The Latest Philly Bar and Restaurant Openings to Know

SOUTH KENSINGTON — Cadence opened March 14 at 161 W. Girard Avenue in what was Modo Mio. Running the BYOB are Jon Nodler, Samantha Kincaid, and Michael Fry, all coming from High Street Hospitality Group, which includes Fork, High Street on Market, and a.kitchen. (Side note: High Street’s Ellen Yin was just nominated for the 2018 James Beard Award for outstanding restaurateur.) Cadence is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday and serving a seasonal, new American menu with dishes available a la carte or as a $55 prix fixe. The restaurant makes up for its lack of alcohol with a noteworthy drinks list, including the Philly-made Funky Fresh kombucha.

UNIVERSITY CITY — On Penn’s campus, the Franklin’s Table food hall is open for business with Goldie, High Street Provisions (a scaled-down version of High Street on Market), DK Sushi (a spin-off of Double Knot), KQ Burger (serving the popular Kensington Quarters burger), Little Baby’s Ice Cream, The Juice Merchant, and Pitruco Pizza. The food hall is open to the public.

OLD CITY — Two new venues open March 16 in the Renaissance Philadelphia hotel at 401 Chestnut Street. On the food side, there’s Chez Ben, a bistro and coffee shop led by chef Paras Shah, who opened Barcelona on East Passyunk but left after three months. He’s still making plans for a Spanish restaurant with chef Jeffrey Weiss, as Eater reported last year, but in the meantime he’s focusing on French cuisine for Chez Ben, which offers a raw bar and dishes like roasted blood orange duck breast and mussels in white wine and garlic. The restaurant also has a counter with La Colombe coffee, juices and smoothies, and pastries. Next to Chez Ben is M. Brown’s, a cocktail bar with an extensive whiskey selection and small plates.

Chez Ben [official photo]

WEST PHILLY — A branch of ReAnimator Coffee just opened in West Philly, in the Garden Court Plaza apartment building at 4701 Pine Street (so owners Mark Capriotti and Mark Corpus will be serving single-origin coffee and Lost Bread Co. baked goods to a University City crowd). This is the third café for ReAnimator. Capriotti and Corpus are also partners in Res Ipsa and in the upcoming Hello Donuts.

UNIVERSITY CITY — Tipsy Bistro from Anh Vongbandith and Tory Keomanivong is up and running in University City at 3131 Walnut Street it was what previously Kevin Sbraga’s Fat Ham. Tipsy Bistro’s menu is a mix of hearty American fare, like wings, burgers, and a fried chicken grinder, and dishes that fall into a range of categories, like the lemongrass pork sandwich and duck confit poutine. For brunch: buttermilk fried chicken and waffles, red velvet pancakes, and steak and eggs.

FISHTOWN — Goose Island Brewhouse is brewing — and pouring — beer at 1002 Canal Street. The food menu is as suds-friendly as you’d expect, with a cheese plate, smoked chicken wings, mussels, a roast beef sandwich, burgers, and fish and chips.

MANAYUNK — Mexican street food restaurant La Roca is open at 4161 Main Street in what was Union Taco. Running La Roca are Kahlil Mir, of Manayunk’s Paper Street Pub and Roxborough’s Hilltown Tavern, and Josh Coffman, who held a few different positions within Stephen Starr’s restaurant group and was also the GM at Rouge. The chef is David Long. The bi-level restaurant has bars on both floors, plus an outdoor patio. Heads up: It turns into more of a dance club after 10 p.m.

Justin Blasi