:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/38796244/brigantessa.0.jpg)
Fall is almost here, whether you're ready to say goodbye to summer or not. With the arrival of pumpkin spice everything (OK, that's already with us) and Halloween candy in stores (hmm, that too), we'll also see a ton of brand new restaurants opening up around town. Here, let's kick things off with the Eater Philly Fall Tracking guide, laying out the most anticipated spots of the season. We'll be updating the list as they begin to open their doors this autumn. Excited for something you don't see listed here? As always, feel free to share in the comments below.
Abe Fisher
Location: 1623 Sansom St.
Team: Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook (Zahav, Federal Donuts, Percy St. BBQ, Dizengoff)
Projected Opening: September 2
Status: Now open
Located next door to newly opened hummusiya Dizengoff, the next CookNSolo project will focus on foods of the Jewish diaspora. Yehuda Sichel (a Zahav vet who also ran things at Citron + Rose when CookNSolo was involved with that project early on) will lead the kitchen; teases to date have included plenty of latkes, good-looking rye bread, smoked sable, challah pretzels, and duck confit noodle kugel. They've promised to be open in time to participate in Center City Restaurant Week. All Eater coverage; full food and drink menus; official website.
Big Gay Ice Cream
Location: SouthStar Lofts at Broad and South streets
Team: Douglas Quint and Bryan Petroff
Projected Opening: Early fall
The owners of NYC's cult-favorite soft serve shop announced their expansion to Philly at Marc Vetri's Great Chefs Event this year. Check out the menu here, including their signature Salty Pimp (with dulce de leche, sea salt, and a nostalgic chocolate dip) and a rotating schedule of shakes. All Eater coverage; official website.
La Peg
Location:FringeArts, 140 N.Columbus Blvd.
Team: Peter Woolsey (Bistrot la Minette) and FringeArts
Projected Opening: August 25
Status: Now open.
Woolsey's second restaurant, anchoring the new FringeArts building, has outdoor space, waterfront views, and a menu highlighting French small plates. Expect plenty of by-the-book French options like onion soup gratinee and Paris-Brest, though Asian flavors appear throughout the menu as well. Tartares and raw bar selections should be highlights, but the menu covers enough ground (veggie options, a burger) to make everyone happy. (Note: While La Peg will be open next Monday, the restaurant is not accepting reservations earlier than September 5.) Official website.
Brigantessa
Location: 1520 E. Passyunk Ave.
Team: Francis Cratil Cretarola, Cathy Lee, Joe Cicala, and Angela Ranalli (Le Virtù)
Projected Opening: September
While we didn't get the initially projected summer opening we'd hoped for, work has been progressing at a fairly quick clip over the past several weeks — and they've posted evidence that they're currently in the process of curing their custom oven, which is a very promising sign. The second effort from the Le Virtù team is an enoteca, birreria, and forneria (focusing on a variety of dishes from the wood-fired oven as well as a custom grill), not "just" a pizzeria. But the pizza will be bona fide: Cicala traveled to Naples to train, and the place will be AVPN-certified.. All Eater coverage; website (not yet active).
[Photo: Capogiro/Facebook]
Capofitto
Location: 233 Chestnut St.
Team: Stephanie and John Reitano (Capogiro)
Projected Opening: Mid-September
Status: Now open.
The Capogiro team is branching out, with a cafe serving pizza, charcuterie, and more. (But don't worry — that's in addition to, not instead of, gelato). In addition to a pretty sexy custom wood-fired oven, there's more equipment porn to share: check out the vintage Berkel flywheel slicer. All Eater coverage.
Girard
Location: 300 E. Girard Ave.
Team: Brian Oliveira and Christian Mora
Projected Opening: Late September
This Fishtown "brasserie and bruncherie" promises a pretty simple (but appealing) French-influenced menu and a premise that's part of a burgeoning national trend: they're banning tipping. (Instead, all employees will be paid a living wage.) The impactful pop art-inspired interior design comes courtesy of James Beard award-nominated Otto Architects. All Eater coverage; official website.
Kensington Quarters
Location: 1310 Frankford Ave.
Team: Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello (Bufad, Prohibition Taproom, Cafe Lift) and butcher Bryan Mayer
Projected Opening: Fall (unspecified)
This hybrid restaurant-butcher shop concept has been crawling along for what feels like ages now, but this season should finally see its debut. (There have been a few small glimpses of progress through the summer.) The sizable space will house a butcher shop and a restaurant, and they even plan to hold butchering and cooking classes where guests can learn more about whole-animal butchering and local, sustainable food. In keeping with a trend obvious throughout this list, expect plenty of wood-fired and grilled foods on the menu.
Bing Bing
Location: 1648 E.Passyunk Ave.
Team: Ben Puchowitz and Shawn Darragh (Cheu Noodle Bar)
Projected Opening: October
Cheu Noodle Bar secured its place as a Philly essential in no time flat, so it's no surprise that most of us are champing at the bit for their second spot to open — especially once they announced it would focus on dim sum, something this city could definitely use more of. (NYC's Nom Wah Tea Parlor is on its way too, for the record, but owner Wilson Tang says they're more than four months out, so you won't find them on this list.) Puchowitz and Darragh traveled to Hong Kong for research for Bing Bing, and Puchowitz has been intermittently posting teasers on his Instagram as he works out the menu. All Eater coverage; official website (not yet active).
Tuk Tuk Real
Location:
429 South St.
Team: Alex Boonphaya and Silvestre Rincon (Circles Thai)
Projected Opening: September 11
Status: Now open.
Circles chef/owner Boonphaya is partnering with sous Rincon for this new venture, a Thai taqueria. The initial plan was to open the fusion spot by mid-August — it's still not quite ready yet, but photos posted to their Facebook earlier this month show it coming along. All Eater coverage; official website (not yet active).
Lo Spiedo
Location: Navy Yard, 4501 S. Broad St.
Team: Marc Vetri and chef Scott Calhoun
Projected Opening: Early October
A casual Italian rotisserie and grill is next up for the Vetri family — an obvious lunchtime boon to everyone who works on-campus, if not the most convenient location for the rest of us. (Still, the restaurant will be open to all and will serve dinner nightly, beyond the Navy Yard's usual business hours.) Leading the kitchen will be Scott Calhoun, who's been working at Osteria. Late September is the earliest they'll be ready, but the latest word we've gotten is that October is the more likely scenario. All Eater coverage; website.
BonChon
Location: 1020 Cherry St.
Projected Opening: September
This chain already enjoys a loyal following in places like New York and D.C. (not to mention all over the world), but it's finally making its debut in our city this fall. The specialty is Korean-style twice-fried chicken, which is served at places like Cafe Soho (and inspired the product at FedNuts), but up to now hasn't made that many inroads into Center City. This location will have a liquor license, and the chain is well-known for stocking very respectable beer selections in its stores.All Eater coverage; official website.
V Street
Location: 126 S.19th St.
Team: Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby (Vedge)
Projected Opening: October 1
The next all-vegan restaurant from the team behind groundbreaking Vedge is a bar that will focus on global street food. So far, they've popped up at a number of events offering tastes of what to expect, including Korean tacos stuffed with tempeh or tofu, Peruvian fries, and "slutty brownies." All Eater coverage; official website.
[Photo: La Colombe/Facebook]
La Colombe Fishtown
Location:1335 Frankford Ave.
Team: Todd Carmichael
Projected Opening: Mid-September
The massive Fishtown space will serve as La Colombe's flagship, housing not just a cafe but a bakery, their rum distillery, roasting facilities, and more. The warehouse space also features a mural by famed graffiti artist (and Philly native) Steve Powers, better known as ESPO. All Eater coverage; official website.
2nd Story Brewing Co.
Location: 117 Chestnut St.
Team: John Wible (brewer)
Projected Opening: Fall (unspecified)
Though the former home of Triumph Brewing Co. is still somewhat torn apart, Wible is already making beer in the space. This is the first commercial venture for Wible, who began homebrewing in 2010 and previously operated under the name Five Mile Brewing. Look for the brewpub to open in the coming months.Official website.
Whetstone
Location:700 S. 5th St.
Team: Doug and Kelly Hager, Jeremy and Jessica Nolen (Brauhaus/Wursthaus Schmitz)
Projected Opening: Late fall
The Brauhaus team took over the "cursed" space around the corner that previously housed Tapestry, Ad Sum, and Coquette — and while we don't believe in curses, the opening has been pushed back from their initial projection of this summer. When it's ready, this project will see Nolen moving away from strictly German food to showcase regional American food, including but not limited to Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. All Eater coverage; website.
Aldine
Location: 1901 Chestnut St.
Team: George and Jennifer Sabatino
Projected Opening: Fall (unspecified)
After making a name for himself in a big way during his time at Stateside and then Morgan's Pier (which led to much more work with Avram Hornik and co.), Sabatino has been working to open a new spot of his own. It's been a bit quiet so far as the project remains in 'pending' status, but they're still shooting for this fall. (We haven't been able to catch any obvious signs of progress in the space just yet, though its second-floor location certainly doesn't help.) We know we're hardly the only ones anxious to see Sabatino cooking again. All Eater coverage; official website.
Palladino
Location: 1934 E. Passyunk Ave.
Team: Luke Palladino
Projected Opening: November
This East Passyunk steakhouse will be the first Philly location for Luke Palladino, who has several steak-centric restaurants and a catering business down the shore. The building is owned (and being renovated by) the Passyunk Ave. Revitalization Corp., which also owns nearby Will, Noord, and Fond. They've been pretty good about meeting their timelines so far, so hopefully Palladino will continue that streak. All Eater coverage; official website.
Juniper Commons
Location: SouthStar Lofts, Broad and South streets
Team: Kevin Sbraga
Projected Opening: Late November
Details are still a bit sparse on Sbraga's next move, which will apparently be a bit of a '90s throwback (previously, he said rotisserie would be central, but then walked that back a bit). And with an initial target date of Late November (and another project now in the works all the way down in Florida), it's likely this opening will be bumped beyond the fall season. Fingers crossed, though. All Eater coverage.
Also tracking: South Street West's Little Spoon Cafe, will-it-ever-really-get-here South Bowl, Kris Serviss' Blue Duck Sandwich Co., and Tim Spinner and Brian Sirhal's Beast & Ale in Manayunk [now open].
