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I want to root for a restaurant like Side Eye. There\u2019s the quirky name, of course; a tribute to the owners\u2019 beloved late dog, Sheba, whose legacy lives on in the many pooch pictures posted around the space and which has fostered a strong pull from the city\u2019s canine-centric crowd, my family included. What a perfect place to catch up with our dog Buttercup\u2019s veterinarian over steak fries and a peppercorn burger! And was that the (human) mom of Buttercup\u2019s playmates sipping a glass of wine at the long bar? Yes, it was. Philly\u2019s dog lovers are an easy demographic for any new restaurant to target, especially one with a pet-friendly 10-seat patio outside its Queen Village restaurant\u2019s storefront. <\/p>\n
But there are other reasons to wish for Side Eye\u2018s success, including its aim to be an affordable neighborhood bistro when soaring prices are on everyone\u2019s mind. In an era when $35 chicken entrees and $20-plus cocktails are not uncommon in local restaurants, Side Eye\u2019s half bird is selling for $25 and nearly every cocktail and glass of wine is $13 or less. <\/p>\n
Given that Side Eye\u2019s co-owner, Hank Allingham, is a numbers guy, having previously spent his career in finance for large restaurant companies, including the Patina Group<\/a> in New York and Nando\u2019s Peri-Peri <\/a>in Washington D.C., it\u2019s no surprise he\u2019s using fair prices as a draw for this new venture, launched in February with his wife, Katherine Hanson.<\/p>\n But value is a relative concept. What good are house-baked buns if the inexperienced kitchen frequently scorches them before sending a burger out to the dining room? Does it really matter that the roast chicken is relatively inexpensive if the skin on those commodity birds is underseasoned and flabby? (It\u2019s also set over borlotti beans \u2014 a nice idea until the beans were overcooked to a sticky paste.) Also, does Side Eye make the worst cocktails in Philly? The drinks at our first visits ranged from watery and muddled to raggedly boozy, providing a reminder that you sometimes get exactly what you pay for. <\/p>\n That is, until recently, when I\u2019ve finally begun to detect some needed improvements on multiple fronts. One key has been a shift in the front house staff, essential to maintaining the warm neighborhood mojo at the Queen Village space that once housed beloved Bistrot La Minette, which called it quits in 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n The service during my early visits ranged from chaotic \u2014 with more plates landing simultaneously at our little table than it could possibly hold (and the server impatiently waiting for us play to Tetris to somehow find space) \u2014 to borderline hostile. <\/p>\n \u201cOk, now who\u2018s ordering here?!” snapped the waiter at my second meal, scolding me for ordering fries for the table when it apparently wasn\u2019t my turn to speak. He\u2019s coincidentally no longer with the restaurant, Allingham said, before I could even mention it. <\/p>\n What a difference the calming presence of a pleasant server such as Tessa Draper can make, righting the mood as weekend sunshine poured through the windows into the cobalt blue room, and we settled into a lovely brunch. It was highlighted by a perfectly fluffy French omelette rolled around house-made fromage blanc, topped with roasted mushrooms, and finished with a dessert of cr\u00eape Suzanne, sweetly named for the chef\u2019s mom. The warm cr\u00eapes bundled around that same cheese, all topped with brandied warm caramel and juicy orange segments. <\/p>\n The meal was far from perfect. The cucumber-gin Breakfast Cup cocktail had too much bitterness from the lime peel. The avocado toast was not especially green. And this kitchen burned the slender toast \u201csoldiers\u201d served alongside its soft-boiled eggs. But we loved the poached shrimp and fresh-dressed cod rillettes salad that came on the side. The lemony hollandaise for the Parisian ham Benedict served over house-baked brioche was extremely tasty. <\/p>\n It felt like Side Eye had finally found a comfortable groove, enough for me to return for one more dinner. <\/p>\n With Draper once again tending to our table, the improvements continued, especially with new vegetable-forward dishes that turn out to be a strength for chef Finn Connors, 26, an alum of Osteria, Wilder, and Sally. He cooks a range of diverse ingredients but also concedes, \u201cI mostly eat vegetables.\u201d <\/p>\n His tomato and honeydew salad makes the most of summer\u2019s bounty, winding luscious tomato chunks inside ribbons of shaved honeydew that added a textural snap and juicy burst of bright sweetness. Snappy batons of zucchini are roasted with just a touch of char, dressed with basil oil, and paired with a creamy dip of that ricotta-like house-strained cheese for another simple but memorable starter. A classic ratatouille, with separately stewed eggplant, red peppers, and zucchini finished with saucy tomatoes, sherry vinegar, and herbs, was one of menu\u2019s most confident nods to a French canon the chef had never previously cooked before. <\/p>\n Connors bakes a very respectable French baguette, a nice wink to the standby offering at La Minette. I just wish they offered more than a stubby little heel of it for $5. That bread may be at its best diced-up into croutons that give the delicious French onion soup a sturdy, spoonable body and an irresistible dome to be gratin\u00e9ed; delicious even when they occasionally burn it.<\/p>\n When it comes to cooking proteins, Side Eye has work to do. They struggled to nail a medium-rare doneness on the burger (twice overcooked, once underdone) but also need some basic seasoning to boost the flavors of the Camembert and peppercorn aioli garnish. The coarse-chopped beef tartare was both unpleasantly chewy and overwhelmed by the sharp garnish of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese. <\/p>\n An intriguing early menu item of a stuffed cabbage filled with braised short rib suffered from some less-than-tender braised meat. This kitchen also got too clever with a usually no-brainer pot of mussels marini\u00e8res, swapping out the shellfish\u2019s natural liquor for a Miller High Life-infused dashi mixed with crab fat and a hunk of not-especially-tender pork belly. Not only was the dashi lacking focused flavor, there wasn\u2019t nearly enough of it, leaving the bowl so dry that the high percentage of empty shells was obvious. <\/p>\n