Cheers, Grinches! We’ve rounded up 18 Christmas pop-up bars.
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Bar, humbug! Beatrice Forman scoped out the Philly watering holes that are decking their halls (or booths) with garlands, nutcrackers, and more string lights than you can count.
⭐ It’s been a bell-ringer of a week for the chefs at Michelin-approved restaurants, including Amanda Shulman at the one-star Her Place Supper Club, who was front and center before a Sixers game. Can Philly’s good vibes last?
❗Dalessandro’s, one of three cheesesteak shops to be awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand, learned the news almost by accident.
👨❤️💋👨 Philly’s Michelin men are all “wife guys.”
👍 What do we think of the Philly Michelin-approved restaurants?
🍰 The acclaimed Essen Bakery is closed for good, and owner Tova Du Plessis explains why it took so long for her to come to grips with the decision.
🥩 Rocco’s at the Brick, a busy Bucks steakhouse, was apparently forced to shut down on the weekend before Thanksgiving.
😢 Mama’s Pizzeria, the Main Line landmark, is in its final days. Owner Paul Castellucci Sr. says he’s facing health issues.
Wine specialist Sande Friedman recommends small, independent wine shops in the Philly-area offering four great values on sparkling, white, orange, and red.
Kiki Aranita puts the exclamation point on Static!, the followup from the owners of the Fishtown lounge Next of Kin. She says she found cocktails concocted by some of the nerdiest, most process-driven bartenders in Philly.
Scoops
Muslims of the World Coffee & Pastries, the Indiana-based cafe extension of the social-media storytelling/philanthropic project founded by Sajjad Shah in response to post-9/11 stereotypes, is setting up its first Philly location at the Murano at 21st and Market Streets. They hope to open next month. MOTW’s local operators are newlyweds Mahmood Islam and Samina Akbar (above), the chain’s first Bengali franchisees, who say they envision a space where no one will feel out of place. Akbar, who recently left her job as a scientist for Johnson & Johnson, will run the day to day. Islam works for his father’s Lansdale-based company (Electronic Mechanical Services) and runs Global Tech Systems, which focuses on electronic-waste recycling and donations to schools and foundations in developing countries. They’ll source foods from all over, including local pastries from Au Fournil. “This isn’t just a business,” Islam said. “It is something to be proud of.”
Wild Yeast Bakehouse, the sourdough bread bakery of Main Line resident John Goncher, has a brick-and-mortar retail location in Wayne teed up for spring. A self-taught baker with a career in corporate finance, Goncher launched Wild Yeast out of his home kitchen in 2021, starting with 10 bread-share customers. As he expanded to the farmers market circuit and wholesale, he converted his Rosemont living room into an (entirely legal) commercial kitchen. When Jenn Ladd profiled his business in 2024, Goncher was firmly committed to staying in his living room. Now baking more than 600 loaves a week, he tells her he’s leased a storefront in the Eagle Village Shops complex so he can stop storing 2,000 pounds of bread flour in his house. Wild Yeast plans to continue to supply its bread share and wholesale customers, as well as its farmers market audience, in addition to expanding production to baguettes, babka, scones, and cookies.
Ponder Bar will replace the Penalty Box at Coral and Sergeant Streets in Kensington. Owner Matt Kuziemski, backed by Leighton Phillips (ex-Hiroki, Fork, Friday Saturday Sunday), is keeping details under wraps — including an opening date, other than “coming soon.”
Restaurant report
Sally. Two weeks ago on a pizza walkabout, I popped into Sally, the pizzeria/wine shop near Fitler Square, to see what new chef David Kupperberg was up to. (And then, wouldn’t you know it, the Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand.)
With only eight sourdough, wood-fired rounds on the menu (including a plain cheese, a red, and a white), Kupperberg is going for bold: There’s a “LOUD” red with arrabbiata sauce; a deeply savory mushroom pie layered with porcini, béchamel, and Comté; a soppressata with earthy Fat Cat cheese and pepper jelly; and the pepper-packed Pepper Pie (pork sausage, Calabrian chili, pickled Jimmy Nardellos, cubanelles, mozzarella, provolone, and pecorino, shown above). Below is Kupperberg with an All’Amatriciana — a pizza version of the classic bucatini dish.
Sally, 2229 Spruce St. Hours: 4:30-10 p.m. daily, plus 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. weekends for brunch. Closed Nov. 26 and 27.
Briefly noted
Watch Party PHL, the group planning a women’s sports bar and community space to open in 2026, may not have a location yet but it has announced its name: The Stoop Pigeon. This will be Philly’s second such bar, following the recent opening of Marsha’s at 430 South St.
Mod Spuds, with a menu of loaded-jacket potatoes, is the latest residency from chef Ange Branca and Kampar. It’s a month-long stay at Comfort & Floyd (1301 S. 11th St.) on Mondays (5-9 p.m.) and Tuesdays (11 a.m.-9 p.m.) starting Dec. 8. Branca is inspired by the potato bars she frequented during her university days in 1990s Scotland. Sample toppings: chili con carne, chorizo, chicken tikka masala, barbecue jackfruit. Mod Spuds will preview at Dec. 5’s First Friday at the Barnes, along with drinks from Kampar Kongsi. (Tickets for that one are here.)
Throwing snowballs at Santa (that overblown incident from a 1968 Eagles game) will be part of the festivities at a Dec. 8 Eagles watch-party fundraiser at Sports & Social at Live! Casino & Hotel in South Philly to benefit Easterseals. The event, sponsored by law firm Zarwin Baum, runs from 5 p.m. through the final whistle of the Eagles-Chargers game, featuring unlimited food, drink tickets, raffles, silent auction, and fan activities. General admission tickets are $100, VIP is $125.
RJ Smith, the Drexel University culinary student-turned- chef of Ocho Supper Club, will partner with chef Yun Fuentes for a one-night Caribbean-style Feast of the Seven Fishes at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Fuentes’ Bolo in Center City. Reservations via OpenTable: $150pp. (Ocho dishes will be available during happy hour at the first-floor rum bar from 4–7 p.m.)
❓Pop quiz
Based on Craig LaBan’s review of Borromini on Rittenhouse Square, how many restaurants does Stephen Starr now own?
A) 29
B) 41
C) 50
D) 72
Find out if you know the answer.
Ask Mike anything
What do you know about the opening of Santucci’s Pizza in University City?
Alicia Santucci says Santucci’s will soft-open next week at 38th Street and Powelton Avenue. Since Santucci’s serves square pizza, perhaps it’s fitting that the building is Anova uCity Square.
🤔 Read on as my colleagues and I answer a batch of your questions, including: “Is the Philly restaurant scene reaching a point of saturation?”
📮 Have a question about food in Philly? Email your questions to me at mklein@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.
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