Hill staple, but don’t let them distract you from the pie. Night Kitchen’s pumpkin pie, sporting sugared pie-crust leaves, is the bakery’s bestseller this time of year, but hot on its heels is apple crumb, packing a whopping five Granny Smiths per pie. There’s also pecan, chocolate pecan, sweet potato, double-crust apple, key lime, and sour cherry crumb (my favorite, which you can also order as an equally delicious tart, along with other year-round tarts like chocolate chess and blueberry almond). Pie is not just a Thanksgiving thing here; owner Amy Edelman says Night Kitchen packs its pastry shells with seasonal fillings — think strawberry rhubarb and mixed berry — throughout the year. — Jenn Ladd
Penza’s Pies at the Red Barn
Evelyn Penza, South Jersey’s pie queen, turned a family horse barn into a pie destination in Hammonton, aka the “blueberry capital of the world.” Blueberry pie is on the menu at the Red Barn Farm, Cafe, & Pie Shop, of course, but Hammonton also has a rich Italian heritage, so there’s plenty of ricotta pies on the menu, too. The 85-year-old Penza said pumpkin ricotta is among her best, along with the massive five-fruit pie, which looks like a work of art and must weigh close to 10 pounds. She said her pies are “cloaked in goodness.” The pie rush is already here, Penza said. To order ahead, call the shop. Penza’s doesn’t take credit cards, so bring lots of cash or use Venmo and, while you’re there, sit down for breakfast. — Jason Nark
Ponzio’s Diner Bakery Bar
What’s a diner without a slice of pie and hot cup of coffee? This Cherry Hill legend serves up hefty, crumbly slices of house-made pie for dessert all year long. (The diner’s chicken pot pie, served on Thursdays, is also a staple.) When Thanksgiving rolls around, whole pies are available for preorder. This year, choose between classic apple, Hammonton blueberry, sweet cherry, fresh pumpkin, coconut custard, and lemon meringue. For the fruit pies, you’ll have to make a tough call: double crust or cinnamon-butter crumb topping? Call before Monday, Nov. 24, to reserve. If there are any leftover pies (unlikely), Ponzio’s bakery stays open for takeout on Thanksgiving Day. — Hira Qureshi
Second Daughter
On the fourth floor of the Bok building, whiffs of freshly baked brown butter chocolate chip cookies and cosmic brownies lure customers to Second Daughter’s walk-up counter. You’ll likely glimpse chef-owner Rhonda Saltzman baking savory and sweet treats, including her stellar pies, which are available year-round. Saltzman uses Pennsylvania-sourced fruit and changes up her offerings with the seasons. This year’s Thanksgiving selection includes sour cherry pie topped with almond praline; apple pie with bourbon-spiced tart apples and an oatmeal crumb topping; a spiced pumpkin pie (or tart, with maple-brown sugar whipped cream); plus brownie tarts, salted caramel apple galettes, and apple and cherry-almond hand pies — all nestled in flaky pate brisee crusts. Order by Friday, Nov. 21, for pickup the following Wednesday and Thursday. Don’t have patience to wait for Thanksgiving? Saltzman has petite pies at the counter to indulge in beforehand. — Hira Qureshi
Tartes
Step up to the takeout window at Tartes in Old City and you’ll find a scene fit for a still life: ornately arranged miniature fruit tarts stacked atop cake stands, waiting to be bagged and boxed. Though this 25-year-old bakery also makes cookies and bite-size cakes, it’s best known for its namesake sweet, with a selection that rotates throughout the year. Thanksgiving brings an apple-raspberry variety dusted with cinnamon, plus bourbon pecan, pumpkin, and a pistachio frangipane topped with poached pears — all available in 9-inch pies as well as 2½- and 4-inch tarts. Orders are open until Nov. 24. My recommendation is to use the minis as a dessert appetizer of sorts for Friendsgivings and holiday parties. Guests will think you’re extra fancy. — Beatrice Forman
Vernick Coffee
For many Philadelphians, a visually stunning seasonal pie from this soaring second-floor breakfast/lunch/coffee oasis has become a holiday tradition. This year, Vernick’s pastry team is baking a gluten-free dirty chai pumpkin pie topped with quenelles of chocolate-coffee whipped cream; a dark chocolate-sea salt pecan pie with a fudgelike maple custard; a dulce de leche caramel apple pie made with local Pink Lady apples; and its classic carrot cake pie, with a salted ginger graham crust and perfectly piped kisses of cream cheese frosting (indeed this is a carrot cake stuffed into a dense and lovely pie crust). The carrot cake pie is available year-round; for one of the Thanksgiving pies, preorder via Vernick Coffee’s Tock page by Friday, Nov. 21, for pickup between Nov. 24 and 26. — Kiki Aranita
One of the keys to the sandwiches at Huda — chef Yehuda Sichel’s acclaimed shop in Rittenhouse — is the cloudlike, house-baked milk bread.
At Huda Burger — opening Nov. 19 near Suraya and Palmer Park in Fishtown — Sichel is also building his burgers and chicken sandwiches on the luxurious, mildly sweet buns inspired by Japanese shokupan.
In fact, he built the entire place around them. “This kitchen is like half bakery, half prep kitchen just for the buns,” Sichel said. The buns at Huda Burger will be seeded, unlike those at the original shop, which serves one of The Inquirer’s favorite smash burgers — the Mott, topped with buttermilk ranch, pickled peppers, pepper Jack brie, and hot honey.
Huda Burger’s setup at 1602 Frankford Ave.
Sichel is banking on the buns to separate him from the other burger makers. (New York’s 7th Street Burger has a location opening this winter down the street, further adding to the pressure.)
“Being in a saturated market really forces you to get better, and there’s nothing I like more than some competition,” said Sichel. Besides the bread, everything else is being made in-house, including pickles and sauces, and every item is prepared to order — even the chicken is butchered in the back.
Besides three kinds of crispy chicken sandwiches (coated in rice flour, cornstarch, Wondra flour, and what Sichel describes as “a whole bunch of spices”), Huda Burger’s menu includes a rotating line of five or six smash burgers. There’s a classic cheeseburger, a create-your-own option, a vegetarian burger, a pastrami fried onion burger (a cross between a pastrami burger and an Oklahoma-style smash burger), and a bread-free cheeseburger salad. The menu also includes curly fries, pickles, and shakes made with soft serve from 1-900-Ice-Cream.
Crispy chicken sandwich at Huda Burger, 1603 Frankford Ave.
His partner is Dan Berkowitz, the chief executive and co-founder of 100x Hospitality, an event production company specializing in immersive and travel experiences.
The space, designed by Lance Saunders, includes a half dozen indoor counter seats and a few outdoor tables in season.
Sichel, who grew up in Elkins Park, started in the restaurant business at age 15, making sandwiches at a kosher deli in Baltimore. After culinary school in Israel, he moved home to work for chefs Georges Perrier at Brasserie Perrier and Daniel Stern at Rae, followed by a stint with chef Neal Fraser at Grace in Los Angeles.
Cheeseburger salad at Huda Burger, 1603 Frankford Ave.
In 2010, he joined Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov at Zahav. He rose through the ranks — from line cook to pastry to sous chef — and played a major role in the opening of Citron & Rose (2012) in Lower Merion and Abe Fisher (2014) in Rittenhouse. Abe Fisher was named a Best New Restaurant by Travel & Leisure, and Sichel was named to Zagat’s 30 Under 30 Rock Stars Redefining the Industry. He left CookNSolo in 2020, opening Huda at 32 S. 18th St., that summer amid the pandemic.
Huda Burger, 1603 Frankford Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. till 9 p.m. daily, but there are plans to extend.
The transition became official Thursday when the restaurant revealed a new (and cheaper) menu on Instagram that includes a 12-item all-day menu of revamped diner classics served from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., plus pared-down lists of breakfast and dinner-only options.
The change embraces Percy’s “true identity,” Kligerman said, and comes after a spate of mixed reviews that called out how the restaurant’s brunch program outshone a dinner menu of $30-plus entrees that included a Thai curry, a lamb shank, and a Cooper Sharp-topped burger.
Percy opened under the El at 1700 N. Front St. in May as the ground-floor anchor to Urby, a 200-unit luxury apartment complex. The restaurant earned fans and haters fast: Percy’s¾-pound ricotta pancakes and babka French toast found an immediate following in Fishtown’s crowded brunch scene. And yet, Philly Mag food critic Jason Sheehan bestowed the title of “Philly’s most disappointing new restaurant” upon Percy in September, arguing the restaurant was “all vibe, with little else worth saying.”
The reviews came with a silver lining, according to Kligerman. Percy was able to raise $4,000 for the Fishtown Community Library through a limited-run sale of shirts screen-printed with Sheehan’s headline.
Plus, a bit of constructive criticism didn’t hurt.
“I’m really grateful that we were able to spin something negative into something so positive,” Kligerman said. “We don’t have the runway that [larger restaurateurs] have, where they can collect a lot of data and open with a perfect concept … Now that we have the data from reviews, from the public, from our sales reports, we get to hit our stride.”
Percy’s all-day menu leans heavily on what worked from its brunch. The cinnamon-crusted ricotta pancakes are still there, but customers can now order them until 9 p.m. along with other favorites such as the espresso-dulce de leche beignets, a roast pork croque monsieur, and a new mortadella club sandwich smeared with burrata and pistachio pesto.
The biggest changes came for the breakfast and dinner menus, which will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. respectively. Breakfast’s star is the $11 Philly Grand Slam, a play on the standard diner breakfast with two eggs and home fries plus bacon, duck sausage, and a ricotta pancake for an additional charge.
The $11 Philly Grand Slam from Percy has two eggs, toast, and homefries, with bacon, duck sausage, or a ricotta pancake for an additional charge.
Dinner, too, got a makeover, swapping the Thai curry and lamb shank for a fried chicken Reuben and an elevated meatloaf served with a red wine jus, whipped potatoes, and purple cauliflower.
The new menu nods to Tuckerton, N.J’s Dynasty Diner, where South Jersey-bred Kligerman grew up splitting disco fries and pancakes with his friends until their parents chastised them for running up against curfew. It also fills a hole in Philly’s breakfast-for-dinner scene, as the city’s diners continue to dwindle, with owners putting them up for sale or preparing for demolition.
“When I think about Dynasty, I get that warm family feeling,” said Kligerman, 37, who now lives in Fishtown. “I want Percy to offer that.”
The $26 pork cheek bourguignon at Percy, now served TV-dinner style on three compartment trays as part of the restaurant’s diner rebrand.
Percy’s revamp also comes with a significant decrease in prices.
Initially, all but the burger on Percy’s dinner menu cost between $30 and $40 per entree. Now the entire menu — save for the $31 half chicken with polenta — clocks in below $28. Most dishes had $4 to $6 shaved off, Kligerman said. The croque monsieur, for example, dropped from $24 to $17, while the burger had $3 knocked off, to now sit at $18.
“We wanted to make sure the pricing allowed people to come back multiple times a week. And I think our opening pricing … definitely positioned us to be that one-day-a-week or special occasion-type restaurant,” said Kligerman. “Good diners are for everyone.”
The plate-sized ricotta pancakes from Percy, which will now be available from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. as the restaurant transitions to an all-day diner.
Good diners also have a look, he said: hard plastic cups that get constant refills, salt and pepper shakers on the table, and stacks of paper napkins. All of those elements have now been wrapped into Percy’s mid-century modern decor.
Percy’s plating also reflects the change. All five dishes on the dinner menu will be served TV-dinner style, in compartmentalized trays with spaces for the protein, side, and a single bread roll.
“It’s kind of playful,” Kligerman said. ”Everything is.”
Percy, 1700 N. Front St., 215-975-0020, percyphl.com. Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday; 9 a.m. to midnight Thursday to Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Max’s Seafood Cafe, which brought lofty dining ambitions to down-to-earth Gloucester City, has changed hands after a quarter-century.
The new owners — Mike and Barb Williams, who previously ran the three Pudge’s sandwich shops still operating in the Pennsylvania suburbs, and entrepreneur Chris Widell — plan to open Tuesday as Pudge’s Pub. It will sport a far more accessible menu of steaks, hoagies, and bar food, as well as some of Max’s bestsellers, such as steamed clams, clams casino, and mussels in three sauces. A former Max’s chef is on board, as is the former bar manager.
Pudge’s Pub’s Facebook page.
But while change is inevitable, especially in the restaurant world, last week’s announcement failed to impress the Facebook crowd. No sooner had the partners swapped out Max’s logo for a jaunty sketch of a mustachioed Pudge on the profile page than the comments flew on the page of the news site 42 Freeway, based on its article about the transaction:
“Oh, my God! They’re not using ‘Max’s’ anymore!” “I’m guessing a joke?” “Change an iconic name?” “Such a classy-looking restaurant for a cartoon character logo and basically takeout food menu.” “Is this AI pulling [a] prank?”
The partners expressed frustration as moderator Mark Matthews tried to reason with the commenters. Marilyn Johnson, moderator of the South Jersey Food Scene page, did the same on her post.
“Give us a chance,” an exasperated Mike Williams told The Inquirer on Friday. Economic reality drove the decision to rebrand as Pudge’s. Max’s hasn’t made a profit in at least three years and foot traffic was low, Williams said.
Many commenters conceded that they hadn’t visited Max’s in a long time. “I don’t want to say we’re saving it, but we want to resurrect a place where all walks of life can come and have fun,” Williams said.
Pudge’s Pub co-owners Mike and Barbara Williams and their son Preston in the bar, formerly Max’s Seafood Cafe in Gloucester City.
They are keeping the neon Max’s Cafe sign, which has cast a glow over the intersection of Hudson and Burlington Streets for decades. They applied a fresh coat of paint to the classic barroom, and are keeping the ornate wood-and-mirror bar, circa 1912, as it was.
The draft-beer list, which included high-brow specialties like Chimay, has been simplified to more standard offerings like Miller Lite, Stella, and Yards. (The fancier beers will be available in bottles.) Williams said they plan to host special events in the parking lot and are adding four TVs inside.
Mike Williams said he had a butcher prepare a custom cut of beef for the cheesesteaks. They’ll use rolls from Liscio’s, also a South Jersey business, since their previous supplier, Conshohocken Italian Bakery, closed last year.
Facebook comments opposed to the changeover at Max’s Seafood Cafe in Gloucester City.
Even the bar’s new focus on cheesesteaks sparked outrage from commenters who lamented that greater Gloucester was on the brink of Whiz overload. Two other shops are due to open soon just down the street: a barroom from Lillo’s (of Hainesport fame) at the former Thomas Murphy’s Pub, and Irishtown Steaks, from a former head cook at the well-regarded Donkey’s Place a few minutes away in Camden. In nearby West Collingswood Heights, Danny DiGiampietro of Angelo’s Pizzeria is planning to open a new eatery.
Pudge’s and Max’s histories
It’s not as if the Williamses are new to the game. The Pudge’s project is a return to their family’s roots. Pudge’s traces its history to Frank’s, the hoagie shop that a 21-year-old Frank Carbone opened at Wister Street and Chew Avenue in Germantown, near what was then La Salle College, after he got out of the service in the late 1950s.
Carbone renamed it Pudge’s — his childhood nickname — when he moved it to Whitpain Shopping Center in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, in 1972. His daughter, Barbara, and her husband, Mike Williams, took over Pudge’s after Carbone’s death in 2000. The Williamses opened locations in the Lansdale and Pottstown areas before selling their last location in October 2024; all three operate under the new owners, and Williams said he has rights to the name.
The Gloucester City bar opened in 1890 as a shoe store and became Leisinger’s Saloon in 1912, when German immigrant Joseph Fred Leisinger installed the bar. After Leisinger’s death in 1937, another German immigrant, Max Waterstradt, bought the business and named it Max’s Cafe, also a neighborhood taproom. By the late 1970s, Max’s had evolved into Max’s Seafood Cafe, known for simply prepared seafood. Time and deferred maintenance caught up with the building, and Max’s went dark in 1998.
In 2001, Tom Monahan — a partner in the nearby Chubby’s restaurant — bought Max’s, restored it, and reopened it with a premium menu whose entrees in its later years were priced in the high $30s. Monahan, who operated Max’s until last week’s sale, did not reply to a message seeking clarity on his restaurant’s gift certificates. Mike Williams and Widell said they would not honor them at Pudge’s.
By the weekend, as the Facebook crowd had moved on to a new tempest (was a new bank planned for Washington Township really necessary?), the partners were applying their final touches to the pub.
Asked how Pudge’s would set itself apart from other local hangouts, Mike Williams replied that an owner — he, his wife, or son Preston — would be on premises from opening till closing daily: “That’s the only way for quality control, and just being friendly — that is an art that is lost these days.”
Pudge’s Pub, 34 N. Burlington St., Gloucester City, N.J. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Hours will be extended on select game days.
Philly’s restaurant scene will finally receive the
famous star ratings. How many stars should we expect and what restaurants are likely to win?
At long last, Michelin stars are finally coming to Philadelphia. It won’t be long until we find out who will receive the very first stars in the city, as they’ll be revealed at a ceremony on Nov. 18 at the Kimmel Center.
So what is a Michelin star, how does a restaurant earn one, and how many will Philly get? We’ll answer those questions and more, below.
What are Michelin stars?
A Michelin star is a coveted award among restaurants and chefs and is the most prestigious of the awards the Michelin Guide bestows. Only 259 restaurants in the United States earned a star rating in 2024. In addition to the star ratings, the Michelin Guide also awards the Bib Gourmand to recognize restaurants that are serving high-quality meals at a reasonable price and a Green Star to symbolize excellence in sustainability.
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Restaurants are not nominated nor do they apply to be evaluated. Stars are awarded annually and can be lost or gained year-on-year. Michelin keeps most details of the process secret, but we know a few vague details.
Anonymous inspectors visit restaurants multiple times to evaluate the restaurant during different dining periods, different days of the week, and different seasons. Restaurants around the world are evaluated by the same inspectors, to ensure that restaurants are judged by the same standards, and those inspectors make decisions to award stars as a collective.
Inspectors evaluate based on the following criteria:
Quality of ingredients
Harmony of flavors
Mastery of techniques
Personality of chef expressed through cuisine
Consistency across menu and time
What does each rating mean?
Michelin stars rate the quality of a restaurant’s food. The more stars awarded to a restaurant, the stronger the recommendation. Naturally this means that two- and three-star awards are in the minority. Here’s what each ranking means:
82% OF RESTAURANTS
Top quality ingredients. Dishes consistently meet a high standard.
12% OF RESTAURANTS
Dishes are expertly crafted. Food is refined and inspired.
5% OF RESTAURANTS
Cooking is elevated to art. Some dishes will become classics.
How many stars will Philly get?
There are a lot of factors at play but to get an estimate, let’s look at how other cities fared in 2024’s guides.
City/Region
New York City
55
14
5
Northern California
35
9
5
Southern California
30
4
1
Washington, D.C.
23
2
1
Florida
25
1
0
Chicago
15
2
2
Texas
15
0
0
Atlanta
9
0
0
Colorado
6
0
0
With almost two decades of guides under its belt and a population of almost 8.5 million, it’s no surprise that New York City topped the list of cities with the most starred restaurants in 2024. New York City was the first American city to get a Michelin Guide, in 2006.
In this top ten both Atlanta and Washington, D.C. serve as a better comparison to Philly. Atlanta, with about 513,000 residents, earned five one-star ratings in 2023, the first year that Michelin awarded stars there. Washington’s population was about 700,000 in 2017, the same year the Michelin Guide was introduced there and awarded 15 restaurants with star ratings. Population isn’t always a good indicator though. Houston, with 2.3 million residents, earned six stars in its first year.
Kiki Aranita, a food writer (and former chef and restaurateur) for The Inquirer, predicts four or five Philadelphia restaurants will earn a Michelin star this year. She also thinks we might see a Bib Gourmand or two.
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Will Philly get any two- or three-star ratings?
Paula Forbes, a senior writer and restaurant critic at Texas Monthly who has reported on the Michelin Guide in Texas, says that “generally speaking, I think that there is sort of an attitude towards, you have to kind of grow into it. You have to get your first star, then your second star, and then your third star.”
Restaurants often don’t earn a two- or three-star rating the first time they achieve a rating and it often takes several years for a restaurant to move up a rank, if at all. Texas has yet to earn a two- or three-star rating. In its third year, Colorado gained its first two-star rating.
What cuisines tend to receive stars?
Contemporary
Japanese
American
French
Korean
Californian
Mexican
Italian
Barbecue
Seafood
Number of restaurants
*Chart shows the top ten most common cuisines out of 35 unique cuisines awarded a star rating in 2024 in the U.S.
In 2024, 26% of Michelin-starred restaurants were categorized as serving contemporary cuisine. Contemporary is a bit of a catch-all term Michelin uses to categorize cooking that doesn’t fall into a traditional cuisine category and instead has a new, creative chef approach to food. The sixth-most common cuisine in 2024 is the similarly vague-sounding Californian cuisine. This modern cuisine, which pulls inspiration from other international cuisines, is characterized by a focus on local, seasonal ingredients and simple preparation that allows the fresh ingredients to shine.
While Philadelphia probably won’t earn any stars for Californian cooking this year, some of the city’s most popular restaurants fall into the top cuisines. Contemporary is followed by Japanese, American, French, and Korean to round out the top five most common cuisines that earn stars. Royal Sushi & Izakaya, which serves a 16-course omakase meal, was already named one of North America’s 50 best restaurants in September. Provenance, a French restaurant with Korean influence, was called “the most ambitious fine dining restaurant to open in Philly in a minute” by Inquirer food critics in November 2024.
What is the impact of a star on a restaurant?
There are some downsides to earning a star. The pressure that comes with earning (and keeping) a star rating is very real. Restaurants and chefs must also decide whether they want to stick with what works, and what earned them a star, or retain the ability to experiment and evolve. While Paula Forbes hasn’t gotten the sense that Michelin star restaurants in Texas have become less accessible for regular patrons, that may not be the case in Philadelphia, where restaurant footprints are smaller.
Restaurants that have earned a star may also see a number of benefits. They have more reservations and customers. They may also attract and retain ambitious restaurant and hospitality workers who want the experience of working in a Michelin restaurant. Finally, there’s a general sense that a rising tide raises all boats, at least in the Texas food scene, according to Forbes.
However, Aranita wonders if the same will be true for Philadelphia.
“After reporting on the inaugural North America 50 Best awards and seeing restaurants like Friday Saturday Sunday, Kalaya, and Royal Sushi & Izakaya listed on it, I am not confident that Philly’s other restaurants will benefit that much from Michelin’s presence in our city.” said Aranita. “Those three restaurants are among the select few that garner the most press, particularly national press. The fact that they made it onto a 50 Best list is no surprise. If they get Michelin nods, that will also be no surprise.”
What restaurants do you think will get stars?
Now that you know more about Michelin stars, let us know which of these restaurants you think deserves one — swipe right for Yes or left for No. Yes, just like Tinder. Finding it hard to decide? We'll also show you how other Inquirer readers have voted so far.
Mawn
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Staff Contributors
Design, Development, Reporting, and Data: Aileen Clarke
Editing: Sam Morris
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Illustration: Steve Madden and Sam Morris
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Finding the perfect holiday gift can be tricky, but you can always rely on pastries from local bakeries or chocolates from Philly confectioners. And if your loved ones prefer something savory, there are plenty of delicious local options to ship — from fried pickle kits to pork roast sandwich sets.
Here are 15 very Philly foods to gift this holiday season.
The selections here represent The Inquirer’s picks this holiday season. When you make a purchase through a link in this list, The Inquirer may be paid a commission.
Add habanero dill to your burger for an extra kick.
1. Fishtown Pickle Project
For the pickle lover in your life, Fishtown Pickle Project offers two fried pickle kits featuring their signature fresh pickles, spices, and tempura batter. The original kit includes Philly Dilly pickles, tempura mix, and spices to make a pepper aioli dip. The spicy version features Habanero Dill pickles and ingredients for a cool ranch dip. Each kit costs $35.
Creamy chicken Brazilian tapioca flatbread at Kouklet’s new location.
2. Kouklet & Tanda Brazilian Bakehouse
Gifting Mardhory Santos-Cepeda’s tapioca cheese breads might be the most Philly gift you can give this holiday. The round bites of cheese, butter, and eggs — all locally sourced from Pennsylvania farmers — ship frozen. Each package serves 12 and includes a dozen pão de queijo, or Brazilian cheese breads. For giftees with a sweet tooth, there are also Brazilian cake rolls ($34.95 to $54.95).
James Beard-winning Ellen Yin’s High Street is a Philly bakery destination. On Goldbelly, find artisanal breads (sourdough and grain loaves) for $39.95, baked goods (brownies, cookies, and cinnamon buns) for $64.95, and rye chocolate chunk cookies for $39.95.
Sweet and nutty, the almond butter crunch might be the gift for your chocolate-loving friend.
4. Shane Confectionery
Most everyone loves a box of assorted chocolates, especially when they’re from Shane Confectionery. The Craftsman Assortment box features caramels, cordials, bonbons, ganaches, and more. Each piece is dipped in chocolate made in-house. Sizes range from 13 to 35 pieces, priced at $48 to $95. For buttercream fans, Shane’s Buttercream Assortments feature a family recipe dating back to 1911, with flavors like coconut, maple walnut, and vanilla bean. Prices range from $38 to $80.
Cookies at Famous 4th Street Cookie Co. in Reading Terminal Market.
5. Famous 4th Street Cookie Co.
What’s a better gift for cookie enthusiasts than a treat from Reading Terminal Market’s go-to spot? Famous 4th Street Cookie Co. offers plenty of cookie boxes to choose from, including black and white and chocolate lovers assortments. You can bundle mini cookies, order bake-at-home chocolate chip cookie dough, pick your favorites, or go big with a giant cookie cake. Prices range from $44.95 to $60.95.
A classic cheesesteak with onions and American cheese at Joe’s Steaks and Soda Shop in Northeast Philadelphia.
6. Joe’s Steaks
For your vegan friends and family, there’s even a cheesesteak you can ship. Joe’s Steaks offers a four-pack of its vegan cheesesteaks on Goldbelly, made to order, frozen, and shipped for $119.95. The package serves four to six people and includes four 9- to 10-inch sandwiches, plus your choice of a T-shirt or hoodie.
Try the Vietnamese Espresso Blend at Càphê Roasters.
7. Càphê Roasters
Introduce coffee lovers to the art of brewing Vietnamese coffee with Càphê Roasters’ brew kit for $28. It includes a house espresso blend, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and a phin (a traditional coffee filter). And for those who don’t know how to use the phin, there’s a handy printed 10-step brew guide, too. Throw in a KINTO x Càphê water bottle to keep your giftee hydrated.
Reading Terminal Market’s beloved ice cream shop is also on Goldbelly. Ship a brownie sundae kit (three pints, eight brownies) or a DIY cookie ice cream sandwich kit (three pints, one tub of Famous 4th Street ready-to-bake chocolate chip cookies) for $64.95. You can also order a six-pint pack featuring bestsellers or your favorite flavors.
These alfajores are a family recipe Jezabel Careaga, chef and owner of Jezabel’s Cafe and Bakery, perfected.
9. Jezabel’s
In West Philly, Jezabel’s is the place for some of the best Argentine treats — but you don’t have to be in the neighborhood to get your hands on chef/owner Jezabel Careaga’s alfajores. These coconut-coated butter cookies filled with dulce de leche are available in classic or chocolate-dipped varieties. There’s also a half and half box with three of each. Prices range $28 to $30.
Everyone loves a good bagel — and Kismet knows a thing or two about making them. Order the bagel brunch kit, complete with the 12 par-baked bagels, two containers of cream cheese, two bottles of seasonings, and a pound of lox. The kit ships fresh with ice packs. Note: Bagels last in the freezer for up to six months.
John’s Roast Pork chicken cheeseteak at the Inquirer studio on March 5. Food styling by Emilie Fosnocht.
11. John’s Roast Pork
There’s no better Philly gift than a cheesesteak or a hoagie, and John’s Roast Pork is here to help. On Goldbelly, you can ship the South Philly hot spot’s namesake sandwich drenched in all its garlicky glory for the holidays. The made-to-order kit offers all the parts to build four nine-inch pork roast sandwiches, including two pounds of roast pork, a quart of gravy, a quarter pound of sharp provolone, a pint of spinach, and four large seeded sesame rolls. Instructions for assembly are included. Same goes for the cheesesteak kit, which includes 12 ounces of meat. Order kits range from $119.95 to $229.95 each.
Soft pretzels at Center City Soft Pretzel Co. on April 1, 2024.
12. Center City Pretzel Co.
Who wouldn’t want a giant pack of Philly pretzels? On Goldbelly, Center City Pretzel Co. offers a box of 10 soft pretzels with a container of salt and 10 mustard packets for $54.95 — shipped fresh and ready to enjoy. There’s also a five-pack option available.
The tomato pie at Iannelli’s is one of classic archetypes of the genre and is still baked in the deep brick oven built by the Iannelli family 115 years ago.
13. Iannelli’s Bakery
Along with cheesesteaks and hoagies, Philly is known for its tomato pies. South Philly’s Iannelli’s Bakery is here to help you share the pie love. Ship a tomato pie and cannoli kit combo for $169.95. Folks will get a brick oven tomato pie, 13 cannoli shells, vanilla ricotta cheese with dark chocolate morsels for the fillings, and sugar for dusting.
Homemade granola via a recipe from Metropolitan Bakery owner and head baker James Barrett
14. Metropolitan Bakery
Metropolitan Bakery’s bread gift box includes a variety of bread loaves, cookie jars, and pound cakes for $38 to $115. There’s the breakfast box with Metropolitan Bakery Blend coffee, local honey and preserves, and gluten-free granola. For pound cake enthusiasts, ship two loaves of chocolate and lemon pound cakes. And for your cookie monsters, gift cookie jars in three flavors.
Packaged ricotta and chocolate chip ricotta cookies at Isgro on Nov. 17, 2022.
15. Isgro Pastries
A cookie tin from a Philly institution is a no-brainer, and thankfully Isgro Pastries offers shipping nationwide. For $69.95 on Goldbelly, gift two or four pounds of cookies this holiday — that’s about 40 to 60 cookies. Flavors include butter walnut, almond macaroon, chocolate, raspberry, and more. Cookies come frozen and ready to eat.
Go beyond gift boxes with individual items from Philly’s Di Bruno Bros. that will brighten any foodie’s pantry:
The selections here represent The Inquirer’s picks this holiday season. When you make a purchase through a link in this list, The Inquirer may be paid a commission.
Aromatic acacia honey is infused with white truffle for a sweet, earthy flavor that shines with brie or Gorgonzola. $12.99.
6. Pinot grigio and fig cheese spread
A perfect marriage of sweet fig, acidic pinot grigio, and savory cheese comes together. Try it on a cracker, a soft pretzel, or straight from a spoon. $8.99.
7. Fig glaze with balsamic
Reach for this next time you get to a recipe that calls for reducing balsamic vinegar. Rich and tart with just the right amount of sweetness — no reducing necessary. $7.99.
8. Truffle balsamic glaze
Add deep flavor to roasted meats, egg dishes, cheeses, and more with a drizzle of this luxurious pantry item. $7.99.
9. Pistachio cream panettone
Di Bruno’s holiday panettone options include this variety made with generous amounts of pistachio cream and chocolate throughout. $34.99.
10. Vodka cream tomato sauce
This sauce brings together imported tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, cream, and a touch of vodka for a rich, smooth sauce that brings any pasta dish or lasagna to the next level. $9.99.
When Angelo’s Pizzeria opened in South Philly six years ago, it didn’t just elevate the city’s cheesesteak standards — it reshaped them in its own image. Gone were the stale rolls, shredded meat, and molten flows of watery Whiz.
Under the purview of owner Danny DiGiampietro, Angelo’s introduced crusty, house-baked rolls. DiGiampietro grilled seasoned rib eye right up to the chewy line without crossing it, merging Cooper Sharp and beef at the optimum melting point. A new school of cheesesteak emerged.
Since 2019, reviews from the likes of Barstool’s Dave Portnoy and Somebody Feed Phil’s Phil Rosenthal have spread word of the shop’s high-quality operation nationwide, abetted by hype from actor Bradley Cooper and a bevy of media outlets (this one included). Its renown has prompted wave after wave of customers to show up to the corner of Ninth and Fitzwater five days a week. The line there has become a raucous scene, with cheesesteak hunters happy to wait more than an hour just to place an order and wait another 20- or 40-plus minutes for the food.
Whiz steak from Angelo’s Pizzeria at 736 S. Ninth St.,
But DiGiampietro, a known perfectionist, can’t be everywhere at once.
A visit to the Terminal-based Uncle Gus’ spinoff (a partnership with Joe Nicolosi of DiNic’s Roast Pork and Dave Braunstein of Pearl’s Oyster Bar) provided an uneven experience this past spring, when I sampled a disappointing set of sandwiches. I expected a long-rolled reminder of life’s redeeming qualities, and instead got … something else. While the rolls were expertly baked, they were both filled with a wad of dry beef strings glued together with gobs of stubborn fat.
It got me wondering if Angelo’s had grown too fast, too soon, and too far to maintain the standard of cheesesteak excellence that they set for the rest of the city.
Has demand decreased Angelo’s quality?
On an April trip to Angelo’s Ninth Street location,I had a similarly subpar encounter. The rib eye in the cheesesteak was haphazardly chopped and extremely dry. There was more salt in the Whiz than on the meat. The signature crusty bread — usually up to handling the mound of toppings — was coming apart under the weight of the poorly cooked beef.
I ordered multiple sandwiches, with various cheeses and sauce combinations, and the best bite I had on that visit was the pizza steak, with the blend of meat, sauce, and cheese melding into what can only be described as a cheesesteak-meatball sub hybrid. The sauce smoothed over the dryness of the meat and balanced it out with a thick twist of mozzarella.
Beef from an Angelo’s cheesesteak.
I went back to try again in May. Maybe it was just an off day? But I was still disappointed. The major issue this time was the house-baked roll. Famed for its crustiness, which everyone is copying, this bread was uncharacteristically underbaked. It got soggy — fast. It buckled under the weight of overstuffed meat, which was once againon the drier side. (The Cooper Sharp, however, was perfectly melted into the meat this time.)
When I told DiGiampietro about these experiences recently, he said, “It breaks my heart.”
DiGiampietro’s original shop, which he opened in Haddonfield in 2013, won regional recognition, but its cult following didn’t hold a spatula to the national rep Angelo’s claims today. Before moving to the Ninth Street location in 2019, he said, he “never, in my wildest dreams, expected any of this.”
“Have some things gotten through the cracks here and there? They sure have,” he said. “And they drive me crazy at night.”
What makes a good cheesesteak?
According to the Philly-based “fatty foods biographer” Carolyn Wyman, who authored The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book in 2009, an exceptional steak relies on four core principles: a bakery-fresh roll, gooey cheese that doesn’t overwhelm the taste or soak the sandwich into submission, onions that aren’t caramelized into oblivion, and beef that actually tastes like beef and not just a pile of gristle.
It has to be more than a working-class sandwich. It has to be a symphony. It should coalesce into one glorious flavor, with each component equally balanced. One component should not be used to balance out weakness in another.
I figure the Angelo’s problem results from the pressures of serving a daily deluge of customers.
When I worked at a cheesesteak shop in college, the major pain points came with getting the meat off the grill. DiGiampietro knows well the perils of the flat-top.
“My biggest pet peeve is too much meat on the grill,” he conceded, “because now you’re not frying. You’re steaming it. And it’s a completely different steak.”
He tells his staff all the time: “People are going to wait. Make it worth their f’ing wait,” he said.
And let’s be fair to the cooks: That line can be intimidating.
“A lot of times my guys get too nervous,” he said, “and they see those tickets coming in, and they want to try and load up the grill, but there’s only so much we can do and how fast we can do it the right way.”
Too much, too fast
I have a ton of respect for DiGiampietro, for everything he’s built and for his dedication to his craft. He’s onlyhuman.
“It’s daunting,” he said. “I see a therapist, believe it or not. Just the pressure of the expectations can sometimes be very overwhelming.”
Danny DiGiampietro, owner of Angelo’s Pizzeria, at Angelo’s Baking Co. in Conshohocken.
“I thought we’d be serving sandwiches and pizza to the neighborhood,” he said. “I did not see this.”
The Uber expansion in particular was a little harder than he anticipated, he said. “It’s been a challenge,” he said. “I am getting it under control.”
But if someone has a bad experience, he said he’ll own up to it and offer ways to make it right.
“We’re trying our best,” he said. “We’re not Michelin stars here. It’s pizza, cheesesteaks, and making bread. But we do it the best we can and as honestly as we can.”
I stopped by Angelo’s yesterday to see how things were going.
I picked up a few sandwiches, and there was a lot of good: The steaks weren’t overstuffed, and the rolls were ideally crusty on the outside and buttery soft on the inside. But the beef between the two sandwiches varied in how well it was cooked, and the ratio of cheese to meat was inconsistent.
The longer I ate one with Whiz the worse it became; the meat was a touch too tough. On the other hand, the cheesesteak with Cooper Sharp increasingly won me over with every bite — it lived up to the hype, and it’s exactly what people are waiting for. It was the epitome of the new-school cheesesteak Angelo’s made famous.
So it wasn’t a redemptive visit, per se, but it does show that Angelo’s has plenty of fight left in its grill. They’re still dedicated to getting it right. It’s just a matter of execution.
This last visit helped solidify my belief that DiGiampietro will get things back on track. He set his own standard, and Angelo’s made steaks in Philly better. A few missteps won’t change that.
Bells and birds help tell the city’s story, but it’s a sandwich that helps explain Philadelphians. How we evolved from farmers in the cradle of liberty to DoorDashers in a melting pot of orange whiz is informed and defined by the cheesesteak. Raising the Steaks is a weeklyish chronicle of this long-rolled reminder of life’s redeeming qualities.
When Keith Critchley and JT O’Brien were looking to buy a restaurant last year, they toured the dining room and kitchen of Georgio’s in downtown Downingtown, which Georgio Malle was selling after more than 30 years.
“Keith and I went to lunch and I said, ‘There’s no way we’re buying this for what he wants. It’s not that big,’” O’Brien said. They went back to negotiate, he said, Malle told them flatly, “My price is my price.”
Crispy chicken sandwich on a doughnut at the Borough in Downingtown.
It quickly became evident that Critchley and O’Brien had not seen the upstairs of the rambling building on Lancaster Avenue. “When I saw the upstairs, I thought, ‘Now I can start thinking of different ideas and concepts that we can do,’” O’Brien said.
They seem to be throwing everything at the Borough, which began opening in phases in recent weeks. There is a 35-seat sports bar/restaurant with 40 TVs, 20 taps, and a full cocktail menu on the ground floor, connected to a large patio through garage doors. Upstairs, there’s a 20-seat bar, a six-seat sushi bar, and a venue hosting live music. Programming such as open-mic nights, karaoke, trivia nights, and comedy shows will ramp up in November. Big brunches — think mimosa towers and full entertainment — will start after Thanksgiving.
Critchley and O’Brien retained pizzaiolo Ptah Akai to set up the pizza kitchen.
Five years ago during the pandemic, the Swarthmore-born Akai noticed that the successful restaurants were offering pizza — “and not because they were making great pizza.”
Consultant Ptah Akai at the Borough in Downingtown.
Akai began teaching himself, using YouTube and setting up an oven in his backyard. By day, Akai, 33, works as an installer for Toast, the restaurant point-of-sale company. He quickly became popular among his neighbors. “It brings people together,” he said. “You can go anywhere in the world and make pizza and probably make a friend.”
A lifelong vegan, Akai wanted to make pizza he could eat himself, and the challenge of making tasty nondairy pizza became motivation. When he learned that Critchley and O’Brien were opening, he offered to get them started. (Georgio’s had a fairly extensive pizza kitchen, including a large mixer.)
Forager pizza at the Borough in Downingtown.
Akai’s pies are beautifully puffy-crusted, sort of neo-Neapolitan, with zero flop and a light char. The sliced garlic gave a subtle roast to a cheeseless tomato pie that he made for me off the menu. His Forager ($23), with basil pesto and three kinds of mushrooms, was balanced and did not sink under the mozzarella. There’s also a plain cheese ($18), pepperoni ($21), and a margherita ($19).
As they did with the other restaurant amenities, Critchley and O’Brien created a something-for-everyone menu, served anywhere in the space. There are pork belly burnt ends ($18); Bavarian pretzel ($13); meat-and-cheese board ($32); crispy chicken sandwich ($16) with a sesame soy glaze and kimchi on a glazed doughnut bun; and a lamb gyro ($19) with sumac red onion and tzatziki on a house-made pita. Rolls make up the sushi menu, and the few entrees include miso striped bass ($34), seared scallops ($36), cauliflower steak ($25), and steak frites ($36).
O’Brien started in hospitality 25 years ago bartending at Reed’s in Blue Bell and counts six years at Seacrets in Ocean City, Md., and 11 years with P.J. Whelihan’s in Downingtown and Montgomeryville in his work history. Critchley, who has no hospitality background, recently sold his business, Lang’s Lawn Care in Malvern, but runs it under the new owners.
Downingtown has always had a solid restaurant scene, with La Sponda, Myrtos, and Jads nearby and R Five Wines and East Branch Brewing Co. across the street from the Borough, and Dressler Estate serving ciders nearby. The other newcomer is mother., with a creative menu of tacos plus beer, wine, and cocktails.
The Borough, 149 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown. Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Tip: Do not park in the adjacent private lot. Use the municipal lot across the street.
A picture is worth a thousand words, or at least 974 Reddit upvotes.
A photo of a sad-looking burger wrongfully attributed to Two Robbers — the homegrown hard seltzer-turned-hard soda brand with bars in Fishtown and South Philly — has been circulating on the r/Philly subreddit since last Wednesday, when user Seraphanarie posted a since-deleted photo of a flier they claimed their boyfriend found while walking in Fishtown.
“Two Robbers Pub Burger,” the flier reads in bold all-caps font. “This is literally the burger that came out [on] October 10, 2025.”
The heinous-looking burger in question: A barely-there beef patty so crumbly it doesn’t stick together sandwiched between a dry, unseeded bun. The scene is so dismal that the cheese is falling off the side of the burger, almost as if it’s trying to run away.
“The people need to know!!” the Reddit post was titled, with a caption that said, “whoever posted this is doing the lord’s work.”
A screenshot of a Reddit post from u/Seraphanarie of a flier with a photo of a disintegrating burger patty that alleges the burger was served at The Lodge by Two Robbers on Oct. 10, 2025.
The burger in question supposedly hailed from Two Robbers Lodge, the beverage company’s cozy South Philly offshoot. Twin brothers Vivek and Vikram Nayar founded Two Robbers in 2019 as a bespoke hard seltzer brand before pivoting to canned vodka sodas in 2024. The company opened a futuristic tasting room in Fishtownat 1221 Frankford Ave. in 2023, and added the Lodge — a homey pub inside the former Hawthornes space in South Philly — earlier this year.
Both locations are known for serving simple yet well-executed burgers, with the Lodge’s Pub Burger clocking at a sturdy 8 ounces of custom Pat LaFrieda dry-aged beef and ground chuck.
So when the flier emerged, Philly’s Redditors, like us, wanted to know: What gives?
Pub burger and fries from the Lodge by Two Robbers in June 2025. It features an 8 ounce patty made with a mix of dry aged beef and ground chuck.
The post received close to 1,000 upvotes and over 170 comments, with Redditors poking fun at anyone who has high expectations of a burger from a seltzer bar.
“This is what you get for ordering a burger at a craft seltzeria,” one user commented. Another said it looked like a burger they made at home: “It was horrible.”
In actuality, the flier may be nothing but a ketchup-covered smear campaign. A reverse Google image search traces the photo back to a 2018 post on the meme aggregator 9GAG titled “Nasty Burger.” An Inquirer reporter could not confirm that a physical flier existed after several walks around Fishtown, and the original poster declined to comment, citing the “overwhelming” amount of attention they had received.
The different, but equally notable, smash burgers served at Two Robbers’ Fishtown tasting room. They are Craig LaBan-approved.
Two Robbers co-owner Vivek Nayar said he was in his car after a trip to the bank Wednesday afternoon when he was bombarded with texts from coworkers about the Reddit post. He started seething straightaway.
“We immediately knew when we saw the photo [that] it wasn’t our burger. It wasn’t our restaurant,” Nayar told The Inquirer last week. “Just thinking about that picture makes me sick.”
Less than a couple of hours later, Nayar had revived his own Reddit account, posting a passionate defense in r/philly.
“I just wanted to come on here to tell you all, it’s not our f—ing burgerand that photo wasn’t even taken at our restaurant … those aren’t our fries, that’s not our table, that’s not our plates,” he wrote. “Truly a DIABOLICAL move for someone to go out on [Reddit] and post this.”
Nayar’s screed has been upvoted more than 2,500 times. The 35-year-old Olde Kensington resident — who claims he is “too old” for Reddit — said he was surprised by the positivity his post has received, with some users even going as far to wonder if Burgergate was just a masterful attempt at guerrilla marketing.
“I wish I was that smart,” Nayar said.
Defenders said that the Lodge’s burger “looks thicc” and was worthy of a visit.
Burgergate is not the first time Two Robbers has polarized Philadelphia. As the Nayars prepared to open their controversial moss-green tasting room in Fishtown, community members took to Facebook to complain about the paint job. For months after, a rowhouse across the street had signs that read “I Hate Two Robbers” hung in the window. They’ve since been taken down.
“I Hate Two Robbers” posters hung in the window of the rowhouse across from the canned cocktail brand’s Fishtown tasting room at 1221 Frankford Ave. for months after it opened it 2023.
Nayar said he doesn’t view the incidents as connected. Fishtowners were just coping with perpetual gentrification. Whoever posted the flier is just a hater, Nayar said. He doesn’t care to investigate further.
“It’s hard for me to blame people for piling on,” Nayar said. “If I saw a post like that and had nothing to do with Two Robbers, I would find it hilarious.”
Comes to 
